Day 10:
I was up early this morning, in order to make it to the border early. Today was the day we were to cross into Ontario, and ride into Chatham where we would spend the night. We started out by 7 a.m., riding first on streets out of Richmond, then on part of a trail, then back on the streets, making our way into Marine City. We started out cool, and as the morning wore on, the temperature improved. We had a staging point in the park in Marine City, just around the corner from where we would board the ferry to Ontario.We arrived early, about 9:30 as we took a leisurely ride for the whole group had to arrive before we could cross into Ontario. We were split into groups as the ferry still had to accommodate car traffic across the St. Clair River along with the cyclists.
There were 5 of us who were local (Christeena, Matt, Paul, Theresa and myself) who were the first off the ferry at about 10:10. Matt and Christeena's family and friends were instrumental in the celebration at Marine City and the welcome we received. After showing our documents, we were allowed to cycle up the street towards the waiting crowd. How emotional! I didn't think this would affect me so much. After all, I had only been on the road for 10 days, but wow...talk about a rush!
Coming up the hill and seeing my family waiting for me, mom and dad, Linda and girls, Carolyn and kids, Sharon and kids...it was pretty powerful. There were many people that I knew, from Dresden, Chatham, Wallaceburg, and Sarnia CRC's and also from the surrounding areas! Special thanks to Brenda G, Heather K, Audrey P, Jen D and Megan who were there to cheer us on!The treats were wonderful, Canadian, and Dutch! There were cupcakes, Tims coffee and drinks, donuts, King peppermints, droppies, and so many other goodies!
After eating lots of goodies, and talking with those who greeted us, we had some pictures taken to commemorate the arrival back onto Canadian soil.
We headed out along the St. Clair Parkway towards Wallaceburg. Karen, Len, and I headed out. There was a rest stop just after we turned onto Dufferin Ave, but as we were full from all the goodies, we decided to bypass, especially after Len saw that we were approaching the Baldoon Golf Course. We turned in and Len was able to take a few shots at the tees, as well as giving a golf lesson to some young boys who were there with their mom.
From the Baldoon, we headed into Wallaceburg. As we cycled past Carolyn and Dick's street, the family had relocated there to watch all of us ride by. Of course, more pictures were taken on the fly, and other cyclists stopped to talk with the family. One of the few of me on the road...
We took a small detour into Wallaceburg to stop at my brother in law's clock and jewelry shop to get a new battery for my watch and then headed out towards Chatham. We took the Bear Line into Chatham and had another rest stop at St. Andrews Church. This was a brief stop as we knew that Chatham was just ahead, and with that more friendly faces and great food that I had been hearing about for weeks before embarking on the tour!
After arriving in Chatham, we were greeted at the Memorial Arena by lots of familiar places, with Aunt Alice and Aunt Margaret waiting for my arrival! More food was available as we arrived, fresh watermelon and other fruit as we were able to stow our bikes for the night inside the arena for safety. Showers were had at Aunt Alice's house and Alida and I also did some laundry. My sister and brother in law picked me up for some errand running before dinner at Memorial Arena which was lots and lots of pasta and garlic bread with oh so yummy desserts.
Prep for the next day occurred after dinner and peleton and Alida and I walked to Aunt Alice's to settle in for the night.
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