On the Road Again 2012 #36

When we registered for the campsite, we shared the cost (It was worth it) but the young lady only took Nick’s name and address. We wondered later if she had thought we were partners. We certainly never told her that we had two tents. There were quite a few sites available but many of them were within sixty or seventy feet or so from the highway. We chose one that was a bit further in from the road and closer to the lake.

 Nick wanted to go for a swim before dark – I would have rather had a shower but I walked down to the beach with him. I was so glad that I did. It was quite glorious. After spending a summer in BC where what they call a beach is really just a shore line with no trees and lots of rocks, it was great to be able to take off my shoes and walk in sand. There were lots of clouds so we never actually saw the sunset, but it was close enough. Nick went in and swam for a bit, I sat on the beach, watched the clouds and every once in a while quietly laughed. About the same time the night before, I had been standing beside the road somewhere west of Kenora contemplating sleeping under some picnic shelter. Tonight I was going to have a shower and tomorrow I would be back in Sudbury. I was pretty pleased with myself and with life in general. The day had started out being pretty crummy but any time I can travel 1,000 kilometers in one day is a good one indeed.

After his swim and a brief chat with some fellow campers we headed back to our site and set up the tent and bivy sack. I got my stuff together and headed for the showers. The hot water felt good as did getting all of the tangles out of my hair. I changed into my clean clothes and felt like a new man. We ate a cold supper of veggies, pita bread and goat cheese. I had my little stove with me and could have made some soup, but neither of us were that hungry and we were both too tired to be that organized. Just before bed we went for another walk along the shore. The moon was bright; it lit the shore line and laid a blaze of white light along the water. As I looked up at the hills across the bay I would occasionally see bright lights going up and then disappearing. It took me a few minutes to realize that the lights were those of the big trucks climbing a hill along the shore and the disappearing as the road twisted back into the forest of the Canadian Shield.  What a perfect night.

 Agawa Bay Provincial Campground camp ground is a great family campsite. For some people who had planned ahead, their reserved campsites were on the beach. It would have been a great place to wake up in the morning!  It is definitely is a place that I would think about going back to, if it wasn’t so far away. Perhaps, who knows….

The night was gloriously warm and I was glad that I was sleeping outside. There were no mosquitoes so my canopy was unzipped and I could look up and see the stars. It felt good to be so close to the end of the journey and yet still having a bit of an adventure. All too often my trips sort of fizzle out and I am left feeling as if something was unfinished. This trip was ending the way it should. Great ride- great conversation.  It was hard not to start laughing again.

The next morning I was up early and was packed up by 6:30. I woke up Nick and after he had a quick swim, we were packed and on the road again. We had breakfast at the Husky in Sault St. Marie and were in Sudbury by just after 1:00. Along the way we took a small detour to the “Big Nickel”. For some reason (I can’t remember why) Nick needed to buy a souvenir “nickel” from the museum. The parking attendant wanted to charge us for parking but Nick convinced her that he would only be a minute and I promised to stay in the car….we didn’t have to pay. A few minutes later he was back with two souvenirs. He gave one to me which was really nice of him. Ten minutes later we were at my daughter’s house. We unloaded my gear, shook hands and then hugged and he was off to buy something at the Source before hitting the road to Ottawa and then Montreal. He still had a long way to go before he got home that night. As with so many of my drivers I wish him well and well always wonder if he made it home safely.

But I was back home, safe, tired (but surprisingly clean) and feeling both pleased with my adventure and as always grateful for all of the rides.