Bikered

Friday 18. While we were cozy under two thick quilts, as expected it was very cold this morning. Frost was forecast for some areas. Where we were parked yesterday the corn was up about two inches. I wonder how it fared.
It was another good hot oatmeal morning, our frequently used morning hymn (I owe The Lord…) Bible Reading, Rejoice and prayer. Repeatedly we thank God for his preserving us both as we travel the highways – MH – and byways – Bicycle. We pray to be kept safe or given the strength to face the difficulties that could happen. God doesn’t owe us anything. So we just thank him for safety each day. We also lift our children and grandchildren to him and friends we know who are hurting.
E&R got themselves all ready to go and then we drove them back near to where we picked them up in a parking space at a little row mall. They got their horse out of the stall, oiled it up, etc. An employee came and chatted. He was quite a talker. He has been to Gettysburg a number of times and even though Canadian is a Civil War Buff. He also talked about Old Order Amish near by. That confirmed that I thought I saw Amish across the parking lot last evening where we were parked. E&R were on the road by 8:30.
At the parking lot where we parked last night there was several strong WiFi’s but all locked. Here at this little shopping lot there must have been ten and several were unlocked so I latched onto the strongest. There was a lot of email to download. I downloaded the past several days’ journeys.
We were on the road at 9:01. We had a nice easy drive today with excellent roads through lovely farm land, but except for the last ten of the 60 miles it was all up hill. That part was the same as yesterday. We would come to the crest of the hill believing that was it. There was perhaps half a mile of level road and then there was another up and up and up and up. But it was all nice straight smooth roads.
We felt so sorry for the bikers thinking they were having another tough day weaving around and up and down those hills.
However, we finally came to the crest of the last hill and were we ever high. It was a beautiful sight across the miles and in the distance was the Georgia Bay. Then it was a nice gentle down hill ride into the quaint and lovely Bay front town of Collingwood – 15,000. Orangeville where we were last night was close to 30,000.
The Provincial Park of Craigleith was about seven miles west of Collingwood immediately along our route right on the Georgian Bay. We arrived here at 11:30 and soon got our site and five loonies and two quarters for our five dollar bill.
We went for showers and to do the laundry. The showers shot out over our dressing area. Then we walked back and forth numerous times trying to locate the laundry. Finally we needed to ask because we did not have the camp map with us. Small wonder we could not find it. It was quite a walk, way out at the opposite end of this long narrow campground. After we had the laundry started – one Looney and three quarters – we sat by the bay. Later we discovered that the showers by the laundry were a great improvement over what we had used. They had a button to push and soon there was a nice warm shower – no temperature control – and the button was pushed again to stop it. And the water did not shoot all over the dressing area.
Back at the MH I made lunch while Miriam put away the wash. After that we sacked out until 3:30.
Miriam asked, “What time do you think E&R will arrive today?” I said it seemed like a day equally as hard as yesterday, certainly not before 4:30 and perhaps 5:30 or six. Half an hour later at four they came rolling in all smiles, “We had a wonderful day, nothing like yesterday.” There was one bummer, a construction area where Ed just wheeled the bike through the mud for quite a distance while Rhoda followed. Yes, he weather was cool, but otherwise wonderful, bright and sunny, just great for biking.
For a first, E&R headed off for the showers and laundry we suggested – on their bike. It made good photos with the laundry mounted on the back instead of the regular bike gear.
We soon had a supper of tasty chicken breast, mixed vegetables, baked potato, cake with Jello & pineapple. We tried to finish a few leftovers.
Ed & Rhoda talked about their day. The roads were confusing and once they needed to walk the bike quite a distance through mud and then grass around a construction site. It is tough for bicycles when there is a construction project. What is not far out around for a car can be a looooong way for a bike. The met some interesting persons
We worked out our final meeting place. That sounds so sad. It will be in Harrison Park in Owen Sound.
And then, yes, likely the last night of Rummikub together. Miriam won two, a Longenecker had one and unbelievable I won a game. Miriam was declared the champion of this tour having won more games than anyone else. It was about 10:30 when we hung it up and went to bed.

Saturday 19. I was awake at five but stayed in bed until E&R got up at six. It was 7:45 until they pulled out and we took photos of the final departure. We left camp at nine after doing a more thorough cleanup of the house, filling the water tank and dumping the sewer.
We had a nice drive to Ownen Sound much of it along the bay. It is a beautiful morning with the temperatures in the high 40’s but bright warm sun.
In Owen Sound we found the tourist information office and the nice young man told us how with a nice map to get to our meeting place. We also purchased post cards and stamps to sent to each of our kids. He also told us how to get to the post office.
We arrived at the meeting place at eleven an 15 minutes later Ed and Rhoda arrived with shouts of joy. We joined them for joyous photos, the conclusion of a wonderful and safe 2100 mile journey. Thank you Lord Jesus.