It was a neat place once I got there, over a few more hills. An employee greeted me as soon as I came up on my bike, told me where to refill on water, where the bathroom was, everything I needed. I looked around, checked out the carvings and miscellaneous art and decor items for sale, and then restocked on junk food for the road and got an ice cream cookie for there (because it was a decently hot day). The food was even reasonably priced. ...The one problem was that for the life of me, I couldn't connect to the open wifi. Reluctantly, I decided to move on, since I'd seen signs for other places up ahead where I might get wifi. I was nearing Batchawana Bay, out of the hills, down right next to the sandy shores of Superior, and out of the dead zone. At the Voyageur's Lodge I stopped and got wifi and bought a soda, near perfectly spending the bit of Canadian currency I had returned last night when I paid for my greasy food at Twilight in USD.
There were some gorgeous sights, and I took time to stop and see them, even though part of me was tempted to just soar now that I was back on the flat. Chippewa Falls in particular was neat, and I got a chance to talk with an older couple there who was RVing there way across Canada. It threatened rain late in the day, drizzling a little here and there, but I knew it might acactually rain for real, so I tried to start making time after that.
Getting wifi may have been a mistake... Because, as I usually do, I then listened to Google. And this is one time Google steered me very wrong. It wanted me to get off the highway and go onto this church road and then onto a road called Old Gulais Bay. I had a worried feeling I was going to eventually end up on the whole time The c, but it kept on as pavement for a number of miles, though mostly poor, bumpy pavement to be sure. I was in a scenic wooded area lined with houses, and for a while I thought it might be worth it getting away from the highway for awhile. Then I had a dog chase me, and it's owner had to struggle to get it under control. ...And shortly thereafter I ended up on gravel, which was tolerable...followed quickly by some kind of awful dirt nonsense that was not. I turned right around, worried I'd have to deal with the damn dog again, but thankfully didn't, and detoured on another road back to the highway. I have no clue why Google wanted me to do that road. ...Perhaps it was to somehow avoid the then very long, not well shouldered hill I had to climb shortly after getting back to the highway. But I imagine I still would have had to climb it, just on an unbearable road. I knew the hill. The locals call it the mile hill, and I'd been warned about it many times, not so steep but very long and with the illusion you'll reach the top well before you actually do. After that though, it was all downhill to the Sault. As I got close, the showers finally started, but it was refreshing after the heat of the day more than anything. I made it into my stay well before the rain actually hit.
My host is an extremely nice, fun, interesting older gentleman (but then I don't think I've ever met a Warmshowers host who wasn't great). I did my bike maintenance, took my shower, got laundry started, while he made us an excellent meal (the one I went to bed satiated on last night). We talked until 10:30 (their time, I still haven't adjusted) about US and Canadian politics, our adventures, wildlife around here, and all manner of things. He has a great story about seeing a wolf that had been trying to get a moose calf separated from its mother, the wolf running off, leaving the mother in a staring contest with him. And another about a bear who got on his property (they get many around here, and I guess they're generally viewed like giant raccoons, big nuisances, rummaging through trash, and of danger mostly to pets), was chasing his dog around, went a little too far, and now its skull is on his mantle. He also biked the Trans Canada Highway a decade ago, until his trip was sadly cut short by a driver hitting him, not even noticing he was there. ...And that is of course always the worry, that for all you can face and overcome on the road, hills, wind, rain, all it takes is for one stupid driver to ruin it all. I have to say, I'm really looking forward to the future when self-driving cars replace all human driving.
In the course of our talk, he offered to let me stay for a rest day, and much as I've been looking to get back in the states, I just couldn't say no. I've gone 11 days straight without rest, averaging over 70 miles a day at that. I need a day off. I need to plan too, to figure out what road I'm taking and where I'm staying on my way to Madison. So today, in this nice house, with very nice company, I'm going to just rest and plan.
The legs are already restless. But my saddle sore butt is telling them to shut up.
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