“This is going to be a good day!” Gerald’s joyful exclamation (made just about every morning) was met by a soft groan as Amelia turned over in her sleeping bag. Gerald’s statement has been true everyday, but today was to be exceptional—we were going to ride the final kilometres to complete our journey across Manitoba.
Today was full of special little moments. The sun was warm and welcoming when we set off, but the road was not yet bustling with traffic. We found wild blueberries at our breaks and split muffins at our breakfast.
We geared up and down through the many hills of the Whitshell—chasing after one another as we did so. Just after West Hawk Lake we took a path marked “No Thru Road,” because Gerald had seen it on Google Maps and knew that it would lead us to the #1. We had a chuckle, upon emerging next to the highway, at signs claiming that “Google is wrong!”
Staying true to traditions established early on this trip, we went through every construction zone today. Because why start using detours now?!
On August 1st we left Togo, Saskatchewan with the goal of biking across Manitoba. Almost 1000 kms later (we may have enjoyed a few extra trails), we have reached the border between Manitoba and Ontario. Now our original plan was to arrive at this spot on August 14 and have Cheryl (Gerald’s wife) pick us up at the border. Seeing as we’re a few days ahead of schedule and this entire adventure has been more about the journey than the destination, we decided to change the destination. Plans changed. Again.
We are now sitting in a hotel room in Kenora. Surprise! Seeing as we spent the first part of our trip travelling through Saskatchewan, Amelia petitioned that it was only fair if we spent an equal amount of time in Ontario. To celebrate the completion of our trip across Manitoba, we first cycled an extra 50 kms out of Manitoba and then checked into a hotel.
In order to guarantee a place tonight, we changed our ways and reserved a room. Just as monotony was causing Amelia to second guess why we had booked a place, a pair of pliers were required to get us into our assigned room (which hadn’t been cleaned) and the adventure continued!
We are now indulging in a few luxuries: separate queen sized beds, electricity and the ability to shower (or bathe!) frequently!
It feels surreal to have successfully completed the main league of this trip, but it is invigorating to think of what tomorrow will hold.
*There will still be a blog post tomorrow. Come back to find out what it’s about!*
Clean and luxuriously spread out,
Gerald and Amelia
Adventures on a bicycle 