Where's Ron?

Legend:
Google map

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Thu, Oct 2
Just got the news that Ron is waiting for a ride at Birch Island -- Dave will pick him up in 20 minutes!

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Wed, Oct 1
Ron called from Whitefish Falls. He plans to get to the cabin tomorrow (Thu) see you soon, Ron! only an hour and 36 minutes to go (if you were driving a car...) good luck on your last stretch of road!

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Tue, Sep 30
After spending the night in a tee-pee tent with a pet raccoon (is Ron missing Malakas that much?),
Ron crossed the ferry to Malitoulinand Island (every time i write this name i have to go back three times to check how it's spelled, hehe). On the ferry, a nice (motor)biker upgraded his gear with one of those elastic net-bungee cords to tie his equipment better to his bike. Ron said that the ferry was huge, had hundreds of vehicles on it, and sailed so peacefully that it didn't seem to be moving at all.
In Malitoulinand Island he's staying in a hostel at Mindemoya, from which he called me. while we were on the phone, i overheard the Indian owner of the place offering him tea. I guess Ron seems to bring the good out of everybody!! That, or maybe Canadians are intrinsically nice.
Anyway, from here he will move on back to the mainland, towards Espanola and blind river (hoping to stay as much as possible off main roads)

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Monday, Sep 29
Ron is spending the night at an Indian tee-pee hostel called Cha Mao Zah. To avoid riding on the highway, he talked to the couple who run the place, and they gave him a ride from their store down the road to the camp.
Tomorrow he'll take the shuttle to Manitoulinand Island.

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Sunday, Sep 28
Ron, via txt message last night:"Had a few beers with other campers here in Wiarton. Leaving here tomorrow at 14:00".

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Saturday, Sep 27 2008 (noon)
Ron found a momentary pocket of reception to call from Owen Sound. He's having beef jerky for lunch, and plans to ride north into Bruce peninsula on road #1.

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Friday, Sep 26 2008
Ron called this afternoon with an update! He didn't have cell-phone reception yesterday.
On Thursday he met a nice couple on the way (i don't know their names, so i'll call them John and Jane). They both like the outdoors (in fact, they just came back from a 3-day trip, during which they introduced nature to children). Ron spent the night playing guitars with the John, who, as it happens, has a band.

Today (Friday), since John had the day off after his 3-day trip, he took Ron to see some of the geological spots in the area (and a waterfall, i think).
Sounds like he's having lots of fun!!

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Wednesday, Sep 24 2008
Ron just called and said that his first day was great -- he traveled less distance than he had planned, but found a nice spot to spend the night at, on some nice family's lawn at Wildfield, Canada. He's cooking bean soup. yayy Ron!

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Toronto time is almost over

Like every other good thing, also the time in toronto has passed.

may i say, that i can divide the time into 2 parts - before and after the bike.
it is like a time machine. really.

So, if you go to toronto, bring / buy / rent a bicycle.

and there is another thing i got to do here...
















P.S. it's the niagara falls


and for the final thing completed today as for the bike ride:


packing everything, and getting ready for shipment of the stuff to dave.

so, i am leaving on the 24th, at around 9:30 (if i will wake up...)

Papa's got a brand new bike!

i wondered around Kensington market, and heard hebrew. it was coming from 2 elders who are israeli originally, but they live in toronto since the 60's. I asked the guy (simha) if he knows of a place to buy used bicycle around. he said: "if you want to spent money.... i don't know". it sounds strange, and so it was. apparently, he has a pair, which he does not use anymore. we set up that i will take the bike from where we met, which is a shoe shop, where they own the property.

The next day (this afternoon) i went over there - 2.5 km, and the bike weren't there. in the store they also didn't hear of such a thing.

I came back a few time, and until 17:00 he did not bring the bike, I figured that his wife took the "sucker for israelies" out of him.

so, between 13:30 and 17:00 i walked around, looking for my other options, where eventually i went to this bike store, which has used and new bikes.
I took a pair to check, and i gave them an ID, so they will know i will come back. the sales person sais: you are israeli??? so is my husband, the owner of this shop.
I talked with him over the phone, and got even a better price then the sales person gave me... I am still sure they made a big profit out of it...

