Sunday and Monday, August 11 and 12

Canadians are top notch at hospitality. We stayed at Redeemer College for the weekend and the locals provided 3 delicious meals. Yesterday afternoon they packed the auditorium at the college for the celebration service. The singing was fantastic and I thought the roof would raise with the singing of "How Great Thou Art". It warmed my heart, brought tears to my eyes and repeated in my mind all day today. The locals continue to show their hospitality and provided coffee, butterkook, and ice cream cones at different SAG stops along the route today. Tomorrow three churches have asked to provide for us at our SAG stops. Tonight two local folks in government came to speak to us. Canadians know how to celebrate Sea to Sea. Yesterday I went to Niagra with Howard, Barb and Jane. It was a beautiful day. The falls are always amazing to see. It was fun to watch so many people from around the world in one place, being at peace with each other. Phil spent 8 hours yesterday with a volunteer truck driver from Toronto marking the route. There were so many turns that it printed out on 2 sides of the page. He then worked on Tuesday's route in the evening. He is working so hard! Today we cycled from Ancaster to Ajax through Toronto. We were in city traffic all day. The route included a beautiful trail along Lake Ontario. Amazingly even with a detour into the "innards" of Toronto, it was an easy day. We had a tail wind all day. We completed 76 miles at 14.6 MPH. There were 35 new people who joined yesterday, so we have 124 riders and more people to get to know. At Peloton tonight, Peter Slofstra came to share the history of the dream of Sea to Sea. He inspired and encouraged us. One of the things that inspire Peter and his wife from their experience in 2005 is simplicity. We are living with 2 small laundry baskets of stuff for the summer, or for me, 3 weeks. He encouraged us to live more simply and give away more. Lots to think about!