Day 100- Dog bite and a bit of honey!

Day 100. Monday August 16, 2010. Distance 53.73 km. Time 3hr. 7 min.Total so far 7140.92 km. It poured rain this morning so we waited to see what we would do. We wanted to get part of the way to Gatineau and we knew there were motels in Montebello which would be about 50 kms. away. We decided the weather would clear or that we would just ride through the rain from motel to motel. Just as we were about to leave it started raining! We waited another 10 minutes and we were off getting wet from the puddles and spray from the vehicles on Hwy 148 anyway. Not only was it wet to start but the wind was strong in our face today. It was hard riding! We passed through Brownsburg-Chatham, or Saint-Phillipe, where I photographed a large Catholic church on one side of the street and an Eglise Evangelique on the other. The contrast of the buildings was so great with one so immense and the other so simple. It was hot and humid again and I changed into cooler clothes. David (my grandson!) would like the car we passed that was decorated with a spider and spider web. When we passed through Grenville-Sur-La-Rouge the little pebbles on the side of the road were all red. That must have something to do with the name. As we bicycled along, an average size Boxer dog came out of its driveway across the road and decided to chase Dave. Dave was unaware of it all. I, riding a little ways behind Dave, saw the whole thing. I started screaming to warn him and as I did this, the dog found better prey. ME!!! I kept screaming and the dog came behind the bicycle and BIT into my back pannier. I could feel the resistance of the dog bite! If it weren’t for my pannier, I would have puncture wounds in my leg!! I heard the owner yell for the dog and the dog left. I stopped to recompose myself, bring my heart rate down and check my bag. Sure enough the rain cover had three teeth holes (that I now need to repair to keep it waterproof) and one hole went actually in my pannier that I discovered later on. Phew, glad that’s over!!! At Calumet there is a junction with Hwy 50 and our Hwy got twice as busy. Hwy 50 is not complete yet and it wasn’t until we reached Gatineau that the transports mysteriously disappeared back onto it! We saw a La Route Verte sign going through Calumet which we followed but to our dismay, after going through the little town and after a big hill, it brought us back to the Hwy. The sky got darker and it started to rain and Dave turned into the first place along the Hwy, which was a Honey store. We put the bicycles under the eaves and I decided to go into the store. It was owned by Ginette (I think) who has been doing this business for over 30 years. She has over 200 beehives in different parts of Quebec and Ontario to make different kinds of honey. She sells soap, honey, candy, toys and much more. We chatted until the rain stopped and then bought some items for Diane and Gordon, and a honey sucker for myself, and headed down the wet road. We passed many cyclists (maybe on supported tours) blowing past us on the other side of the road. We entered Fassett and, as usual, I took a picture of the church. They are amazing structures of architecture dominating each town. At last we arrived in Montebello. I was tired and not feeling too well, I think I needed to eat. We went to a visitors centre for information and we should have camped because it wasn’t raining but it was very hot and humid and Dave thought we needed a rest before visiting relatives so we looked for motels. At the first motel we went to, the owner said it was full and as she was searching for a different place for us, she had a cancellation and we got a room. Thank you, Lord! We were told this is a resort town. Supposedly, Steven Harper took George Bush and other imprtant dignitaries there to the Chateau Montebello! Our room was right off the busy main street, not in the Chateau. We ate our lunch and went to the grocery to find supper. We came back, had a nap and woke up at 8pm!!! I could have stayed there all night but instead got up, ate supper and wrote a blog while Dave worked on our route through Gatineau. PS Photo of boxer taken from internet