Trip To Labrador ... In The Books!

We left the hotel at 5:30 this morning to get home before it got TOO hot! But, it was already 97 degrees before 10 AM. Luckily, I didn't see anything above 102 on the gauge on my bike. I think it might have been only 100, but with the heat from the pavement, it was hotter. As we rode, Mike split off around Texarkana to head home. Johnny split off around Greenville to head home and I made it home about 1:30.

We were gone for 16 days and according to my odometer I rode 7,451 miles. The more accurate GPS showed 7,198 miles and in kilometers that would be 11,584.

Provinces visited: Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador (6).

States visited: Texas (duh!), Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, West Virginia & Virginia (14).

I know I am glad to be home and happy to have finally done the trip I have been planning for so long. Now to start planning the next big trip :)

And Miles To Go Before I Sleep

Well, not tonight anyway. We are in West Memphis, Arkansas for the night and will be leaving very early in the morning to make our way home before it gets too hot!

We rode just over 700 miles today.

Since it was 90% humidity in Troutville, our stuff didn't dry so much. My boots were still moist. Not that it matter much because we found rain again about 1 1/2 hours into the ride this morning. Luckily, it wasn't more than another 1 1/2 hours of rain and we were fairly wet again. But, then the rest of the morning was nice and overcast and didn't start getting hot until about 2 PM.

My stuff is less wet than yesterday AND the humidity here has to be about 20% less, so maybe that will help.

Anyway, tomorrow I will post a follow up final post for this trip.

Making Miles

When you have been on Newfoundland time and Atlantic time, when you get back to Eastern time, everything is earlier. We have been waking up around 6:30 or so without any alarms, so this morning I was up before the sun and was NOT going to get going yet. I tossed and turned for a while and finally, Johnny started moving so I got up. Even with breakfast at the hotel, we were on the road at 7 AM. This was a good thing.

I have to say how much I love GPS's. It makes getting around SO much easier. But, we were off one highway and onto another and if you know anything about the northeast, you know almost every highway is a tollway. Between the previous night and this morning, I just felt like I was hemorrhaging cash! Plus, when you are on a motorcycle, you can't just leave your money out handy because it will blow away. So, stopping means placing the bike on the kickstand, standing up and getting your wallet, getting some money and perhaps replacing the change, replacing the wallet, then starting the bike. Not a super fast operation. But, we got better.

The weather started out nice, if not a bit warm compared to what we HAD been riding in. The sun was shining and we continued on. Eventually, in Pennsylvania when we stopped for lunch, it was getting seriously cloudy. Johnny and I put on our rain suits just in case and were we glad we did. For the rest of the day, it was raining off and on, seemingly more on. Sometimes, it was really coming down. Then it would sucker you into a sense of complacency and look like it might get better ... then it would start to rain again. I feel bad for the woman at the desk of the hotel because every place I stood or touched became a puddle. She was very gracious about it, but still, I felt a little bad.

We ended up in Troutville, Virginia and rode almost 735 miles. If we can do that again tomorrow, we will be home on Monday night. Pray for nice and not hot weather.

Back In The USA

The Pines was a very nice hotel. Much nicer and classier than the usual hotel I stay in. For example, nobody usually says, "Sir, we don't have much of a dress code, but could you please wear pants in the lobby?". OK, perhaps that didn't happen, but when I asked if there was some water I could get for my water bottle, they filled up a silver pitcher and handed that to me.



We woke up early this morning to get to the ferry in Digby at 7 AM for check in. The ferry routine has become ... well routine. I am very fast and efficient now at strapping my bike down, getting the stuff I need and then heading up the stairs. For the size of the boat, this one had the most accommodations and amenities. It was a 3 hour ride and took us to St. John, New Brunswick. We then headed west towards the US. We stopped for gas once and spent some remaining Canadian currency.

We were in line at a check-in point for customs when a guy came over to tell me that there was another smaller crossing point just up the road. I think he is partial to motorcyclists as he didn't share with anybody else in line. So, off we went to the next place. There was a line, but not much and we crossed a bridge over a nice river, so there was something to see. A few short questions later and were back back in the good 'ol US of A.

