Chris and I woke up before dawn to be ready the moment the hotel started serving breakfast at 7:00am. We were all packed up and ready and enjoyed one of the best complimentary hotel breakfasts I’ve had before.
Next, we got all of our stuff down to the bikes and said our goodbyes. Neither of us even needed gas, so we split up as soon as we left the hotel parking lot; Chris heading back home eastbound, and me heading westbound as far as I could make it around Lake Superior.
On my way out of town and back to the Trans-Canada highway, the rocky hills south of Sudbury allowed me to spot a giant, glinting disc perched vertically on the next ridge about a mile away. It was the famous Sudbury Big Nickel! I had to pull over into the layby area for a photo!
It wasn’t far from the Big Nickel until I was back on the Trans-Canada highway and heading west. Before Lake Superior, there was the matter of covering the 300 km (200 miles) to Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. The road was good, free of traffic but also pretty straight and relatively uninteresting, so I decided to cover the distance in a single stint before both my butt needed a break, and my bike needed gas. The fall colors were starting to come in though, so I kept my eyes peeled for leaf-peeping opportunities to shoot from the bike.
Another interesting and unexpected sight also came up along the highway was the Amish folks not just in horse-drawn buggies, but also riding bicycles along the highway. I didn’t feel comfortable photographing too much, since I didn’t want to gawk, but I did manage to snap one photo of a buggy as I went by.
After filling up, I tried looking for an independent coffee shop to re-caffeinate and have lunch. Being Sunday though, every one I found was closed for the day. I decided to just find a spot as I rode, but the town petered out before I found a local restaurant along the highway. I turned back and settled for lunch and a coffee at Tim Hortons.
After lunch, it was about 1:30pm and I was back out on the Trans-Canada highway westbound. Here, the highway directions switched to North/South as the highway headed around the lake’s north shore. After about 30 minutes, the rugged lake views began, with awesome rocky hills and near-mountains providing awesome viewpoints of the uniquely Ontario landscapes.
After another couple of hours, I came upon the town of Wawa, Ontario and took an extended gas and snack stop. On the way out of town, I snapped a pic with the famous Wawa giant Canada Goose.
Back onto the Trans-Canada highway I went, with just one more 100 km (65 mile) stint left to get to the town of Marathon, Ontario, as I was starting to feel pretty road weary and the light was starting to fade.
In Marathon, I found a motel right downtown and got myself a room. I ordered a pizza for pickup from the Pizza Hut across the street, and while I waited, explored the downtown a bit. I found a really cool combination movie rental, video game, board game and electronics store and couldn’t resist having a browse. After 20 minutes, I left with a new Nintendo Switch game and a chocolate bar for dessert.
Pizza was ready. I picked it up and got back to my room to chow down and write up yesterday’s blog article, before going to bed around 11:00pm.
Tomorrow will be another long day, as I am planning on crossing into Minnesota, finishing the way around Lake Superior and making it to Marv Bohn’s place in Brainerd, Minnesota.