Trip to Timmins

For work, I had to travel to a small city called Timmins, Ontario. This is the city where Shania Twain is from and her picture is everywhere as well as there is a Shania Twain museum. The trip from my house is about 10 hours however since I took the Smart Car, it only has a 20 litre gas tank so I had to stop twice on the way up to get gas. Therefore the trip took 11 hours.

We were having very nice weather in the Niagara Falls area and when I left, it was already 15C in the early morning with a reported high about 20C. I got about a half hour down the highway when I realized that I did not have a jacket. I was not too concerned because it was so mild these days.

I did not take a map but instead had my GPS unit. I have become to rely on it for almost all of my travels. Last year I went to Philadelphia with no map - just the GPS and it took me right to the front door of the hotel. The only problem with the GPS is that it doesn't really show you the bigger picture of where you are heading - basically just what is in front of you and what your next turn is. The GPS had me taking Hwy 400 once I got north of Toronto and then left onto highway 69 through Parry Sound (famous for where Bobby Orr was born) and up through Sudbury. Once I got onto Hwy 69, I was down to below 5 litres of gas. Not knowing the area very well, I turned off the highway on the first sign that said 'Gas, that a way'. I wound up winding back and forth on some country roads and eventually found the out of the way 'no-name' gas station. It was an old gas station with a couple of ole boys hanging around like you would see in an old movie along Route 66 in the USA. They had never seen a Smart Car before so they were quite interested in it. When I went to pay for the gas (actually it takes diesel which sometimes can be a pain trying to find a station that sells diesel), the card would not work in their machine. Likely because they were not a brand name gas station, the card would not accept the merchant. So I had to pay in cash.

The drive through Northern Ontario is very scenic.

Once back on Hwy #69, after about two more kilometres, there were three brand name gas stations, an Esso, an Petro Canada, and another one. Had I only known, I would not have spent 20 minutes off the beaten trail looking for the other station. I laughed at myself.

As I was passing around the perimeter of Sudbury, I once again was down to only 5 litres of gas. I kept driving on the main highway knowing that eventually there would be some gas stations. I did not want to make the same mistake I made south of Parry Sound. When I got to the north end of town and heading north on a small remote highway with about 5 more hours to drive, I turned around and headed back into Sudbury. I could not risk running out of gas in what was becoming the remote north. I wasted about a half hour searching for diesel which by about the 4th gas station, I found some. On my way again.

As soon as I got north of Sudbury, in about a 30 minute span, the temperature went from 20C down to about 5 C. Once I got into Timmins at about 8 pm, the temperature was now zero with some snow flakes in the air. What a change in temperature! And I had no jacket. I got some supper, found my hotel room in the Super 8, and hunkered down for the night, making the 9 pm broadcast of LOST just in time. It was a good show. At 10 pm, I looked out the window and you could hardly see because of the snow. It wound up going down to -15C with the windchill. In the morning, the Smart Car was covered in snow. My boss, who often is very sweet (and she does not read these blogs), gave me permission to buy a coat and charge it to the company. I told her that she was in the running for 'Boss of the Year!". My meetings were indoors so I never did get around to buying a coat but it sure was COLD!!!

I took a different route back - one that was more popular and more gas stations. It took me through towns such as New Liskeard, North Bay, Huntsville (where the G-8 Leaders Summit will be held in June), and eventually Barrie and back through Toronto. The trip back, although tiring, was uneventful.

Note: Did you know that if you click on the pictures, they enlarge. I just found this out myself :)

Tim

BONUS BLOG - TWO ITEMS IN ONE!!!

First, my normal blah blah blah type of stuff, and then at the end, I have a bonus item for all of you.

It was a mixed type of week. My son was successful in getting his motorcycle licence. BUT, nothing is that simple. The night before he was to take his test, he came to me in a panic saying that the bike was dead and would not start. In fact, it would not do anything - no horn, no lights, no nothing! You cannot cancel a test within 48 hours - so he would forfeit the $75 fee that my wife paid for him to take the test if the bike could not be fixed in time. I was just about to have my fiesta after work which is a bad habit but one I like. So I climbed out of bed and went down to the garage and tried the key. Nothing. I am no mechanic by far. My dad always said that I had to either learn to be able to fix things, or get a good job. Fortunately for me, I was able to get a good job. I fumbled with the battery and got a big spark. Thus there must of been lots of power in the battery. I then thought that it might be a fuse. I got the owner's manual out and it said that the master fuse was under the gas tank and you had to disassemble half of the bike to get at it, and there were secondary fuses behind a metal housing cover on the bottom of the engine. I was pretty sure that it was the master fuse, but since it was simpler to get at the secondary fuses, I tried these first. They were all okay. Darn. I proceeded to tear the motorbike apart. I am good at taking things apart. I have very little success in putting them back together. Usually what happens is that after I get the bike pulled apart, I end up loading it up in the back of my truck and driving it two hours to my brother's house to get him to fix it and re-assemble it. The last time I started working on my bike, my neighbour came running over to stop me before I took it apart - knowing that I would just have to load it back in my truck if I continued. But this time my neighbour was on vacation in the States so there was no one to stop me. I got it apart and tested the master fuse. Double darn. The fuse was fine so I torn it apart for nothing and now I had to put it back together. I actually got it back together and I had no left over parts which even my brother usually has left over parts! I continued to fumble around with the bike, looking for clues as to what might be wrong. I wound up removing the home made connection for the GPS unit. Turned the key and bike started right up. Awesome! Apparently the home made connection, although it had worked fine for a year, was shorting out the electrical system. And incredible that I was able to fix the bike on my own.

