THUNDER BAY!

Day 9, Monday, May 08, 2017

Seven hours of sleep last night!  I finished my Blog early and took advantage and got to bed by 11:20 PM.  I woke up at 6:29 AM, one minute before it went off.  I turned it off, C.E.’s alarm went off at 6:30 AM and we both got up.  We got dressed, packed and took our bags out to our Motors.  I packed my Motor and also cleaned it.  I went into the breakfast and Ken was already there.  The others came in slowly and had breakfast.  After we ate, we finished packing our stuff and we were ready to go.  We left at 9:12 AM.

J.B. led the Group onto US 53 and we headed north towards Canada.  Ken was behind J.B., then C.E., Jake, Chuck, Me and Jan.  We rode for about an hour and it was cold.  At about Mile Post 204 at 10:07 AM, we all saw a majestic Bald Eagle standing in the median and it was standing next to a dead deer.  It was an awesome sight!  I believe that the Eagle was saying Grace before it started eating parts of the deer.  We continued on and after riding 96 miles and at 10:34 AM, we stopped at a Kwik Trip gas station.  C.E. topped off his gas tank.  It was 45 degrees!  We went inside to take care of business and to warm up.  We knew that we had to get back out in the cold so we left at 11:17 AM.

We continued north and rode on US 61.  We continued for 53 miles and at 12:26 PM, we needed a “Pit Stop.”  J.B. stopped at a gas station in Beaver Bay and we ALL took care of business.  We left at 12:36 PM.

We continued north on US 61.  After riding for maybe ½ mile, to the right curb was a car parked with the trunk open.  There was a guy wearing a short sleeve t-shirt, short pants and flip flops.  He was getting fishing equipment out of his trunk to walk down to the shore of Lake Superior.  It was 45 degrees!  We continued on and at Mile Post 69 at 12:56 PM, we all had to slow down rapidly.  There was a car in front of J.B. that slowed and I noticed to the right of us, off of the road, were three deer, grazing.  J.B. gave a “Harley Salute,” revved the engine, and the deer were spooked.  The car and the Motors in front of Chuck all accelerated.  One of the deer ran quickly in the same direction as we were going.  Chuck accelerated to see if he could pace the deer and get his speed.  Chuck had the pace between 35 and 40 mph.  The deer ran up to the road, ran down again and then ran up to the road.  At this point, the deer shot across the street in front of Chuck.  The deer then ran into the trees to the left side of the road.  The deer came pretty close to Chuck.  Chuck, Chuck’s Motor nor the deer were harmed in any way.  I think that maybe Chuck needed to change his underwear!  We continued on and after riding 32 miles, we stopped at 1:11 PM at a Kwik Trip in Tufte, MN. for gas.  We all got gas and, since it was still 45 degrees, we needed a pit stop.  We left at 1:27 PM.

Ken took over the lead.  I was next, then C.E., Chuck, Jan, Jake and J.B.  It was past lunch time, but we didn’t see any place worth stopping to eat.  We rode for another 29 miles and stopped at 1:58 PM in Grand Marais.  Ken didn’t see any Subway to stop and eat.  I told him that maybe we needed to just stop at a “Mom and Pop” restaurant.  No sooner that I said that, but a Subway popped up!  I think that the Man upstairs was listening to us.  We pulled into the parking lot, went inside and ate.  Oh, we also warmed up.  We left at 2:42 PM.

We continued on US 61.  After riding for 43 miles, we stopped at 3:24 PM at the Canadian border.  We all went to the guard shack one at a time.  We showed the Guard our Passport and answered the four mandatory four questions.  Apparently we all answered the questions properly because we were all allowed to enter Canada.  Yayyy!  We continued on at 3:31 PM.  When we got to the Border, we entered the Eastern Time Zone and we lost another hour.  It was now 4:31 PM.

We were now in Canada.  The temperature was now 43 degrees.  We rode for another 31 miles and at 5:06 PM we arrived in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.  We reached our destination!  We rode to a Best Western and most of the Group followed.  Chuck and Jan rode across the street to a Comfort Inn to check on the price.  I tried to make a deal with the Best Western and they would go only as low as $100 a night per room, and there was NO Hot Tub!  We went across the street to check with Chuck and Jan.  They told us the price and it was much cheaper than the Best Western.  The Comfort Inn also didn’t have a Hot Tub.  For the money, the Comfort Inn was a better deal.  We all checked in and went to our rooms, unloaded our bags and then met at the breakfast room for some chit chat and coffee.  Naxos Bar and Grill, a Greek restaurant, came highly recommended by the Desk Clerk.  It was two businesses away so we walked.  We had dinner and the food was good.  OOPAH!  We returned to the Hotel and started our Blogs.

 

Today we rode 294 miles…COLD MILES!  We reached our destination of Thunder Bay, Canada.  We made it through the Border check station without any problems.  It was a good day!  Tomorrow, there is no reason to rush.  We are going to have breakfast then go shopping for miscellaneous t-shirts and stuff.  We will return to the Hotel, pack our Motors and continue riding around Lake Superior.  We are hoping to be out of Canada in a couple of days.  We found that it is pricey to make “International” phone calls on our cell phones.  Most of us put our cell phones on “Airplane Mode” so that we wouldn’t be charged higher prices for phone calls and texts.   We can communicate via the internet, such as:  FB Messenger and Face Time.  So, please don’t be offended if we don’t call you for a couple of days.  The rest of the ride around Lake Superior should be interesting.  We shall see…