Today was all about waiting for Earl. He finally showed up sometime this morning, and by 5:30pm or so was passed well overhead. It is starting to dry out now and we have planned our targets for tomorrow. Continue reading
Today was all about fleeing Earl’s wrath. We wanted to put as much distance between ourselves and the projected path of Hurricane Earl. We had lined ourselves up last night in Shediac to make a short 200 KM run for Fredericton along Highway 2. Continue reading
Jeremy had a birthday sleep in today (8:00am – woohoo!). Happy Birthday, Jeremy! All he asked for was to not tip over today. The sleep-in is just an added bonus. Continue reading
The Hideaway Campground retains its high rating, as the showers did indeed have both hot and cold water available – at the same time and everything. What a great night – the temperature was perfect, and there was complete silence. So peaceful. The morning had Jenny hustling to get coffee made and camp packed up, since she read her watch wrong and thought we were already an hour behind. We managed to get out of there before 9:00 even! After a deformed, melted and re-solidified snickers bar for breakfast with the coffee, we hit the road ready to take in the rest of the Cabot Trail. Continue reading
Why is it even though we do not have to pack up our home for the night when we stay at a hotel that we still cannot get away before 9:00 AM? I guess that is just when we are supposed to hit the road . . . no sooner . . . but maybe later. Continue reading
Well, we didn’t fall down once today. We fell down twice. Continue reading
Another day of sunshine for our motorcycle adventure! We packed up fairly quickly this morning despite the distraction of a curious squirrel exploring my motorcycle. At one point, he tried climbing my purse strap hanging off my motorcycle and almost brought the whole thing down on his head. He then attempted to become part of our bed roll. Maybe he wanted to come to PEI with us. Continue reading
After a great sleep on the grassy plains of the Gaspe Peninsula, we were up early, packed and ready for another day. We spent a few minutes on the beach checking out the driftwood, snapped a few pictures and made for the hills. It was an easy morning since there was nothing to repair. Yet. Continue reading
The weather and riding today made up for our rather “bumpy” start to our trip. We managed to get off much quicker than expected even with the repair job to my brake pedal. We navigated out of the Quebec City region and on to the 132. Quaint little villages with old stone homes, huge Catholic churches and glimpses of the Fleuve – the St. Lawrence Seaway (the “Sea” as advertised on a lot of the signs). Continue reading
Just an update before we head out this morning. Jeremy and I discovered that the shift lever on my bike is the exact same part as my brake pedal. Because my bike is an automatic and I, to date, have never used my foot shift lever since I got my bike, Jeremy did not have to Macgyver a brake pedal out of a stick or a piece of dog poo for me this morning. We got a good laugh out of how we could use doggie number two to make a brake pedal last night though. I know, I know. I should stop talking about poo.
Despite the on and off rain, riding the 138 east of Montreal towards Quebec is a beautiful ride. It was turning out to be a fantastic start to our trip until Jenny ran out of gas. And got rear-ended.
Fiiiiinally!!!
The Mananimal has a proper windshield. And some barkbusters for good measure. Jenny should be able to handle the cold a bit better this fall, and hopefully the rain a bit better when we hit that on the east coast. Here are a couple of pics of the most decked out Mana ever.
Our first real ride of the 2010 season was for lunch in Gananoque. There’s not much to say about it except that the roads in cottage country south of Perth continue to impress, the weather was beautiful (perfect, actually), and hopefully next time the Dog Father will actually be open.
Today I went for a ride out west of Ottawa. I had arranged to meet Mike at the Tim Horton’s in Perth, but after that I had no idea where we would end up.
When I got there at 9:00, he was already there with a couple of other riders having coffee, and after we sat and chatted for a bit, it was time to head out. I filled up the tank on the ST while everyone else was getting ready, and off we went. We took it easy, winding through the farmland north of Perth, then crossing over highway 7 and into the “Highlands”. The leader took us on some pretty un-travelled roads, but I don’t think there were any places with really bad pavement. (None that I remember anyways.)
We left Sudbury this morning just after a light rain. The roads were a little wet and our visors misted up, but the temperature was bearable at 9 degrees Celsius. Only the tips of our fingers froze a little but it warmed up to 12 degrees Celsisus and stayed steady at that temperature for quite awhile. I think the fact that we were so close to home kept us going, despite the chilly temperature.
Our goal was home as quickly as possible, so our only stops were for gas in North Bay and gas and lunch in Cobden. The kilometers just seemed to fly by but we also got to enjoy the beautiful fall colours. The Ottawa Valley must have gotten more frost then Northern Ontario, because the fall colours were more prevalent.
Before we knew it we were at our March Road exit and driving that last stretch to home. We got behind a slow-poke driver (possibly from Oregon?), but maybe that prevented us from getting a speeding ticket from the cop at the Carp Road intersection. That would have been great – 13,000 KM under our belts and a speeding ticket within 5 KM of home.
