#travelblog

Montana and Wyoming

Melanie de Wet2 Comments

I have been back in London for nearly 2.5 months and conscious that I ever finished writing up my journey. Thought I’d rectify that. So here goes.

With Sturgis under my belt, I was ready for Devils Tower. I was already keen to see the rock formation but I also promised Jeannine and Scott, who I spent two nights with in Michigan, that I’d send them a photo of Devils Tower when I got there as they missed Devils Tower when they were in South Dakota. I fulfilled my promise while completing the 2.3 km walk around the tower.

About 50 million years ago molten magma was forced through sedimentary rock above it and cooled underground. As it cooled it contracted and fractured into columns. Over time the sedimentary rock eroded leaving Devils Tower exposed. Devils Tower is nature at its finest and I was so pleased to have seen it.

I had arranged to speak to Jenny around 5.30pm, so once I’d walked around the tower and enjoyed some time admiring it’s beauty, I rode back to the entrance to wait for Jenny’s call. While I was waiting for Jenny to call a guy came over to talk to me.

‘So you’re riding across the world’, he asked? ‘That’s the plan over the next ten years’, I said. This is how I met Dan ‘Tito’ Davis – a fugitive from the US authorities between 1994 and 2007 for drug dealing, before he was arrested and spend 14 years in prison. While in prison, Dan wrote a book about his life. He gave me a signed copy when we met.

Meet Dan ‘Tito’ Davis. Definitely the most colourful character that I met on my trip.

After my call with Jenny I rode to Gillette where I spent two nights. I was getting increasingly physically uncomfortable and thought a little time off the bike would be good. I stayed in the Home2 Suites by Hilton which cost about $115 (£92) a night and was actually one of my favourite hotels stays of this trip. It was excellent value!

Within the first hour of being at the hotel I met John, a real estate broker from Oregon, who was on a business trip. John and I hit it off immediately and we ended up having breakfast and dinner together for the two days that I was there. What a lovely guy.

Meet John.

On the 1st July I was back on the road heading to Billings. It was a wet ride and I nearly ran out of petrol/gas. Luckily I didn’t!

I was so uncomfortable at this stage that I didn’t leave the B&B that I was staying at and just ate the snacks that I had with me. Walking was starting to become quite painful.

The next morning I was up and ready to tackle Beartooth Highway (Highway 212), which runs from Red Rock into Yellowstone National Park from the east. I was expecting it to be cold so I layered up in anticipation.

At one of the viewing points I hooked up with two couples on Harley’s. They were from Florida and had picked up rental bikes that morning.

As I had started ascending the pass my petrol gauge dropped suddenly to a quarter tank and I was concerned about running out of gas (again). There was also no cell/mobile reception to check where the nearest gas station was.

‘You can ride with us and we’ll get you to the next gas station’, they said. Fantastic! That gave me the courage to push forward and not return to Red Rock to fill my tank.

Beartooth Pass was fantastic! The scale of the mountain range was impressive. The ride itself was pretty easy. The switchbacks (hairpin bends) were gentle, not like those in Europe which are sharp and require concentration.

Below is of photo of me at the top of Beartooth Pass.

I rode in the middle to the two Harley’s. They stopped often for sightseeing and photos but as the day went by it was getting increasingly painful to climb off and onto Trinity. When we got to Cooke City I had to stop. I was in too much pain to continue.

I had lunch in a little restaurant that had WiFi and found a room for the night, which was in the High Country Motel. It wasn’t great (it had a funny smell) but it had to do.

The next morning after breakfast I left for Mammoth Springs, which is in the north-western part of Yellowstone National Park. I was aiming for the walk-in clinic that I knew was there.

It was about a 1.5hr ride from Cooke City to Mammoth Springs. The ride did not disappoint. Outside of the fantastic scenery there were Bison everywhere. I stopped at a viewing point where I could see a crowd of people at the waters edge viewing the Bison on the far side of the river. It was fantastic to see so many Bison grazing in the wild.

I stopped at the viewing point for about 20-30 minutes before heading to Mammoth Springs. I couldn’t stop thinking about my cousin and his family who were with me there in July 2015 when I did my first USA/Canada bike trip.