So, this is my ride for the next 2 weeks...















and as for the price....

total is 219 $, which includes:
1 very cool bike
1 very big helmet
2 spare inner tubes

and i ran out of the money i had on me....

but i still need to get a few more things. don't worry, i have a small back stashed in the HQ...

that's all for now...

Toronto-Blind River ride

sitting in Marth&Ben's apartment i have planned the route of the trip (with Keren's help, of course).



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If you wonder about why is the route goes in these places, you should look at this map, with "More... -- Photos" turned on. some spots has great waterfalls, and other has caves and stuff.


if anyone has some recommendations for changing the route, it is totally doable.
I believe that this trail can be done in 5-6 days, which is why i plan to have 9-10 days..
If someone wants, for some unknown reason, to join, you are more than welcome. just remember to bring booze and food. oh, and a pair of bicycle.

I can't promise i will post stuff while i travel, but i will try and write down along the way feedbacks on the route.

That's all, for now...
Plans for Toronto:
22nd: get my bike, fix them, buy parts, eat, drink, go to Sigur-Ros concert.
23rd: Go to the Niagara Falls, get back, finish arraignments.
24th: Leave Toronto.

There is a possibility that i will not finish all the arraignments, so i will stay and leave only on the 25th. I will post a comment on exact leaving time.

Have fun...
I know i will try to.

and mom, don't worry, i have all the gear i need (and i have been watching Discovery channel all week..)

Love'ya all

For Dalia

While Dalia and I were talking the other day (about babies and things) she requested some updated pictures on the work I've been doing in the back yard. Strictly speaking, it's not a "yard" anymore, but a "garden" that's headed toward being a "woodland garden." Maybe. At right is the stone path laid out Labor Day weekend. Notice, Keren, I've been "harvesting" lots of moss. I hope it comes back in the spring. It should.






Another view of the same area. Lots of moss and also some nice rotting logs to provide habitat for the moss. I really like that moss. It's green and soft and pretty. And I'm discovering that there are several types in the forest, all of which I hope to make permanent residents of the garden.











View of the house from the back of the yard. Still some places to fill with moss. Only about 1/3 of the walkway is filled. There's also some bits of sweet woodruff and wintergreen in there that I'm hoping will spread.








Other side of the yard. Here you can see that there's still a fair amount of grass that must be persuaded to relocate. Notice huge rock (with moss) and huge ruminant skull (with dirt) on the end post. I don't know how much more will get done this fall. I'm starting to worry about leaves. The ones on the moss will have to be moved. The rest may just stay where they fall and I'll call them "mulch."

Guatamala edvanture 2

Some more activities....

We did the longest zip-line in central america, which is 400 meters. i took the aperatunity to take a video of the event, or as much as i managed to think of what to film.
we got to the zip line as a part of a trek going from Xela (quetsaltenango) to San-Pedro, on lake atitlan.

The trek was run by Quetsaltrekkers, an orginization which is volenteering to guide, and all the income goes to help the kids of a neer by village.

in the trek we met Bill, one of the funniest charecters we met on the trip. he is a 62 years old man, and he did the 3 days trek with us. he has the most funny laughter i have ever heard.

This is Nicol, a German guide we had on the trek. As you can see, she is quite busy in taking pictures..

this is the view from San-Pedro. The lake is lake atitlan. in san pedro there are more israelies than locals, or anything else. there are lots of people selling stuff on the street, and some of them know numbers in hebrew. On the other side, where you can't see (and so we couldn't see) is San-Marcus. Dubi and I went kayaking over there. it is a half an hour kayaking, only we got to a wrong place, and had to go along the shore line until we got to san marcus...

So tomorow we go to NY. We will be staying in Jazz in the Park hostel, which is only 33 dollars a night - 7 times more expencive than the nights we sleep now..

If you want anything from NY, let me know... I hope i will get it.

Cheers.

Guatemala fun

Hello to all

We are now 10 days in guatemala, and currently in Panahachel (known as Pana)

We did some shopping in the market yesterday, and yes, it all fits in my muchilla - backpack
















we visited the Pacaya volcano















which was quite flowing















and jumped above the view















and did some shopping...

So, our next destination is Xela, where we will be in hot springs, do a bit more shopping, and on saturday we have a 3 days trek back to lake altalian, to a village called San-pedro. it is mainlly israelies there, and a place serving humus, tehini, falafel... no shawarma thow...


so have a great time

Love you all..

Ron