en Canada estamos!

(We are in Canada.)

We are very excited about this. The roads are better here, the people smile more, the houses are prettier, bathrooms smell better, and there's less roadkill. Unfortunately, Canadian awesomeness has not yet found a way to omit thunderstorms from the weather patterns over their country, so we're not riding today. We're currently staying with some awesome CouchSurfers in Hamilton, Ontario. We got in late last night after a pretty intense 70+ mile ride from Niagara Falls, including a stop for a quick dip into beautiful Lake Ontario. We spent the morning at the Canadian side of the falls, and spent about an hour busking. In that hour we got not only about 10 dollars US and 10 dollars Canadian, but a whole host of smiles! Unfortunately, we were told a little later, while playing for ourselves under a tree, that we were not allowed to play instruments in that entire area. Glad we went undiscovered the first hour... we met some nice travelers from Australia and Germany, and then we met this awesome individual named Ray. Ray is, in all respects, the man. We first saw him riding along on top of one of those 19th century bicycles with the HUGE wheel in front and the little wheel in back. He was wearing an old-style hat and jacket, and had a huge grin all over his face. Everybody pretty much converged on him to ask him about the bike and get a picture with him. We waited until the rush had subsided, and then went and talked to him. Turns out, he's a photographer from Rhode Island, and he takes months out of each year to travel around in his van and take pictures different places, bringing this bicycle with him. He's been riding the thing 15-20 miles each day for the past 35 years!! He was very excited to hear about our journey and glad that we were finding our own paths and doing some adventuring instead of conforming to the usual for people our age. He's such an inspiration for me, just awesome.

Well, since I've got the time, maybe I'll tell you all a few more details about the trip. Like, what we've been eating, organized inaccurately by volume:

- Bread / Bagels
- Peanut butter
- Granola bars
- Oatmeal
- Cheese
- Pasta (when we're staying someplace)
- Dried fruit (I grudgingly eat raisins now)
- Peanuts
- Fresh fruit (when we find a good deal)
- Unrecognizable pancakes
- Semi-recognizable pancakes
- Burritos @ Taco Bell (best value!)
- Various flying insects (accidental protein.)

We have had some wonderful meals with hosts, though. Last night we were given the most perfectly spiced curry I've ever had, and amazing little berry and custard tarts!

This is a crazy life, but it's a rewarding one. I already feel like I've been on the road for a very long time, due to the high volume of images flooding my brain from the last week and a half... all the new places and faces, sights & sounds. If you think us madmen, you are right. If you think that's a bad thing, you are wrong!

Hasta luego.

dan