Day 10 and another 600 Kms closer to Nolan

Welcome to windy Lethbridge. And I do mean windy! No-one warned us about the wind. Holy cr@p! But first things first. We were actually ahead of schedule today, so we didn't get a tour of the Gravelbourg cathedral (www.gravelbourg.ca) but we did get this cool picture

From Gravelbourg, we struck out west and south to hook back up with the Red coat trail which we found out is the route the mounties took in 1874 to help quell among other things the illegal whiskey trade in LETHBRIDGE. How is that for connecting the dots?

This is such an amazing part of the world. Every where you look you can just see forever. The sky goes on forever, the fields go on forever, the roads go on forever. It is easy to see why this is such a special place to so many people. Unfortunately for us, that pesky fourth season (road construction) got in the way and forced us north to the dreaded Trans Canada highway a little sooner than we planned. Ah well when you are given lemons, make lemonade. We stopped in Medicine Hat and I got to have my picture taken with yet another cutie. I am so lucky!
We stopped to see Linda's niece Haley. A darn smart, focused young lady who is going to do well for herself. You just wait and see. From Medicine Hat, it was on to highway 3 and Lethbridge. We battled what felt like a 50KPH headwind the whole way. That was not fun. We are hoping that tomorrow, we will lose the wind as we get closer to the rockies. For fun, check out the Lethbridge Viaduct AKA the high level bridge. It is over 1 mile long and almost 100 years old. Man, they do everything big out here. Supper at the casino next door to the hotel, catch up on the olympics (Go Canada), maybe a small rusty nail, and into bed. Tomorrow......the mountains. Stay tuned and God bless.

Day 9 and now I know where agregates come from

Greetings from Gravelbourg. Well we have managed to trek our way down the Red coat route through southern Manitoba and across southern Saskatchewan. Our first rest stop was in the town of Souris, Manitoba and home of the SECOND longest suspension bridge in Canada. Those who have been following our blog should already know where the longest is.....
After Souris, and a couple of long hours on the road, we left the unbeaten track known as highway 13 for somewhere really out of the way. Don't know much about this town except the people were friendly, lunch was good, and there was a nice 4430 John Deere at the dealership.
One of the highlights of the day was the oil patch near Weyburn. If this doesn't show what is important to the west, I don't know what will.
Got into Gravelbourg around supper time. there is a huge cathedral and a Franco seminary college here. According to Leslie at the Mayfair, Gravelbourg is undergoing a bit of a resurgence and the town is growing. Nice to see that trend in this part of the world. Hopefully, we will tour the cathedral tomorrow, and get some pictures. Happy trails.

Day 5 and Brandon bound

Welcome to the end of our first leg. We arrived safely in Brandon (Manitoba's OTHER city) and have a couple of days of family, relaxing and trying to do a better job of fixing Pete's Connie. For those interested, we have a little trivia quiz. The first one with a correct answer wins.

1) What geographical location are we in now? (Hint, look at the pictures)


Okay, I know that is probably a tough one, so I will give you another hint.....It rhymes with "THE MARY'S". Anyone? No?

Actually as we were making our way across southern Manitoba on highway 23, we came upon the town of St Leon, and this awesome sight...

we counted over 50 of these wind generators. A lot like the wind farm outside Shelburne, Ontario. As a committed eco-energy buff, I was very very impressed. Good for you St Leon, and Manitoba.

Someone noted our technical glitch with the camera yesterday. For those who don't know me, I will explain. Whenever Linda forgets to recharge batteries, that gets noted. When I forget to recharge batteries, it is a "technical glitch". Same goes for resetting odometers, forgetting sunglasses at the last rest stop and so on.

As I said at the top of this installment, we have a couple of days here in Brandon so I don't know how much will end up here, but be sure to check back next week as we head out to Slave Lake, Alberta and leg two. As always, thanks for all the comments and e-mails.

Day 4. Thunder Bay to Steinbach

Welcome to day 4. We did manage to find Dan and Yvonne and had a nice visit last night. In fact it was such a nice visit, we decided that we would treat ourselves and sleep in. Actually that is a lie. We slept through the alarm (thanks Linda!!!!!). Once on the road we went past the mighty Kakabeka Falls, and on to the Rainy River district. I know that a lot of the trip is "rocks and trees" stuff, but every once in a while, we are treated to a sight that just takes your breath away.


