July 28, 2009

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Day 58. 16,755Km
Rather than take the most direct route on Hwy 17 I googled a camp site in Fort Frances and decide to take the more scenic Hwy 11 option but first I had to stop at the home of my favorite store. Princess Auto started as a wrecking yard in Winnipeg and is now everywhere but Quebec.
When I got there the campground was a run down trailer park that allowed overnight parking. No thanks. There was a municipal campground but they had no showers and I already skipped the night before. Besides, it was raining pretty good and I hate taking the bike out in the rain. I have to take the bike out to get a bed down so I have no choice. I carried on to Atikokan but the motel was full. The sun was pretty much down but it looked like Thunder Bay was going to be my destination. I did'nt like the idea of driving in the dark because of moose and deer on the road but what choice did I have at this point? The rain made it even harder to see and there was fog here and there too. Somewhere along the road I spotted an RV site sign. It was after 2100hrs but the guy came out of his house to let me know they were full of annual trailers but I could park in the tenting section. The tenting section was a mud hole due to the rain so I left. Fate or God or Karma got me through without hitting any beasts. In fact other than something very small in a ditch I never saw an animal on the whole trip. Maybe the rain keeps them in the woods. Getting close to Thunder Bay I saw a sign for the Econo Lodge so I punched it in the GPS. They were full but the guy told me the Prince Arthur had rooms and they did. I checked in and asked where I might get something to eat. The casino or a pub were my options. I never found the pub she mentioned but when I entered another and they had no food I asked again where I might find something to eat at 0100hrs. The Casino was my only option so I tried it. They had a few salads on a menu available for the wee hours so I figures they were in a cooler looking limp. No thanks. I just went back to the hotel. As I'm getting out of the truck I hear the hiss of doom. Yup. A tire going flat. That sucks. Oh well. I'll call CAA in the morning.

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