It's F#$%^&* Beautiful Here!!!!

Move July 6-10 123
Originally uploaded by Polish Carpetlayer.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Mmm, just finished a beer in nowhere, Ontario. We haven’t sat down to a beer since Montreal. I guess the Terminator we had at the campground two days ago would count, but it was past it’s prime, and there’s just something inauthentic about beer in a plastic cup. Could I be addicted to beer? Or is it the caffeine withdrawal I’m going through? You just can’t get a good cup of coffee in Canada so I decided to do without it all together. No sense in torturing myself with crappy coffee just to avoid a headache. I’d rather have the headache. Besides, beer helps. And, for that matter, it’s been tough to get a good beer in New York, believe it or not, so of course every microbrewery from here to Portland is calling our name.

Blog? Oh, Ok. The Subie’s driving like a champ (knock on wood). Our bikes are covered in bugs and it seems our tent is never going to have a chance to dry out. It’s been one week, 1,842 miles since Brooklyn and a whole lot of fun already. Today, we’ve been experiencing THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE IN THE WORLD.

I’m not kidding. It’s fucking beautiful here driving the Canadian border of the great lakes. Lake Heron, Lake Superior. Words really can not describe, but I’ll try.

A dense, lush diverse forest pervades the landscape all the way up to the shore of the lake. You would swear from several points that you were at the ocean. You can’t see the other side; waves break at the shore, ever changing with tide. But it’s fresh water! It boggles the mind. We stopped at a beach – it was along the road; we used the compost “toilette” and turned the corner to take a picture. A near vacant sandy beach was soon under our feet with the most amazing view – reminiscent of the San Juans, only there was sand beneath my feet! I couldn’t resist plopping myself down and imagining I was in Hawaii. If it weren’t for the sub-alpine winters, I’m sure that this would be a major tourist destination.

As we continued our drive toward Thunder Bay, our last stop in the eastern time zone, hundreds of gorgeous, gorgeous lakes jumped out of the landscape. It was often hard to keep our eyes on the road.

And many a nod and wave was exchanged between us, with our Treks on top of the Subie and the numerous cyclists braving the extensive elevation climb for the glorious journey, views and camping along Canada’s transcontinental highway 17. The Crater Lake Century is just a warm up, Evan, Suzy, and Becky, for this, your next challenge - we’ll drive the support van.