Day 25: A Hero's Welcome

I often wonder if the left hand watches the right and makes plans accordingly. After spending one of the most arduous weeks of my life traveling around the Superior, today felt almost as though it was decided that I had suffered enough, and the time for my enjoyment was upon us.

Now don't go thinking for a second the wind was pointed in the right direction or anything... let's not go crazy. I still had a slight cross/head wind, but by this time, it felt like nothing more than a gentle tickle across my crazy bushman's beard. Everything else however, was sure to click into place.

I bid adieu to my good friends from the south after an amazing evening and got on the road in good time. Sure, the situation really wasn't that different from previous days, but at this point, it was information which drove me forward: I was almost in Sault Ste. Marie.

The day pushed along with more gorgeous views of lake Superior, fantastic voyageur breakfasts, hills that I may have nightmares about tonight, and a slowly declining odometer towards civilzation, and a day off.

What I didn't anticipate was upon my arrival in SSM, little ol' me would get one of the warmest welcomes of my entire trip. Jill Lang Ward, her husband Ted, and a group of friends had come out in full force, with police escort and Prairie Pedal flags hanging from their car windows to usher me into their fine city. After the last week I'd had, it was almost enough to bring me to tears.

We eventually made our way back to Jill & Ted's home where they INSISTED that I do as little as possible. They prepared a meal fit for a king and we spent the evening eating, drinking, and learning more and more about each other. Jill underwent a stem cell transplant over a year and a half ago which took very well and has been in remission ever since. She's technically retired, but as is the case with so many of the energetic people I'm meeting on this trip, has a life which one could hardly call relaxed.

The icing on tonight's cake (well, blueberries and ice cream) was when, after catching up on the prior website posts and before doing this one, I went for a quick dip in the hot tub. Yes, as though a crack of sunlight was broken through the dark clouds, my definition of perfection was redefined. Take a body that's been beaten, battered and bruised around one of the the largest lakes in the world, introduce it to warm, jet-filled waters and what do you get?

Mushy, lazy, euphoric bliss... aaaannnnd, bed.