Goldwing Vacation - Days 2 to 4

DAY 2 North Bay to Sault Ste. Marie

When we awoke Tuesday morning, our room now smelled like the remnants of campfire smoke. We loaded up The Goldwing and hit the road.

We travelled Highway 17. The smell and haze of smoke did not disappear until almost Sudbury. It was a great day for riding. Being the passenger allowed me to look around and sightsee. I saw a family of osprey fishing in the Mississauga River which meandered beside the highway. Every time we met a logging truck, we could smell the lovely pine scent. As we rode through the rugged Canadian Shield, I was awestruck by the sheer size of the cambrian granite rock cuts we saw. It was neat to see small pine trees clinging to whatever bit of soil and moisture they could find in tiny cracks in the rock.

It was a full day's ride and we arrived in Sault Ste. Marie. We stayed at the Northlander Inn which suit our purposes just fine.  After arriving, we walked to the restaurant strip and had dinner. It was an early night as we had to be at the  Agawa Canyon train by 7:30 a.m.

DAY 3 - Agawa Canyon Tour

We had a quick McDonalds breakfast and rode The Goldwing to the tour train station. The views from the train were inspiring! I certainly could see where the Group of Seven artists got their inspiration and views for their paintings. Unfortunately, we did not see any wildlife on this day. The weather was perfect.  The sun was shining and it was a clear, warm day. Hubby bought us box lunches from the train's dining car. When we arrived at the Agawa Canyon, we found a picnic table in the shade and ate a quick lunch.

Now we were ready to tackle a hike on the canyon trails. At the same time, we looked for the only geocache in the park.  We managed to hike the Talus Trail and the River Trail before it was time to return to the train. We were tired and enjoyed the train ride back to Sault Ste. Marie. As we approached "The Soo", the rain started to fall. Hubby realized he had left out rain gear and the motorcycle cover at the hotel. Our original plan was to walk around the waterfront in "The Soo", find some geocachers and enjoy dinner on a patio. Our plans were about to change.

When the train pulled into the station, we could see the rain had already been there. We went to The Goldwing and it was soaked! We decided to forego changing into our jeans and just ride in our shorts for the short distance to our motel. The parking lot  for the tour train  was directly in front of the local mall. Hubby put his key in the ignition to start The Goldwing. "ALERT! ALERT! THIS IS AN INTRUDER! BEEP BEEP BEEP!" This message screamed its repeated message so loud that it hurt my ears. Hubby thought it was someone else's vehicle but quickly realized that it was his Goldwing. He did not know his bike had an alarm. The message continued to scream. Fellow train passengers stared at us as they walked to their vehicles. Shoppers leaving the mall started at us. One couple came by to help. By this time, Hubby had opened the bike up and was trying to find which of the many wires might be the alarm. The gentleman tried to help by calling his friend who has a goldwing. He was not be able to reach him. This man owned a Harley Davidson. Meanwhile, the alarm continued its screaming. After at least 30 minutes, Hubby finally realized he could contact the gentleman who he bought the bike from 3 years ago. Via the cell phone directions, Hubby managed to finally pull the fuse for the security alarm. Ah! Blessed peace and quiet!

While Hubby put The Goldwing back together, I went into the train station to use the facilities. I promptly got myself locked in. After much maneuvering  I was able to rejoin Hubby. What a pair we are!! We climbed on The Goldwing and off we went to the motel. Dinner was a short walk away to a fast food joint. Needless to say, we were both a little frazzled. We settled in for an early night. We had a good laugh. This was one vacation day that will be retold numerous times and with much laughter!

DAY 4 - Sault Ste. Marie  to  Killarney

We awoke to a major downpour. After looking at The Weather Network, we realized that the rain was going to be stopping by 10:00 a.m. We got ourselves ready and in our rain gear so we would still be dry from the spray off the highway. We got back on Highway 17 East and enjoyed a great ride. The sun came out. It was cool and dry.

Not long after we left Sault Ste. Marie, I saw a small dose (deer) off in a forest pasture to my right. She was at the edge of the treeline. She was a light tan colour. Her face was so delicate! She was beautiful as she rubbed her little black nose along the fine, delicate right foreleg. I felt truly blessed to witness  this little bit of nature. This is why I love riding on the back of The Goldwing! I would never have seen this from a car.

We stopped for gas in Blind River. We were on the lookout for more smoke from a new forest fire near Sudbury. We never did see any on our travels this day. We stopped for lunch in Espanola and continued on our way. We had to stop for gas again in Lively.

We took the road towards Killarney off Highway 69. Not far along that road, I looked off to my right along an open area with a meandering creek. I was so excited. I saw a small (young?) black bear drinking from the creek!! It lifted its head at the sound of the Goldwing. The ears were pricked forward in interest. He was so cute looking. But I'm glad I saw him (or her) from a distance.

We arrived at our destination in Killarney.  We are staying at Killarney Mountain Lodge.  We walked into Killarney for supper and ate fish and chips at Herberts Fisheries. It was great food. We saw sharon along the way. We enjoyed a couple of games of table tennis as we worked off our supper. We need to return and play the tie breaker game. We had a night cap on the lodge's patio. We then enjoyed walking around the resort and marina as the sun started to set. We discovered a couple of Adirondack chairs at the Killarney Bay's edge. We sat and enjoyed the gentle lapping of the water while we saw Georgian Bay in the distance. While we sat there, a weasel ran across the rock in front of us. It jumped into the water and swam along the shoreline. A family of Canadian geese also seem to live in the little cove to the left of the cottage we are staying in.