The day began on an upnote--no flats! We had a great continental breakfast at the Best Western--maybe the best one of the trip. Then we got on our bikes and tried to find Rt. 26 East. The town map wasn't exactly accurate, so we wasted about a mile wandering around.
I told you Owen Sound (the town) is on the water. What I didn't tell you is that in order to go East out of that town, you must CLIMB one of the hugest hills I've seen in awhile! We cycled up the steepest hill of the trip this morning--I can tell we're heading east where the hills are steeper and shorter. Once up that hill, we found our route and headed out of town. We found three more steep and long uphills right after that! It turns out we were climbing that Niagra Escarpment right to the top. It started sprinkling at the bottom of the third hill, but by the time I got to the top, it had turned into a drenching rain! At that point, David was hiding under a big tree near a church and I joined him to PUT ON my rain gear (too late, Traci). We were both pretty wet and trying to decide what to do next when another cyclist came up to us. It was our angel, Cathy Snider! She had been cycling to the store (yes, she does those hills on a regular basis) and saw us up ahead. She pulled over and asked us if we'd like to dry off and warm up at her house just up the road. Although we were a bit reluctant (aren't we always to take help when we need it?), we looked up at that sky and said "OK."
We followed Cathy to her house--about 1 km away. It was a neat old stone farmhouse that has been in her husband Glen's family for generations. They have a farm, but stopped actively farming several years ago. Once we got to the house, Cathy showed how angelic she truly is! She took our wet coats and put them in the dryer, put our wet (and I'm sure quite smelly) shoes on shoe dryers, gave us sweats to wear to warm up, and made us tea! All for two bedraggled strangers! We chatted with her and son Tom for a bit, and then Glen came home.
Glen was hungry, and the next thing we knew, Cathy had put this fantastic spread on the table (now I see why she does catering)! Muffins, cheese, juice--the works! Although we had said we weren't hungry (having just ridden 10 miles on our big breakfast), we did a pretty good job of cleaning that table off! We had a great conversation with Cathy and Glen, and met another son Mike who is on his way to college this coming year. What a fun and amazing family! They are all artists and musicians. Their other son Dave is in a professional band and they are on tour in Canada right now! We heard some of their music and it was great--a little hard rock and a little reggae. We're bringing a CD home...
Although we were tempted to just move in to the Snider residence (after all that hospitality, we knew a good thing when we saw it), we saw a break in the storm and decided to head back out. We were warm and dry and happy, and hope the Sniders will repay us with a visit to our house in Colorado one day! I'm not sure we can thank them enough for making our day much brighter and giving us a glimpse into Canadian family life!
About 10 minutes after leaving the Snider residence, the sprinkles started again. But we didn't care--we were dry! About 10 minutes after that, the skies opened and started dumping buckets on us! We started to care at that point because it was hard to see, and I'm sure the visibility for the cars was also not great. We had a nice downhill into Meaford and I was behind David. I was wondering what he would do--I really wanted to stop and at least warm up with some tea or something. To my surprise, he stopped at the first hotel and said "Do you want to stay here or at the next hotel down the road?" He was freezing!
So we stopped at that first hotel and asked if they had any rooms. They did NOT! But the lady (Marguerite) looked at David's pitiful face and said "I do have a couple of rooms over the bar. The shower doesn't have much pressure, but you could stay there." We accepted immediately and brought our bikes into the back room. Once we dried ourselves out, we were much happier! It rained cats and dogs for at least another hour, and then off and on for the rest of the day. We were happy to be inside!
We had some soup at our motel to warm up, and met some really nice people who we talked with for at least another hour. Our discussions ranged from American politics to Canadian beef--and many places in between. What interesting and fun people--we are really enjoying the Canadians!
Serendipity played a big part in this 20-mile day. We would never have stopped in Meaford for long otherwise, and if we hadn't--we wouldn't have found our other angels of the day! We found the Back Street Tap and Grill--half a block off the main drag in town. It turns out that this may have been our best meal of the trip so far! The chef, Brad Taylor, is also a ski coach and has been to Winter Park many times! What a coincidence! I had some awesome pork tenderloin and David had fantastic rack of lamb. It was pretty wonderful and a restaurant I'd definitely recommend! We also got a little Tour viewing as well.
Meaford still looks like a quaint little seaside town. The development doesn't seem to have reached here yet, but we think it will. Any place on the Georgian Bay is probably a good investment.
A short ride and great food and lots of angels--who could ask for a better day?
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Thank you Snider Family for sharing your home, family, and hospitality with my dear wet friends Traci and David.
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