Day 13; Return to Canadian soil

Slept in till almost 8 am. Gary made pancakes and used some of the blueberries I had picked in them, which was tasty!

I signed the guest book (Gary and Jan have been hosting cyclists for 18 years!).

I packed up, made a sandwich for the road and said my goodbyes at 9:15 am.

It was a beautiful morning to be out.

Thanks to Gary's route advice I got out of there without a replay of yesterday's sandy roads.

Rejoined 28, which was a bit of a busier road again.

Knowing it was my final day in the States, I purposefully went 6 Km's out of my way to visit a Dollar General (which would be equivalent to Giant Tiger in Canada). I just wanted to pick up some packets of tuna because it's really handy having tuna in that convenient format when bike touring! I also love the flavours they offer! Ranch, Lemon Pepper, and one I haven't tried yet, Hickory Smoke. So for me it was worth the extra distance. I developed an appreciation for this particular chain of stores on my bike trip in the Deep South, when there were simply no others stores around.

I listened to music for the first while but eventually switched to listening to my audiobook, since it's much more engaging and I needed something to take my mind off the fairly unchanging landscape and busy road.

I had a relatively long day ( at 146 km), but it passed by well enough.

There was a South East wind that was a bit annoying as it grew stronger, but I was feeling pretty strong. My body seems to have adapted to this cycling lifestyle (not taking ibuprofen with the same regularly as when I started!)

Wore my favourite padded bike shorts as well, which I appreciated.

Made it to Sault St.Marie and then had to figure out how to get across the bridge to the Canadian side. The ramp to customs clearly stated no Pedestrians or cyclists but I saw no other route.

I went to the Michigan welcome Center and they told me to go to the Bridge authority, and the people there told me to just go with the cars (see technically the bridge is on the interstate and cyclists aren't typically allowed riding on interstate, but there was a set bicycle fee for bridge toll, so obviously it's not unusual for cyclists to cross the bridge!

I always find it a bit strange that the US extracts a toll to use the bridge while the Canadians seldom do.

As much as I've enjoyed being in the States and meeting lovely Americans on my journey it felt good to be back in Canada!

Canada, where road signs are in Km's, where temperatures are measured in Celsius, where I'm back to Canadian currency.

It felt like coming home even though I'm still about a week away.

My hosts lived on the far side of the city, but I was just glad I had a host, especially since I expect I'll have to camp the next two nights, and had a pile of laundry to do. I wonder what my hosts will be like as I get closer...

Jeff an Juanita had the most beautiful house on the street, the gardens full of colour, care and greenery, and it was lovely to see. Jeff and Juanita were also long time WarmShower hosts, and very nice people!

I got showered (and even got a bathrobe!) and laundry going.

Juanita made a delicious Thai inspired meal, so flavourful without being too spicy, so I ate and thoroughly enjoyed!

There was a big summer festival in town and I was invited to join my hosts in going.

I had a bit of down time before we headed out.

Jeff gave me some history of the area and pointed out things of interest in the downtown. Lots of people out. We stopped for an ice cream, a treat I can justify with all the cycling I'm doing.

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- Eritia