Day 52 Tobermory

July 9, 2018

Tobermory, Ontario

We got up at 5:00 to get an early start to catch the afternoon ferry from South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island to Tobermory so we could do laundry in the afternoon. Art wasn’t up when we left, but he was planning on getting the evening ferry anyway. We packed up in record time, mainly because the mosquitoes were on the attack! There had to have been 100 of them on our tent screens and they surrounded us as soon as we were out of the tent. We didn’t even attempt to heat water for tea and coffee. Thank goodness we had some Isalean bars to shovel down to give us some riding fuel. After 17 miles, we rolled into the town of Little Current at 7:15 and found a great little coffee shop to have second breakfast. They had some amazing breakfast burritos. Jon had to get a second tea after a fly went swimming in his first cup. 🙄 After that little break, I figured we had about 40 miles to go to South Baymouth; completely doable in 4 hours. Then I freaked out for a second when I saw a sign that said “South Baymouth: 64”. Oh crap! Then I remember we’re in Canada and it’s kilometers. Heart racing for no good reason.

The ride on Manitoulin Island was very nice. Lots of farms, rolling hills, occasional views of Georgian Bay. There were a few clouds, which kept us from getting too hot and a bit of a breeze, but not too hateful. We got into SB at 12:15 and biked up to the ferry booth line. The cashier calculated the charges and stopped for a second, staring at the screen. Maybe he hadn’t sold tickets to bicyclists before, but he was apparently shocked to see that there was a $2.95 fee per bicycle in addition to the passenger fee. Because we take up a lot of room and/or weight??Then he says “Um, you guys are seniors, right?” I replied that we do feel like we’re 90 when we get back on our bikes each morning! Discount achieved. We had 45 minutes before boarding, so we walked over to the nearby restaurant and overpaid for 2 beers (location, location, location). When we got back out to our bikes, there was Art! It really was an easy ride, so he just pushed a bit to join us on the earlier ferry. Once on board, we grabbed some lunch and settled in for the 2 hour ride. A full belly, a beer and a lulling boat was enough to make us all tired. We went in search of a place to nap or lie down. No such luck. Not exactly quiet on the boat anyway. Oh well, we did position a couple of chairs to put the feet up anyway. Once we arrived in Tobermory, we went to the grocery store, located in the center of the crazy busy tourist area. Then we made our way to our Warm Shower host who works for Parks Canada and has a little cabin right on the water with a bunkhouse for cyclists. Incredible place!! We walked out into the rocks and splashed in the reeeeeally cold water. I got in up to my thighs, Jon went all the way in. We went back to the bunkhouse to change and Art ventured in. I gathered up our laundry to get that started and Art comes up to us and says he needs help finding his glasses. He had set them on one of the flat rock areas. Unfortunately, a boat went by and a wave washed his glasses into the water. Jon was able to find them in between a crevice of some of the larger rocks. Thankfully they were unscathed. We showered, made our dinner and sat on the back deck with Art and enjoyed the evening. Great conversations about US vs Canada. Gorgeous sunset and a loon family floating by. Couldn’t ask for a better evening.

Today's ride: 62 miles (100 km)
Total: 897 miles (1,444 km)

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