Photo Extravaganza Part 10

We had a bit of time in Digby between dinner and catching the ferry. These are some of my favorite photos from the trip, because I think you can see what a great day we had.

More of a motorcyclist day by day.

Still a little buzzed from a delicious dinner. I don't know if it's appropriate for me to say this, but there's something about the composition of this photo that I really like.

A nice relaxed and natural shot of my favorite moto-adventurer!

Photo Extravaganza Part 9

Here we have some obligatory landscape shots of the Fundy Bay area from the Nova Scotia side.

This is actually part of the water that goes through the Annapolis power generating station.

Some boats moored at low tide. We took this from our table at the restaurant where we ate dinner. That tide rose probably 2 feet in the little over an hour we were there eating. It's one thing to know in your head how fast that water comes in, but it's something else to see it in person, to see the landscape changing around you.

Another shot of the docks not long after, you can see how much the water has risen.

This was taken from the ferry not long after we took off. We actually saw some baby dolphins porpoising out of the water, but there was no way to pick that up on camera, so instead you get this. Here's hoping that you enjoy it.

Photo Extravaganza Part 8

Canada Day was our single best day of riding, I would say. We went from Truro to Digby and caught the night ferry from there to St. John, NB. The weather was perfect (the best we had seen since our very first day on the road, I think), and we went on scenic trails almost the whole way. One of the nice things about the scenic trails is that you can stop anytime you like to snap some photos. The difficult thing is having the judgement about when to stop and when to keep going a bit longer to find something even more spectacular...

Anyone who knows me knows that I like this mailbox. It was just serendipity that it happened to be near where we stopped for a view of the coast.

What a cutie!

Me with my trusty mount.

I'm not sure, but I think that this picture was taken near the Annapolis generating station - the only tidal generating station in North America. We shot some pics of the station itself, but they just aren't that great. They look a lot like some boring little power generating station.

Photo Extravaganza Part 7

Safe and sound on a more pleasant and relaxing day in Truro, we marked the passage of time (10th day on the road) with these biological clock photos:


Over a weeks' growth of beard. And it wouldn't hurt to trim those nosehairs too!

 

And those poor knees continue to heal up.

Photo Extravaganza Part 6

At the north end of the Cabot Trail, we stopped at a place called Green Cove. It was raining pretty good by the time these were taken, but since the wind was coming from the northeast (does that make it a nor'easter? Maybe that should have been a clue!) and we were heading west then south with mountains and trees between us and the wind, and since the skies were clear in the direction the wind blew from, I thought we were through the worst. Hence the light mood in these photos.

We call this one the "Toad" picture, because with the big helmet it's so much like one of Toad's celebratory poses in a Wii videogame. I don't recall Toad celebrating with a snotrag in hand, though!

Talk about austere beauty. I like the raindrop on the lens - photo buffs may agree or disagree, but I just like having some evidence that we were out in rain and wind. We both also like the waves breaking on the rocks.

Another coastal shot from Green Cove.

Photo Extravaganza Part 5

Here are some pictures from the early part of our ride around the Cabot Trail. The day started out cold, foggy, and a bit wet, but not brutal.

After coming down Cape Smokey, we had to get a picture. I love this one, for me it brings back so many memories of this sense of being lost in the fog, the woods, and the road twisting through the mountains. About 100m higher up than where this pic was taken, the fog was basically whiteout with almost no visibility. Where you'd crest a hill, it looked like you were just driving into a white wall.

Outside the Seagull restaurant. We actually wrote some blog posts from inside there. Funny to have WiFi access in an area where you can't get a cell signal, and where they still have a Chargex sign on the door instead of Visa.

The nature there on the coast of the ocean makes you feel so small.

Damn, if the facial expression doesn't give you a sense of how wet and cold and draining this day was turning out to be, then the clenched fists and retreating thumbs sure should!

Photo Extravaganza Part 4

This is from our first day on Nova Scotia, and they were all taken on Cape Breton while riding scenic trails before we arrived in Baddeck.

