Monday, September 20, 2010 (Elliot Lake, ON)

We woke up to clear skies this morning...YAY! As usual, I worked on the journal while having my morning coffee...until it was time to get my butt in gear and get ready for our ride today. After a quick breakfast, Steve unloaded the ATV`s, checked the tire pressure and generally got them ready while I cleaned up the kitchen and made sandwiches for today`s outing.

Dave was over watching as Steve unloaded our toys and Carol came over with a couple of Tim Horton T-shirts and an apron for us. We also exchanged contact information...they have a place in Florida and we are to call them if we are ever in the area. Very nice people...it was a pleasure meeting them and we will definitely contact them should we be in their area.

We finished getting the ATV’s packed up—rain gear...check; camera...check; helmets...check; lunch...check; water...check. Roly (our tour guide) arrived promptly at 11:00 and after saying our goodbyes to Dave and Carol, we were on our way.

What an absolutely perfect day for our ride! The colours are incredible...and they’ve just started to change. We’re going for a 100 km ride today...to an old abandoned copper mine beside a lake. We stopped a few times along the way for rest breaks, pictures, lunch and lots of chatting with our new friend and tour guide.




Our first stop at a small lake along the way...

Another lake on the way....

The colours are spectacular...

The Mine...basically a cave...

Steve and Roly at the lake where the mine is...

More beautiful scenic views...

We had one anxious moment on our way back where we lost Roly. I had missed the turn he took at the ‘Y’ in the road and continued on what ended up going to the same place but it was the long way around meaning he was waaaay ahead of us. There was also another road to left that we figured was the wrong direction. We couldn’t see his dust and had a good view of the road ahead but no Roly, so we returned to where we lost him which gave us an even better view of the road ahead. We turned off the quads to see if we could hear anything and we eventually heard a machine briefly so Steve and I determined we must be going in the right direction and we soon caught up to Roly who had stopped to wait for us. Our club has a rule that if you come to a junction in the road you stop and wait for the rider behind you before proceeding. Whew...I must admit it was a little disconcerting to be at a cross-road trying to determine which way we should be going...and it was getting late. But all ended up well and we arrived back home just before 7:00 p.m.

Roly joined us for a beer that we enjoyed sitting outside watching the sun set. It had been such a spectacular day...clear, warm and no wind!!

It was just getting dark as Roly left. Steve loaded the quads back into the truck and we called it a day. We hope to have many more perfect days!

NOTE:  THE PICTURES LOOK RATHER DISTORTED...HOWEVER, IF YOU DOUBLE-CLICK ON THEM, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SEE THE ACTUAL PICTURE.