After lunch I went to the doctor. From start to finish the visit took about 1.5 hours. I was slightly nervous about how much it was going to cost but it wasn’t too bad at $187 including my medicine. The doctor suspected that I had an allergic reaction to washing powder. She said it was the second worst case she had ever seen. I was put on an steroid to reduce the swelling, which I needed to take twice a day for 5 days.

I stayed in Chico Hot Springs that night, which was only an hour north of Mammoth Springs. I had a super sweet little cottage on top of a hill above the main hotel.

Unfortunately, I did not have a good night. Exhausted and in pain, I went to bed early and woke just after midnight with my body oozing a disgusting smelling blood stained discharge. The steroid and other meds had clearly kicked in and my body was expelling whatever it needed to. It smelled like my dying puppy, Hailey, when she was dying from salmonella poisoning. It was a smell I could not forget and it was frightening that it was coming from my body. Man, did I feel vulnerable!

I felt a lot better in the morning but made the decision to stay put somewhere for a couple of days to rest and recover and that place would be Bozeman, Montana. I stayed in Bozeman from 4-7 July. The first thing I did, of course, was go searching for a hypoallergenic laundry powder to wash my clothes in.

During my ‘downtime’ in Bozeman I took Trinity for a wash, I had my hair cut and coloured, I walked around the shops and had Trinity’s chain adjusted. Other than that I watched TV, wrote a blog and spend a lot of time with my loved ones on the phone.

By the time I left Bozeman the swelling in my body had massively reduced and it was far more comfortable to be back on Trinity.

I was really looking forward to enjoying my rides again. My journey on the 7th July would take me to Kalispell, which is on the western side of Glacier National Park. I was dying to ride the Going-to-the-Sun road in the park. I did the ride with my cousins in 2015 but the weather was not great and the fog prevented us from seeing the view. I was keeping my fingers crossed that it wouldn’t rain the next day. As luck would have it, it didn’t.

Glacier National Park is spectacular! Although there are not many glaciers left, most have receded, the scenery is breathtaking! The Going-to-the-Sun road was my favourite ride of my trip. It was everything that I had hoped it would be and then some. I stopped a number of times to take photos, walk to waterfalls and to take photos of the unusual flowers that covered the landscape. It was perfect! I could not have asked for a better day.

Below are photos of Glacier National Park.

Near Canada! 🤩

Michigan to South Dakota

Melanie de Wet1 Comment

After a fantastic few days in Michigan, I caught a ferry from Muskegon to Milwaukee on Tuesday, 24 June headed for the Badlands National Park in South Dakota. While waiting for the ferry I met Doug, a superintendent for the Rapid City school district. Doug was on a Harley and was also headed to the Badlands so we decided to ride together.

Doug was keen to get to Sioux Falls that night – a 530 mile ride from Milwaukee. I had never ridden that far in one day and definitely not after a few pints the night before, so I was not expecting to join Doug the whole way.

Between a nice pace, stops every 1.5-2 hours and a lot of Neil Diamond running through my head, I made it all the way with Doug. I was so chuffed!

Meet Doug.

Once we were out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the ride was beautiful. The farms in Minnesota were particularly gorgeous, primarily because the fields were a deep green after all of the rain. The eastern side of South Dakota was flatter and less interesting but all I can remember was seeing billboards for Wall Drug (there are 313 of them in total – I Googled it, I didn’t count them).

The sun was setting as we drove into Sioux Falls and it was absolutely stunning! The sky was a gorgeous pink and there was not a cloud in the sky. It could not have been a more perfect setting to finish the day.

We found a hotel near a bar and popped over for a beer and a bite to eat before heading off to sleep. Doug was meeting students that were at a Science camp in Custer State Park and he needed to be there by 2pm. This meant an early start.

We got to Wall Drug at about 12pm. Doug popped into Wall Drug and then Harley Davidson with me and then we said our goodbyes. It was such a pleasure to have spent 36 hours with Doug. He had such a laidback nature and warm smile. I will not forget either.

After lunch in Wall Drug I rode to the Badlands National Park and entered via the Pinnacles Entrance. The park is set around one long east-west running road. I first rode west which soon became a dirt road and stopped at Robert Prairie Dog Town where there was a large herd of Bison.

After 10 minutes of watching the Bison, I turned around and rode east through the park, stopping a number of times to look around and take photos. The Badlands National Park is stunning! Due to the rain, the grass was high and flowers were blooming. One of the locals said this was one of the best years to visit the park. I’m glad I timed it so well!

