Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Day 59 - Meaford to Craighurst

91.39 km - Total so far 4,896.72 km - http://ridewithgps.com/trips/5813654


We left the Meaford campground at 8:30 and as expected, we had a nice warming up climb out of there. It was relatively easy has we had a nice tail wind to push us along. We had that tail wind pretty much the whole way to Collingwood and at one point, we were doing 32.4 kph on the flat.

Our first big stop of the morning was in Thornbury were a nice park caught our attention. The park is located next to a small river and a relatively big dam when compared to other ones in the area. What is significant here is the the man-made fishway that enables lake trout to go up stream and access almost 62 km of spawning grounds. The fishway was built in 1980 and the recorded usage has been on the increase over the years. The Georgian Trail also passes right by the park and we could have taken it all the way to Collingwood, the next town. We decided to stay on Hwy 26 for now as going on a hard packed gravel trail would slow us down. We did eventually get on the trail and found it to be well used by cyclists and walkers.
Details of the fishway


The fish have to go up the stairs

We stopped for a while at the tourist information center in Collingwood. The information center shares space with the museum in the completely restored train station. Although much of the masonry and brick is new, they did a superbed job of keeping the essential architectural elements. We found the staff to be particularly helpful in providing us information and maps about our next leg home. We also had a chance to chat with people outside and answer questions about our trip. Apparently, we should be sticking around Collingwood in order to attend the big Elvis Presley impersonators gathering this weekend. We are told it is the biggest in North America.  Those of us from Ottawa all know that Elvis is alive and living in Tweed, Ontario. 
The restored train station

Nice picture of bikes

Also in Collingwood, we got to finally pick up some Chamois Butt'r as well as few other essential items.  It was almost 1 pm by now and we still had another 60 or so km to our campground.
Plane of the day

Ontario is flat just like Saskatchewan


Before getting to the campground, we stopped for supplies in Craighurst. We just love small towns' as you can see in the picture below, everything is close. Another 1 km (so the sign said) and we would be at the campground. Turns out the campground was a little farther than the sign advertised. 
The triple crown

This is the first time we stay at a Kamping of America (KOA) campsite. They are very well equipped and are setup for families with all sorts of things for kids to do. They are however somewhat pricey for two cyclists not looking to 'pan for gold'.

Helene is sporting a huge smile as I have finally managed to arrange my vestibule the same way she arranges hers, with everything in its place and all luggage easily accessible. This miracle has taken but a short 9 weeks and 2 days to come to fruition.
Daniel's orderly vestibule

Some have contacted us hoping to greet us in Ottawa when we arrive.  Therefore if anyone is interested to do so we suggest that you could meet us at the Hog's Back park.  There is free parking and it is very close to Helene's place.  We expect to be home by Sunday or Monday after 3:30pm, we will firm up the day and time in the next few days.

56.79 miles - Total so far 3,042.67 miles

1 comment:

  1. Bonjour! Nous sommes content de vous avoir croisé à Collingwood! Nous avions remarqué vos beaux bikes bien chargés!
    Félicitations pour ce beaux défi/vélo!
    She had a very good idea!
    Andrée&Richard

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