A letter from Peter to the Thessalonians

WHY DON'T LAUGHTER AND DAUGHTER RHYME?
Such are the things that go through a dad's head
on such an historic road trip.

In 1949, my dad, Tom, was the first person to drive the length of Highway 129, which runs north from the village of Thessalon, Ontario (population about 1,200) to Chapleau (2,000, give or take). Total distance: 220.7 kilometres. 

The trip took Tom and his friend Frank Korpela two days, and even though the car was outfitted with winter tires and chains, the snow got so heavy at some points, the guys had to dig ruts in the road to move forward. 

Their pioneering adventure made the local paper; i.e. the Chapleau Post,which quoted Tom saying 129 was "the most interesting highway" he'd ever been on.

Until a few days ago, I'd never seen Highway 129. 

But on Sunday, September 15, 2024, my daughter Ria, riding her 2003 BMW f650gs and I, on my aging Harley Sporstster 883, followed in Tom's and Frank's footsteps, except we went north to south. 

FATHER KNEW BEST: The most
interesting highway ever!

And in the days leading up to the trip, if anybody asked me why we were going, I answered: "To see if my dad was telling the truth."  

So.

Was 129 an interesting highway?

The answer is this: When I was a little kid growing up in Sudbury, before I started school, my late brother's Eddie's best friend in the world was Johnny Cosgrove, who lived a few houses north of us on the other side of Eyre Street, in a second-storey apartment with his mom, dad and kid sister Judy. 

When I was in grade two or three, Mr. Cosgrove, who worked for CN Rail, got transferred to North Bay, a two-hour drive east from Sudbury. At the time, our sister Mary lived in North Bay so sometmes when we went to see Mary, Eddie got to visit Johnny. 

A few years later, Mr. Cosgove got transferred to Chapleau.

ON THE SHOULDERS OF THOSE WHO WENT BEFORE:
Over one 100-kilometre stretch, Ria and I spotted six vehicles.

Bored yet? 

You won't be. 

When Eddie was between either grades seven and eight or grades eight and nine--definitely before high school--my dad had reason to drive to Sault Ste. Marie, which is four hours west of Sudbury. The trip required him to pass through Thessalon. 

Thoughtful dad that he was, Tom agreed to drop  Ed at Thessalon so he could thumb a ride up to to see Johnny. 

You read that right. 

My dad let his little boy Eddie hitchhike alone, 220 kilometres north, along a remote highway that was quiet even by Northern Ontario standards. 

What the hell? 

And to think my mom bought into Tom and Ed's hitchhiking scheme! 

When Ria and I were on 129 Sunday, I barely let her out of my sight! And my folks let skinny little Eddie who couldn't fight his way out of a smelt net head out on his own, up through the backwoods of Area Code 705, behind the trees of which who knew what lurked? Did they even like much less love him?

WHAT? MOM WORRY: She had 
bigger kids than me to lose sleep over.

Then again, when I was 12, those same parents put me, alone, on a 1,300-kilometre-long train trip from Sudbury to Sioux Lookout, so I could visit Clyde Donnelly, one of the kids who'd been a page with me at Queen's Park. Sioux Lookout's way farther than Chapleau. 

My parents also let me take rides astride the gas tank of my late brother Tom's friend Charlie MacMillan's Ariel Square 4 motorbike. Without a helmet.

There are times, I have this image of my mom and dad, in bed, at night. They're tired; after a busy day convincing us 10 Carters that they loved us. 

In my imagination, mom and dad are lying beside each other laughing and swapping ideas for risk-filled games of derring-do, like the people who dream up Survivor-style TV shows do; except instead of a group of contestants who didn't know one another, my folks cast us Carter kids. And if one or two of us got lost in the mix, they'd just make some more.

Ha ha. I'm only kidding. Of course my parents loved us to pieces. Right? 

They also knew that guardian angels are out and out invincible.

Turns out Highway 129 was way more interesting than I thought it was going to be when I started writing this blog.