A lack of sunscreen yesterday has brought on the red neck today. For some reason I have not been putting sunscreen on like I usually do. It's something I'm very faithful about doing since I'm so white. So now I have sunburned hands and wrists and my neck, all the way around, with a nice white spot where my chain falls. In addition I've got some fever blisters on my mouth. I'm a wreck. Sun is taking its toll, but I will not allow it to win. I'll keep in riding if I have to put a neck gaiter over my neck and mouth.

I've got sunburn all the way around my neck, my hands and wrists.

Met a guy from Indiana last night. He ended up in the room next to us, so he hung with us a little while. He was riding a blue bagger, with a rounded bag from Saddleman that fits inside the back seat arm rests. Super nice guy, owns a landscaping business and was just out riding for a few days to clear his head. I need to check that bag out. It would probably look a lot better than just piling stuff on the seat and just adjusting the bungee cords higher and higher. Yesterday I had my boots on there, too, so I look like a Beverly hillbilly bag lady

A view of Thunder Bay.

The first order of the day was to go to the Thunder Bay Harley shop, the old one, where the service department is still located. (Note, I was through here and went to that shop with Merlin and Jack when we rode to Newfoundland for pie and coffee in 1997.) We found Ted, who was at the new shop the day before (which we found by accident) and who changed the battery in the fob. The battery was not the issue and the bike security is still screaming at me, lighting up and not starting. As long as I keep the fob close to me it usually is okay. But there is something not right.
Magoo, Ted's dog, a Rottweiler/Labrador mix (and why don't I have a picture of him), was also at the Thunder Bay Harley shop. He goes where Ted goes. There was a lot of discussion, and we got the security pin number, got a lesson in how to do the disarming if necessary, and I purchased a new fob which appears to be working just fine. Along the road somewhere we'll try the old fob again and if it doesn't work, I'll take it to the shop at home and try to get a refund. Ted also talked about the parade mode that the bike has and said it has to be set as it is not done at the factory. So as long as they were looking at the fob, etc., they set it so I can do parades, hot weather and a combination of both if I choose.

Miss Scarlet was inside and the rain started to come down in buckets. She was dry. Jaz's bike was not … a complete wash with soft rain water. But it sure didn't come clean.  While there we learned that Ted (who is the owner of the shop) had friends who surprised him for his 60th birthday by putting a quarter-page ad in the newspaper of him on the first chopper he built. He's worked at the shop since 1974, and became the dealership in 1978.

Once we got the fob issue fixed, off Jaz and I went to the other and new shop, where Thunder Bay HD is moving. Everyone there was very nice, and I did proper T-shirt purchases.

We then went next door to the bowling alley to get breakfast as it was close and we were hungry. Who was there but Ted, and a couple of his cronies. They invited us to sit with them, and we had yet another enjoyable discussion with some local folks, only made better because they were Harley folks. Turns out Ted owns the bowling alley, too. He bought it for the property to build the new HD shop which is still under construction, and continues to operate the bowling alley. Keeps him very busy. Smart man, nice man, and we enjoyed meeting and talking with him. It's only made better because my problem was apparently fixed. YAY!! Plus he's got a great dog … always bumps people up on my list if they're dog lovers!!!

Finally got out of town about 11 a.m. I wore gloves and a shirt with a higher neck due to the sunburn.

Plaque about Terry Fox.

We stopped to see the Terry Fox statue and memorial. He was a young man with cancer who had a leg amputated, but continued to be athletic using a prosthetic.

Terry Fox memorial statue

He was walking cross the country, but contracted cancer again and passed away at the age of 23. He's quite famous here in Ontario.

The memorial from a distance.

Saw one cow moose. Woo hoo. We didn't get very far before we hit fog, mist, wet road and general dampness. We stopped to put on our heavy-duty gear, and carried on. The best part is that we never did hit any rain, although there was plenty of evidence that there had been a hard rain and lots of it. But the road dried up nicely. The worst part was hitting several sections of heavy fog where we had to slow down and hope no car would come up behind and rear-end us. Eventually we ran out of that, too. But with all the fog and haze it reminded me of being in the Smokey Mountains with Biker Bill a few years ago.

We also saw a lot of the little rock travel guardians today. I've got a photo of the one Jaz and I worked on yesterday but didn't get to post.

The travel guardian that Jaz and I added rocks to.

I like these rock figures.  Saw this one yesterday at Vermillion Bay where the guy was
with the truck, trailer, blasting radio and an impressive exhaust stack.  (NOT!!)

The country in this section of the province near Rossport is indescribably beautiful with some red rocks that remind you of Arizona and Utah, large rocks, lakes and creeks. As we rode we caught glimpses of water and then continued around part of the end of Lake Superior, where there were little islets, bays, and what I'd call nooks and crannies. The water itself was a light aqua color with darker streaks further out. It was a sight to see waves crashing on the rocky beaches.

Another view of water from a distance.

Again, I started getting so tired I had trouble. I pulled up next to Jaz and told her I needed to pull over. Stretched our legs, and then went on to the next little town of White River to have a bite to eat and to gas up. Turns out the power was out except in this one little restaurant. They had a propane stove and a generator. Good for them for thinking ahead. They were an older establishment that apparently understands it's good to have back up. We had food, and then a Grayhound bus unloaded a bunch of folks, all wanting something. Usually the bus doesn't stop at this little place, but the bigger, newer places weren't able to accommodate them. So good for the little guy. We couldn't gas up, but had enough to go on anyway. Some bikers were sitting by the pumps, so we figured they had to stay until outage was over and the pumps were working again. They expected power to be back on by 5:15 p.m. You'd think since I'm on vacation I wouldn't be reporting on power outages. Work is always on my mind. What will I do when I retire?

The power outage was caused by a lightning strike. Once again we missed all the big stuff. We talked to several bikers during the afternoon and many said the same thing … that they'd hit some hellacious rains. And we continued to see evidence of it everywhere. Jaz gets to keep her fairweather rider patch yet again.
In late afternoon we got wind again, but still not as bad as the other day. We think we're running behind schedule now and may have to adjust it somewhat. It looks like we're still about a thousand miles out of Vermont. So we'll make a run at it tomorrow and cover some miles.

We ended up in the community of Wawa which is known for its 28-foot-tall metal statue of a Canada goose built in 1960 and dedicated in 1961. The Canada geese we've taken photos of are called wawa. There is another one that was built here in 1963 out of plaster, but it deteriorated and was rebuilt using steel in 1963. Wawa gets its name from the Ojibwe word for wild goose.

The 28-foot sculpture of a Canada goose.

There are also something called gitchee goomie, which are like totem poles. The Ojibwe people believed that the wild geese spoke to them through the gitchee goomies.

There were three gitchee goomies, but I made sure to photograph the purple one.

The community of Wawa also was heavy into gold and iron mining in the early 1900s into the 1990s.

Old mining equipment.

So here we are in Wawa.

Another Canada goose.  We could see of the large ones.

We took a little walk, took a few photos as you can see, and are now all in.