Hot chocolate and gorgeous lakes (Tamara, Claire and Lucia)

Brimley State Park to Bruce Mines 65 miles
Once in Sault St. Marie we leave our bikes at the shop and go to an amazing cafe called Cafe Nutura for lunch. We get delicious hot chocolate in huge mugs (probably the best I have ever had) brocolli cashew soup, and delicious sandwiches made with local produce. When we ask about the desserts, they give us free samples of all of thier desserts- delicious!
Afterwards we go to a park on the water where there is a plaque about my great (x18) father Nicholas Perrot. He was a hunter and interpreter, one of the first to explore this land many many years ago. It was so cool to see!
As we bike on out of town a guy who Lucia had met outside of the bike shop on an old Surly Long Haul Trucker bike pulls up beside us. He is very friendly and offers us maps of alternate routes along highway 17. It's a beautiful afternoon, and we have a great time barelling down pothole speckled country roads, some paved, some gravel, and highway 17, "the king's highway."
the wind blasts us from various directions as we ride, and when it turns into a tailwaind at the end of the day we fly. We stop at a little wooded campsite in Bruce Mines to spend the night. It's cold here! I'm wearing my long underwear again, and it's great. There are hardly any bugs...although, it may just be the B vitamins we are taking. (B vitamins are supposed to keep the bugs from biting you.)

Bruce Mines to Spanish Ontario, 80 miles
In the morning along the road we see a cute garden bordered with all sorts of old bikes and a huge adirondack chair (18ft tall) that we stop to admire and take pictures of. In Thessalon we stop for a second breakfast at The Pepper Mill, an adorable and delicious restaurant.
As we ride on the scenery is gorgeous. The clouds are perfectly suspended in the smooth blue sky. Along side of us is a rippling river, brown blue and dark, a sharp contrast against the sandy banks and red striped claylike rocks. Sometimes the river is replaced with rows of cattails and thick pine trees. It is comfortably cool, and as we ride along I dont even notice the cars passing by. We stop in the town of Blind River for lunch and eat at a beach on the shore of lake Huron. Claire and Lucia take a nap while I go for a fantastic swim! Afterwards I strap my inner tube onto the side of my bike, so that passing cars will give us more space. It works very well. I'm actually more scared for the opposing traffic that is narrowly missed by huge trucks that are passing us. We get into camp early and go out to dinner at a wonderful pizza place that makes homemade pizza dough daily. The lady who owns the shop has a hillariously energetic personality and gives us a great deal on two large veggie pizzas. Then we relax at our campsite on the water and when it gets dark we can see the Milky Way.

Spanish to Wahnapitae Ontario, 85 miles
The morning is misty and calm, and we have a beautiful ride through more pine forests. We have lunch in a tiny town just outside of Nairn Center. By town, I mean we ate on the grassy lawn of someone's house. Lunch is fantastic. We have leftover pizza, mini cucumbers flax rolls and hummus. Once we reach Nairn Center we look at a map of Sudbury and then continue on the 55, a local road that goes through the city and is less busy than the 17. When we arrive on the outskirts of the downtown Sudbury we've been riding for 3.5 hours or so without stopping and we're all starving. We get ice cream at DQ and pretzels at a nearby gas station. Sudbury is a mining town with roads full of potholes, grey factories, and strip malls. We're all happy when we're out of the city and have reached the nearby town of Wahnapitae.

To find somewhere to camp we go into the general store,
and we meet some people who give us more than we could ever ask for.
We are dirty and far from presentable,
but they take us in and are truly incredible.
Turns out they make kettle corn and have an adorable dog;
we take lots of photos, and post them on our blog.
They tell us ask for anything you need; we go by the policy, everyone's over 18.
Then we get to go in thier sauna and shower clean.
We watch a movie and get beds for the night;
The morning is foggy, but inside it's cheery and bright.
They give us a Canadian flag that they sign;
then we say goodbye and bike away in our little pace line.
Dave, Agnes, Yvonne, and Bob, thank you so much for everything!

Wahnapitae to North Bay Ontario, 70 miles

Just as we are passing through a small town,
an older man runs out of his house and flags us down.
We sit at his table eating kettle corn that's supposedly stale,
and I feel as if I have netered a fairy tale.
He gives us cookies, hawaiian leis and pop;
wow this was a great place to stop!
He makes us take a picture in his buggy with a huge stuffed bunny;
all of this is hillariously funny.
Today the sky is grey instead of blue,
but oh Canada, we love you.

We stop for lunch in a Tim Hortons, and then the sun comes out as we continue on to North Bayon the shores of Lake Nipissing. Once we arrive we meet up with my cousin Coltin, and his girlfriend Sam who both go to school there, and my mom and grandmother who have come to visit. My grandmother cooks us delicious lasagna, and blueberry pie along with a bean salad and artichokes, then we celebrate my mom's birthday with a delicious chocolate mousse cake.

Today we spent hanging out with everyone and doing some important errands in town. It was a wonderful rest day. Thanks Coltin and Sam for letting us stay with you guys, and Nonna and my mom for cooking!
:-)