Sorry for not posting for a while but we have been having trouble with our wireless signal. I will start by mentioning something I forgot about when we were in Thunderbay. We were in a pub having a couple Guinness and who walks in, Mr. Layhee from the Trailer Park Boys. I hope I spelled that right. We didn't talk to him or anything but it was cool seeing him.

So now I will explain what we've been doing since we left Sudbury. Our first day of biking took us 70km to a town called Espanola. We stayed there for 2 days because when we woke up it was pouring rain, also the hotel was very nice. It had really nice pictures of animals all over the rooms and the hallways. It felt so nice being there, most of the walls had wood paneling and really nice bright colours everywhere else. While we were in Sudbury/ the time we spent in Espanola, a group in Nigeria asked me to teach them self defense. They wanted me to go to Nigeria to teach about 90 people because they are having trouble with kidnappings over there. I said no to going there because I have too much going on here, but I have so far let them know that they can send some of their people to Montreal for me to teach.
Anyways after Espanola we continued heading south onto Manitoulin Island which is the biggest fresh water island in the world. It was very beautiful there, at one point we were at a look-out that so far would have to be the most beautiful place we have ever been. I can't even explain it fully, but the beauty of it resonated in our hearts and we where able to see little firefly type lights all around us. These lights are real and they are amazing. This place was about 20km south of Little Current where we had stayed the night before, which is a pretty nice little docking town. After that we headed to South Baymouth so we could catch the ferry across to Tobermory. South Baymouth was pretty uneventful, but we did meet a guy who owns a restuarant and has spent most of his life training in Kenpo. He had some interesting stories to tell. He said he personally knew both Lennox Lewis and The Big Show, Paul White, from the WWF. He also mentioned he could do a one-handed push-up where he would put a quarter between his middle and pointer finger and grab it with his mouth. He is 50 years old now but he did it. I tried after him and did it, but not as well as he did. I will practise that one until I can do it well.

When we got to Tobermory we spent some time riding around and then stopped in at a bar with a second story balcony. It was 28 degrees out so we spent about 3 hours there. While we were there we met 2 guys that we had a good conversation with. One of them was a scuba instructor and the other guy was a Taekwon Do instructor from the UK. It was cool talking to him about teaching because obviously I'm an instructor as well. Since we don't have to be in Kitchener until October 5th, we decided to take our time getting there, so we stayed there for 2 nights just because.

The plan then was to ride to Wiarton which is 77km south of Tobermory, but I was only able to make it 47km to a town called Ferndale. For some reason my knee was hurting a lot, it was shooting pains down my shin and up the back of my leg everytime I peddled. We made it to Wiarton the next day and it hurt the whole way, so we stopped there for a rest. When we first got there, there was a parade that was going down their main street. Good timing for sure on our part. While we were there a man came up to us in the restuarant noticing that my knee was bothering me and mentioned an old technique for taking swelling down. It is to soak a towel in vinegar, heat it up and wrap the area that is hurting. So we went to the grocery store to try this. While we were sitting outside the store resting, a man came up to us to ask us where were going and where we were coming from. During this conversation we mentioned that my knee was hurting a lot so he asked me more about that. It turned out that he is a Chiropractor and his practice is just down the street, so he offered me a free adjustment. The coolest part was that 2 minutes before he showed up I was thinking that I should go see a Chiropractor. It is so amazing how people come into your life when you really need them. I'm certain I would not have been able to continue on that day, but after he adjusted me I was able to ride another 40km. I must say that Chiropractors know their stuff and can help you with almost anything. Medical doctors are completely useless, try a Chiro you will not regret it.

Well that's all I have to say for now and hopefully I will write again soon. Also we are having trouble with getting the pictures on the computer so be patient because they will come eventually.


