Home again, Home again, Jiggity jig!

Cody's doo-rag is falling off...

 

We arrived home today around 2:00.  Although sad that our trip is over, it is good to be home.  Cody was glad to see us, but he was well-taken care of by Valerie while we were gone.

We've already started the monumental task of going through ALL the mail and starting the laundry.  Most of our riding clothes are "wicking" and I had been washing them in the sink once we got into the hotel for the night and they would (usually) be dry in the morning.  But honestly, I am quite content to let the washing machine do the job tonight.

Vaughn has offered to wash and wax my bike for me since I did the laundry on the trip.  I think I am definitely getting the better deal on this one because our bikes are DIRTY, especially the whitewalls!!  I think I may have to take before and after pictures of our bikes. 

If you are receiving this message….

We clearly did not win at the casino last night.  We are on our way home, on the last leg of a wonderful trip and time together.  These are the things we learned on our trip:

·         You can never have enough licorice

·         Bad tasting hotel water can contaminate the Camelbak for days.

·         Canada really is expensive.

·         Canadians are friendly – we got waves from nearly every rider.

·         There is no such thing as a motorcycle seat that is too soft or comfortable.

·         Headsets and GPS are worth their weight in gold.

·         Never underestimate the power of a cellphone.

·         Help comes from unexpected sources.

·         Good times really make you appreciate the rest of life.

Short entry today. Just know that we are already planning for next year’s motorcycle extravaganza!

It's all DOWNHILL from here!

You know when you look at a map trying to get from here to there, you notice that you turn left on this street and then right on that street.  Well, The Falls are probably about five blocks away from here.  Three of them are downhill.  You don’t see the DOWNHILL part on the map.  What’s more important is that you don’t see the UPHILL part about trying to get back to the hotel…  After riding so long yesterday, my knees were pretty well locked up by the time we got off the bikes.  I figured the walk would do me good.  Note to reader: going up and down hills and stairs – not so good for sore knees.  (I have Vaughn convinced we were exercising, shhhh!!!)  Today when we walked to The Falls, we found out it was five blocks UPHILL both ways.

We tried to take candid pictures of people today.  And although there were plenty of pictures for the taking, we were unable to get any of them.  The funniest thing was overhearing another man making the same observation that Vaughn did of the woman in the white pants with the flowered…  well, you can take it from here.  

We went to Tim Horton’s to cool off and try the coffee (Vaughn is not a Starbucks fan).  I ordered him an iced coffee with cream only.  “You mean you don’t want it with the beverage base?”  “The what???”  I was enlightened to learn that their “beverage base” is a sweetened vanilla cream.  Nope – I want just coffee, cream and ice.  They looked at me like I had three heads.  It took two of them – the cashier and the woman who made the coffee – to figure out what I was requesting: c-o-f-f-e-e, c-r-e-a-m, and i-c-e.

We walked through the hotel with the casino.  We found a store with a dress in the window that was a sleeveless, snakeskin chiffon thing.  I was tempted to try it on, but it wasn’t in my size and it was $200 more than I had (no picture available).  We found a candy shop in which we both heard our first “eh?”  Between that and the number of shacks with satellite dishes that we saw, I am so winning this competition (remember, Libby?)

More pictures from higher up the falls.   

 

Humor inserted here:

Yesterday when I checked in, I was asked for the plate number of my car.  I said that we had two motorcycles and asked if she needed the tag numbers for both bikes.  No.  “Ummm, I can almost guarantee that yours will be the only motorcycles in our lot.”  

 The ice machine on our floor was broken, so I took our faux leather ice bucket to the front desk and asked if she knew where I could get some ice.  She called into the kitchen and requested a bucket of ice for me.  This is what we got.  We are living the life!

We are going to the casino tonight.  If this is the last entry in this blog, we both wanted to say it was nice knowing you, it’s been a wonderful ride, and we won a lot of money – good luck finding us!

Vaughn on vacation!

No food for you!