Below are photos of the Badlands.

I booked into the Days Inn, which was reasonably priced. Doing my washing there that night would cost me dearly, as I discovered later that week, but more about that in the next post.

The morning of the 27th June I went to see the Story of Wounded Knee Museum before leaving Wall. How depressing! I didn’t know the history but basically 400 Lakota Indians, mostly women and children, were slaughtered at Wounded Knee. The attack was unprovoked and the tribe was unarmed. It was shocking and incredibly sad.

I left Wall headed for Mt Rushmore. It was a scenic ride and I loved Mt Rushmore. I have always wanted to see it in person.

Growing increasingly conscience that something was not quite right with me, I ate Bison Stew, thinking this would be as close to organic meat as I was going to get in a restaurant. It was good!

Below are photos of Mt Rushmore.

From Mt Rushmore I rode south on Highway 16A towards Custer State Park. The ride was incredible with its twists, turns and tunnels. At one point you could see Mt Rushmore framed by one of the tunnels. It was stunning and the image is engraved in my mind.

I loved Custer State Park eventhough I only saw two buck. There were a number of signs saying, ‘Bison are dangerous, don’t approach them’ but I didn’t see any. That was slightly disappointing but I did manage to do a good stretch of off-road riding, which was great. I definitely need to get more used to riding off-road.

Below are a few photos of Custer State Park.

That night I stayed in Custer and had my first Hog shank, which was absolutely delicious and probably one of my favourite meals on this trip. The town itself was  really cute and quaint. The Painted Bison statues in the main street were delightful and clearly compensation for the lack of Bison the Custer State Park (at least that day).

The 28th June was dedicated to two sights – the Wind Caves National Park and Crazy Horse Monument.

I enjoyed Wind Caves but mostly for the fantastic tour guide, Anthony from Puerto Rico, who’s storytelling brought the place to life. Because the Wind Caves are ‘dry caves’ there are no stalagmites or stalactites, which is what I really love, so I didn’t find them as exciting as other caves that I have been to. The ‘boxes’ in the caves, which looked like massive spiderwebs, where however very unique and beautiful.

Meet Anthony – the lovely Ranger at Wind Caves.

I arrived at Crazy Horse Memorial at about 4pm. Construction of the mountain carving started in 1948 by Korczak Ziolkowski, who was commissioned by Chief Henry Standing Bear, to carve a 172m monument of Crazy Horse into the Black Hills. The monument, once completed, will represent Crazy Horse riding a horse and pointing out to the fields. It is intended to capture the spirit of the Indian people.

The memorial is funded by admissions and donations and is therefore slow in the making. It will take a few more decades to complete but once complete will stand taller than the Washington Monument.

As I turned off to visit the memorial there were two Harley riders in front of me. I stopped to take a photo of the sign outside, which says ‘Never Forget your Dreams’. I heard the rider at the back saying, ‘It’s $7 to get in if that’s what you’re looking for’. ‘Thanks’, I said. ‘I was just taking a photos of the sign’, I explained.

When I arrived up at the parking area I saw the two riders and the same guy called me over to park with them. The parking lot was full so that was very sweet. As I approached he said, ‘Oh, you’re a girl. I just noticed it from your legs’. I giggled and said, ‘Yeah, I am a skinny ass’.

This is how I met Steve and Marvin, two retired truck drivers from Oregon.

I ended up spending the next 2.5 hours with Steve and Marvin. We first took the guided bus tour to see the monument and then attended an exhibition by a couple from the Lakota tribe who performed traditional singing and dancing. They also spoke about the history of their people. It was incredibly interesting and beautiful.

Steve and Marvin were absolute sweethearts. It was so nice to have spent the afternoon with them. Meet my Oregon grandpa’s.

I arrived at Deadwood around 9pm that night. The nearest restaurant was a 15 minute walk away so it was nice to stretch my legs before having a relatively early night.

In the morning I went to see Deadwood’s Historical District. It was what I expect Blackpool in the UK to look like but it was fun. My favourite thing, by far, was however the distillery. It sold all sorts of things made from Moonshine, which reminded me of my time with Amanda and Dustin in Knoxville. It brought back so many fantastic memories!