The school itself is kind of unremarkable, except for the setting (we posted some other pics we took from the playground of this school in an earlier posting)...

...and this Gaelic sign. I saw a lot of signs in Gaelic and wanted to get more photos of them, but this is the only one we snapped.

Where's that ferry?

Here it comes! This was a small ferry at Little Narrows, cost $5 to cross, took about 2 minutes to go maybe 200 metres.

Photo Extravaganza Part 3

Our first real break on the way from Rivere-Du-Loup was a small town called Saint-Marc-du-Lac-Long. I would say this is typical of one of three Quebecs we saw. The first was Montreal - multicultural and a modern city in transition. Then there's Quebec City - historic and a vibrant mix of old and new, but surrounded by some odd kind of cultural bubble. Between places like those, you'd have this - a smaller scale, a different pace, one ethnicity, ONE language, and if you're lucky, one employer.

Once there were parking lots
Now it's a peaceful oasis
you got it, you got it

I liked this view, with the municipal building and the church visible across the lake.

For me, this is the image of Saint-Marc-du-Lac-Long - there was a bar here (you can still see the foundation in this picture) but it was demolished for whatever reason. There are many reasons why you might demolish a bar, but for me the real mystery is why on earth is the sign left standing? I can see the real estate ad copy now... "Lot for sale, ideal location for a bar named 'Bar St. Marc'".

Photo Extravaganza Part 2

The new crew! The pair of CBR's loaded up and ready to head out from Riviere-Du-Loup

The view of the river just outside town was so nice we had to stop and take some pics.

A nice shot, but what this picture doesn't show is the amount of bugs, or the smell from the nearby septic tanks!

Yi samples a local brand of chips from Quebec (Called Yum Yum!). We didn't see them anywhere other than Lac St. Marc, but to be honest we weren't really looking.

Photo Extravaganza Part 1

A few photos from the Saturday morning before we left.

The city of Toronto from our balcony. What perfect weather to start off our trip! It was about 25 degrees with bright clear skies.

The two bikes together...

Loaded up and ready to go!

Touchdown!

We are back safe and sound in Toronto. We'll update with plenty of photos and other details over the next few days.

The short version is that it was an amazing trip!

Montreal Bound!

Today (Thursday) is supposed to be the last US leg of our trip. We're heading out from Rumford, ME and should make Montreal (weather permitting!) late this afternoon. The weather here this morning is beautiful, we'll see how things shape up as the day progresses and we make our way further west.

Things I Miss

I'm in a bloggy mood tonight so here's one more. I've done trips that were longer in terms of distance, but I've actually never taken a 2 week vacation of any form, so this is my longest road trip in terms of duration. I'm finding that it's nice - it's long enough to get really immersed in a groove that's very different from my normal everyday life.

Of course, there's no place like home, and there are some things I'm looking forward to getting back to:

1. My bed.
2. The cats & fish.
3. Cooking and eating good healthy food.
4. Friends.
5. Waitstaff at my regular restaurants.
6. A daily routine that doesn't involve bungee cords and velcro straps!
   

Reflections on Motel Prices

We've seen a range of rooms across a a spectrum of features, quality, pricepoint, and value. The most we've paid is $122/night, and the least was $59. We've found that for us, the sweet spot is in the $65-75 range. The cheaper rooms just tend to have too many problems. You might get lucky, but you're more likely to be dealing with nasty smells, mystery stains on the carpet, burned out lightbulbs, etc. The pricier ones are just too much money for our purposes. We don't need a ton of space for the 2 of us and a bunch of baggage for a night.

