The Road to Thunder Bay

Monday 7th July
Fort Francis - Mars Perch Lodge
The roads are long and hilly and becoming quite monotonous. We are hoping to find somewhere to have a kind of breakfast. About 1-30pm we stop at a roadside store and have coffe and a cake. We have no idea about where we will camp to-night when a smart van draws up for "gaz" Printed along the side of the van it says "Sierre River Resort" "We are in luck" I call to Penny. I go out to speak to the driver but the window of the van remains shut. The driver and occupants are First Nation (Indians) I stand like an idiot, smiling and indicating I would like to talk. The window is lowered to 1inch. I ask about camping at the resort. An unsmiling face replies "No camping" and shuts the window. I go back to the store and the owner tells us of a place called Mars Perch Lodge which is 50kms along the road. He phones the Lodge and speaks to Lorna. We will be most welcome and a meal will be ready--what great news. When we arrived we were tired and the thought of pitching the tents with the mosquitoes biting was almost too much. Lorna and Tom (husband) offered us a small log cabin at a reasonable rate.When we opened the door the heat hit us. They had the heaters going full blast and within a few moments we were almost fast asleep. This was a fishing resort with boats tethered to the jetty outside the cabin. I would have loved to have had a day on the lake,fishing, but to-morrow was another long day of cycling.