Day 97: Community Centre - 24km

Justin, Connie and Greg's in South River to Commanda Community Centre

Waking up knowing there is pancakes and coffee waiting for you inside, your best friend beside you and your horses safe and munching grass is a good way to wake up. We had a nice breakfast with Connie and Justin. A good breakfast really does start the day off right. That and a sunny morning. It took us a while to pack up and organize everything to fit in Katherine's car. I think it took me 20 minutes just to take down the tent, picking all the slugs off one by one with a stick took longer than the usual 5 minute take down. Katherine was joining us on the bike all day, so Joseph was taking the car.

It was a good start, and we were on a quiet gravel road all day, completely avoiding the highway 11. Although it was only a low 20km day, Jewel and I got tired quicker than usual. It was hot for one, and the constant up and down meant we were on and off the horses a lot. It's like we can usual start off okay, but we tire so much faster. A 30km seems almost unattainable. Katherine and I had good chats, and the highlight of the day was stopping at a boat launch and having lunch on the little dock and going for a swim.

I love swimming, and I love lakes, but they've always kinda freaked me out. The unknown dark waters.. I dunno, I don't let it stop me from swimming. But Katherine and I were swimming out and the seaweed started touching my leg and I was squealing and hanging off Katherine who was laughing too hard. She thought I was going to pull her under when she realized we could still touch the bottom! It was pretty funny and I made her drag me to shore.

Back on the road. I was trying to fight through my fatigue and be present with Katherine and Jewel, but spending long hot days in the forest can get a bit depressing. It gives you the feeling of making no progress, the view only changes by the kind of tree or brush your looking at. When you're out in the open with farm fields, at least you can see the distance you're covering. Forest trails kind of feel like a labrynthin of the same thing, for all you know you could be going in one big circle. By the time we made it to the 522, we were hungry and ready to stop for the day. We had 2km to go to the community centre we hoped we could crash at. Greg had told us that long-rider Bernice Ende had stopped there on her travels too. It was perfect, there was a large fenced in area with a gate and all. To the right was a community centre. As we rode up, we saw heads peaking out the window.

We started untacking and the people came out to say hi and take some pictures. They were very sweet, and also recalled Bernice's visit with her horses. The clouds were looming again and the offered us a dry place to sleep inside. Yes! We were talking logistics when another woman showed up who was also on the board. She didn't seem to trust us or want us to stay. "Well you can stay inside and then set up your tent once the thunder starts." She said. I'd rather not stay somewhere we're not welcomed, so we said we'd just stay outside. It's crazy that creature comforts can come second to emotional comfort. The others talked to her a bit more and she warmed up to letting us stay inside.

I mean, how awkward are we?

The 5 people there let us use the kitchen to cook as they quietly did tai chi in the main room. I couldn't believe we had this whole community centre to ourselves. It made cooking so much easier! And once we had the place to ourselves, we played music and cards and ate a lot of food. Martin and Cheryl, a couple that knows my Uncle Brent really well (that we met when we were really young, so young I don't remember) drove all the way from North Bay to bring us a bunch of groceries, and some photos Joseph needed printed. It was nice to chat with them for a bit, and get some loving from their handsome retriever Harley.

We were in bed just after 9. We all managed to spook ourselves in what was said to be Ontario's Oldest Community Centre. The four of us sleep bundled on the stage to the glowing red Exit signs.