After about two hours of walking around I left for Sturgis. I was warned that there isn’t much there unless the motorcycle rally is on but I wanted to see it. As it turned out there was a Camaro Rally on so there were Camaro’s on display everywhere. My dad would have loved it!

I spent about an hour walking around looking at the cars and shops before visiting the motorcycle museum. The museum was great, although not as spectacular as The Ride Through Time in Maggie Valley. That remains my all time favourite.

Like Michigan, South Dakota was a fabulous surprise. I thoroughly enjoyed the variety that the State has to offer.

I had planned to go to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota but the mountains were calling me and I had to go.

Michigan

Melanie de Wet1 Comment

I arrived in Michigan and back into the USA on 20 June. Because my passport wasn’t stamped at Miami Airport on the day that I arrived, I was directed to go and speak to an Border Patrol Officer when I arrived at the border crossing at Sault Ste Marie.

Isn’t it funny how you get nervous speaking to Border Patrol Officers even when you haven’t done anything wrong? Or maybe that’s just me.

I wasn’t sure what all they’d need so I took my bag in that has Trinity’s paperwork. I didn’t need them. The officer just wanted to know when and where I arrived into the country and when I would be leaving. She asked whether I’d used a self checkin machine at Miami Airport, which I did, hence no stamp. After about 3 minutes of talking I was good to go. Phew!

I was now heading for Tahquamenon Falls State Park, which Eric told me about at Harper’s Ferry. I drove along Lake Superior on W Lakeside Drive and stopped off at Point Iroquois Lighthouse before proceeding onto the falls on Highway M123 via a town called Paradise. I arrived into Paradise at around 2pm so I had lunch and called Jenny. I had invited Jenny to join me in Alaska and after seeing photos of the Kenai Fjords National Park she was sold! I had made no arrangements for Alaska, so we were now planning our week in Alaska together.

Tahquamenon Falls has a Lower and Upper Falls. I did the Lower Falls first. Here I met Jeannine and Scott from central Michigan at the viewing point. I thought Jeannine was with a group of people so I asked if she wanted me to take the photo so that she could be in it. She had already done the same thing. We shared a giggle over that and once she’d taken the photo we got chatting.

Jeannine asked me where I was staying that night and I said I didn’t know – I still needed to figure that out. They were staying at a Motel in Hubert called the Handshake Motel which is run by a friend of a friend. ‘They don’t advertise but they probably have an extra room’, she said. I instantly took to both her and Scott so I thought it would be fun to join them if the timings worked out.

For a while we went our separate ways exploring the Lower Falls and then moving onto the Upper Falls, which was a few miles west. The Upper Falls were definitely the more spectacular of the two. Due to the tannin in the water, the water is the colour of Coke Cola. The Upper Falls looked like a toffee apple. It was spectacular!

Below are some photos of the falls.

I met Scott again at the lower viewing deck of the Upper Falls and I decided I’d follow them to the Handshake Motel to see if they had a room. There was no mobile/cell signal in the park so I was just going to chance it.

The motel is located on a property that consists of three buildings. The motel rooms are on the right, the owners house on the left and a business property in the centre. They were having a garage sale, so there were chairs, lamps, bookshelves and other items outside the business building fronting the motel rooms. It was very amusing!

It turned out that only two of the rooms were available (we were the only guests) and the two rooms shared an adjoining bathroom. Between us we thought it was fine so we brought our things into the rooms.

Now, where do we eat? At this point Wendy, a neighbour and also a friend of Jeannine’s friend who recommended the motel, arrived in an off-road buggy car. Wendy is a real little live wire. When we mentioned that we wanted to eat she suggested Hubert Happy Hour – a pub in town. I think it may have been the only pub in town, given that the town has a population of 250 people.

Wendy seemed to know everyone in the bar and introduced us. We chatted, laughed, ate and drank before heading back to get some sleep.

The next morning, Jeannine and Scott had coffee ready at 7am and we sat talking and laughing in their room, while drinking coffee and eating the chocolate doughnuts that they had with them. We spoke about what we were going to do for the day and they advised me to take a boat tour at Pictured Rocks, as well as giving me some other tips of what to see while in Michigan.

Jeannine invited me to stay another night with them as it’s not a long ride from where we were staying to Mackinac Island, which is where I wanted to go the next day. So that became the plan.

