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September 2, 2009 Marquette MI to Arnprior Ottawa Canada, 620 miles.

We actually beat the sunrise this morning. Light was barely filtering through the darkness, so we took our time getting loaded up, and the sun had started to show as a red glow in front of us as we pulled out of the motel.

About 5 miles out of town, we rounded a corner in the road to see the sun, a huge red ball, taking up an inordinate amount of space on the horizon. It was perfectly framed by the roadside trees, forming the dot on the “i” of the road we were on.

It was a chilly morning, and about to get colder. Dropping down a little hill, we saw wisps of fog backlit by the rising sun. The mist sat just below treetop level, and hung like a gauze awning above us for miles.  I had my liner cranked to 11, but was still chilled. After 20 miles riding under the fog blanket, I was seriously thinking about finding a place to pull over and find a hot cup of coffee to wrap my fingers around, but Mike wasn’t giving in, so I wouldn’t either.

Suddenly, after nearly an hour of cold, the road climbed ever so slightly, our mirrors fogged, and the temperature rose so quickly it felt like going from the freezer to the sauna. Amazing how fog can hold the cold to the ground like that.

We crossed into Canada at Sault Ste Marie, an industrial town that processes iron ore coming from our lake regions in the states.

We didn’t have any plans for the day other than ride, get gas, much some granola, get back on the bikes and ride some more.  I thought we’d be stopping at Pembroke for the night, but Mike decided we’d push on further. By Arnprior, I was sleepy, hungry and cranky. Mike found us an excellent room (no wifi, unfortunately) at the Country Squire Motel. The owner was Indian, and I could smell the most wonderful curry in the office, I mentioned it to him, and he said it was this tortilla-like bread his wife was making. After we got checked in, he asked if we wanted a taste of the bread and we said sure! His wife brought us out some of the dough, and also one of the tortillas that had puffed up into something that looked like a taco salad shell, but was just so light and crispy (not fried).  It’s made from rice flour, cardamom, curry and other spices. Really, really good stuff!

A good nights’ sleep and we’ll be headed towards Quebec City tomorrow.

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