This picture really doesn't do it justice, but hey. I tried.


On to Atikokan. we stopped for a quick lunch and came up with the following factoids.
There are 2795 lakes in the boundry of Quetico Provincial park.
The Atikokan area is the only part of Ontario that joins the United States by land.
Atikokan used to be the home of the world's largest open pit Iron Ore mine.

Oh, and Atikokan apparently has something to do with canoes, but I can't remember what.

Unfortunately, we had a technical glitch with the camera, so no more pictures today, but after Atikokan, we went on to Fort Francis and I scored big time. While Linda was getting us a well deserved ice cream cone at the local DQ, I was relaxing on the grass. I noticed a bunch of electrical looking cord, and further investigation revealed an I-pod shuffle laying in the grass. If you can identify the all the music on the shuffle, in order, I will return it too you.

It was a pretty short jaunt from Fort Francis to Rainy River (our intended end point for today) so we decided to forge on and thanks to Jenna at the Baudette tourist information booth, we decided to press on to Steinbach. Our Scala headsets (http://www.cardowireless.com/US/Q2) gave out just outside Steinbach, and it was with much relief that we saw the sign for the Days Inn. A quick clean-up later and downtown to MJ's cafe for some Vereniki and farmer's sausage. Back to the hotel for a hot tub, a Rusty Nail, an Olympic update and bed. Good night all. Thanks for the comments and good wishes. Tomorrow... Brandon, Baba and Papa, a washing machine and a well deserved three day rest. Talk to you all tomorrow.

Day 3. Wawa to Thunder Bay

Good morning from downtown Wawa. From the way too cool Canadian Tire store to the Lakeview Hotel to the "Grandma Doors", this is such a nice town. Very laidback and friendly and a real retro look at Canadiana.








Stopped for Lunch in Terrace Bay. We have been really lucky with the weather so far. This shot is looking south out to the bay (yes from the terrace, thanks Adam)

It has often been said that there are 4 seasons in Canada. Nearly Winter, Winter, After Winter and........

Road Construction

Stopped for a quick visit to Ouimet Canyon. Walked over both the 300 and 600 foot long suspension bridges a-la Indiana Jones. Next year they are planning to have a zip-line between them. That would be a hoot

After the canyon, it was back on to the TCH and some more construction, then into Port Arthur for the night. Hopefully we will hook up with an old work mate of mine, a glass of scotch and into bed. Good night all and God bless.

Day 2. Sudbury to Wawa

Well day 2 started out in fine fashion. Yesterday, Linda and I went through some pretty un-motorcycle friendly stuff. Because of this, the gear selector switch on her Burgman got bent. No big deal until we put the bike up on the centre stand for the night. The bent switch went in and wouldn't come out. She had first gear and nothing else. We limped over to Sudbury Boat and Canoe, (http://www.sudburyboat.com/) and Kirk (I hope that's right) not only put work aside to help us out, but found the problem right away. If you are ever near Sudbury, check them out. GREAT place



1 1/2 hours late (mornings are tough) we were our way to Wawa via Chapleau.



We drove on some of the most fun and UN-TRAVELLED roads I have ever been on. Made it safely to Wawa, a little late but none the worse for wear. Supper at the Viking Restaurant (excellent Pizza) and back to the Sportsman Motel (again, excellent). Tomorrow, Thunder Bay, the sleeping giant and maybe even a pint of ale.

Day 1 (or don't believe the GPS)

Well we are on our way!

If this is anything to judge by it will be a loooonnnngggggg trip. At least for Peter. We had good traveling to Gravenhurst, then we let the GPS guide us over to Parry Sound. Nothing like taking the road less travelled to spice up a trip. Well the road surface quickly went from asphalt, to tar-and-chip to decent gravel to......

.......well let's just say Peter has some repair work to do to his pride AND his bike.

Lunch at the Bay Street Cafe in Parry sound was a real treat. On to Sudbury, found a hotel and started repairing the bike. Lets hope that the combination of JB Weld, ABS glue and Duct tape works. Oh yeah. And Peter forgot his cell phone charger. Big "L" for you Peter!