Sunday was the long, long drive to Thunder Bay. There’s not much to report from the actual day, since we only had 4 hours to sleep before leaving Winnipeg, and anybody who wasn’t driving was sleeping pretty much the whole way there. We had a nice little picnic stop outside Dryden. That’s about it.

Okay, there weren’t any blackflies, but I did get a few mosquito bites on my ankles, which irritates me no small amount as the ones I got in Golden last week had finally just stopped itching.

Thunder Bay still baffles me. The Apollo is one of the nicest venues we know, with a great sound system, a long history and an amazing assortment of talented bands and musicians coming through, and yet the town seems completely oblivious to its presence. Apparently it’s been pretty quiet there even since the summer, even now that university is back in session. I don’t know if it’s just the location - most of that street is empty buildings, and the road was under construction, too - or something about Thunder Bay itself, but the Apollo is just being wasted there. I want to get a helicopter, pick it up and move it to someplace that’ll appreciate it. It’s sad. We played a slightly disheartened set.

Monday was more of the same - five hours of sleep, followed by an all-day drive to make it as far as Blind River, and generally pretty quiet in the van. We had a decent dinner at a restaurant called Voyageur’s Lodge. Coming through Iron Bridge, we saw Amish buggies trotting along the side of the road. We found a hotel right alongside the river, serenaded by the loud rushing water from a dam. Rob and Joey (aka ‘Obbie & Yoey) felt adventurous and led us to the Riverside Tavern just down the street, which turns out to be one of the oldest bars in Canada, built in 1897. There was one door for men and another for ladies with escorts, which led to a moment of uncertainty, but we barrelled in anyway.

Turns out that Mondays are jam nights at the Riverside, and there was a welcoming little group of very talented players turning out some excellent covers and originals. One of the men, Fern, does a Neil Young impression that is incredibly accurate - made me swivel my head in surprise. Rob hopped in on the action pretty quick, first on tambourine and later on a keyboard. Joey joined in on a guitar. (Alas, there was no bass available, my keyboard skills do not include much improvisation, and Marcus is left-handed so he can’t really borrow a guitar. But I did sing along a bit.) We sat around with everyone for a few hours, talking about music and travel and the places we’ve seen. It was a wonderful and completely unexpected bit of fun, and helped revitalize all of us.

I stepped outside this morning after a nice solid night of sleep, and finally got a good look at the river and the lake - it’s quite lovely. We found breakfast at Mustang’s Cafe, the theme of which was Mustang cars (which made Marcus happy). However, we appear to be undergoing a laundry conspiracy. We’re getting increasingly desperate for laundry, but we didn’t do it in Winnipeg because we knew there were facilities in Thunder Bay. However, the dryer was broken. We made sure we found a place last night that was near a laundromat - and today we found out they’re closed Tuesdays. Who closes on a Tuesday?!?

Ah well. Today we’re driving to St. Catharines, Rob’s hometown, and we’ll regroup and get some laundry done. Tomorrow we start a string of shows in southern Ontario, starting at Maxwell’s in Waterloo (we play with a band called Red Orkestra). Looking forward to it.

Marcus: 2
Rob: 1
Kirsten: 2
Joey: 2