Self Defense
Martial Arts
Joe Self Defense
The Self Defense Company

Another interesting thing that happened while we were in Thunder Bay, is that Tara contacted a friend of hers from high school, Susan, that she knew lived in Ontario but was not sure where. Turns out she lives in Sudbury. Tara has not seen Susan in 11 years, and was very excited to meet up with her. So we decided to head to Sudbury. We took the overnight bus which was a 14.5 hour ride, and arrived there around noon. Susan lives pretty far from the bus station, so while bicycling there we decided to drop into Kelsey's and visit with our ol' pal Guinness. We stayed with Susan and her mom, and her grandpa who is visiting, from Wednesday to Sunday. We had such an amazing visit. Susan and her mom were so hospitable. The first evening we went to watch Susan and her mom practice with the steel pan band that they are members of. It was awesome! We had never seen anything like it. There are 8 or 9 members in the band I believe, and they get gigs at local events and sometimes are offered out-of-town jobs. They play really well together. The next day Tara and I had some time to kill while Susan was at work, so we went to the theatre to watch "9". Not big fans; we thought it was kinda dumb. That evening Susan took us just out of town to a nice hiking trail and beautiful waterfalls. It was quite nice to see. Over the course of the next few days, we went on a tour of the underground mines, went to Discovery Earth the science center, did some shopping/borrowing, hit up a few night clubs, and had an all around fulfilling visit. Tara and Susan spent much of their time together laughing and re-hashing old memories. It was also a lot of fun shopping with Susan, as she's a bit of a "Stacy London" by trade, and helped us to dress up smokin' hot when we went to the clubs. Thanks Sus! But the best part about the whole visit (besides the abundance of delicious daily home-cooked meals!), was the feeling that we were really supposed to be there. For Tara and Susan, they were at a point in their lives when they really needed to re-connect, and the feeling was evident. It was meant to be. We love you Sus :) See you in Montreal.

Self Defense
Martial Arts
Joe Self Defense
The Self Defense Company

I just wanted to mention a few things. While in Thunder Bay we didn't do much that was exciting. We got my break line fixed, cause by the looks of it someone had cut it with a knife. We also went bowling which was fun. The main thing we did there though was to sit in our room and do a lot of reading. Most of our reading we do is on-line. We are part of an internet thing where we get articles and lessons, there are a lot of them and they are very interesting and very important. The main purpose of it is to create love, tenderness, gentleness and respect inside of us. This is something we all need and the world but first of all we need to take care of ourselves.

Another thing we should start looking into is what is really happening in this world and not through the news and newspapers as these forms of info are majorly influenced by the powers that have chosen to control us. For example vaccinations are not the way to avoid getting sick it is actually how we will get sick. It is a proven fact all over the world, it is actually meant for thining the populations numbers. Very scary stuff and it is something that every person in the world is going to have to deal with/stand up against. The swine flu is a major one that is going to be manditory for atleast the U.S., and once again it is not the way to avoid getting the virus it is the virus. So atleast do some research on this and by doing this you will find a world of info that will lead you to great understanding of what is really happening all around us. One more thing if you don't already know, the governments of North America and Cenral America are trying to join Canada, United States and Mexico into one country. I don't know how you feel about this but I don't like it. Anyways just thought I would share a couple of things with you that I feel is important.

Talk to you again soon.

Self Defense
Martial Arts
Joe Self Defense
The Self Defense Company

We are now in Thunder Bay but obviuosly I should tell you about how we got here. The day we left Kenora was quite the shock to the system after being off for 12 days without any biking other then just around town. We biked down highway 71 or King's Highway, and this highway has so many hills atleast 1 every 2km. So it was a lot harder then we were ready for. We went 76km the first day and that brought us too Sioux Narrows where we spent the night. This is a beautiful highway, it reminded us of highway 307 in Manitoba. The next day was our longest yet, we didn't mean for it to happen but we missed our stop and had to go another 50km to get to the next town. The first 70km was all hill but the last 35 was a nice flat newly paved dream of a road. We got to a place called Emo, we spent the night there.



The next day we went to Fort Frances, this was a short day only 30km. We had planned on spending 2 nights here but that turned into 1. We decided to take a bus from Fort Frances to Thunder Bay and they only leave every second day so we had to go. This was the first bus we have taken so far and it won't be our last.



We have decided to cover some ground since our time is running short. Also there is some stuff that we would like to do before we get to Montreal. We are going to Kitchener Waterloo for a week so I can train in Jeet Kune Do and Wing Chun, which is awesome cause I have been teaching myself through books and videos for about 7 years now. Also Tara has a friend that she would like to see that lives somewhere in Ontario, were not sure where yet and we also want to visit our friends in Toronto that we met in Amsterdam at the Stuart Wilde conference. We will be taking the bus from Thunder Bay to Espanola which is just north of Manitoulin Island. From there we will take the Ferry and then ride to Kitchener.



I will still fill you in on what happens as we go, sure the trip is a little different once again but hey it works for us and we aren't doing this for anyone else but ourselves.



Self Defense

Martial Arts

Joe Self Defense

The Self Defense Company

This group of pics are of the boat we were on when we went for our little cruise at Kenora, the next 2 are of cabins on islands that are on the Lake of the Woods. Then a couple in Vegas of me and Tara playing beer pong, Rodney and Lacey and finally Tara standing on the walk way between New York New York and MGM Grand.

