Interesting People

Don Patterson biking across Canada

Today we got a late start.  We didn’t wake up until almost 8:30 a.m.  This retirement thing is exhausting!  By the time we got mobile the temperature had already started to climb.  It was going to be another hot day.

At around 2:30 p.m., we pulled off the highway about 100 kms west of Pembroke Ontario and into a rest station to give the dogs a break and to have a bite of lunch.  I have learned that if I make lunches before we head off for the day, our lunch breaks are much faster and we can get back on the road sooner.

We seem to meet a lot of interesting people during our travels and today was no exception.  While at the rest stop, we came across a man who was biking across Canada by himself.  Ron struck up a conversation with him and found out that his name is Don Patterson and he is 58 years old.  He is biking from Vancouver BC to St. John’s Newfoundland for a total of 7200 kms.  He is cycling for the YMCA Strong Kids program.  He feels strongly that every kid deserves a chance to participate in the YMCA programs.  He would like to increase the public awareness on the importance of helping kids to become physically active. Bicycling across Canada is his way of getting the message out across Canada.  He has a blog that he updates throughout his trip.  If you would like to see it go to  http://www.ykids.blog.com/   We wish him well through his journey.

Tonight we are in a Walmart in Pembroke Ontario.  My goal is to go across Canada and the United States without staying in a campground.  So far we have managed to do just that.  We can go 3 or 4 days before we have to find a dump station and with my new  iPhone … you guessed it … they have an app for that! 



We have mapped out our route for tomorrow … but it could change.  We tend to change our minds a lot these days as to what our plans are going to be.  But I guess that’s the beauty of being retired!