Day 12 Huntington to Ontario 56.3km Uphill 1150 ft Downhill 1129 ft

Last evening as we where eating supper one of the cyclists tent was lifted up by the wind and tossed over the fence and the freeway. It was rescued by two cyclists and returned to the rightful owner. This sets the stage for the evening excitement. Around 11pm I heard a lot of commotion outside of my tent. The wind was gusting and blowing sand all over. Did I mention that we were camped in a football field at the highest possible point of Huntington? Ed W came around and mentioned that if you felt safer you could opt to spend the evening in the gym. Around 2 dz cyclists took advantage of this offer. I was situated in the inner circle of the camp. Bill & Mary D were my neighbours and when I overheard Mary ask Bill is they should go inside, my heart stopped. If they went inside and took down their tent then there would be no wind block for me. Thankfully they decided to stick it out. Most people got around 6 hours or less of sleep.

The time zone changed for us today. Just outside of Huntington we had to bring our watches forward 1 hour. Ed W has made the decision that since the day is very short we will start breakfast one hour later (7:30 am). Our group of 5 (minus Barb because she was sweep) left the campground around 8 am.

We started off with the first climb right off the bat. No problem. On route we took some photos of the changing scenery. We are following the snake river. The farms appear to be doing well. We saw a variety of vegetables being grown; radishes, onions, cabbage, etc. It reminds me of the Holland Marsh area. Below is a photo of one of the irrigation systems they use in this part of the country. Only two SAG stops today because the ride is so short.

We took a different route into Ontario because we wanted less traffic. Once we had located the high school that we are staying at, we headed out for a breakfast/ coffee joint. Julie, one of the SAG drivers is off today, so she joined us in this little adventure. The pancake house fit the bill. I ordered 3 crepes with a tad of whipping cream. Below is a photo of what the waitress brought out.We handed out a number of C2C business cards promoting the tour at this restaurant. Two hours later, refreshed and full we headed to the visitors centre to pick up a map of the city. Found out that this city is actually named after Ontario, Canada. Yep, the name was decided on with a coin toss between two gentlemen and one woman. Then it was off to the campsite to set up our tents, etc. After showers several cyclists headed to the local library to send out yesterday’s blog and hopefully work on today’s. How disappointing to hear that the library closed at 4 pm and we didn’t get there till 3:45. I quickly sent out yesterday’s blog (without proof reading it…hope I don’t have to make any retractions!). Rumor has it that the internet is still not working at camp. This frustrates the cyclists as well as the people responsible to set it up. Again the motto, ‘just go with it’. If a situation is beyond your control then make the best of it. ‘ It is what it is.’


It is nearing 6pm so that means supper time. I need to wrap this up and get going. Tonight will be early to bed (I’m nodding off already). Tomorrow is the last of the short days, so I hope to saunter along and just enjoy it.

Till tomorrow, Cynthia