Bicycling New England, the
Erie Canal, & around Lake Ontario 2005
Burlington to Toronto

July 25, 2005
Distance 43 Miles:

Hi there-It's me, Barb. Last night the motel gave us tickets for the continental breakfast. Then, this morning, we got up and went to breakfast and there were big signs posted telling us we could only have 1 bowl of cereal, 1 bagel and/or 1 muffin with your 1 cup of orange juice. It was not a spectacular breakfast, but it got us down the road.

We pedaled through town and got on Lakeshore Dr. We saw some seriously huge and beautiful houses along Lake Ontario. We kept pedaling and decided to stop in Oakville. Mary Kay and I went into a running shop to look for a new stem for my platypus water bladder. The shop owner wasn't too impressed with us and didn't really give us much attention. Then, we went into a coffee shop and took our little break. We got back on our bikes and pedaled to Mississauga. Scott and I could see that Dad and Mary Kay picked up a bike rider and were riding and talking to him for awhile. So, We decided to stop at the gas station and the other guy pointed out a bike shop across the street. This was quite a find because I lost the stem off of my platypus water bladder yesterday and was sucking out of the hose. Dad had to buy another 10.00 water bottle, the second one on this trip. So, we replaced the stem and the water bottle, petted the golden retriever named Jake and got back on the road.

We stopped for not-lunch, only-a-snack in the outskirts of Toronto. A minivan with Illinois plates asked us for directions to University of Toronto. Being somewhat directionally confused ourselves, we couldn't help them. Then, a couple from Toronto, who winter in Florida, stopped to talk and give us ideas on stuff to see. We finished our snack and got back on the road. We found a paved bike path and rode it right into downtown Toronto. After much debate, we reluctantly paid 6.00 apiece to get ourselves and our bikes on the ferry to Center Island. We drove around Wells Island, but skipped the Clothing Optional beach. The middle aged guys in speedos were a little more than I could handle. We rode about 5 miles on the island before we got back onto the ferry and went back to Toronto.

By the time we got back to Toronto, I was sure I was starting to hallucinate from starvation. So, we stopped at the hot dog stand, which had beef, chicken and veggie dogs. We loaded up the beef dog and lathered it up with the hottest mustard known to man. It was really hot, but really good.

We turned up the street and headed to our hotel. While waiting at the stop light, Mary Kay was hugged by a homeless woman looking for spare change, but Dad made it known that women wasn't getting any money. We checked into the hotel, cleaned up and went looking for dinner. Scott picked a really tasty seafood restaurant, which was about 8 blocks from the hotel. We walked around downtown Toronto after dinner. We stopped at a couple shops and returned to the hotel. We are looking forward to our rest day tomorrow.