During lunch in Massey we received a welcome interruption… Introducing: Frank >>>, an elderly gentleman who rocked up to the diner on his bright yellow electric scooter. Spotting him as a true-local from a mile away, Mich and Cat encouraged Toast to approach the gentleman to see whether he would be willing to share some local history with us. Toast proceeded to stalk the lovely man around the restaurant and finally asked, “Please, sir, but may I interview you for our tour?”

The hard-of-hearing Frank willingly obliged, and sprung into tales of his childhood spent in the surrounding region. Clearly Frank was not only hard of hearing but also vision, as I am sure he would have scootered for the hills had he been able to properly focus on us, a team of blatant misfits. .

Mr. ?? finished up his interview, and settled in for his cup of coffee – a daily ritual for him – but not before turning around to the people behind him and proclaiming “I feel like I’m in Hollywood!” We had settled up our tab and were about to move on when Frank got up and came over to join us. This sweet man then proceeded let us know about a book he has just written about his life in Massey. Half an hour and three sentimental stories later, Mich and Cat were nearly in tears from having this incredible man share his time and memories of days past and for those fleeting moments we were completely removed us from the reality we were currently living.

We hugged Frank goodbye and snapped out of our reverie to jump into Gus and immerse ourselves in our mobile techo-jungle of laptops and smartphones. But we will never forget Frank or Massey. We took comfort in knowing that surely Dola would have a similar effect on those she met.

Rocking into the Soo and once again reaching our destination for the day in the pitch black, we were soon approached by an eager lady, who had apparently followed us into the gas station. She had seen Dola on Canada AM and was desperate to meet her in person. Dola blushed a little, but her fan didn’t notice. Given that she’s already a striking shade of crimson, only those who know her really well to notice when she blushes. As Michelle engaged this lady in some Dola-cation, Toaster had other plans, and had soon made friends with the station’s cow. He tried to convince her to join us for the journey, but she wasn’t moo-ved by his offer…not sure what pick-up line he used but it didn’t work.

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