Trick or Treat in Toon Town

Winston

Post SNM Tour Day #14

Yes it’s already been 2 weeks since we finished off in St John’s NL – where does the time go?

So we had an early start today after a late night and we’re off to SK.  Blogging early today as the temperature is 0, it’s overcast but not snowing and the roads are clear so if it is officially posted maybe it won’t change...here’s hoping.

It’s Oct 31 - HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! – this is probably the only day of the year that we can actually wear full SAD no more gear and fit right in. Nobody would even take a second look at us with our “costumes”.   I’m feeling very ORANGE today!  Great trick or treating to all – young and old.

(this is John, see John laugh, laugh John laugh and thanks John thanks!)

The party last night was a lot of fun.  The food (multicultural,  heavy on the Polish) was scrumptious  and never-ending.  There was a Baba/Babcia quiz hosted by John “Schmenge” Ploszay which was a hilarious mix of fact and fiction.  John’s sense of humour has always been playful, quick witted, zany and heavy on the improv – he is a stand-up tour de force that would do SCTV proud.  We didn’t need John Candy or Eugene Levy last night, John was “in the house” (where else would he be – it’s his home).  Thanks to Mag and Jackie who did most of the work while he was goofing off.  Thanks also to my aunts, Jean and Joan, for all the great food (and thoughts and prayers).   I must say that I have felt greatly supported by my Winnipeg family.  This understanding and acceptance did not go unnoticed.

John was in the midst of putting bamboo flooring in his living room and one thing led to another and all of sudden we were painting SAD no more on his bare sub-floor and signing with felt pens.  If ever someone takes the floor off, say in 50 years from now – what will they think??

Tour Day Sponsor are Ken and Laurie Walus – thanks so much for the support and encouragement, and as we head to Saskatoon to visit Tom (Ken’s brother) this is more than fitting.  Laurie asked for the “2 minute” explanation of SAD – as she is a medical professional she got an earful...can’t just turn off the awareness campaign just yet! 

So again, instead of Random quotes let’s give you something a little different on the final Sunday of the tour.  Here’s a list of things which may have been understated in the blog - the insider’s report or the answer to the much asked question...

“So……..what really happened out there?”

Easiest Day – While there were rest days scattered throughout – the easiest day on the road was the last day when the final 16 kms were done in what seemed like a few minutes.  It was fast, effortless and purely glorious.

Hardest Stretches – A four way tie between...

1. You pick the spot on the Coquihala Hwy - early in the tour when I was silently questioning my sanity and fortitude.

2. Going against a steady headwind in and around Broadview SK – soul sucking!

3. The accumulation of all the days North of Lake Superior – for the 1^st and only time in the tour I began to dread the unending hills at the end of the days.

4. The run on the second last day into the nastiest of headwinds almost made me walk, a feeling which I hadn’t had up to this point and made the steep ascent out of Merritt seem downright easy!

Weirdest thing in the ditch – And believe me I saw a lot of weird things, BUT a full library collection of hard cover, large volume books on witchcraft and astrology found just outside of Fredericton – too bizarre!

Most cherished item found in ditch – Newfoundland license plate

Biggest Surprise (pleasant) -  only 2 flat tubes the entire trip and both occurred early on in BC.  The tires were amazing and the bike was rock solid throughout.

Biggest surprise (shoulder shrugging) was the general lack of cyclists seen for very long stretches (unfortunate, as it was always a great pleasure to meet an individual or a group touring across a province or the country).

Biggest Surprise (not so pleasant….)-  Tie between “black water” valve malfunction on RV and the complete lack of cell service in a few regions of the country no matter what cell phone carrier you had. 

Best photo-op -  A tie again...The Rocky Mountains and the surprising gem of Thornburn Lake in Newfoundland 

Worst stretch of highway – Excluding the construction just outside of Thunder Bay ON (the only time I needed to ride my hybrid bike to keep going), the list of spots is rather long but the highway outside of Renfrew ON probably ranked as worst.

Best stretch of highway – all of New Brunswick

Worst Drivers – (sorry to have to say this but someone has to be #1) NW Ontario

Best Drivers – Newfoundland by far! Courteous and encouraging honks and waves non-stop.

“Closest call”

For Monique - just outside of Portage la Prairie MB when a semi-trailer almost ploughed into the back of the RV on a straight and flat (no kidding) stretch of highway. 

 For me – got “brushed” by a large RV in BC and got violently pushed/pulled and disappeared for a few seconds in a semi truck’s wet and very windy draft in NS

Worst weather – I was unexpectedly and unceremoniously “chilled to the bone” on a very cold wet day in New Brunswick and was almost stopped in my tracks (remember running on the spot in gym class) by gusty headwinds in NL. 

Worst campground – Maple Creek SK – Monique absolutely refused to stay (later we found out that this area had been completely flooded which fully explained the dismal state of affairs).

Nicest facilities at a campground – Vermilion Bay ON

Best hike at the end of the Day – Othello Tunnels, Hope BC (we didn’t know it at the time).

The best “Straight out of the movies” experience – tire patching in Vermilion Bay ON. The movie, by the way, was DELIVERANCE.

The best “near miss” – Hurricane Igor (can’t imagine what the tour would have been like if we had been in NF only 2 weeks before).

Media “hot spot” for tour was surprisingly Sudbury, ON.

Media “dead zone” for the tour was in La Belle Province.