Day 62 Marysville MI to Chatham Ontario Canada

August 19, 2023

This is the bike lane that was on the left side of the road. It was weird riding against the traffic instead of with it.

The trail we followed once we got off bike route 20

One of the bridges we went over on the bike trail

St Croix river with Canada on the other side

The GPS was showing the speed of the ferry

They had to stop the ferry to let this barge go by

Water tower we saw when we looked back to the states

Hello Canada, the 2 Biking Hobos are coming

Stopped to take a picture of this when…..

…… this little guy came over to have his picture taken too 🥰

Showing the wind with the flags straight out. Luckily it was our tailwind

This is aMark we we met at dinner. He was a good egg by letting some touring bikers stay at his home.

It was 55° when we left this morning so we bundled up. We stopped across the street at Tim Hortons to pick up 2 chocolate chip muffins. Then we were off. When we first headed out we had a bit of a headwind but when we got onto bike route 20 we had a west wind. We rode a bit on the sidewalk but did come to a bike path. It is always nice to get off the roads but this bike path had a lot o bu-bumps. So annoying and slows you done immensely. We kept ourselves bundled for awhile as the bike path was shaded most of the way. We went through some beautiful neighborhoods with gorgeous homes and yards. I kept taking pictures and met these 2 ladies walking while I stopped to snap a photo. They inquired about our trip and asked for the blog. It’s funny how some people are so interested and some don’t seem interested. It’s also funny when you take a bike adventure you never know where you will be. We came to a bike trail crossing and we found out we were in East China. How did that happen as we never were on a plane. 😜. We noticed a place that had a grocery store so we pulled in. That is when I noticed the sign. Didn’t realize there was any K-mart signs left up anywhere. Nostalgia I guess. We ended up on a road that went along the St Croix river. Right across is our friendly country to the north. Canada, here we come. First though, we came upon a campground that looked really nice. Maybe some day we can come back to camp there. They also had some benches so we decided to stop to eat our muffins. We met Conrad who was camping there. He used to bike a lot when he was younger and his son does a lot of bike touring. Once we left there we rode for a bit and then came to our ferry to transport us to Canada. Turns out we had the ferry to ourselves. Kevin was our ferry man. It’s funny as our GPS showed how fast the ferry was going. They had to stop the ferry as a barge carrying crane had to go by. While waiting Hubs turned around and noticed 2 different water towers back in the states. Got a picture but can’t read them. When we got off the ferry we had to stop at customs. The 3 workers were very serious and when I asked to take their pictures for our blog they declined. Ok. So off we went. I did stop to get a picture of a light beacon when this dog came over and kinda wanted his picture taken too. I couldn’t refuse. When we went to turn onto a different road, I took a picture to show how the wind was blowing. The flags were straight out. Luckily it would be a tailwind for the rest of the ride. We pulled over to take our jackets off when a truck pulled up to tell us the bike lane was on the left of the road. It actually is a bike lane for riding both ways. It was weird as we were riding against the traffic instead of with the traffic. It went all the way to the bridge we had to cross. We ended up on a road that really didn’t have a shoulder for 14 miles and I have to say the Canadian drivers were very courteous to us. When we got into Chatham, it looks like a really nice town. The neighborhoods were very neat. We finally arrived at our motel and wow, there was a restaurant right next to it. We went there fore dinner and it was excellent. We met Mark when we were leaving the restaurant. He was on a motorcycle but does bike. He told us a story about when he was out on his bicycle and he came upon this guy with a fully loaded bike. They started talking and then the guy asked if he and his friends who were down the road a bit could stay at Marks house. He was like well let’s talk and get to know each other first. Yes, they did all end up at his house. We have friends that we met back in 2019 at uCamp (Debra & Randy Vince) who are going to pick us up at some point tomorrow and we will be staying 2 nights in Brandtford so we will be able to visit with them. So excited. Don’t know how far we will ride before Randy meets us.

Today's ride: 52 miles (84 km)
Total: 1,060 miles (1,706 km)

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Mike AylingKmart is alive and well in Australia
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8 months ago

Phil/Ann DettwilerWe think it’s terrific that you will be taking a break and staying with friends for two nights. Those refreshments are needed occasionally to get some physical and mental respite from the usual routine. Great idea!!
“Oh Canada!” will be a melody running through your heads for a few days; we are interested in your route and look forward to hearing about it once you get ‘back in the saddle’ (yet another song you can sing as you pedal along. 😌
Have a most fabulous visit/break !!
A & P
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8 months ago