The next stop was the Allagash Brewery in Portland, Maine. There were 3 breweries I wanted to visit on this trip. So far, I found one and the other had been moved to a different city. Hopes were high as we saw the sign that said Allagash retail and tours sign. Hopes stayed high as we saw people in the window. Hopes were higher when the young lady asked what I would like. Hopes were DASHED as she told me that the last tour was at 3 PM and the current time was a little after 5. I played the "I drove a long way just to be here, can you PLEASE help me" card. I got no lovin', but they could sell me a bottle, so I picked up a bottle of Curieux, which is a trippel ale aged in oak bourbon barrels. They only bottled 900 cases. I am drinking this 11% ABV beer as I type the post and am smiling as I type :)

Next stop was Kittery, Maine. There is a placed called Bob's Clam Hut there that is pretty famous by now. It took a while to find the place since the bridge my GPS wanted me to use is closed. I used to be a regular to the area back when I was married in the early 90's, but have forgotten some of the tricks now. But, we finally made it and enjoyed dinner. I finally had a lobster roll worthy of the name and a couple of clam cakes cause I like 'em. We were gonna try to find a hotel in the area, but quickly found out that since it is a huge tourist area on a Friday night, not much was available. Some research at the bike found a hotel in Methuen, Massachusetts, so we called and reserved the room and hit the road.

There was a bitter sweet moment as I saw the names of the different cities and I remember where my ex-wife's family lived and the town where her parents died. If I would have been alone and knew where they were interned.

So, here we are, about 1,800 miles from home.

Sorry, Another Long 2 Day Post

Last I left you, we had checked into the Bennett Lodge in Newfoundland, south of the ferry from Labrador. This hotel is in a little town and the dining closed about 15 minutes before we checked in. Luckily, there was a small convenience store in town, so we picked up some cans of Irish Stew and Beef Stew. I also picked up a can of some Norwegian beer that came in at 10% ABV. The perfect end to a frustrating ferry day!

The next day as a another relatively short day. We had to be down to Port Aux Basques by 6:30 for the 8:30 ferry. Without any stops, we would have been there by 1 PM. So, we had plenty of time to kill. Luckily, we were still north of Gros Morne National Park, so I said I would stop at any sign that had said there was a view. I must not have been paying attention on the way through the first time, because there were more stops than I remembered. Still, Gros Morne is a beautiful place. I am not even sure how to describe it. On one side you have this rocky rugged coast and then the other side you have this mountainy, piney steep mountains. Kind of like if the Pacific Coast Highway and Yosemite had a love child! I took lots of pictures, but they don't even do the park justice. Oh well, they will help me remember.

I finally saw a moose on this trip. In fact, there were two. I still haven't seen any bull mooses in the wild, but seeing at least one moose made the trip better.

We started the trip with a relatively warm 61 degrees, but as we made our way south, we had cloud cover and it must have gotten more humid because it was cold for a while. Then clouds burned off and it got hot! Like 71 degrees! Don't be hating me you Texas folks stuck in the heat.

Just north of Port aux Basques there were signs warning of wind. One said gusts can get up to 200kh. We didn't experience anything like that, but we were blown about for a while.

Even with riding through Port aux Basques several times and getting some Subway sandwiches for dinner on the ferry, we were there a couple of hours early.

I am on the boat now and internet is again spotty. So, I will be making this post later. Plus, we will be getting into North Sydney sometime between 1:30 AM and 3 AM. Not sure what our plans are at that time.

Turns out the boat arrived in North Sydney at 3:30 AM Atlantic time. It was dark and drizzly. It was too late to pay for a motel, but too cold and wet to stay outside. I had thought earlier that we could stay in the terminal. But then later realized that you are dumped OUT of the ferry zone when you exit the boat. Mike had the brilliant idea to find a 24 hour Tim Horton's and we would hang until the sun came up. There are TONS of Tim Horton's. Sadly, a very few that have an open dining room at that hour. Eventually, we found one. It was 1/2 Tim Horton's and 1/2 Marble Slab Creamery. Marble Slab isn't open that time of day ... go figure! We figure it was open 24 hours in the dining room because there is also a casino behind it. We saw a sign that said no loitering and to only stay for 20 minutes. Given we had at least 3 hours to wait, we wanted to see what the staff would say. Luckily, nobody cared and we had plenty of hot coffee and a breakfast sandwich. Once the sun was up enough to see the road well, we took off for The Cabot Trail around Cape Breton.

I love that road, but it was still very wet from the drizzle and in spots it was still drizzling. So, for a while the going was slow and even with the fog, still a beautiful place. After Cape Breton, we weren't exactly sure what we were going to do. After riding The Cabot Trail, it started raining again, so we stopped at a local restaurant called Mother Webbs, home of the 9.95 steak. Johnny and I had the fish and chips and were happy with them. Mike had a chicken sandwich with brown gravy and really liked the cole slaw. After coming back outside to slightly dryer, but still heavy overcast skies, we were no longer interested in driving around and exploring. We made ferry reservations for the 8 AM sailing and headed for Digby where the ferry port is located. It was a 4 hour ride and sadly, you don't see much along the way.