We got up at 5:00am so we could take advantage of the 6:00 continental breakfast to get on the road early.  But the 6:00 breakfast didn’t start until 7:00, so we left at 6:15 without breakfast.  We rode and we rode and we rode and there were no restaurants to be found.  Finally Vaughn spotted a motel that had a barely-visible-possible restaurant.  He was correct and we had a great  breakfast at the Hungry Bear.

Speaking of bears, I was driving lead and spotted a bear scampering across the shoulder and up over the rock wall next to the road.  I couldn’t get the words out fast enough and by the time we reached the spot where the bear climbed up, he was gone.  So no bear pictures today, either.  Meanwhile Vaughn kept looking for a moose.  It certainly looked like we were in the right area – lakes, rivers, swamps, desolate areas, but no moose to be found.

We did see some interesting rock "sculptures" on the rock walls lining the road.  Apparently people have taken stones and carefully stacked them into the shapes of animals - bird, turtle, deer, etc.  It made for an entertaining ride, especially the rock sculpture wearing the neon orange road worker vest!

100 kilometers later we saw THE moose.  I never thought I would be able to get this close to one!!

 Today’s trip was 315 miles and it was estimated to take 6 hours, 3 minutes.  It took us just over 7 hours – not bad considering we stopped for breakfast, gas, and lunch/gas. 

We went to dinner (EXPENSIVE, of course) and wandered down to the falls.  Yes, they are huge.  Yes, they attract mobs of people.  Yes, we took a bunch of pictures, but really the more amazing falls that we saw were the ones in the forests outside of Sault Ste, Marie, Canada. 

 

Tomorrow Vaughn wants to go take pictures of the people.  They are the more interesting photo opps!  (I think Vaughn called them "freaks...)

Canada, O Canada!

We ate breakfast at the restaurant next  to our motel this morning.  The waitresses, Karen and Elaine, had been great to us every time we ate there.  They greeted us like family when we went in, so it was kind of sad leaving this morning.

We made it through the Canadian crossing this morning without a problem.  The lady at the checkpoint asked where we were going - Sudbury. "Oh, that's not bad - about 3 1/2 hours."  OK, assuming it was about 10:00am when we crossed the border and we got into the hotel at 3:00pm, that was a long 3 1/2 hours!

Vaughn did it again - we stopped for gas this morning and he got talking to some guy about motorcycles - of course!  But he did get some good information about crossing in Niagara.  We'll have to follow up on the recommendation and keep you posted.

No pictures today - we were riding all day.  But there were signs that we wanted to get pictures of - "Please don't feed the bears" and "These deer don't look both ways".

Words of warning about Canada (or what we've seen of Ontario, so far):

1. It is EXPENSIVE!  We ate at Wendy's today - 2 chicken sandwiches and a medium soda - $15.00!  
2. Distances are measured in kilometers.  Fortunately I can adjust the GPS to kilometers, so that is how I monitor our speed - 90 km/hr is about 60 mph.
3. Nothing is well marked - streets, major roads, entrances to hotels, ...  
4. Roads can be rough - bumps, dips, craters, ...

The good news is most bikers wave and that is cool, like being a part of a secret club.

When we pulled into our hotel this afternoon we were a bit worried.  The have officially logged 1,104 miles on this trip!  Tomorrow we head to Niagara Falls, Ontario.  It's a trip of just over 300 miles and it is estimated to be about 6 hours.  I think we'll have to leave pretty early tomorrow morning.

And we are still having a good time!

NOTE to Liss and Jim - we had Pelee Island Pvt. Reserve Merlot with dinner, and it was GOOD!

Sault Ste. Marie - Day 3

Today's train trip departed from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, so we had to "cross the border".  Although mapquest said the 5 mile trip would take 15 minutes, we were advised to allow 45 minutes to get through customs.  We could pick up our tickets at 7:00 (train boarded @ 7:30 and left @ 8:00), so we left this morning just before 6am.  We got to the train station @ 6:15. But we were soon accompanied by others who had received the same advice.

