Chatham, Ontario

We are not really in Chatham, although that was today's destination and that's where tonight's camp is. At 3 p.m. this afternoon Sue Schaafsma, wife of Diane's younger brother Art, picked us up, and we have just enjoyed a delicious meal of pork tenderloin, corn on the cob, cauliflower, applesauce, baked potato, pie - do I sound like I enjoyed dinner? - at their home in Ridgetown. We are also sleeping here tonight, and Art will bring us back to Chatham tomorrow at 6 a.m., which is when Diane needs to be back in the kitchen.

It is good to be on Canadian soil again! We all left Richmond early this morning and met in Marine City, Michigan by the lighthouse by 10 a.m. so that we could cross the border en masse. We had sent our passport information etc in advance so all we really had to do was show our passports. The pictures below show, first, how eager Diane is to get back to Canada; she is prepared to swim across but Erna Maarhuis is restraining her. Then there's a picture of us lining up to begin the crossing, and getting off at the other end, in Sombra, Ontario.



One interesting side note: the ship in the St. Clair river below was flying a Dutch flag (hard to see in picture) and carrying the stems of the contemporary windmills you now see in so many places and all over the Netherlands.

On the other side of the river, there was a wonderful and enthusiastic reception waiting for us from the Sarnia and Chatham CRC churches. Lots of people, and lots of food, and lots of fun, as you can see below.


From Sombra it was another 60 kms or so to Chatham. I drafted the whole way behind Reuben Vyn, with his kind permission. Reuben cycles for Portland State University in Portland, OR, and can easily clean my clock on a bike any day. Because of the strong headwind, this made the trip in much easier for me. In Chatham there was another warm reception waiting for us at the Memorial Arena. Quite a few people who remembered mom and dad made sure to greet me, though I can't remember their names, except that of Annie Bishop. All in all, the Sarnia and Chatham churches went all out to make everyone feel welcome in Canada and well supported. We know that this kind of welcome will continue in days to come, as we hit London, Hamilton, and St. Catharines as well. As Canadians, this is probably the most fun part of our trip. In any case, we really feel that we are home.

We also talked to daughter Janine by phone today, and it was great to hear her voice and about her pregnancy. She is due in November with her first baby and our 10th grandchild (yes, we are rich people!) and we are missing much of her pregnancy experience while on tour. We're sure we'll catch up real quick once we're home again.

Tonight we sleep in a real bed again, and a warm home. Last night it was very cold and the tent was very wet, from dew, when we woke up. We dried the tent when we arrived in Chatham, and tomorrow we don't have to worry about it. We are eager to see Alicia and 4 of our grandchildren tomorrow (husband Arie will be at work, of course) somewhere along the route, and Diane will be leaving for her home for a few days. That's it for now. I'm on niece Suzanne's laptop

and hopefully there will be internet somewhere tomorrow. Talk to you all then....

Today's stats:

Distance: 90.55 kms
Average speed: 24.7 kph
Maximum speed: 35.6 kph
Time in saddle: 3.39.01
# of flat tires on tour: 9