A long, pretty ride today.

We woke in WaWa, warmed up the rig, flicked off the ice and were on the waqy outta town. Things were kinda sketchy. Choppy stretches of icy roads. Giant big rigs flying by. Moose warnings. Didn’t make for “making good time.”

Things finally cleared up somewhere around Marathon and we enjoyed dry roads all the way to Thunder Bay.

Had to send a file to Campbell, so the hunt was on for some wireless reception. I tried my usual tricks: Hotel parking lots, Starbucks and even thought about trying to find a college bookstore or something. No dice all around.

I went into a Canadian version of BestBuy called, “Future Shop” or something and noticed a faint signal there. I asked a couple employees if they knew where I could find some wireless service. Canadians are really nice. In no time, there must’ve be 10 people in front of me scratching their heads. One guy finally spoke up, “Sorry man, Thunder Bay doesn’t have wireless cafes and all that just yet. Ha.”

“But, you guys have those cool automatic starters…,” I added. (They had a sale going on automatic car starters, y’know, for those cold mornings and shit.)

No dice. After some driving around town, we settled on the Comfort Inn, much to my chagrin. I wanted to keep going and get our asses up towards Kenora, up towards the Manitoba border.

Tomorrow we’ll make good time. I hope. Once we get to that Canadian prairie, things should pick up considerably.

Highlights of the day include: Beautiful Scenery, gravy on my french fries and the Canadian Hero Terry Fox Memorial that overlooked Thunder Bay.

And hell, what a lucky town. I wish I could write “Thunder Bay” out on my return address. What an amazing name, I vote that Portland changes its name to: “Thunder Port.” Fuck it. I’m jealous of these northerners something fierce. “Thunder Bay” Dammit. Got such a mean ring to it.

259. “Loading up at the Sportsman Motel.”
260. “Spend a night, not a fortune.”
261. “Gassin’ up in a winter wonderland.”
262. “Great logos of the Great White North.”
263. “Lots of beautiful, quiet, cold stretches like this…”
264. “Big S’ front plate had seen warmer days.”
265. “Lake Superior to our left, all day long.”
266. “Gary on his way up to the Terry Fox Memorial.”
267. “5,373 kilometres (3,339 miles) of pure heart.”
268. “Memorial Province carvings.”