Day2 (Ride: 574KM | 357Miles)

Packed and ready – we are set.  Next stop; gas and a quick breakfast at Tim Horton’s - Once both machine and man are full, we headed North on highway 400 that turns into Route 17 West along the coast of Lake Huron.  Again we are having a spectacular sunny, warm day with no wind.  Some of the views of Lake Huron in the distance are quite impressive.  I know I need to come back and explore it someday.   As we neared Sudbury I start to recognize the landscape.  It took a while for me to understand why, but eventually it hit me..  One summer a long long time ago, my parents decided I needed to be sent out to my uncle’s place in Sudbury Ontario and help lend him hand in building his new home that he built on his own.  It’s remarkable that a parcel of land that I have only seen once in my lifetime 34 years ago when I was a kid of 13 could be so vividly recognisable.  Immediately was thinking how I needed to find Uncle Dan’s home.  I looked forward to seeing more landmarks that I might recognize, so many memories were flooding back, I was thrilled…then when we started to see the signs that we were about to head into the town of Sudbury, Ken’s veers on a Westerly route that takes us further and further away from Sudbury.  I felt disappointment.  But I knew then that I would double back and stop in Sudbury on my return leg of my trip.  I need to see my Uncle’s final resting place.  He passed away a few years ago.  I made a mental note to reach out to his daughter Lynn to get the information needed to pay my final respects.

Just before entering in the U.S. Ken’s suggest that we find a place to camp nearby the border as he realizes that he does not want to be stuck in the throngs of returning Canadians heading back home after the long 3 day weekend. I agreed, after all I’m in no hurry, so across the bridge toward the border we go.  Ken in the left lane and me in the middle lane.  Ken suddenly shuffles into my lane, figures he always picks the longest wait lane and figures he’ll fair better in mine.  What I neglected to tell him is that I ALWAYS choose the wrong lane also!  Sure enough both lanes on either side of us our WAY quicker than ours.. …then we hit the ‘’GUY’’, one of the nuttiest border guard I’ve met to date.  The one thousand questions guy.  Trying to trip you up, trying to catch you in a lie…trying to outwit the Stupid Canadian Tourists…was kind of funny actually.  Sometimes I wonder if the boys at the border say something like ‘’ Hey Joe, you be the A_Hole today me and Tom will let everyone by’’?  Now what really could be useful for these blokes would be a system of ratings of all our previous entries into the Country by each Border Agent.  That way one agent might score an individual as high risk and another as mild and another as low and they might actually have a useful rating tool and target REAL threats instead of harassing a City Water Works Manager and a Banker!! I mean what is all the worth of funds from homeland security and all the upgrades in computer systems and mandatory passports worth if they can’t even do that?  Any hoot we both got across Ken before I.  So once I finished paying the toll that is less than 50 yards away from our entry into the USA.  Ken’s ask’s me how much the toll just cost me.  I replied 3$ and I tell him how the toll operator tried to short change me by a buck.  I gave him a 5$ bill Canadian and he gives me a looney back instead of a twoney.  The guy says ‘’Oops!’’ after confronted with the mistake and he gives me another looney.  Now when I tell Ken this.  Ken got the same scam but did not call him on it.  So from 2 bikes he makes 1$.  Now if you multiply those odds by the amount of traffic coming through daily, that guy must rack up a little fortune over the long weekend!     

We took the 1^st exist into Michigan to stop at the Tourist Info center to locate the closest campground.  I found this interesting little sign on the front door, the guy in the picture on the door shares my family name and also my Great Grand Fathers first Name.  Here’s a shot I took.  I will have to check with the family if we are related somehow.

Once inside the clerk helped us located a campground less than 3 miles out.  Place by the name of SOO  Locks Camping, 26$ dollars a night to pitch a tent with access to electricity and water and supposedly Wi/Fi.  I suggest to Ken to find us a few brewskies and ice nearby while I pitch the tent for the 1^st time on my own.  Might be of interest for a few of you to know 2 things:  1- I’ve never camped before and 2 – I’ve only pitched this tent once and that with the help of Nathalie.  Well turns out, I’m not so bad at pitching the tent.  Got it up in less than 20 minutes even though the guy’s on YouTube get it up in less than 6 minutes…I’ll improve over time..I hope.

By the time Ken gets back we unpack our gear set the sleeping gear and polish off 2 quick beers from the twelve pack he brought.  Now it’s getting late.  Tim Horton’s breakfast is far far away and hunger calls.

The lady at the Tourist Info center also recommended we have supper at a place called The Antlers Restaurant, she said the ambience was different…well that was an understatement.  The place is filled with critters of all sorts that the local Taxidermist must have been kept busy for many years to populate the restaurant.  The wait was 90 minutes plus to be sited…forget that!  We are hungry!!  Nothing like hunger to make us seem like mean badass bikers…so off we go to a dive called the Corner Pub.

Me and Ken were the only customers inside but before entering a friendly couple were just leaving and getting on their ElectraGlide and said the food was good.  Turned out to be pretty good food indeed.

Ken had the all you can eat whitefish and I had the special mushroom cheese hamburger.  Our waitress was a sweet little girl studying at U of M in marine biology or something like that.  Before we finished eating, our ‘’nice waitress’’ shift was over and was replaced by what seemed to be the bithchiest barmaid around.. a pretty girl but oh…the foul language an attitude coming out of her mouth.  She must not have been happy coming in a Sunday night of a long weekend in a place that had by now only 4 customers in the whole place…not much tips in store for her that evening.  She entered the place by saying to the 1^st customer she saw at the bar ‘’Hey AssHole!’’in an unkind unhappy tone, even at that I don’t know if it would have sounded any better if she had said it in an upbeat and happy tone either..  The guy was a local cab driver as we saw him park near our bikes and I’m guessing he’s a regular and probably NOT a real good tipper!   So our sweet waitress leaves and we get the pleasure of settling our bill with little miss Prissy..again seems that Ken got shafted in the exchange rate and somehow she probably scored a little tip after all for her evening by also shafting her colleague that just finished her shift.   

When we got back to the campsite, both Ken and I were ready to call it quits for the night…so Ken’s empties out the make-do ice box and out pop’s 2 silver bullets!!  Oh what the heck, we crack open the last two cans of brew and settle in for the night.  TIC TOC, TIC TOC..the beer needs to go..it’s 01:00 something’ish…I get up…make a racket with the series of zippers and doors…must have been at least 4 different sets of zippers to finally get out…no time to make it to the main building..quickly find the package and get it free and..''Ahhhh''- Relief!  

Back into the tent.. I settle back in the sac.  Fiddle around yet again with another zipper on my soon to be ex-new sleeping bag (details later) and finally settle back into it to what warmth is left over from my little escapade outside.  Now this brings me to ponder how well my mat is working at keeping the cold from the ground from seeping into my sleeping bag.  The next thought that forms in my head makes me giggle, enough that Ken asks what’s up? It's pitch black in the tent and I thought he was asleep..and I come out and say…’’well I’m just wondering if I can touch your COT’’?’  Ken; ‘’says touch my what?’’ and I just loose it…back track one night to a conversation I had with Ken’s wife where we talked about the movie ‘’Broke Back Mountain’’ and how I’ve never seen it and all and here I am in a tent with another man asking him if his COT is warm!  Ok I don’t know if what I’m trying to express as being funny actually sounds funny but I don't think Ken heard the word COT at 1st..sounded like something else...at that moment, then and there, it was hilarious!  Turns out that Ken’s MAT was warm and old and did repel the cold quite well…a very small glitch in communications was soon resolved and we both got a good, but nervous laugh, out of it!  And soon sleep took over till morning.