Port Dover, Ont. to Port Colbourne, Ont. 70 Miles, July 13

Pam took off quickly this morning, Sunday, to make it into town for church services. Carol and I had a lovely 40 mile ride which took us around Lake Erie along the lake shore. Unfortunately when we reached the town of Dunville we stopped for coffee. Upon leaving the cafe we were approached by a well meaning man who wanted to guide us out of town on Highway 3. He said, "I'm a bicyclist too and I know the most direct way to Port Colbourne." We knew we wanted Highway 3 and followed him. Several miles along the route we realized we had wanted "Old" Highway 3 and now we were going to miss the rest of the route along the lake shore. Carol also asked me if I had noticed the beer bottle stuck in his rear pocket. Oops! We should have known better than to trust someone who was probably somewhat tipsy.

Because we were off our map we entered Port Colbourne by a different route than Pam had. We then tried to backtrack and cover the town by Pam's route but were getting frustrated, tired and were about to give up and find a motel. Then we were approached by Richard Vanderhoek, who asked us if we were looking for a third cyclist. I said, "Yes, do you know where she is?" I almost cried when he said, "Yes, she's at my house." Richard led us to his home where we met his lovely wife Loretta.

Loretta led us to the shower, which is always the first order of business then they both prepared food for us. After a delicious lunch, Richard took us on a tour to see the Locks in Port Colbourne. We saw a 200 foot ship going through the canal between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. To Richard it was all so passe, but to us, it was quite dramatic. That huge ship seemed to take forever to slide inside and fill that canal side to side.

The Canada leg of our trip is quickly coming to a close, but we cannot thank the Canadians enough for the warm, generous hospitality they have shown us.