It took around 25 minutes on the boat before we reached the Painted Rocks but they were worth the wait. They are absolutely fantastic! There are photos below of the Painted Rocks and some videos on my Facebook page.

I arrived in Michigan and back into the USA on 20 June. Because my passport wasn’t stamped at Miami Airport on the day that I arrived, I was directed to go and speak to an Border Patrol Officer when I arrived at the border crossing at Sault Ste Marie.

After the wonderful boat tour I headed east along the lakeshore and stopped at a couple of lookout points. The first looked just like a beach so I sat on the sand for a while before heading off to my next stop, which was a lookout point across the water from a high sand dune. It was spectacular and the best part was that I was there on my own. It was so calm and peaceful. There are photos of my stops below.

It was about 7.30pm when I left the lakeshore to head back to Hubert. When I passed a Pizza Hut I stopped and message Jeannine to see if they had eaten. They hadn’t. ‘Do you want me to grab some pizzas’, I asked her. Her and Scott were utterly bemused at how I was going to bring back the pizzas. ‘Bungee cords’, I replied.

We decided in the end to head back to Hubert Happy Hour. Wendy and her boyfriend joined us for dinner along with some of the townsfolk. It was very entertaining listening to their stories. My favourite being one of the guys smacking a bear on the butt so that it would go back up the tree. It was so far removed from my life that I couldn’t help but smile and listen.

Meet Scott and Jeannine and some of the townsfolk of Hubert, Michigan.

I had laughed so much with Scott and Jeannine that it was difficult to say goodbye the next morning. I was however excited to see Mackinac Island and the Sleeping Bear Dunes.

After a lengthy goodbye and a lot of hugs I hit the road. I had my GoPro on while crossing Mackinac Bridge, the 4th longest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere. The weather was perfect so I took the opportunity to walk around Mackinac City a bit before boarding the ferry to Mackinac Island, which is a state park and does not allow any motorised vehicles on it.

The island is very quirky and full of bicycles and horse drawn carts. This does means that it smells a little of horse manure but that’s mostly along the Main Street near the shops. Once you move away from there you don’t notice the smell.

I decided to explore the island on foot rather than by bicycle as I’m on my butt most days. It was great to stretch my legs and wander into different shops in the town and viewpoints along the shoreline. The island is stunning with its rock outcrops and crystal clear water. I thought of Tom and our day on the bicycles on Centre Island in Toronto as I was walking along the shoreline path, which was full of bicycles.

It was a beautiful day and a trip I would happily do again. Below are a few photos of my day on Mackinac Island.

That night I stayed just outside of Charlevoix.

The morning of the 24th June started with a stop at Torch Lake before heading onto Glen Arbor via Sutton Bay. I was getting very excited to see the dunes.

I stopped at a bakery in town for a coffee and bread pudding and asked the owner what I shouldn’t miss while I was there. He gave me some advice and then a lady in the store told me about a trail where she loves to take her dog for a walk. ‘It will be less touristy’, she said. Great, I’m heading there then.

The trail was called the Sleeping Bear Point Trailhead. I took my boots off and put my trainers on ready for a walk. After chatting to a family in the parking area about my trip, I hit the trail. I soon realised this was a sand trail and not a gravel trail. ‘Hmmm…not sure how long I’ll last on this’, I thought.

I decided to just head to the lakeshore and not walk the trail, which was a great decision. I walked up onto one of the dunes which had a great view over the lake and the local topography. I took a video on the sand dune which I posted on Facebook before walking down to the water.

I didn’t stay at the water long because there were a lot of black flies. They are a pest and also bite you, so I was well covered up. I was glad I made the trip though.

From there I went to the Dune Climb, which I thought was just the dune that I could see but turned out to be a much bigger walk. I did not have water with me so I only walked about 30 minutes of the climb before turning back. It is incredibly tiring walk of these sand dunes but so much fun.

After a call with Jenny I headed for the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, which has various lookout points onto the dunes. The best by far, however, was the Dunes Scenic Overlook. I have never seen a sand dune like it. It’s 200m in height and drops down at nearly a 45 degree angle. It takes 5 minutes to go down and anything from 45 minutes to climb back up. I mean climb – you’re on all fours.

I was still contemplating where I wanted to go all the way down the dune when I reached about half way and there was a little boy sitting on the dune crying. It turns out his name was Adam and he was 8 years old. He had climbed down by himself and was struggling to get back up. Well, that made my decision a lot easier.

