1000 Islands

Day 58: Naponee to Gananoque--45 miles

The day was a resounding success! We woke up and it was overcast and dry outside, but by the time we finished breakfast, it was very rainy and wet! At breakfast, I noticed a door marked "Business Center" with a computer. So I thought I'd read my email--since it was raining and all. I'm very good at doing other things rather than cycling in the rain!

Not only did I do that, we blogged AND loaded some pictures! We were very excited to find a computer that we could use for pictures. So we spent about 3 hours getting all that done--until checkout time.

Unfortunately, the rain hadn't stopped by checkout time, so we sadly put on our full rain regalia. The only bright spot in the morning was David's orange booties! We set out on Rt. 2 toward Kingston in very soggy conditions. The good news I found out was that when I put my rainpants on today (I haven't worn them since Day 15) they were looser than before! Yahoo!

Since we started dry and waterproof, we were pretty comfortable riding. The only problem is that when you're waterproof on the outside, you become very sweaty on the inside! It took us about 2 hours to get to Kingston. This is a neat city--about 120,000 people. We spent a lot of time actually getting to the city centre because there was a lot of outskirt area. It seems to be very cosmopolitan in the downtown area (David noticed lots of double parking) and there was a lot of fun shopping (oh, for more time and room in those panniers!). There were cyclists and walkers everywhere, and we stopped at a local chain called "The Pita Pit" and had a pita sandwich for lunch. Then on to a coffee shop where I tried a vanilla tea latte--good!

By this time, the sun was out but it was about 3:30 p.m. We headed out of Kingston still trying to dry off. The ride was beautiful! We stopped to have a drink and looked over at the water. We decided to take a closer look and rode into this gorgeous neighborhood. There, working on his yard, was Gary, who chatted with us for about 10 minutes. He pointed out that we were looking at the very end of Lake Ontario, and were about to enter the 1000 Islands region. He was a typical friendly, helpful Canadian, and he told us about a bike path we could catch the next day. Thanks, Gary!

In about 10 m ore miles, we flew into Gananoque. Along the way, we checked out more islands--with huge houses covering them! They have several with castles on them and everything! We stopped as we entered town to admire some local 1800's architecture and saw that we were in between two B&B's! After a very short debate and looking at the blackening sky, we decided to stay at the Athlone Inn--mostly because it offered dinner and advertised "fine dining." What a find! Miranda and Jason are the owners and Jason is the chef, and it was just a fantastic place! We had a beautiful room on the ground floor (I think that wing was added in the 1950's to the original house). The dining was some of the best we have had--truly a 5-star experience! We also spent time with Jason & Miranda's friends who were staying for a couple of nights. What nice people, and a great way to spend our last night in Canada!