Wandering Retirees

Duluth, MN to Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada 🇨🇦 

We left lovely Duluth this morning in less than lovely weather, heading up MN Rt. 61 along the western shore of Lake Superior. Our goal was to make Thunder Bay, Ontario by this evening, the first stop on our loop above the Great Lakes. Of course we had to stop at the Duluth AAA store to get maps. You know, GPS 1.0. Thus reinforced we set out on our roughly 200 mile journey.  
Frankly, the weather was rotten and succeeded in getting worse. Rain, cold and gusting winds made an otherwise beautiful ride a lot of work. Whining figured prominently during the day. Something about a cold trickle from the neck down through that gap you didn’t know you had. Wanted to call the “Waaaambulance several times. At each stop we were encouraged by friendly locals who use couldn’t say enough about this cold and drizzly weather. “Sure don’t feel like summer, eh?” And, “Sure would like some sun and some heat, don’t you know?” We said we know.  In fairness, we’ve had so much lovely weather we really have no rational basis to complain. (“Pity party, table for one!”). 😉 

As I write this, we are warmly ensconced in a local motel, having had hot showers. And a chance to relax. Life is wonderful.  

Coming across the border was interesting. The Canadian border control officer was friendly and asked the standard questions. How long you staying? Why are you here? Where are you headed? Have anything to declare? So forth. Much less intrusive than at other borders we’ve crossed in our travels. And it seems we weren’t terribly suspicious characters so he let us pass with kind wishes. And so we now measure our distance in kilometers, pay in Loonies, and expect cheese curds with our fries. (A delicacy, I assure you. It’s called Poutine and should not be eaten by anyone who can’t take a bacon triple cheeseburger. But I digress.) 

The people here are friendly open and kind. We met Ben who is traveling to Winnipeg to see his daughter. It’s a long way from Toronto, eh? And he was really happy to share his story, weather forecasts and all the rest. And two riders: a young man from Florida who is riding around Lake Superior with his granddad (both on big Harley’s). Pretty cool, though I’m sorry we didn’t get their names.  

We are back on Eastern time.  A proof we are getting closer to home.  

Tomorrow we continue on our way. But for now, good night.
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“Borrowed” from the internet.  We had no sun today.

Beautiful stop along Lake Superior.