Today marks the 2 month mark since the start of our trip. With our 2 weeks off seeing friends in Ontario, we have spent a total of 5 weeks in Ontario already! It will likely be another week until we enter Manitoba (for a total of 4 cycling weeks and 2 rest weeks).
We got back on the road after our restful day at Lakehead University’s residence. It was a strange feeling to be staying at a residence as It felt like we were back in University.
The day was much cooler and as we got on Hwy 102 out of Thunder Bay, we noticed it was also very windy. Hwy 102 had a descent shoulder much of the way, and traffic was fairly light. It was a partly cloudy day with some sunny breaks, but darker clouds came and went with some light but cold and horizontal rain. Luckily we missed the first set of clouds as Katherine was getting coffee at a golf club house. While we were inside a crow came and took our bag of chips from the back of my bike (a lady we met at the club house alerted us to the incident)! We had to dispose of the bag as we didn’t want to take any chances with where else this crow had stuck its beak in.. (ie perhaps road kill). Katherine was not too impressed as it was one of the few soy-free snacks that we had with us.
Once we got back on the Hwy the rain clouds came over us again. We put our rain gear on by the side of the road and continued forward. The wind was so strong we decided to take a quick break at the first gas station we saw. There isn’t much around in the area so we were glad to spot one fairly early. After our quick stop and picking up some food for Katherine, we marched on in the rain. Luckily the rain clouds looked like they had passed, and the sun was starting to shine through. The wind came directly from the West, and it was still very persistant and we had a rough going (averaging a dismal 13~14km/h). At times the gusts were so incredible it would almost stop us as we were going downhill. We knew that we probably would not make the campground that was 100km away from Thunder Bay as we had planned. Our GPS showed that there were a few motels and a campground where Hwy 11 and 17 diverged in Shabaqua, which was another 20km or so away (for a total of 60 for the day). We decided that would likely be our stop for the day.
As we came up a hill to merge onto Hwy11/17, we noticed a Tim Horton’s by a gas station. We were really glad for a indoor rest stop and a hot drink. As we got closer we noticed the sign that said it was a temporary trailer store with drive thru and walk-in service. Since it said walk-in service we kept our hopes up that we could still go inside. As we got even closer we noticed it was a trailer being towed by a truck that was just getting gas! That pretty much ended any hope of a Tim Horton’s stop..
As it was past lunch, we began to look for a place out of the wind to have lunch. We came across the community centre in ‘Finmark’ (Finland + Denmark?) but they had “No Tresspassing” signs all over. Quite disappointed to not be able to get out of the wind, we marched on. In the end we stopped at a sideroad with some tree shelter.
We were 11 km away to the Hwy 11/17 intersection, which on a regular day would take us about 30min but at our pace would be almost another hour. After lunch we continued on in the incredible headwind. Darker clouds were rolling in and the shoulder on the road became narrower. It seemed like forever as we counted down the kms against the wind gusts.
Before the intersection we stopped at the first motel that we saw. We called around the other motels and the campground that was on the GPS, only to find out they were all the way up Hwy 17 near Upsala! As this motel was the only accomodation available in the vicinity, and the winds were still blowing strong against us with dark clouds passing by, we decided we would stay indoors for the night.
We checked out the motel room first, and the motel was not what we call a 4, 3, or even a 2 star accomodation, but we were able to talk down their initial asking price to something a little more reasonable. We were glad to be inside and have access to a nice hot shower. The weather did not change much outside, with some sunny breaks followed by horizonal rain that was off and on.
The scenery was quite dull today and the only picture we have is of the dummy Tim Horton’s! We definetely have had better days but such is life when you are biking across the continent we suppose. We are really looking forward to moving onto Manitoba and the praires after over a month in Ontario!
Trip Around The World 
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