In Hearst, Ontario

I am in the Queen's Motel in Hearst for the evening. The Night Manager who checked me in was very pleasant. We had a nice long chat about what I was doing. I gave him the URL to this blog so maybe be reading this now.

I left Kenora this morning and headed to Thunder Bay. It took much longer then expected due to road construction and road conditions. Sometimes the roads were good for a long ways but then other times there were miles of crappy road that were just fatiguing.

In Thunder Bay, I stopped at the Harley Davidson shop and picked up a t-shirt for Joe (if he wants it - kinda expensive). While there I had a conversation with a Harley rider. Turns out he was American and in the Air Force. I think he said he left from Indiana and had camping gear and a fishing pole. He was on his way back home.

The ride from Thunder Bay to here on 11 was both good and bad. Lots of construction and bad sections of road but with a very nice view of Lake Superior and other lakes along the way. The road winded and twisted along the lakes and it was quite a nice view. I enjoyed it, when I wasn't being beaten to death. Cars and trucks seemed to fare better then me, of course they have four or more wheels with independent suspension. There were several parts (transition - old road to new pavement) with little to no warning that I thought would blow the seals out of the forks.

Dale called but I wasn't able to talk long because I had just pulled in for gas and needed to pay for it but I appreciated his phone call and advice about upcoming lodging and fuel locations. Sorry Dale. I also heard from my parents and it was good to hear from them.

On the way from Longlac (Long Lake) to Hearst, the sun started to set and I was worried about big wildlife in the roads so I got behind a flat-bed 18-wheeler for quite a ways. Then it started to get cold and I couldn't take it any more so I had to pull off and put on my heated vest. I did my best to catch up to the flatbed but he was quite a ways ahead. While trying to catch the truck, a big female moose came from the other side of the road and crossed in front of me. It was still dusk so it wasn't hard to see her but I had to get on the brakes pretty hard. She seemed unconcerned. Man, she was a big girl. I eventually caught up to a SUV and then we both caught up to the flat-bed about 20 miles outside of Hearst. I didn't see any more moose. Frankly one was one too many.

I will be continuing on Route 11 with a brief stop in Quebec on the way south. It will feel good to make it to the border, cross over and then continue south to Virginia Beach. This has been on long trip.

Oh, before I forget - I need to clarify yesterday's post about the cost of the room. I called four hotels in the Kenora area and one had no vacancies and the other's were even more expensive. So, the Comfort Inn while expensive (yes I am cheap and I also think a good night's sleep can be found on top of a picnic table in a rest stop) was the best value I could find. As I was leaving this morning, Pamela (I hope I remembered your name correctly) approached me in the parking lot and wanted to know if I was the guy that blogged about the cost of the room. Evidently she can see what websites people go to. Not sure how that works exactly but since they are an open wireless hot spot they must be practicing a modicum of due diligence on illegal activity on their Internet connection. Anyway, Pamela was very nice and we had a great chat in the parking lot about this ride. She wanted to know a lot about it and had been reading some of this blog and said she would read the rest of it. So, Pamela, if you are reading this - my thanks to you and your staff. I had a very pleasant stay and hope that I have atoned for the comment posted yesterday.

Night all. Off to bed.