The weather forecast for today was for isolated thunderstorms, so we packed our rainsuits to take on the train with us in case it was raining when we got back (we could suit-up before getting on the bikes). We carried our helmets with us, too.  Locking them onto the bikes didn't seem like a bright idea if they were going to be filled with rain water when we returned.  As we were waiting for the train we were approached by a woman who was also taking the train trip.  She asked if we wanted to leave our helmets in the trunk of their car.  She said she couldn't imagine us having to keep our helmets with us on the train.  So a HUGE THANK YOU to Teia (please forgive me if I misspelled your name) and Gary who allowed us to store our helmets in their car.  We saw them at the beginning of the trip and when we returned to the parking lot.  They were today's heroes.  It is meeting people like this that make these trips so memorable.

We rode the train for about 4 hours to get to the Agawa Canyon - through breathtaking forests, past beautiful lakes and waterfalls.  There was a camera mounted on the front of the train and several screens in each car, so we could see what was coming before we got there. This is how a few passengers in our car (Vaughn being one of them) saw a small black creature dart away from the train tracks, across the marsh and into the woods.  By the time our train car reached this spot, we saw a small bear disappearing into the woods.  He was too quick for a picture, but we really and truly saw a bear today.  That was so COOL!

The canyon held trails that wound up and down through forests of mosquitoes, ferns and trees to three different waterfalls.  We made it to one, but the heat got the better of us, read that as Vaughn.  He sought the air conditioning of the train and I continued traipsing around for pictures.   A nice trip, but too much time on the train and we were ready to get back on the road.

We were concerned about the ride back into the U.S. because yesterday we saw the traffic BACKED UP getting into our country.  Getting into Canada - no problem.  Getting into the U.S. - be prepared to wait.  We made it across the bridge (once I finally navigated us back to the bridge...)  But the border control guy was something else - he had my passport, but wanted to know what my name was, where I lived, what I did in Virginia, what my license plate number was, and could I take off my sunglasses....  We here tell that crossing over here is NOTHING compared to crossing at Niagara Falls -- well, I guess we'll find out in a few days.

Tomorrow we cross back into Canada to continue our travels to Sudbury.  Maybe this time we'll see a moose!

DINNER-last night

We interrupt today's commentary by telling you about last night's dinner.  We went to The Antlers, which should have been one mile down the street on which our motel is located.   But the road is closed for construction and between the detour signs, the GPS system and the gravel parking lot when we got there, I was just slightly stressed!  The restaurant had mixed reviews on tripadvisor.com, but we wanted to try it because the menu had venison.  What a COOL place!  There were all kinds of "taxidermied" animals - lions, sheep, goats, bobcats and mounted moose, elk, rhino heads, etc.  And antlers galore!

We asked the waitress (Emily) for meal recommendations and she suggested the wild game lasagna (buffalo, venison and sausage) and the venison pie (which was like a shepherd's pie).  Both were AMAZING!  Too big to finish, so we did bring them back to the room.  Emily would not let us leave without dessert.  She said their desserts were either to big or too rich for one person, so we split the MooseTracks Sundae.  Imagine a peanut butter rice crispie bar with fudge sauce, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.  Incredibly decadent!

With a couple of Mackinac Pale Ales, the bill was just $50.  What a bargain!  We were so glad we made the trip!  This is definitely worthy of a tripadvisor post!

Sault Ste. Marie - Day 2

Today was a “down day” for us.  The only ride was down the road to get the GOOD gas.  

BEFORE

AFTER

We are staying right across from the “Soo Locks” and strolled over this morning to watch the ships come in.  One ship was 100 feet across and 1000 in length.  The ships we saw came in from Lake Superior were lowered 21 feet in the lock, and went out into Lake Huron.  Absolutely amazing to watch!

Just another day - taking my ship for a walk...  : )

Tomorrow we are going on a scenic train trip through Canada.  We were advised to get bug spray.  The hotel owners told us the Rite Aid was ½-³/₄ miles away.  Definitely closer to ³/₄ miles!!!   It is about a five mile ride from here into Canada to get to the train station. We understand that getting into Canada isn’t that difficult; it’s getting back into the US that takes so long – we’ve heard as long as two hours!  This will be interesting…

Sault Ste. Marie – Day 1 (Saturday 7/9 - no wi-fi access yesterday!)

