Meeting the Kindest Family in Ontario!

Last night we cycled from Dryden to Dinorwic, had planned to reach a very small town called Borups Corner but a big thunderstorm was on forecast from 7pm till 6am so decided to pull in early, get shelter and cook dinner before the skys opened. I checked google maps to find an opening where we could pitch the tents. There wasn’t much in terms of flat ground so we continued into the town to see what we could find. Found a small area at the front of a large property and pitched the tents and cooked dinner. Always a little weary of where we camp and whos land it may be. Each car that passes could be the property owner and may ask us to move on. Soon after eating a 4x4 pulled up and I presumed the worst, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. We were greeted by Sheldon and his dog Rambo who invited us to stay in his sisters, Michelle’s, home. We quickly packed everything up and made are way up to the house. We were met by Michelle’s son and daughter who were so excited to see us and tell us of their travel stories. Michelle welcomed us into her lovely home and showed us to our room for the night, with towels and a hot shower. Something I could only have dreamt of after the last few days of rain and wind. Michelle offered to do our laundry and spoke of a cooked breakfast in the morning 😍. We sat up and all told our stories of traveling through Canada and its many beautiful places to visit. The next morning we woke to a full cooked breakfast- eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns the works. As Michelle dropped the kids to work we got to know more about Sheldon and his father. A totally self sufficient family living from the land. Fishing, hunting and trapping. Sheldons father was working on a new smoker as we arrived into there 2nd home next to Michelle’s, with Van Morrison’s playing and 1000’s of records in the living Room we felt right at home. We politely took a plate each but they both ensured we had several more and left as full as possible before we took on the day and tackled 140 km to the next town, English River. Michlle runs a very successful photography business specializing in weddings. You can check out the work she is doing from the link below

https://linktr.ee/michelle.marie.photograph

Sheldon makes his own musical instruments with materials from the land. The guitar below is made from poplar tree and moose bone.

Their father was a mechanic rebuilding bikes and from what I could tell anything else that he or the family needed. The property had so many things that interested me. The idea of being truly self sufficient I found really intriguing and wish I had more time to explore there way of life. It seemed around every corner there was something else new and interesting. My bike was so old he had taken time to examine it and it’s workings to make sure everything was in good order and would get me back to Toronto, all while I was still sleeping. Truly the kindest people I have met on our travels. There was nothing they wouldn’t do for us. I really hope to pass through again and join them on their camping and canoeing trips which sound amazing. To top it off we got some moonshine for the road.