Day 21, Saturday, July 22/06
WOW! Rest day, and what a terrific day it has been thus far! After the service last night, we anxiously awaited the calling of our names to be matched with our billet family. It is sort of like a lottery....and then if you are one of the last to be called, it can seem like the old days on the school playground, where you are the last chosen for a team! Man, did we luck out. Our host family, Norman and Mary Jo(an) Fanthorpe are so much like my parents that it is uncanny! Norman arrives out front in his new Lincoln...I felt like I was being chauffered, which in essence I was. We drive back out of the city to a house cottage RIGHT ON THE LAKE! (Lake of the Woods). It was 9:40 before we got there and once inside the lovely place discovered that Norm is an artist! So I had to explore all of the paintings that he has in his collection (most of other artists). I had a shower and Mary Jo made us toast and tea before we went to bed. It was a peaceful sleep and we could hear the loons on the lake. Woke up early but stayed in bed til 7:30 and then wrote my journal and blog.
Norm and Mary Jo made us bacon and eggs and waited on us. Norm drove Bob and I to the church so we could maintenance on our bikes and clean them for the next leg...which is going to be tough as we have three days of over 200 km per day. Norm came back and waited patiently for us to finish. Mary Jo kindly did our laundry! How am I ever going to learn to do these things for myself when this ride ends??? We went back to their place to sit and veg, swim and relax! The water is lovely and warm. Scenery on thelake glorious. There are thousands and thousands of islands in Lake Of the Woods. It is one huge body of water that stretches for ever. Norm took us for a lovely boat ride. This is definitely cottage country...but big cottages like mansions! All have garages down on the water, with a quay underneath with a carved out area for the boat to fit and then a mechanical device to haul the boat up and out of the water. This is how they leave them. Presently Norm is bbqing a chicken on a Keith's beer can for dinner.
They are remarkable people. Both were widowed and they met singing in a choir in Florida..a church choir. Norm is 84. They live in Kenora four months of the year and Victoria for 8 months. They intend to sell this wonderful spot next June as the upkeep is too much for them. They will then move permanently to Victoria. Norm is having to adjust to making the final decision. He has owned the place since 1962.
Oh yes I saw a beaver swimming by the dock last night as I was checking out the place. Kenora is a neat place....it will be hard to leave!! Especially seeing we will be on the road by 6 am.
To all of you who have been e-mailing me, thanks for keeping in touch. I love hearing from you and do hope to find time to respond.
Looks like the winds have shifted here on the dock.. oh crap, a raindrop. Suppose I should drag my lazy butt to help with dinner. The gin and tonic was great!
Norm and Mary Jo made us bacon and eggs and waited on us. Norm drove Bob and I to the church so we could maintenance on our bikes and clean them for the next leg...which is going to be tough as we have three days of over 200 km per day. Norm came back and waited patiently for us to finish. Mary Jo kindly did our laundry! How am I ever going to learn to do these things for myself when this ride ends??? We went back to their place to sit and veg, swim and relax! The water is lovely and warm. Scenery on thelake glorious. There are thousands and thousands of islands in Lake Of the Woods. It is one huge body of water that stretches for ever. Norm took us for a lovely boat ride. This is definitely cottage country...but big cottages like mansions! All have garages down on the water, with a quay underneath with a carved out area for the boat to fit and then a mechanical device to haul the boat up and out of the water. This is how they leave them. Presently Norm is bbqing a chicken on a Keith's beer can for dinner.
They are remarkable people. Both were widowed and they met singing in a choir in Florida..a church choir. Norm is 84. They live in Kenora four months of the year and Victoria for 8 months. They intend to sell this wonderful spot next June as the upkeep is too much for them. They will then move permanently to Victoria. Norm is having to adjust to making the final decision. He has owned the place since 1962.
Oh yes I saw a beaver swimming by the dock last night as I was checking out the place. Kenora is a neat place....it will be hard to leave!! Especially seeing we will be on the road by 6 am.
To all of you who have been e-mailing me, thanks for keeping in touch. I love hearing from you and do hope to find time to respond.
Looks like the winds have shifted here on the dock.. oh crap, a raindrop. Suppose I should drag my lazy butt to help with dinner. The gin and tonic was great!
posted by Unknown at 10:46 PM
3 Comments:
Hi Jill and Bob
I am so enjoying your blog. I am following every day your journey through our great country.
Can't wait until I see some pictures.
Elizabeth H in Gondola Point
hey mom, dad;
good to hear you were able to relax & enjoy some lazy summer fun...they probably feel few & far between. we made it back today, relatively incident-free (besides locking the keys in the car, at our campsite, 45 km from the nearest town, and me opening a nice little gash on my knee climbing mt. carleton - in fact, both events are right in line w/ 'typical'). chris & claudine made it out for a nice bbq wednesday nite. david came over to check things out later in the evening, so i think things are in good hands. i know you worry, but don't. like many, i'm checking your progress daily, and can't get over just how much more in shape my fifty-plus year-old parents are than i am. to think that you both only really started biking seriously a few years ago, it's quite a feat you're pulling off. i wish i had some great motivational speech or something...i think about what you're doing when i'm having a bad day, and it puts things into immediate perspective.
oh, sorry, that last post was from trev (not like it could have been mistaken for anyone else, what with the keys & knee...and forgetting to sign it...ah, isn't it satisfying that some things never change? no?)
trev
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