18 August, 2016 (Nick Walberg)

Second and last day on the road today. After sleeping at the Gate’s house we got an early start and made breakfast at 7am. We were not able to say goodbye to “Gator” before we got ready this morning because he had to leave for a funeral. For breakfast we had donuts made from canned biscuits with powdered sugar. They were a great treat before a long day traveling into Canada. We all got back together again at 8am to to brief the day and say goodbye to Jeff’s parents. At 8:15 we headed out to the Mackinac Bridge. Along the way we learned that the dash board to the pickup truck doesn’t work. The gas gauge reads battery mid and radiator reads no temperature. We have been lucky to never run out of gas after traveling this far. By mid-day we made it to the bridge where we planned to have lunch. Ass we crossed the bridge, road construction allowed Jeff to get ahead of the pickup truck and left Emily at the turn off after the bridge to signal that the truck need to pull off to get lunch. For lunch we had cold-cut sandwiches with chips and cookies. The only issue with the meal was the group of seagulls that attempted to eat our food before we could. We then got back into the vehicles and drove until we approached the border. We quickly got a last tank of cheap gas before we would have to pay for Canadian gas. We also got some last minute snacks and charcoal. We entered Canada through Sault St. Marie and I quickly noticed a series of hockey jerseys in apartment windows above a Tim Horton’s. I knew then that I was in Canada . The last section of driving revealed the rocky landscape that we would soon be canoeing in. each waterfall I saw got me more and more excited to be on the river. We stopped for the night in Lake Superior Provincial Park along the beach. While the cooks got dinner going the rest of us started to pack our Bill’s bags. Dinner tonight was made by Joel and included stuffed peppers and rice with an appetizer of cold veggies. After Dinner Jeff and Ryan led debrief and explained the expectations for the river.. Ryan also gave us a little advice; act deliberately in an informed manor is you wish to be successful. The night was finished off with everyone sitting around trying to pack their Bill’s bags to get ready for the river.