The top 2 pics are at Kenora, the third is crossing the border, the forth is at West Hawk Lake of a sign we didn't expect to see, and the last one is the rustic cabin we stayed in.

It has been a while once again so I have lots to update you about. After Grand Beach we spent the next few days biking as much as possible. We went a little farther north until we got to highway 11. This was a very nice ride, there was always lake beside us. We went through a very long reserve and almost every dog that we saw along there took chase after us. It was pretty funny because basically they just wanted something to chase. I have zero fear of dogs so they do not ever feel like they can dominate me, which means they do not bite me. At the end of this first day of biking we made it to Lac du Bonnet, where we stayed the night in a nice little hotel. I must say the best hotels are the ones with dvd players and free movies for guests.

The next day we started down highway 307. Now this road we found so nice. A lot of hills but that did not bother me at all. So many lakes and campgrounds with cabins and resorts. I think there were about 6 different cabin/campground areas along this road. We only stayed at one, it was called White Lake. Here we stayed in a rustic cabin for $70. The next day we made it to West Hawk Lake, about 15km from the Ontario border, and we stayed in a motel. It was a small camping community so there was lots to do.

Once we left there we went to Kenora, where we spent 3 nights waiting to catch the bus to Winnipeg. Kenora is a beautiful city with about 17,000 people. It is right on Lake of the Woods and on this lake there are 14,500 islands. We went on a little cruise around the lake and we saw a bunch of bald eagles and a lot of islands with cabins on them. They look so cool and I sure wish I had one. I wonder how much they cost...a dick load I am sure. The rest of the time was spent relaxing and exploring. To finish off the Kenora story I will mention where we stayed. We stayed at the Travel Lodge and the lady at the front desk is super nice, so nice in fact that we brought her a teddy bear that we won in Las Vegas. She gave us a bigger room for the price of the smaller rooms, and she did it again for our return. The other thing they did for us was hold our bikes and trailers for us while we were gone. The original plan was to leave our stuff at the Greyhound since they told us we could, but when we got there with our stuff they said "No we don't store stuff here." So we were shit out of luck. Just to mention to those that do not know us, we do not get payed to say anything nice about the businesses we talk about, we just say nice things about the people and places that deserve it.

So the next thing to talk about is our Las Vegas trip. We got there Thursday morning at 9am so we had the whole day to explore and get drunk. The airline misplaced our bag so they sent it to our hotel for us. This worked out great because we could not check in until 3pm anyways, so we did not have to worry about carrying our bag everywhere. We went and played some beer pong at one of the casinos. It was the version without paddles and personally, I do not consider this beer pong but it was still fun. While we were there we got talked into going to one of those time-share things because there was 2 free tickets to a selection of shows offered for going. They also said that lunch was on them and that it should take no more than about 2 hours. No we did not fall for their sales pitch, and yes we did get the tickets. The tickets were for Carrot Top. I know what you are thinking, why would we want to see him? That is what we were thinking as well, until the show started that is. We have never laughed so hard and for so long at a comedy show in our entire lives. Sorry for the language but he is fuck'n hilarious. We have a whole new respect for him. After the show we got to visit with our friends Gary and Marylene who were down for the seminar as well. It was great seeing them again and of course we spent more time with them throughout the weekend. The next day we had breakfast with them but then we had to go our seperate ways because they were there to help with the seminar. Then we got to see our other friends who were also down for the seminar, Rodney and Lacey. We spent the majority of the time with them because we had no responsibilities other then showing up to the seminar and then going out partying. It was great spending time with them as well. I wish I could see them and many of my other friends more often, but this is what happens when you go on a journey, certain things must be left behind or at least put on hold. So on that note everyone that I am friends with and family of course we love you and miss you, but not enough to come home anytime soon. So other then having a great time with every part of the weekend I got some amazing news on Saturday night. My sister had a BABY BOY!! His name is Carter Patrick, sorry but I am not going to say his last name because I am not sure who is reading this. I was so happy that night I was telling all kinds of people, I was drunk so I told pretty much everyone that I saw.

Just to finish we are now in Kenora and will be leaving in a day or 2 to conitue on. The pictures will follow behind this. Talk to you all again sooner or later. Oh and one last thing that happened to me that I thought was cool in Vegas, I shook BJ Penn's hand.

Self Defense
Martial Arts
Joe Self Defense
The Self Defense Company