Blogs from Dryden, Ontario, Canada, North America

Had a nice relaxing day. Drove up to Sioux Lookout to meet our blueberry connection. ? Stopped at Pelican sandwich for one of their delicious Naan BLTs. Went to the beer store. Severe thunderstorm warning as well as tornado warning for Dryden. Had supper at our motels restaurant which was also very good. Home tomorrow!!! Wonder how Rainy will react.... read more

Finale: Brandon to Home The bigmikeride was complete for this year, but I still woke up at my usual insanely early hour. Paul and Mariette are also early risers and for the last time I watched them perform their precisely choreographed morning routine of packing up. They work silently, each doing a different task - one rolling up bedding and packing dry bags while the other collapses the tent - in no time they had turned their camp into a pile of tight bundles, which they then carefully loaded in their panniers and bob trailer. It had become my habit to offer them a coffee each morning when they had finished packing their bikes. Making coffee was my only real job in the morning, as Michele - our team’s self titled “Sherpa” - did everything else ... read more

Since in the last post all I really did was complain, I thought I better add some positive notes. There is nothing quite like rolling slowly along the highway in the middle of nowhere with only your bike for company. Especially in the early morning when there is little traffic (which is not all that often these days). You see all kinds of things you don't notice when you are sealed up in a fast moving car. The birds! The birds of the prairies in spring are amazing! There is constant bird drama in the swampy ditches along the highway. Ferocious territorial fights between male red winged black birds; each perched ridiculously on a bent reed (barely big enough to support his weight) and vigilantly gaurding his claimed stretch of the ditch; each ready at a ... read more

So, I've known Mike for almost 39 years, and the whole time he's been talking about riding his bike across Canada. He retired last year, and now is 'now or never' time.So off we go into the wild blue, tomorrow! He will start in Kenora, since he's already done between Kenora and Silver Islet, and ride west for a few days to find his feet. I will follow him to the end of the earth, and bring all the stuff. We'll camp out in our little tent and figure it out ( I don't camp, I go to camp). After a few days, we'll both jump in the car and drive to Calgary to meet with friends and family, then on to Vancouver, where we will visit with our daughter for a few days. Mike will ... read more

An August long weekend in Dryden is always blogable. It is a lot of people in a small space, and half of them are bat crap crazy. I will blame any negative tone on my sore back, which did not result in a pleasant few days leading up to the trip. Now that I am mostly walking upright, the mood is improving. Slightly. The ride to camp was long. Mostly because of the endless complaining about the lack of luggage. I had two charges with me, and one was just back from a long, exotic vacay. And came with two suitcases that couldn’t have fit in my trunk if it was empty. And it certainly wasn’t because I had all the fixins for four cakes, which was my job for the big birthday party. It is ... read more