Took a run up to Cochrane.
Little traffic. You could look along the straight road, that ran from horizon to horizon, and see clear roads ahead, as well as behind.
“Come for the polar bears. Stay for the tea.”
There is a centre for polar bear studies called the Polar Bear Habitat. Had to see one. This is Canada. We have lots of polar bears, though not as many as before. And not as big/healthy as before. Except for one area in northern Canada where the polar bears are increasing in numbers.
Two things you need to know before arriving:
(1) You may not see a polar bear. There are 3 bears and 24 acres of “wilderness”.
(2) The roads, to the gravel drive-way and parking, are in terrrible condition. Tarmac disappeared. Potholes. Gravel strewn everywhere.
Was it worth it?
I saw a bear 🙂
Then wandered through the collection of historic buildings. All sorts. Many you could enter.
As for the tea, I was directed to the railway station. Parked by the front door. Well, the parking lot was full near the building, and there was a very nice motorcycle-friendly surface near the building 😉
A very perky Canadian version of Kate Silverton greeted me, and took my order. A nice cuppa, with a sugar tart. Just what the doctor ordered.
So yes. It was worth the ride to Cochrane (sic).
On the way home, I swung by Iroquois Falls. Not much to say about this small town, as it has been in decline since the 1990’s. There is a cute park, and a likely restaurant, that I nearly stopped at.
Should have done.
The scenic route through Hoyle came to an abrupt end, as the bridge is down. Garmin did not know about the blocked bridge. Nor does it have a way to pass along that information. TomTom could pass updates into the community. But Garmin’s approach to an alternate route is much simpler than TomTom’s. I just turned my bike around, rode off, and the alternate route appeared. TomTom would keep trying to put me on the same route, unless I identified the bridge as being down.
Was a nice day out.