I sat with Adam for a while asking him questions so that he would stop crying and making sure he wasn’t hurt. I asked him who his favourite superhero was but he didn’t have one, so I started running through the list just to keep his mind off him being tired. We decided we’d be like Spiderman and climb back up the dune. It took us about 20 minutes but we got there, greeted by a bigger brother and very grateful and slightly tearful mother. She said he was very strong willed. I could see that. It’s exactly the type of thing I would have done as a child, so I could relate. I told her maybe one day he’ll be a great explorer. It made her smile and with that we parted ways.

Below are some photos and a video of the dunes.

After a bit of further exploring I was off to Manistee for the night.

When I woke up the next morning the weather wasn’t great. I was also tired so I decided to have an easy day. My guts been struggling with my ‘on the road diet’ and I was feeling it.

I rode to Muskegon where I would be catching the Lake Express Ferry to Milwaukee the next morning and looked for somewhere to stay. As I would be there all afternoon I wanted somewhere a little nicer so I picked the Shoreline Inn and Conference Centre which was on the harbour. I arrived there too early to check in so I had an amazing lunch at the Lake House Waterfront Grille before checking into the hotel.

While I was unpacking Trinity a guy came over and started speaking to me. His name is Lazareth and he has two Harley’s and a BMW. What a lovely guy. We spoke for a while and then I went into the hotel to have a shower. It was nice to actually put on some ‘normal clothes’.

As I was (and still am) behind on my blogs, I sat in the hotel bar writing my blog about New York State. This is were I met Pam – a kindergartener teacher who has a passion for rollercoasters. Pam has ridden 313 rollercoasters and aims to ride 600. I don’t like rollercoasters but that is fantastic!

We were talking and then Lazareth arrived and bought me another drink. It was a good night.

Meet Pam and Lazareth.

I left the hotel around 9am on the 24th June to catch my ferry at 10.15am. It was a 15 minute ride away but I wanted to get there in good time. The ferry cost €171 so I did not want to miss it!

It was a smaller ferry than I had images but it was very nice. As I was waiting to board the ferry I started chatting to a lovely Canadian guy who lived in South Africa for a while, as well as the Harley rider, who was parked next to me. Rich was a retired Civil Engineer who was with his wife from Texas. At the age of 65 she had just completed her 101st marathon. Wow! That’s 2,664 miles just of races. I was slightly in awe of this.

Shortly before we were about to start boarding another Harley pulled up. This is how I met Doug. Doug and I ended up riding together until we hit South Dakota but I’ll leave that story for the next blog.

Ontario

Melanie de WetLeave a comment

The last two weeks, echoed by my trip to date, has been incredible. I’m starting to feel like I’m living in a dream and I’m waiting to wake up.

I left Kevin and Jeanne on 14 June headed for Niagra Falls. I walked around the USA side of the falls which was spectacular, stopping at all the lookouts that I could find. The US side of the falls is made up of the American Falls, best viewed from Prospect Point, and Bridal Veil Falls, best viewed from Caves of the Winds.

The Maid of the Mist boat tour, which I had hoped to take, was closed that day due to the high water level, so I decided to walk to the base of the falls instead. The tour is called the Cave of the Winds. I didn’t understand why until I stood at the base of the falls. The power of the water creates a wind that pushes up against you before the water does. It was an incredible experience but one I would want to do in shorts next time as my jeans were drenched beneath the knee – my poncho only reached my knees.

Below are some photos of Niagra Falls.

I stayed in Niagara-on-the-Lake that night at the Orchid Inn, where I met the delightful Cindy, who I suspect was the owner. I’m slightly sad I did not have an extra day there as I could see all the vineyards as I approached the town and they looked gorgeous!

In the morning I had to be in Toronto at 12:00 to drop Trinity off with Derek from Boxer Cycle Works, who would be servicing Trinity. When he heard what I was up to he offered to do the service for free. How amazing is that! Thank you again Derek!

Meet Derek.

I had a fantastic weekend with my best friend’s family in Toronto. I also have Tom to thank for speaking to Derek about my visit. Thanks Tom!