Word Association

To pass time on the ferry, we played some word association related to the trip. Hopefully it's interesting to you too:

For this list, Phil provided the words and these are Yi's reactions:

Toronto: Dynamic, multicultural.
401: Busy, accidents, rudeness.
Kingston: Cultural, historic, easy-going, Queen's.
Ogdensburg: Pie!
Lake Placid: Rainclouds, pine.
Adirondacks Park: Pine, cedar, turns, suggested 15 mph limit signs.
Vermont: Graceful.
Irving gas stations: Old timey.
Quebec City: Unapproachable, striking, awe-inspiring, distant.
Montreal: Friendly, home fries, soothers, put down the ducky.
Quebec province: Diverse, expansive, artistic warning signs.
Riviere-du-Loup: Temper tantrum, flowers, churches, hills, sunset, $75 motel.
PEI: Red mud, Confederation Bridge, lobster roll, mist, meadows.
Ferries: Gentle rocking, Harleys, wind, dolphins.
Speed Limits: Necessary at points.
Scenic Trails: Trees, water, potholes, moose signs.
Rain: Cold, unfriendly, fogged glasses, undignified.
Wind: Liberating, anxiety.
Sunshine: Marvelous.
Cold: Numb, sore fingers.
Cabot Trail: Breathtaking, challenging, invigorating, unforgiving.
Lobster: Bug, lemons, rather have scallops.


And with the roles reversed:

Moncton: 7th grade joke.
Charlottetown: Bite the bullet, "desperate hard", searching for Timmies.
Cheticamp: Bluegrass, old locals, wind, shelter.
Fredericton: Detour.
Digby: Cyclists, tides, rest.
Sunrise trail: Churches, isolation, private adventure.
Truro: Hub.
Canada day: Nova Scotia scenery, perfect weather, beautiful day, happiness and contentment
Baddeck: Trailsman, natives, desperate search for veggies.
Fog: Cape Smokey.
Atlantic Ocean: Harsh, beautiful.
Maritimers: Tough, friendly, isolated.
Gift shop: Good book, ice cream, glass crap.
Boardwalk: Goofiness, rising tide seagulls.
Veggie pizza: CHEESE, dough.

Who'll Stop the Rain?

The day went great until about 6:00 today. We had covered just under 400 kms, with only 1 more session of riding left to make our goal when it started to rain. We saw lightning, but the rain wasn't coming down hard and it looked isolated. We decided to go for it because we were both in good shape and figured that we'd seen the worst weather we were likely to encounter when storm-stayed on Cape Breton.

This weather wasn't more severe than the wind at Cape Breton, but there was a lot more rain. Add to this the fact that we encountered a construction zone of about 3 miles with no pavement, and you've got a formula for some seriously hairy riding. The rain came down so bad on the gravel that we were basically riding along a series of creekbeds, with the water just pouring across the road. Luckily the gravel had been packed so it wasn't excessively muddy (just the mud carried into the road by the water).

I led while we braced ourselves to just try to get 5 miles down the road to the next town where we could consider options. I rode almost the whole way with one eye on my mirror, so worried
about Yi in these conditions. The water, gravel, and mud all magnify even the smallest of errors. A bit too much brake or steering input, or the wrong guess about which rut to put your wheel in and the bike can get away from you faster than you can believe. I felt OK about the road, but it was very tough and took a lot of concentration.

While we were stopped waiting for our turn at a one-lane construction zone, a bolt of lightning struck very close. I mean it must have been within 100 meters - the instant it hit, we could both smell ozone and hot pine. I have never been so close to a strike like that, and for Yi it added an element of stress that was really not required at this point.

Compounding the difficulties for Yi is the fact that her visor was wet inside and out, and fogging up on her. She was wearing glasses today, so she couldn't just open the visor and squint - lesson learned: always use the contacts if there's any chance of rain.

I can't say enough about how relieved I was that we both made it through with no spills, or how impressed I was at how Yi handled herself under the conditions. A dude in a pickup truck who followed us through that section stopped at the same gas station after us and came over and said "Great job! I don't know how you two rode through that." With the immediate danger gone, Yi went through some kind of stress/adrenaline dump and was overcome with emotion for a little while. I had a hard time convincing her of how amazed I was that she had kept the bike upright - an advanced ride from a beginner rider.

