Waterlogged!!!

Day 59: Gananoque to Brockville, ON--36 miles

Today was a good day for ducks and loons--but not a good day for cycling! We had a huge thunderstorm during the night and hoped the front would move through. But it didn't. It was a soggy, rainy morning.

We had a fantastic breakfast at the Athlone Inn and waited around to see if the rain would stop. No such luck--so at about 10:00 we decided to brave the storm and ride. Our plan was to enter the USA. We donned our waterproof gear once again and started pedaling. We pedaled and pedaled, but the rain didn't let up at all--in fact, it seemed to get more and more intense!

People had tole us this would be one of our most scenic days. We spent it peering through rain-spattered glasses on the bike path that paralleled the 1000 Islands Parkway. It was called the Waterfront Trail, and we were very thankful to have a bike path on such a miserable weather day. The path was pretty typical of bike paths--many are afterthoughts, as is bicycle transportation. We realize now from first-hand experience how important our nephew Heath's job as a bicycle advocate is! This particular path was about 6 feet wide, but it had a huge hump right down the middle with plants growing up out of it. Since it was raining, there were huge long puddles running down either side of the hump, and thus the whole path was taken up by obstacles! Ride in the center and you have to balance on the hump while avoiding the slippery plants. Ride in the troughs and you're IN water. But we managed--stopping to dry of our glasses about every 10 minutes.

The 1000 Islands area is definitely a must-see! We saw so many islands. They say in Canada, it takes two trees to classify as an island, and people will buy a little island for seasonal use. Many folks duck-hunt and will put a little shack on their island. Others build huge mansions as second homes, I guess. So these islands are sometimes completely covered by house! It was really neat to see! They told us that very few people would stay year-round on any of these places--they are not used in the winter.

We were SO wet, we stopped in at Brown's Bay Provincial Park and took shelter at their staff building for a bit. The staff there was so nice! They had a little canteen and we had some fresh french fries, and we chatted with them. They were getting ready for a huge reggae festival the next day, but were hampered by the rain! We could see NY across the river, and after trying to warm up with the hand dryers in the restrooms (they call them washrooms in Canada), we hit the road again.

The rain just wouldn't stop. We were wet and getting cold, and limped into Brockville. We decided at that point that 36 miles is just enough when you're riding in a deluge, so we stopped in at the first available store (a leather and antiques place) and asked the proprieter for advice on hotels. He pointed us to a new B&B that was close to the center of town. Off we went to find The Green Door.

The Green Door is a converted church! On the outside, it still looks like a church--without a true steeple. At the B&B, Peter answered the door. He took our horrendous appearance in stride and said of course they had some room available. I'm not sure I would have done it considering how wet we were! He immediately helped us take our bikes downstairs, rigged up a clothesline in the basement, and gave us towels so that we could put something dry on. We were pretty early, so the rooms were not yet ready, but Peter and Lynne took care of us anyway! They gave us great ideas for where to get a bowl of soup, and we headed out for a bit.

When we came back, we got to check out this place that Peter and Lynne have done so much work on. They have taken a cavernous sanctuary with extremely high ceilings and made it feel beautiful and very cozy! I believe they have done most of the work themselves, and it is just fantastic! I applaud them for their efforts, and think they will be quite successful in this venture!

We went to do laundry, and had a drink at the next-door pub--the Phoenix. There we met Sylvia, Ralph, and Ron as well as some of their other friends. Another gang of fun and friendly Canadians! We so enjoyed getting to know them, and they kept trying to buy us drinks! We almost forgot to eat dinner, but when you're cycling, the stomach rules and we left The Phoenix and went to the Buell St. Bistro for dinner. But we definitely want to go back and see this fun group again!

Our dinner at the Buell St. Bistro was just fantastic and a great way to end a soggy day! Brockville, although an unplanned stop, was so fun and we will try to make it back there in the future!