The 2013 East Coast Trip Begins

Start: St.Catharines, ON for Doran and Sault Ste. Marie, ON for Al & Jamie
End: Madawaska, ON
Distance: 464 km (290 miles)
Gas: 17 litres @ $1.199 in Gravenhurst
Campsite: Red Deer Log Cabins, Cost $20 per adult ; Gorogeous spot to camp, had the pick of spots so we parked our bikes and set up our trailers next to the beach.

 I started off in St. Catharines Saturday morning at about 11:00 a.m. while Al & Jamie left the Soo about 8:30 a.m. The weather was perfect,blue sky and warm. By mid afternoon, the temperature was 85 degrees. I rode thru Toronto with ease, but about half an hour north of Toronto, the traffic stopped and I could only do 20-3-mph for the next 2 hours, Some guy near Barrie lost a tire and so the rubber-neckers slowed traffic to a near stop for the 2 hours in the hot sunny weather. Once past Barrie, I was able to get to normal speeds and was able to get to Huntsville at 4:00. Five minutes later, Al & Jamie rolled in, so it was perfect timing.
 Al and Jamie had a great ride from the Soo. They were joined with another Al who rode to Espanola and will later join us in Ottawa.

Once they got to the Sudbury area, Al's gps failed (or so he said and he's sticking to that story), so instead of heading to North Bay as initially planned, an exit was missed (damn gps) and they headed down Hwy 400. They turned off the 400 near Parry Sound, went past the Lake Rousseau area and ended up on Hwy 11 near Huntsville. They said the ride was gorgeous thru that area and were glad the gps missed the North Bay exit.

After filling up with gas and food, we headed down Hwy 60, thru Algonquin Park towards Ottawa. We had booked a site at Red Deer Log Cabins near Madawaska, ON. It was only 2km off Hwy 60 so after a long day of riding, we were able to relax and cool off in a nice refreshing lake before calling it a night.

Jamie got hell from the campsite owner for riding over her septic system and, at midnight, other campers that were at a wedding, returned and partied for a few hours, so we weren't listening to crickets and bullfrogs and hard a tough time getting to sleep.
Aside from the traffic mess from Toronto to Barrie, the roads were excellent except for an 8km portion of Hwy 60 in Algonquin Park that was to be paved. It was very dusty and had a bumpy a gravel surface.
Tomorrow, we will get up when the sun rises and we will head to Barry's Bay for breakfast and then head to Marks's place in Ottawa.