While we were planning our next move, another local came by and told us that he rides too. He was quite a character and had a beautiful dog in his truck with him, and that seemed to cheer Yi up a lot. The rain let up quite a bit, and the local gave us some advice on the local motels, called the motel for us, and then led us there in his truck. Not really necessary, but a nice gesture and an added element of fun in the adventure.

We have encountered some riding that is much more hairy than anything I expected based on other rides I've done this time of year. We've both had our resolve and our skills tested pretty heavily. I am glad and thankful that we've managed to pass those tests, but damn am I ready for maybe a couple of nice days in a row - I feel like we've earned it!

Twitter Integration

You can now see our quickie updates on the right side of this page. Twitter is a neat little microblogging tool that lets us provide intra-day updates via text messages.

Back in Maine

July 2nd: Yesterday we made our way from Truro after a delicious breakfast. It was an absolutely perfect day of riding, and we managed to get to Digby in plenty of time, despite taking scenic routes almost all of the way. We finally got beautiful weather for the first time since our first day on the road. The ferry this time was a bit of a disappointment after the one from PEI to NS. It was long, in the dark, not quite on time, didn't smell very good, and left late.

The good news is we saw baby dolphins porpoising in the water! On arrival in St. John at about half-past midnight, we made our way through some whiteout fog to our pre-booked motel.

This morning it was still very foggy, but our hopes that getting away from the ocean would get us into clear air turned out to be well-founded. We had an ambitious goal today - to get from St. John to Berlin, NH - which would have been almost 550 km. We didn't quite make it, but we're safe, sound, and drying out our stuff in a motel in Rumford, ME.

Status archive

It is Canada Day! Today we start in Truro, NS and head for the ferry from Digby to St. John, NB.

• Saturday: Started in Toronto, visited Kingston, stopped in Ogdensburg, NY.
• Sunday: Started in Ogdensburg, visited Lake Placid, stopped in St. Johnsbury, VT with a broken SV.
• Monday: Cobbled the SV together and limped it to Montreal with one eye constantly on the DMM I had wired up as a voltmeter, watching it tick down like a fuel gauge or a doomsday clock.
• Tuesday: Yi stayed in Montreal while I ran out to Ottawa on the SV and came back with a CBR (saw 138 indicated on the CBR during a long downhill stretch with a decent tailwind and draft!).
• Wednesday: Started in Montreal, visited Quebec city, stopped in Riviere-du-Loup, QC.
• Thursday: Started in Riviere-du-Loup, visted Debbie's Deli & Pizza in Patton, ME, stopped in Freddy, NB.
• Friday: Started in Fredericton, lunched at the Garden Diner in Moncton, and then rode on to Charlottetown, PE.
• Saturday: Rode from Charlottetown, caught the ferry, and did a few amazing scenic routes in NS before getting to Baddeck for the night.
• Sunday: Tried our best on the Cabot Trail, but the storm got the better of us - staying in Cheticamp until morning.
• Monday: got from Cheticamp back to Baddeck just fine, then booked a room in Truro and did a short but windy and intense ride there.
• Tuesday: Heading out from Truro to Digby, where we're booked on the 8:45 ferry to St. John. It should work out so that we can see some fireworks displays from out on the water, so we're pretty stoked.
  

Total distance so far is well over 3000 km plus my ~450km errand to Ottawa. Now we are working our way back west.

PEI to NS

Mr. Cuthbert, Mr. Cuthbert! Your roads, they're RED!!!


Yi in an exceptionally photogenic and exuberant moment.


With the bikes on the ferry. This was taken for us by a father & son Harley team who were bringing home a 1984 Sportster with ape hangers - and yes, it did leak oil!


A nice fellow passenger walked by, looked up at us and said, "That would make a great picture." So we handed down the camera and now you can relive her excitement. :)


Stopped by a church on the Sunshine Trail.


Another break nearby with a lighthouse...


And a lookout.


A shot of the Bras d'Or Lake - a beautiful inland sea.


Another from the same area.

Saturday was a lot of fun and we saw some amazing sights and met some very nice people.