The ferry was about 24 miles into the day. We arrived at Sombra and waited. Two pedestrians and 3 cars were on hand when we arrived. In the 30 minutes or so we waited, another 7 or 8 cars showed up.
As the ferry arrived, I posed in front for a few pictures while standing at my bike. I'm wearing my TBA Knotts Island t shirt that says "Remain calm and Ferry on ". Seemed appropriate. We boarded the ferry after the cars and one BIG A#% truck get off. Must have been loaded with hazardous materials. (Wouldn't want to accidentally blow up an international bridge but lose a ferry, no worries. Dime a dozen.Passengers? What passengers?) Got on and found a spot to lean the bikes up front. Crew member came around and collected $3 each for bikes.
The ride was about 10 or 15 minutes. It was pleasant and relaxing. The water was slightly choppy. A little water came in the bow by the steel boat ramp where we were standing. The landing was smooth as expected. We poured onto the staging area for the border crossing. I was pretty excited to be returning to the States.
Don't get me wrong. Canada was beautiful and the people were VERY hospitable. I look forward to returning. Traveling at the speed and range of a touring bike makes it pretty challenging to communicate with my wonderful wife ❤️ and other family members. (Hi mom!) I don't have an international phone plan and wifi was wanting or not available. Ok. I'm addicted.
We breezed through immigration. No imposing questions. Just a welcome back from one of the guards. Felt great to be back in the good old USA! First thing I did was give my wife a call. I just felt better after speaking with her. I'm a lucky man.
Next we had to find our way out of town. Fred has a penchant for stopping people. Doesn't matter if the are running, cutting the grass or driving, or asking for directions or to simply confirm directions, even if we are fairly certain we are doing fine. Well this one guy was not only helpful, he ended up leading the way through town for us! When we said adieu, he asked if he could take our picture. I said only if I could take his. We departed friends.
We followed a dedicated bike trail for many miles. It was well kept as many such trails we had been on. One point we diverged from an inland v a coastal option. This led to some difficulties as the trail progressed. The trail was broken up with driveways and such. We moved over to the road. Soon the trail just ended. Fortunately we were able to conjure up a virtual map now we were back in the states to look for this road or that to bring the directionally impaired duo back on track. Eventually.
As we sailed along, we found ourselves back on roads again. One set of roads were particularly confusing. They were just not labeled correctly. I won't get into it but event we were headed in the right direction. And what a direction it was.
Can you say strong tailwind? It blew us along for miles and miles and miles. We hovered between 15 & 20 mph! With packs mind you. That part of it was kind of fun, but it was still work. Miles of it. We flew. Ok, for a heavy touring bike. Finally, we came to a destination, Yale, MI. A cute little town with a few amenities. No campgrounds. The first hotel was the Yale Hotel. Tried to get in and talk to someone. No one but crickets. Then we saw a sign that said "Closed Monday". Hmm. Keep moving. At the other end of town we found "Sweet Dreams". Just our speed. For the cost of an expensive campsite, we got a room with one bed and a rollaway. Deal! The I keep, Bonnie has dealt with many psycotourists before. She even had a space to store and lock our bikes so we wouldn't have to keep them in the room. Dang. She was understanding and helpful.
I lay prone tapping this blog out thinking about tomorrow. Fred and I will regroup with Gay again. Talked to him and he said he has been busy doing a lot of nothing but eating, icing & healing. We are hopeful that we can ease him back into the swing of things in no time. Fred and I are about 40 miles from Otter Lake, MI, our rendezvous point. Gay is about 2 miles from OL. Time will tell. Time will tell.
Miles traveled today = 65
Total to date @1,093 (@ 1/4 of the way across the Northern Tier route)
Thanks for following along.
Cheers
KPW
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