This is it! The last episode of the Ultimate Northern Ontario Road Show. In our final week on the road we snuck down the Bruce Peninsula to visit old friends Barb and Dave Wynd at the Taylor Made Bed and Breakfast in Lions Head where we availed ourselves to the best breakfast on the Bruce. Riding over to Mattawa Voyageur Days to take in performances by the Northern Pikes and George Thorogood, we stopped briefly in North Bay for a night of Karaoke at Partners Billiard and Bowling.

We stopped in with our friend Melissa Marquart from the Ottawa Valley and took in a mind-blowing meal of authentic Polish proportions at the legendary Wilno Tavern. Our last great ride of the trip was on the Peterson and Elephant Lake road, which I enjoyed way too much, and finally we stopped in Peterborough to get a little help from Dan Jacobs, composer of many of the songs heard in the videos, to sign our trip to a close.

It’s been a whirlwind tour and we’ve made so many memories, but sooner or later everyone has to go home. We hope we’ve inspired you to think about exploring the world just outside your back door – Ontario!

Oh, and stick around after the credits, for a special treat. See you on the highway.

This week we went in-depth on the Island of Manitoulin, staying there five whole days at the iconic Mindemoya Court Cottages and Campground where we indulged in all the requisite campground activities, from a spirited all-age game of softball pitting the ruthless Beavers versus the tyranical Chipmunks, to a cookout and campfire, to far too many belly-flops and cannonballs off the dock into the Caribbean blue of Lake Mindemoya.

Our main reason for visiting the island was to spend some time at Ride Manitoulin, one of Ontario’s newest motorcycle events. Lucky for us a couple of adventure touring fun-a-holics, Steven Fox-Radulovich and Colin Wilson, took us out on a ride through some of the unpaved corners of the island and we caught an eye (and mouth and nose) full of some dirty goodness.

Mike’s pop, Pete, joined the crew for a couple days and helped us figure out what a poker run is, and successfully lose four hands! He also took Mike’s bike back to Toronto for service, as we’d just crossed the 11,000km mark and it needed service! Thankfully, he generously donated his Honda ST1100 (which some of you might remember from last year!) to let us complete the trip on two wheels.

We also did a ton of other stuff, like went to a smash-up derby, sung the theme song from Rawhide while holding a miniature shotgun, and drank some amazing ice caps. But you need to watch the video to find out about that.

This weeks episode begins with a delightful blueberry pancake breakfast prepared by the Silver Tops Club in the incredible community of Ignace, Ontario (slogan: You Otter Be In Ignace!) We’ve received all kinds of welcomes and been on all kinds of adventures, but the sense of community in this town make us all feel right at home.

We’d passed the half-way mark of the trip and were now heading in the general direction of home, except for one massive detour up Ontario’s most northerly road – Highway 599 to Pickle Lake. We found no Pickles, but we did get even further north than when we were in Moosonee! That’s pretty far.

We finally got to take our sail with Capt. Greg Heroux of SailSuperior.com Yacht Charters and it was a perfect afternoon for it. He even flew the beautifully coloured spinnaker for us, lighting up the whole bay with it’s vibrancy. And last but not least, we visited the municipality of Greenstone, where we took in an exhausting but rewarding hike up the Pijitawabik Palisades, camped on the shores of the massive Lake Nipigon, had breakfast in Beardmore, and visited the Geraldton Fire Management Headquarters and ReconAir – the gents responsible for fixing the float plane we flew in a few weeks ago with White River Air.

Next week: Ride Manitoulin! The Bruce Peninsula! North Bay! Mattawa Voyageur Days! Huzzah!