Thunder Bay: Superior by Nature

The first major stop of our trip was in T Bay. We stayed with one of Jamies moms best friends, and man, what a great family. Sharon, Gerald and their three children Elliot, Linnea and Dana were nothing short of amazing hosts. Considering the nature of our trip, we had asked Sharon to find us some things to do while staying there. Our first stop was their small Anglican Church where this wonderful woman, Deb, was already there to greet us. Her English accent was extremely welcoming and her and Sharon then proceeded to make us a fantastic spaghetti dinner. We ate and enjoyed fellowship with Sharon, Deb and the kids talking about what we do during the year. But when we woke up, it was time to work.

Before work, 5 young bucks have to eat a hearty breakfast and what better way to start off a morning than breakfast in bed? We all thought this was a great idea and Willms was gracious enough to get out of bed and head for the Tim Hortons Drive Thru. It was a spectacle for the drive through employees as I hung out the big side window, still shirtless and in my blankets ordering breakfast for 5. After buying the coffees for the 3 cars behind us and eating our bagels, we got to work.

The first task was to maintain the church grounds. Adam and Charles weeded gardens until their hands were black, Willms trimmed hedges until they were perfectly uniform, and I cut grass with a man-powered push mower. All the while Jamie dealth with a different situaution of his own. After we were done here, we went over to our new friend Deb’s place to do a few jobs that she has a hard time doing herself. We did a bunch more landscaping here, expanding a few of her gardens, cutting grass, clearing some of her pathways and doing a little carpentry. She was so thankful for our help and we too were thankful to have gotten to know her during our short time in Thunder Bay. We learned a lot from the hospitality and love that we were shown while staying with, essentially, complete strangers and now dear friends.

A few other highlights of our time in T Bay were the Bear/Moose hunt with Dana and Allie, coffee hour with the older ladies after church on Sunday morning and playing darts, basketball and badminton. Now it’s off to For Frances to visit a friend whom Josh Charles and I met in Israel. More to come!

Cheers,The Boys
Post by JE