A farm in Ontario
Bob and Doddy's farm
From Dyer's Bay on the Lake Huron, I started hitch-hiking South to Niagara Falls. John and Elisabeth, from Toronto, gave me a ride from Crane Lake Road to Highway #6. I didn't even have the time to find my jacket in my bag, that Bob and Doddy were already stopping their car.
Bob and Doddy have a farm in Ontario where they raise calfs and grow wheat, soya beans, and corn. They gave me much more than a lift. They invited me for diner, offered me a shower, a laundry, and a bedroom in their beautiful farm. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
The next morning, their daughter drove me to Orangeville. From there Denis the bartender gave me a ride to Brampton, where I got a couple of bus tickets for Niagara Falls. I climbed in the first bus, changed at Bramalea, and as I was sitting in the second bus, I realised I had lost my diary. The notebook I write in everyday, all my notes since Iceland, plus a lot of contacts, were lost. No way!
I went trembling to see the driver of the second bus. He first told me that I would probably find my notebook at the Lost & Found in Toronto, in three or four days. But when he realized I would be far away then, he was very helpful. He made a call on his radio, found out that John was the name of my first bus driver, had the central call for John to all the buses of the region, and arrange a meeting with him. A couple of hours later, John was waiting for me in Toronto's Union Station, with a grin on his face and my notebook in his hands!
It's amazing how generosity and hospitality can fill you up with energy. Later in the day, I spent a couple of hours wandering along the falls, trying to avoid the casinos and other bizarre stores of this strange town. When walking across the Rainbow Bridge to cross the border back into the United States, I met with Ignasio and Ariadna, from Barcelona! We sat down for a coffee and talked about home. In the evening, and for the next 20 hours, I was sitting in a bus going West, all the way to Chicago.