Port Rowan, Ontario, Canada

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I forgot to mention the other night while we were cruising around on the boat, we found some stranded boaters. It wasn’t quite dark yet, but getting very close. Apparently their battery voltage was too low, maybe from running lights and other things too long without running the engine, and they needed a tow. The people that were on the boat with us knew who they were, and towed them across the lake back to their dock.

Today was an interesting day, as far as my emotional status goes. I went for another ride with Don (Harley guy); he decided to join me on my ride to Canada for a while today. We headed slightly north of where I was planning on crossing the border, and saw some of the sights around the thumb area of Michigan. We had lunch together in Lexington, and he headed home once I was ready to go into Canada. Don is such a great guy. He has a family, and is involved in a group called Hogs In Ministry (HIM). They are a motorcycle ministry, and from what I hear they do a great job. Don is a very nice, down-to-earth, laid back Christian man.

Going through customs I had no problems, other than I just had to answer some simple questions regarding my business in Canada. For some reason, it was a very weird feeling once I got into Canada. It was like I was in a totally new place, and I felt like I knew nothing about what was going on. And I had this feeling like I was very vulnerable and disconnected from the world. My thought at this point was to arrive in Tillsonburg, find the house I would be staying in tonight by using the software on my computer, and go there shortly after that. It played out very different from this, let me explain. When I arrived in town, I realized I didn’t have names of smaller roads in Canada, and the address I was looking for did not exist on my computer. I tried to get directions from locals, and nobody knew the location of the place I was describing. I got answers from “that description is too general” to “the highway you are looking for is around the towns that are 30 miles away”. I had this gut feeling that they were all wrong, and later I found this was correct. After having no luck with the locals, I went to a nearby wifi hotspot that a guy told me about, and found that this “free” network is password protected! So I had two options left: call to Canada on my cell phone, or not show up and get a motel. It was obvious to me that I just needed to fork out the dough and make a call to the people in the MYW directory. I don’t remember if I mentioned it before, but I would be staying with some friends of the couple listed in the MYW. The original couple said they were busy, but they knew I was an engineering graduate so they checked with some other engineering friends of theirs. And they were happy to take me in. I got directions, and showed up about a half hour late. I gave them a heads up, but in general I just hate being late! Anyway, it all finally worked out, but I was a little irritated and discouraged for a while.

The family I was with was awesome too! We had dinner, went swimming in their pool, and just hung out for a while. I felt right at home with these guys, and they’re just laid back and very genuine and caring people. I guess the other thing that I enjoyed was that they are Canadian! From what I have seen, Canadians are a little different than most Americans, in a good way of course. We had a conversation about some of the phrases that Canadians say, and it was quite entertaining. They say things like chesterfield, hydro bill, about (pronounced a-boat), the frequent "eh", and the list goes on and on. I’m sure they probably think we say weird things too! I will be staying with them tomorrow night too, at least that is the plan right now. They referred me to a friend of theirs that rides motorcycles too, but they couldn’t get a hold of him tonight. I might see if we can get a hold of him tomorrow, and maybe spend Thursday night with him. Plus he is within 30 miles of Buffalo, so I would be right there close to the concert facility.

Off to bed, I’m exhausted, it is midnight.

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