Day 2 - Hamilton, Ontario to Espanola, Ontario

Another great day! We rode 255 miles and didn't see a drop of rain. It was mostly overcast with some sun breaks and pleasant temps in the low 70's. We began with a few miles of highway before we finally hit two lane roads for the remainder of our ride. We veered off the main drag just before Toronto and headed north up the Bruce Peninsula to catch the Chi-Cheemaun Ferry in Tobermory. The drive was all rolling countryside and small towns with lots of beautifully landscaped homes and farms all the way. The roadside was filled with tall reed grasses, little purple flowers and Queen Anne's Lace. A unique feature to the area seemed to be these older farm houses that were built out of some local stone and they were just lovely. Some were small, some were quite large but they all were so well maintained and so charming. A lot of these places had neat old hand stacked wooden fences too. We don't have pictures of any of the really impressive homes, but we caught one picture of a stone house that happened to be at an intersection, which will give you a taste. As we got further up the peninsula, you could feel the lake wind blowing across the land and it was hitting us from the side, pushing us around a little bit.
We rolled in to Tobermory right on schedule for our ferry reservations. We got in line, parked our bikes and grabbed a quick bite before they started loading the boat. Steve has some cool video of getting on and off the ferry that we'll upload when we get a chance. The crossing was 1-1/2 hours, during which we took pictures and relaxed in the lounge area. As we set out across the lake, Dad and Steve were standing out on the observation deck looking over the railing when Steve said he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He looked down and there was this young, probably four year old boy just standing there staring up at them with this wide-eyed look. They both had their "do-rags" on from riding which must have prompted this cute little guy to ask them, "Are you pirates?" Steve kindly told him no, he wasn't. The boys' Dad said if he had said he was, he probably would have asked for his autograph. Very cute indeed :)
The ferry dropped us off on Manitoulin Island and we had a nice drive across it as we headed north to Espanola, our stopping place for the night. The last 30 miles or so we began to go through some fabulous curvy, hilly, and very rocky terrain. I'm going to have to research what kind of stone and rock is in this area because it changed colors as we drove. Some of it was light, then it would turn more red...it was really interesting. It felt good to get some twisties in finally. "Fat Bob" handled them wonderfully and now I can't wait for more fun roads. Speaking of fun roads, we met these two women who were on motorcycles and in line behind us for the ferry. They told us that the route we're taking is really a nice ride and that the section between Sault St. Marie and WaWa is outstanding. That's tomorrow, I can hardly wait!
So we obviously made it to our hotel tonight, a cute little place just outside of town, set back from the road in a nice grove of trees. Again, pleasantly surprised to find they have wi-fi. Gotta love it!
You can click here for pictures from today.

We'll chat with you again tomorrow!