Happy Independence Day, America.

IlI Kissing up to a big old grizzly bear isn't the best way to start the day.  But that's how it is
when things don't go exactly right.  This was taken the other day, and I just had to use it.

We had an incident in our room this morning. Jaz's coffee maker boiled over. Coffee and grounds everywhere, a bit of blue smoke in the air. But no one died or was even injured except for the sink that some of the grounds got in.
The Queen of England was in Toronto today, so once again our paths will not cross.

Got smart and put on my sunscreen early, including on my ears, neck and back of my neck and hands. No more laxness on that. It's too important to keep it slathered on.

Outside it was blue sky, some clouds, and a look that said there might be a bit of rain in our near future. Started out cool, but warmed up nicely. We were appropriately dressed in our jackets, chaps and light gloves. And we got on the road earlier today, just after 7 a.m. We had to make up some miles since we were still about a thousand miles or so away from Vermont. We ended up running about 500, but didn't stop to take photos although there were some beautiful places. I can only try to describe what we saw today.

These lights shaped like geese hang all over on the lightposts in Wawa.

A ways outside of Wawa, we saw a black bear. It peaked its head out and then stepped out of the bushes at the side of the road. Was very cool. He looked really shiny and healthy. His little ears were sticking up.

We also got a sprinkle. Jaz shook her fist at the cloud, and miracle of miracles, we never saw another raindrop. We did, however, see where there had been a lot of rain, but we missed it, and only saw some wet pavement. Another day that Jaz gets to keep her fairweather rider patch. She's batting a thousand right now.

Bureau du park = park office. That's one of the French teachings for the day.

There's always room for another pretty flower.

The ride was gorgeous again. We moved away from the large lakes, where we saw people walking on picturesque beaches with sand and rocks, to ones of a smaller nature. There is so much water and such beauty from the lakes, rivers and streams it takes your breath away. There are some interesting names for these bodies of water, as well. There was Old Woman Bay, and some lakes named Dad, Baby, Mom and Orphan. These were the ones that caught my eye. There were others, but I would have had to stop to write them down as they were long and unpronounceable.

We missed a few days of our French lessons. Danger de nui = night danger (a warning put out with moose signs) In order to continue my learning experience I also listened to the French radio station. I did not understand a single word but felt way more cultured at the end of it.

I was so comfortable on this bench ... could be thinking about the French I'm learning.

It's interesting how the traffic seems to travel. It runs in herds, or packs, both cars and trucks. The trucks seem to race each others, particularly when they are going up hills. They run in both lanes, each trying to be king of the hill. My perception, which I am sure is flawed.

At Sault Ste. Marie we made a gas stop. I was feeling a little tired, so had a Starbucks Double Shot Espresso. I also listened to a great country oldie show today and learned that Charley Pride was traded from a baseball team for a used bus. He then chose to go into music as baseball was not apparently the right career for him. The music was all the greats … Hank Snow, Freddy Fender, Conway Twitty, Tammy Wynette, and so many more. Was sorry when the show was over, but I lost the station by then anyway.

Between that and my country oldie show I was pretty ramped up. I was so high on life at that point that I developed another new biker exercise called the cheek wobble. You have to have good music then move from one cheek to the other. Try to keep your legs tense.

By 10 a.m. It was probably 70+ degrees, but we were still wearing our chaps and jackets.

This is my new method of keeping track of the things I'm seeing and want to blog about.
I use my red electrical tape Roadrunner gave me to tape note pages to the tank that I can write on.

We did another gas stop near Massey and saw four families of Mennonites in their horse drawn carts. That's always kind of neat to see something like that. There's farmland around this area, but I've noticed that the barns are not the pretty red ones we'd seen, but the basic weather-worn wood.

I've always enjoyed seeing the horses and carriages.

I wonder if these horses can move that fast.  They must
as Jaz and I did not see the four carriages again.

Farms with cows, sheep and horses, including one that had lots of paint horses, the brown and whites that I always loved.

Yep, line me up with a good country music station and a double shot espresso, and I'm on my game. I saw everything today.

Going toward Sudbury the road moves away from the big lakes and into more lakes and streams. The water in many of them was a much deeper and richer blue, almost like a midnight blue. Riding near them gives you a little relief from the heat as coolness comes from the green plants and the air from the water. You find yourself hoping to ride near lots of water when it's so hot.

Flower photos are always appropriate because they add beautiful color.

Riding along enjoying the scenery, we passed a light-colored van with Ontario license plates. The guy in it gave us a thumb's up. There's something about females on bikes, eh, that turns a guy's head.

There were more bugs today; I can tell by looking at my windshield. Yesterday Jaz got stung inside her helmet by something and her ear has been swollen. This trip is trying to take its toll, but we're not letting ourselves be beaten.

As you ride along in heat, sometimes you get that splat, and a momentary feeling of coolness on your body. Then you realize it was a bug hitting you. Is it good because it's cool, or bad because it's ewwwhhh???

About 3 p.m. we turned south, heading for Parry Sound on Highway 400. It got windy … but turned out to be a good thing as we ended up in some bumper-to-bumper traffic for several miles before turning onto Highway 12 to get to Orillia. We never saw what might have caused the slowdown, but I can tell you that 90+ degrees in parade-mode is never a pretty thing. We were hot, tired and wanting to get to a motel …

There's a park near the motel, so we went for a walk.

There's a boardwalk that runs a ways along Lake Couchiching.

Lots of black squirrels in the park.

Met an 18-year old Beagle while  walking on the boardwalk. 
Can't remember his real name.  His owner calls him Nerd, or Beagle Knivel.

There was a big crowd for the open-air concert, sitting on chairs,
the grass.  Many even had their dogs with them.

We wandered about and caught an open air concert, plus several historical pieces.

This is the top of the statue.

This is the plaque on the statue.  On the other side there is another, written in French.

This is one of the figures at the base of the statue. 

This is the figure on the other side.  One side has a missionery; the other an explorer.

I do have photo support for that. It was great, and folks were having a good time, listening to music, playing in the water, boats, ski-jets.

One of the many young people enjoying themselves in the water.

There was a gazebo, and there is space for a band here, too.

There were big and little cannons.

And there was a totem pole.

There was a statue dedicated to mothers.

And still more squirrels, lots of them everywhere.

And welcome to Harvey, a fellow traveling companion, and Sarah, beloved co-worker.

A good day, and now we're all in.