Total distance: 2700km
Average speed: 30.1km/h
Weather: cloudy turned sunny
As I laid listening to the various surrounding animal sounds (geese, birds, and most prominently the swarm of mosquitoes) and watched a chipmunk try to steal an apple from my bag last night, a guided tour group came by and went into the geese sanctuary. They were there for quite some time, then went for a walk along the pond. I drifted off to sleep before having time to worry about the park rangers kicking me out (which never happened). I had thought the mosquitoes would be better this morning but no such luck. I skipped breakfast and packed up in lightning speed and still managed to almost get eaten alive. It was the greatest relief to get riding and at last be rid of them. In just over an hour I got to West Hawk Lake, passing through many little pretty ponds and lakes, and basically had the whole place to myself with it being on a Tuesday. I took a dip in Manitoba's deepest lake and the cold (frigid) water felt amazing on my hundreds of mosquito bites. The group of boaters probably thought I was crazy. Afterwards I warmed up with coffee and a butter tart at the Nite Hawk Cafe before making my way to Ontario! When I got to the border, which was only 5km away, it really hit me how far I'd actually come, likely about halfway now! I didn't realize how much I missed windy roads and rolling hills. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the shoulder on Highway 17, and was thankfully glad to have Manitoba's rough roads and awful bugs behind me. Soon enough the Lake of the Woods and beautiful Kenora came into view. My host Gail in Kenora wasn't home when I got to town so I went to the library to do some research about my route for the next few days. Since I now had a couple of extra days, I think I'm going to take the southern longer route to Thunder Bay for a less busy way.
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