Other news: My other brother bought a car that is identical to a police car so now cars will move over for him in heavy traffic. My wife has began jogging again so the two of us are using a trail that was made from an abandoned train track. She prefers this trail as there are lots of dogs on the back roads that I normally walk. My back has been really bugging me. It hurt before I left for the Camino, it hurt real bad on the Camino, and is hurting some more. So bad that I had to take two days off of work last week - my first two sick days of the year. I tried walking today - only two miles - the back was not too bad but my knee really hurt for the last mile. Lastly, my colleague at work sent me an e-mail saying BANG! because I mentioned that I might attempt to walk the Camino again next May and I had asked readers on an earlier blog that if I ever say that again, to please shoot me! She really made me lol when my back was really hurting. A lot will depend on whether I am able to walk next year - mainly my body and things like my back and my knee will need to cooperate a lot more than they are now.

Now that I have forced you to read my blah blah blah, here is what I think is a real treat. There have been many rumours over the past several months of sightings of Martin Sheen on the Camino. It turns out he was making a movie in which his son attempted to walk the trail and died in the attempt, so Martin drops what he was doing, flies to Europe, collects his son's ashes, and walks the Camino himself, finishing what his son started, and sprinkling his ashes along the trail. Now if I could only get my sons to walk the trail for me so that I can stay home and watch TV! I am attaching the link to the movie trailer, which Cecelia sent me and I thank her very much.

http://theway-themovie.com/

Over and out, Tim.

Sunny, Sunny month of May......I mean April !

The long, long road to training. We had really nice weather this weekend in the Niagara Falls area. Today the temperature got up to 16C or 61F, and yesterday (Saturday) was nice too but not quite as warm. I walked 4.5 miles each day. Sometimes the road seems longer than on other days. Today the inside of my left knee hurt most of the way making the walk seem longer. I am still experimenting with how tight/loose I tie my hiking boots because I am sure this is a circulation issue as opposed to a stress fracture. I am even tempted to switch back to walking in running shoes.

When you are walking alone a lot, you make your own things up to chuckle about. Although I have walked by this sign many times, today I thought, geez, maybe they put it up just for me since there is nothing else out here in the country but me walking!

When I got done walking today, I got out my new riding lawn motor and cut the grass for the first time this year. I needed a riding lawn mower like I need another hole in my head, but hey, you only live once and it is tonnes of fun riding it. My wife says that you can see me smiling from inside of the house when I am on it. I only crashed into the flower bed once!!!

I have been asked by a few of my biker friends to organize some bike trips to the United States for later this Spring and Summer. So I need to start working on that and I can't wait to report the adventures back to you. There is always lots to tell, lol.

Lastly, if you want to write me directly, my e-mail is tim.bilton@yahoo.ca Some of you I know well, and I would like to get to know the others weller (is that a word?). I hope you all have a great week.

Tim

What it Should of Looked Like

A veteran Camino walker, named Cecelia from British Columbia, supplied me with these pictures which were taken from Huntto. This is what the view should look like. Note that this is only 1/3 up the mountain - you still have to climb 2/3rds more.

See the view behind me. I was standing likely almost in the same place as the above pictures were taken. There was no view the day I was there.

So these pictures pretty much sum up my first two days back at work. Although to my co-workers I must seem like I am in a fog, I am really day dreaming of the fantastic views in Southern France.

Back to Normal

People have written me from all over the world telling me to not feel bad that I did not finish walking the Camino and wishing me good thoughts. I thank all of you very much and just want to let you know that I feel fine. One veteran walker told me that a lot of people do not finish - they just don't tell anyone. I thought about that, for a few brief moments - letting people think that I was successful - but - that would not be me.

People have also asked that I keep my blog going. Some find it an interesting read and others think it is funny. I sure hope that they are laughing with me and not at me :)

We had an awesome weekend weather wise in Southern Ontario. Temperatures reached 28C (82F) on Friday and Saturday, and was a more moderate 18C on Easter Sunday. Our normal temperature for this time of year is closer to 10C.

I have walked everyday but one since I have been back. I was getting shin splints in my left leg so I took last Tuesday off. Wednesday the shin splints were back again. Guess what? I discovered that by tying my hiking boots looser, I don't get the shin splints at all!!! So they were never shin splints but more to do with circulation. I thought that tighter boots would give me better support and prevent blisters by less movement of the foot in the boot. I guess you have to weigh one advantage over the other. As for blisters, I have found that using the Vaseline, then a sock liner, followed by a wicking sock has done the trick - at least for the shorter distances. I have been walking mostly 4.5 miles each time.

Yesterday I spent a few hours polishing my motorcycle. It has been stored in the garage all winter. It is a 1500 cc Suzuki Intruder, or as I call it, a Harley look-a-like. It was fun taking it for a ride when I was done. There were a lot of bikes out yesterday. In the background is the upper Niagara River, about 3 miles from the famous Niagara Falls.

I am thinking of returning back to work this week and saving the rest of my vacation for the warmer summer months. Today is a government holiday (Easter Monday) so we all have it off.

I will update this blog from time to time, and should I suggest that I am thinking of heading to the Camino again, you all, as my friends - have permission to shoot me.

Tim