Orillia to Carnarvon

July 18, 2012

When I was married I lived in Muskoka Avenue in Sheffield. There were 2 questions I was always asked about the address; "How do you spell Muskoka", and "What does Muskoka mean"? I told people that Muskoka was a place in Canada that the road namer must have been to. After years of wandering what it would be like, I finally rode through the District Municipality of Muskoka today. It is deep in "Cottage Country", with some lovely scenery, lots of lakes, and plenty of small hills.

This wasn't at the start of the day though. It started with Bob riding with us (very slowly by his normal standards), and showing us a beautiful, quiet and scenic route, before directing us through Cooper Falls and on to a store with lovely butter tarts (show me a guy who can resist a tasty tart...).

Crossing the Trent Severn River with Bob and Kate.

When we saw a sign for a garden centre it was too much to resist - as it had a chip stand - and we settled for a tasty lunch supplemented by poutine for Kate, and chips and gravy for me. After sleeping it off on the bench that we ate it from - it was not possible to move any further - we headed on to find a suitable camping spot. We finished the day just short of Carnarvon at the Buckslide Tent and Trailer Park, a place worthy of the recommendation of not being worth going to. The rest of the day was spent doing repairs, and justifying the weight of the hair clippers I am carrying by giving myself a haircut (and a nose and ear hair trim).

I'm not suprised that the weight is falling off as rapidly as it is with all these healthy lunches
(chips are made out of potatoes, which are vegetables, you know).

The one highlight of the campsite was chatting to the campsite under 12's "gang", who entertained us probably as much as we entertained them. They were confused as to why I had so many lunch bags (panniers), and why Kate's tent is so much smaller than mine (she is only short, and I like to stretch out in bed). They finally talked total sense when they guessed Kate's age to be 44, and mine to be "in my 30's".

Today's ride: 67 miles (108 km)
Total: 5,217 miles (8,396 km)

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