The story of US!

Yesterday's trip was 244 miles.  239 of them were on I-75 N.    NOTE – there are REST areas on the highway, not SERVICE areas.  If you need to get gas, you need to detour off the highway.

Unfortunately we were unable to get the following photo opps:

• The man at the rest area who was a survivor of the USS Arizona (one of those times when we were absolutely in awe and didn’t think to get a picture until after he left)
• The HUGE (at least 20 feet tall) beer bottle outside of  Big Buck’s restaurant (but you can Google "big beer bottle, Michigan" and find a picture)
• A hand-painted sign that read, “My wife begged me to come home…” – leaving both of us to say, “What did that sign say???”
• The last exit for gas “for the next 50 miles” in St. Ignace had only two gas stations, neither of which sold premium unleaded gas.  Are you kidding??  This is Michigan, the car capital of the country and you don’t sell premium gas???  (Our bikes are gagging on regular unleaded).

Highlights:

• Vaughn’s bike keys flew out of his pocket on the Interstate.  Fortunately, I was behind him, but it takes a little time to pull over to the shoulder when you’re going 70 mph.   I let Vaughn know through our intercom system.  And I was the hero, by going back to pick them up, risking my life walking into the road to pick them up … I do go on, don’t I?
• Wherever we stop, someone comes up to talk to Vaughn about bikes because they ride, used to ride, want to ride, etc.
• Going across the Mackinac Bridge.  Very cold, windy and scary!  There were metal grates in the bridge which could easily grab the tires and take the steering out of my control.  But Vaughn talked me through it (my hero) and I can chalk that up to one more “biker chick “experience. 
• They sell home-made pasties here.  This is pronounced with a short ‘a’.   We were reading it with a long ‘a’ and Vaughn thought it was hysterical.   Pronounced with a short ‘a’ it is like a meat pie/turnover, and we haven’t tried one (or two) yet…
• Vaughn ordered FISH for dinner, and it was DEEP FRIED!!  (Enough said for those of you who know him…)  And he really enjoyed it!

Lowlights:

Our bikes, boots, clothes were COVERED with splattered bugs by the time we got here.

• There are no Dunkin’ Donuts (or any other kind) in this part of the UP – Upper Peninsula.  But if you want moccasins for 25% off, you’ve come to the right place!

Some signs you just can't make up!

Saginaw - Yup, we're saggin' all!

Stormy skies before leaving Canfield this morning

The weather report for Canfield was "isolated storms" all day.  The only rain we hit was the few drops as we were packing up the bikes this morning.  What did hit us, however, was the spray from the tractor trailers on the roads where it had previously rained.

Coolness - the speed limit on the interstates in Ohio and Michigan is 70mph.

Scariness - the speed limit on the interstates in Ohio and Michigan is 70MPH!!!

Today's ride was about 319 miles - 158 miles on I-80W and 134 miles on US-23N.  Kind of hard to get lost on those roads!

Got in around 2:30, waited for a room, showered and headed out for lunch/dinner - and proof that we are in Saginaw

 

Although Vaughn's wasn't the coldest beer, mine was icy cold!  Good dinner, but we passed on the deep fried Twinkies for dessert.  Sigghhh.....

I hate to admit that I booked a room at the Residence Inn because they had a pool table.  And sadly I lost both of the games we played.

Off to Sault St. Marie tomorrow for a few days.

Canfield, Ohio - we have arrived!

Ready to go - in the fog!

Well, we probably left the house more like 6:30 than 6:00, but that's not bad.  Today's start was much more auspicious than last year's - our GPS system actually WORKED!!

Our first stop

We made it here in about 6 hours - not bad, including breaks.  I don't know how we would have made it without our Camelbaks for water.  The trail mix didn't hurt either - almost as good as SlimJims and Poptarts (Libby and Brint will get this...)

Vaughn - a little tired after the ride

Fortunately there is a restaurant right across the street, so we grabbed a beer, a sandwich, and proof that we are actually in Canfield, Ohio...

Shari, our waitress, was great!