And then we were home. Ahhhh . . . what more can I say! We had an amazing trip but home is where our hearts are, for sure. Now, we need to start planning for next year . . .
Today, started out with our now customary first 100 KM in freezing temperatures. We stopped for a warm up at Robin’s Donuts in White River – the birthplace of “Winnie the Pooh.” We were too cold to do the photo with the Pooh statue, though, and it was overrun with tourists already anyway.
Once the sun had some strength, we started to enjoy the Northern Ontario roads again. Its still boggles our mind, though, that we can be driving for three days in Ontario and still only be in Northern Ontario.
We drove through Lake Superior Provincial Park. What a beautiful area! The glimpses of Lake Superior and its rugged beaches are spectacular. We have officially put Lake Superior Provincial Park on our return to explore list.
Well, the roads in through Northern Ontario are beautiful . . . when they are not under construction. There is a lot to see and nice, gentle curves and hills to keep us alert and slightly challenged. Northern Ontario is definitely the “Land of Lakes.”
Northern Ontario is also the “Land of Characters,” to put it nicely. At construction section on Highway 17 before Thunder Bay, I had a truck containing three “yahoos” pass me in the no-pass construction zone and split Jeremy and I up. They had to stop at the flagman just like Jeremy and I, so passing me did not get them any further ahead. While we waited at the stop, the three “yahoos” decided to get out of their truck and stretch. The driver went in front of his truck and then Jeremy, over the intercom, told me he was actually peeing on his own front bumper! My Dad would be appalled that someone would defile their brand new Dodge Ram truck like that! Anyway, I stayed to the left of the pee puddle when we started up again. We thought we would see these types of characters down South – not, so. Northern Ontario is where to see them!
We were a little late getting going this morning. We were still worn out from our unexpected extended ride from yesterday.
Once we got going this morning, we discovered Manitoba was pretty flat but the trees hide it much better than Saskatchewan. Manitoba also has just as many bugs as Saskatchewan, if not more. I had to keep cleaning my visor every stop, but it got coated almost immediately after I started riding again.
We by-passed Winnipeg via Highway 100 and then navigated back onto the Trans Canada highway. Before we knew it, we had crossed into Ontario and Highway 1 became Highway 17.
We stopped in Kenora, Ontario for lunch and then navigated back onto Highway 17 only to be bogged down by CONSTRUCTION! Now, we have seen a lot of construction on our trip . . . and I mean a lot of construction . . . but it has not been worth mentioning until now. What a mess between Kenora and Dryden. At one point, we sat for 15 minutes in the heat and the bugs and then we still had four more stop points after that, huge dips and bumps, uneven pavement and even two stretches of gravel! We had wanted to get a little farther than Dryden today, but after the construction and our troubles with accommodations we decided Dryden was our best bet for the night. And, lucky us, we got the very last room at the Holiday Inn Express. It has the Dryden city bear seal of approval . . . apparently, they frequent the dumpsters at the back of the hotel. So far, we have not seen them, though.
Oh, and we lost the MicroSD adapter for the laptop, so no more pictures until we get home…
It was a chilly start to the day but not as chilly as yesterday. Packing up the bike this morning, I found a little travelling companion on my front grill (a grasshopper). I am not sure where he joined our ride but he is in it for the long haul now.
Much to our surprise, driving through Saskatchewan on the Trans Canada is not all that flat! We kept expecting to see this incredible Prairie flatness that everyone talks about, but it just did not materialize.
We stopped in Swift Current for a rest and a quick coffee. I found another little travel companion on my bike that must have hitched a ride somewhere after Medicine Hat (a little yellow moth that had formed a perfect seal stretched across my right turn signal light). The bugs are just coating our bikes, luggage, jackets, and visors as we ride.
After a day of rest and relaxation with Jeremy’s Mom in Invermere (thank you again Judy for such a good visit and all those home-cooked meals!), we were ready to hit the road again. Mother Nature must have confused the first day of Fall with the first day of winter, though. There was frost on our bikes this morning as we were loading them up.
We definitely had our coldest ride ever after we said goodbye to Jeremy’s Mom and headed to Fernie, British Columbia. The thermometer on our bikes said 2 degrees Celsius. For every 10 KM/H on a motorcycle, it feels one degree cooler. We were going 100 KM/H, so it felt like -8 degrees Celsius. And, as we drove, it was just not getting any warmer. In fact, it dipped to zero degrees a couple of times when we drove through the shade of the trees and the mountains. After the first 120 KM, we had to stop in Fort Steele to try and warm up. We could hardly get our gloves and helmets off because our hands were so cold. And then the pain as they started to warm up! We grabbed a coffee and a snack in the little general store and wondered around the souvenir section trying to warm up. I could not stop shivering and then I came across the store cat, Bella, sleeping in her little bed and I petted her for awhile. I felt better afterward – I think it just distracted me from thinking about how cold I was.