Days 54 - 57. Travel Days

All good things must come to an end and after delaying the inevitable we can delay no more. Home we must go! So the last 4 days have seen us making tracks East fairly smartly with no side trips or sites to see.

Day 54. Tuesday.
From Sturgeon Bay, WI we travelled 296 miles to St. Ignace, Michigan and crossed our final time zone. We are now back on EST and really feel the trip is coming to an end. The weather has been amazing. We could see that there was a major cold front about a day behind us. This was pushing a bank of unusually warm weather in front of it. This day the temps started dropping and we rode in 70 degree temps under cloudy skies, which was a welcome relief from all the heat (90's) we had over the previous days.

Day 55. Wednesday.
Today we headed across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, rejoining our old friend Rte 2 for part of it. It tried to rain on us but thankfully, never amounted to much and we stayed dry. It was definitely cooler though! We crossed into Ontario, Canada and stopped at North Bay on the shores of Lake Nipissing for the night. We have stayed here before so it was an easy stop. Trip - 327 miles.

Day 56. Thursday. The front has now passed over us, leaving cold weather behind. Thankfully, the skies were clear and we set off all layered up and with heated gear on max. It was a fast ride through Ontario on Rte 17 to the outskirts of Ottawa where we headed south and crossed back into USA and New York State. The Border Patrol guy gave Tom a hard time when he told him we were staying in Ogdensburg, NY for the night. Apparently this needed an explanation but we really didn't have one other than we thought we had ridden far enough for one day! We arrived at our accommodation to find it firmly locked and apparently deserted. Perhaps we shouldn't be staying in Ogdensburg after all. I called the number, had to leave a message and e-mailed as well. After about 20 minutes I was beginning to panic a bit and started looking at alternatives!! Just as I did this the owner showed up - Phew!! The place we are staying at was the original town school which has now been converted to a 4 room Inn. It was fun chatting to John the owner, as it turns out he used to go to school there. He was living in California and heard the school was closing. Half jokingly he told his school friends at their 30th reunion that he was going to buy the school and open a B&B! Next thing he knew it had happened!! The 4 rooms are the original classrooms and are massive. We really enjoyed our stay here.
Trip - 275 miles

Day 57. Friday. After a sound night's sleep in our classroom we were treated to a lovely cooked breakfast by John. Then, back on the road, taking a pleasant route along the banks of the St. Lawrence River for a while. Eventually we rejoined Rte 2 and crossed our outbound path. We even had coffee at Rouses Point where we stopped on Day 2! Seems like a long time ago. We then wound our way over the Green Mountains of Vermont and crossed into New Hampshire. It seems strange to be back in New England again but somehow comforting. The scenery and smells are so different, everything is lush and green, the Fall colors are just starting and it was a spectacular day.
For our final hurrah we are staying at a lovely New England Style Inn on Sugar Hill near Franconia. There are spectacular views of the White Mountains from our room and they have a Pub / Tavern where we will go for dinner - Perfect!
Trip - 264.8 miles