Tom was an absolute superstar and played tour guide of Toronto. Tom and Karen’s (his wife) home is just east of the city centre near Lake Ontario. After taking Trinity to Derek and having lunch, we headed off for a nice walk along the lake and popped into the Balmy Beach Club, where Tom is a member. There was a beach volleyball competition on so we watched the games from the deck with a beer in hand.

The following day Tom and I headed to Centre Island, which is accessed by ferry front the city centre. Tom hired us bicycles and we had a really good giggle when he was presented with a girly bike and me a mountain bike. This was purely a height thing but it amused me no end and Tom was such a good sport about it.

There has been so much rain in the northeast that many of the paths were closed and there were sandbags in a lot of places to keep the water out off paths and out of the lakeshore houses. I’ve never seen that before.

We explored what we could of the island and also managed to watch a bit of the Dragon Boat racing that was taking place. I’ve participated in two charity Dragon Boat race events before, which were great fun, but these guys were in another league. It was impressive to watch!

Following the visit to the island we walked around the lake front of the city centre. Karen had been taking part in a lawn bowling competition, so she sadly couldn’t join us on our jolly but it was lovely to spend time with her in the evenings.

Below are a few photos of my wonderful time in Toronto.

I left Toronto on Monday, 17 June headed for Tobermory, Ontario. My plan was to catch the ferry over to Manitoulin Island and then head to the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan. I had been advised to visit the UP by Sherry in Blowing Rock and Eric who I met in the house at Harper’s Ferry earlier in my trip. This would take me off my original plan to ride along the southern side of the lakes via Chicago but between the severe weather warnings and local advice, I decided north it would be. It turned out to be a fantastic decision (more about that later though).

Tobermory is small and really cute! I stayed in the Bruce Anchor Motel, which is located at the entrance of the ferry terminal, and a short walk to the locals bars and restaurants.

After checking in I went for a walk to the Big Tub lighthouse, which was a 1.5 mile walk away. The weather was great and it was nice to stretch my legs after 4 hours of riding.

Bruce Anchor Cruises is located across the road from the motel and they were advertising shipwreck cruises. That sounded like fun.

The view from the lighthouse was stunning and I could see how clear the water was. I was getting quite excited to a potential shipwreck cruise.

After an evening of veal steak and the beer tasting menu at the Tobermory distillery, I was ready to go exploring in the morning. I popped over to the ferry terminal and booked the afternoon ferry and then went to see if the shipwreck cruise could accommodate me. They could – wonderful!

While waiting for the shipwreck cruise I started speaking to a lady in the line (you know I can’t resist). Her and her friend had also been at Niagra Falls but they had taken a Jet boat ride from Niagra-on-the-Lake to the falls. They loved the experience. Wonderful, another reason to go back to Niagra-on-the-lake!

The cruise itself was fantastic! The cruise started by heading left, past the Big Tub lighthouse, into a bay. There were the shipwrecks. You could see them so clearly under the water. I could only imagine how spectacular it would be to dive the wrecks.

After 10 minutes or so of looking at the wrecks, the boat headed out to the islands. There are 20 islands in total but most are protected so you cannot visit them. After passing the Flower Plots (sea stacks) the cruise stopped to let people onto one of the islands for a walk. Since I had a ferry to catch I stayed on the boat and headed back to the mainland. This gave me time to walk around Tobermory and also have a leisurely lunch, which was most welcome.

Below are some photos of Tobermory and the ferry to Manitoulin Island.

I rode up Highway 6 on Manitoulin Island and stopped off at a few of the viewing points. I was told by a lady on the ferry, who I had also briefly spoken to in the harbour, that I should visit Ten Mile Point. I therefore headed in search of this point. As I wasn’t sure where it was exactly I followed the signs. I saw a sign saying Ten Mile Point (or something like that) so took the turn. It was not the right turn clearly as I was soon on a rough dirt road and eventually ended up at what looked like a dump. Hmmm! After looking at Google Maps I thought I maybe should have turned right and not left, so I went the other way. Again, this was a dead end leading to a lakeside houses at least this time.

I eventually found a viewing point next the Ten Mile Trading Post which I assumed must have been where I should have been. It was nice but nothing spectacular in my view. I wasn’t feeling Manitoulin Island so I decided to head as far north on the island as possible.

I stayed in Little Current that night. My preferred hotel was full but I got to speak to a lovely female Harley rider who was touring with a large group from Michigan. I eventually found a motel close by which had a room. The room was basic but clean.

