We woke up this morning in the local campground run by the town of Bruce Mines. It was a nice place to stay, although the washrooms and showers weren't open for the season yet. As we were packing up man drove up to us to ask how our night had been and reminded us about the honour system fee. We hadn't had change last night, so he invited us to drop by the local marina on the way out of town. We did, and he came running to us with some change, taken from the wallet of one of his marina friends. He seemed extremely happy, and a little surprised, that we were going to pay for camping.

Our ride into Sault Ste. Marie was fast and pleasant. Yesterday's downhill speeds became today's uphill speeds. We did the 74km in about two and a half hours, only stopping to take off our warm layers and to do a few stretches. For several kilometers, we rode along Hwy17 when it is a divided four lane highway. It felt like riding on Hwy404 back home (an act which is strictly illegal!). When we got our chance, we took the old Hwy17B, which took us near to some Native American communities. We passed a bridge over the Garden River which had a flag hung on the side and in big spray paint letters, "THIS IS INDIAN LAND".

The road into the city was a bit depressing: about 5km of strip malls and heavy traffic. We eventually made it to the downtown region which was a lot nicer. We found the bike stores, and between both of them got another water bottle for Geoff, a rear view mirror for me, and inner tubes for both of us. Fortunately, we haven't had any flats or popped spokes yet.

Our next natural stop was the grocery store for lunch. We met Martin there. He seemed happy enough. He had been to Canadian Tire to buy himself a tent and stove. I have a feeling we'll run into him again.

It was about three in the afternoon and we though it was about time to head over to our Warm Showers hosts, Doug and Sharon Cuddy. Doug is a retired biologist who spent many years servicing the lakes and rivers of Ontario. Sharon is still working in the medical field here in Sault Ste. Marie. We had a great night, complete with a four dish dinner prepared by Doug! We enjoyed talking to Doug for many hours, much about cycling, environmentalism, and the local geography. The weather for tomorrow is supposed to be thunderstorms, and the day after that is snow. This may turn out to be a boon, as Doug and Sharon have offered to host us for another day. Perhaps we will take our first real, full rest day. We'll make that decision in the morning after a nice sleep in a real bed!