Day 70- A long ride

Day 70 Saturday, July 17, 2010 Distance 131. 96 km. Time 6 hr. 19 min. Total so far 4809.45 km. We were up early again and starting our packing as Darrell made us a French toast breakfast to fill us up. As I went about the house , I took photos of all Judy’s beautiful rug hookings. She does so many that she is now selling some in local craft shops. We hated to leave as Darrell and Judy and Neal have been such wonderful hosts to us. We feel reenergized with all the good food, refreshed with their company and honoured to see their portion of NFL. Thank you very much! Under a slightly overcast sky, we practically flew down the hill and out of town the way we went yesterday in their car. I did stop to photo the trains and the ski hill again. It took us 2 hours and 20 minutes to reach Deer Lake. We stopped at the grocery store for water and snack food although we had date squares and nice sandwiches for lunch that we made at Judy’s house.The terrain was flat. The wind was on our back and I didn’t take many photos so we made good time. It sprinkled a little but cleared up nicely in the afternoon. We had lunch after 4 hours of riding after we crossed Boot Brook.When we saw some trailers, we still weren’t at the campground Darrell had told us about. Dave talked to a guy there who said we could camp on the beach but after wheeling our bicycles through the soft sand and swatting at the flies as we tried to stand the bikes up, I complained and we decided to go on. On and on it was for 131.km for the day until we finally arrived at Birchy Lake Campground which is closed this year. Since nothing else was available , we went past the gate and set up camp in one of the first spots. I rinsed in the lake which was 200 yards down from the site and we were comfortably in our tent with not much on (if anything at all) as it was so hot when I heard footsteps and saw a face through our vestibule. I said Dave would come out to talk. It was the owners who happen to be here this week from British Columbia. Dave explained that we were tired and there was nothing else available close and they let us stay. It is a beautiful campground and it is a shame that the 100 spots are closed.