The next morning I met the owner, Peter. As I walked out of my room he said, ‘My wife told me about you’. ‘She did’, I said?

‘Yes I told her if I wasn’t married I’d be off on the road with you’. I laughed. Peter also rides a bike and loved the idea of my trip. He’d never taken such a long journey before but he would love to. When I saw that my plan is to head to Asia in 2021 he said, ‘Maybe I’ll see you in India’. Peter is from India so I guess the idea of a ride there appealed to him. That would be cool with me!

It was raining lightly the morning I left Little Current. My plan was to continue on Highway 6 north until I hit the Trans-Canada Highway and then I would head west and see how far I could get.

On my approach to Espanola I saw a sign for Whitefish Falls. Cool, I thought. Let’s see what that looks like. I was so busy looking for the falls when I saw water that I did not pay attention to the fact that the (wet) wooden bridge that I was approaching had a dip in the middle and I was heading straight for it. As I was about to cross the single lane bridge I looked forward and saw the lowered section. Shit! As I tried to adjust my course my front wheel clips the edge of the dip and Trinity starting swinging all over the place. The result we hit the ground, falling over to the right. Luckily I was riding slowly but my shoulder and right hip got slammed into the bridge so I felt that. Ouch!

Other than being a bit achy I was fine. Now I have to get Trinity up. I was shaky and I normally can’t pick her up so this was not a good start. I tried one but it was not happening. Luckily at the point a guy in a truck approached the bridge and jumped out to lend me a hand, which I was very grateful for.

There was water running down the radiator, so I was worried it was coming from the radiator. I rode to the other side of the bridge and pulled over to ‘get my legs back’. There were mosquitoes or flies buzzing about so it wasn’t great to stop.

At that point a guy pulled up and asked me where I was from. ‘The UK’, I said. We chatted for a bit and a told him I was looking for the falls. He told me they were just up ahead and that I could follow him. I wasn’t sure about this guy but I thought I’d follow him for a bit.

He was right, they were only 2 min up the road. ‘Where are you heading to’, he asked? ‘Michigan’, I said. ‘That’s a pity he said. I would have taken you fishing’. Alarm bells were going off in my head at this point but I was polite and kept chatting. I told him my route plans and when I mentioned that I was heading to Montana he said, ‘Oh, I’m not allowed to go there. I was a bad boy when I was younger’.

Right and you want me to go fishing with you, was the thought in my head. At this point I took a photo and said goodbye. At least he was honest about being a bad boy. Thank goodness I sensed that the moment he stopped.

Worried about my radiator and my ride to Michigan I stopped at a gas station to check Trinity out properly. There I met Dave, my hero of the day. I told Dave that I had fallen and that I was worried my radiator may be leaking and he got straight into action, helping me dry Trinity off and placing paper towel under the radiator to see if any fluid was leaking from it.

While we were waiting for Trinity to dry out in the sun, which had now come out, Dave and I got chatting. He was so lovely! He gave me his sister’s telephone number who lives in Sault Ste Marie, which is where I thought I may end up. ‘If you have any problems give her a call’, he said. Awww!

Dave then said that if I had time that I should take the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 17) up the eastern side of Lake Superior to Montreal River Harbour. In his view, after Banff, this was one of the most beautiful parts of Canada.

When Dave heard I lived in London he told me I should look up one of his friends – a guy called Jerry Placken who works at Meyer Sounds Laboratories. I messaged Jerry on Facebook (why not) but I never heard back from him. I’m not really surprised. It was very random! 😂

Meet my hero for the day, Dave.

Following a short stop in Sault Ste Marie, I followed Dave’s advice and headed north on the Trans-Canada Highway. The road did not disappoint. At around 19:30 I stopped to fill up Trinity and noticed the cabins, so I popped in to find out if they had rooms. They did. That was great as the rooms looked right into the lake.

After dinner which consisted of a large salad and a beer, I went for a walk along Lake Superior. It was very pretty and the sunset was beautiful even if I was technically facing the wrong direction at that point.

The link provides photos of Lake Superior.

Even with my rocky start to the day, this had turned out to be a wonderful day. I guess every cloud does have a silver lining!

I will cover the rest of my last two weeks in my blogs to follow.