Around 6:00 the sun starts its show.  With each moment the colors become more intense.

Leaving the U.S. On to Canada. They don’t allow photos at the border. We did have to pull over so they could go through the trailer. They asked Jim if we had a gun. He said no. The lady border patrol said. “Your from Texas and you don’t have a gun?”  His reply “No ma’am, haven’t owned a weapon since Vietnam.”

Quite a bit of construction on the highway. Because we were going slower it was an opportunity for  Doogie to enjoy seeing things by nose perspective.

Never give up a chance for a good barn photo.

We got settled in at our new campsite in North Bay Ontario. Using the good ole iPhone I found the name of a resturant close by. A wonderful description did not disappoint us. It was a lovely evening in a comfortable setting and great meal. The neon sign is from the original place. It’s sad they said it hasn’t worked for many years.

Checking for routes available in the North Bay I thought I would print up a “mapmyride” route. I printed it, made a que sheet and was not very successful in riding the course. We eventually found a path and were trying to figure exactly where we were when this gentleman rode up. He got us back on route. He gave us the impression we were miles away from where we started. We were only about 6 miles from home. We did get a nice 30 miler in.

Crossing a busy road this is some of the nicest graffiti  I have ever read.                                                                       At this intersection all these kids were crossing the road.                                                     They were out on a bicycle outing.There were about 15.

This morning we took Doogie down to a public beach where he could play in the waves. Chasing the Canadian Geese off was first on the agenda. On to the sandbar and on the atttack. Run Mr. Jimmy!

Jim studied the bike map we got from the Chamber of Commerce. We got on the             Kate Pace Trail. Named for Kate Pace, an Alpine Skier born in North Bay.  She won 6 World Cup medals, 3 Canadian downhill championships and many more accomplishments. She retired in 1998.  The trail ended at the Cranberry Trail that would take us to the city of Callander.

To watch these kids play at the water park was really fun. The blue bucket fills with water then dumps it out…on whoever happens to be brave enough to stand under it. Down the road this version of a riding lawn mower was a great photo op. The gentleman and his wife were sitting up on the porch.

Wow, another gravel road! Along the way we pass these really small ponies. They surely were not interested in us.

Down the Cranberry trail and on to the Kate Pace Trail we got a 40 mile ride in. The weather was cool with a few sprinkles. Great day!

This is Art, our neighbor in the park. He is a welder for gas pipe lines. He and his wife live about 4 hours north of North Bay. He lives in his trailer in the park while he works in this area. It is our last evening here and we invited him to join us at The Owl. We so enjoyed our first evening there. He never knew it was around. His wife is coming down in a few weeks. She will enjoy an evening at The Owl as well.

1993 brought the Heritage railway to North Bay. Rod Johnston and Barry Jacobs in 1999 wanted to add a carousel. They found Edna Scott whose passion was carousels. Volunteers along with woodcarvers, painters and engineers brought the carousel to life. 3 years and 33 horses, a spinning tub and 2 chariots later they had people and businesses that adopted and named their charges.                                                                      It opened on Canada Day July 1,2002. How beautiful it is.

I love comic strips.  It made me smile to find Lynn Johnston’s comic strip characters from “For Better or Worse” on the carousel. She lives in nearby Corbeil and contributed the drawing so the project.

Ah, a beautiful ending to the day. You can walk about a quarter mile from the beach and never go deeper than your knees. The sand bars are so much fun. Watching the families play in the water just made it right.

Tomorrow we head to Pembroke Ontario. Each place is so different, we never know what to expect.