At one point, I was concerned about the route the GPS had conjured in that it took us into Halifax. I have ridden through there once and didn't want to fight traffic this time. So, we stopped, pulled out the map and found a little country road to follow to save about 20 miles off the trip. What a nice choice! All 2 lanes with not TOO much traffic and lots of sweeping curves and few tighter ones as well. After The Cabot Trail, definitely the next hilight of the day.

Once in Digby, we started looking around for hotels. We drove to the ferry port and passed one hotel that looked like a resort and didn't give it a second thought. We stopped at the visitor center and the woman at the desk called 8 or 9 places to get rates and availability. Strangely enough, the resort looking place had a room with 2 single beds and a roll away for an incredible price. We were kind of out of place in the dining room, but had a nice dinner. I had Digby scallops on the theory that "when in Rome ..."

Once we cross into St. Johns, New Brunswick tomorrow, we will be only an hour or so from leaving Canada after only 9 days. It will be a little bitter sweet, but it is time to come home now. But, we still have a few days to go!

When Life Deals You Lemons ... Do Laundry

Last night we were in Labrador and stayed at a nice little B&B, but it didn't have internet, so sit down, grab a cup of coffee or whatever you want and sit down for a long post for two days.



Last I left you, we had pulled into a motel after riding for at least 3 hours in a solid rain. Most everything dried completely overnight. Everything that was critical that is, e.g., the clothes I needed to wear, did dry.

Mike and I had looked at how long we thought it would take to get from Grand Falls-Windsor to the ferry in St. Barbe. It seems like we came to a 7 hour concencus. So, we took the ferry departure time, subtracted the 7 hours and left another hour or so for food, breaks and gas stops. We got up early and got on the road about 20 minutes prior to the 7 AM time we had set. Then, when I looked at the GPS, it showed we had only one hour of breathing room to get to the ferry. So, we hit the road hard. As we got closer and closer, the number of kilometers left to ride just didn't jive with the estimated arrival time of the GPS. At one point, I decided just to reset the destination point and realized the last destination point I had set was at the end of the paved road in Labrador. Then all of a sudden, we had 3 hours extra time.

Even if I hadn't planned to go to Labrador, traveling up the west coast of Newfoundland would have been totally worth the ride. It was a different look than the eastern side. There weren't nearly the number of pine trees and lots more streams and rivers running to the ocean. Plus, there were lots of tidal marshes on the non-ocean side of the road. We would randomly find cars parked on the side of the road, seemingly in the middle of nowhere and we wondered if the occupants were just out hiking. Later, we saw somebody next to the road and we think they were foraging for berries. They have parsons berries here which are tart and sweet, like blueberries mixed with rhubarb. They also have bakeapple berries. I would see signs for bakeapples and wondered if they were just baked apples.

So, we started looking for real food. The plan had been a quick fast food breakfast, but in Western Newfoundland you don't find too many bigger cities to support fast food restaurants. We found a town with a motel restaurant combination and went in. It was about 11 AM at this point, but we had a choice of breakfast or lunch. We decided on breakfast. I got a scrambled egg platter with bacon, sausage, onions and peppers and thought it was the best breakfast I have had on this trip. Mike and Johnny's contention was that I was just hungry. Before I ordered, I asked the waitress if they had any food the Newfoundlanders eat and she said no, they couldn't serve moose and rabbit. We heard that previous to the 1920's there were no moose in Newfoundland. Then they introduced 8 moose and now they estimate there are over 150,000. Still, to hunt moose here, you have to apply for a permit. Even then, you may only be permitted to take a female and you might not fill the freezer. The waitress said sometimes she gets sick of moose meat.

We had plenty of time at the ferry terminal and finally made our way to the ferry. It was much larger than the PEI ferry, but not surprisingly, not nearly as HUGE as the Marine Atlantic boat. It was a small terminal and we got in line and purchase our tickets. I asked about buying a round trip, and the agent said they only sold one way tickets. For the time, it was the best value yet, only $11.50 CA to cross. Pretty quickly after we got on the water, a heavy fog set in and was with us the entire way. So, no iceberg or whale siteings were to be had. It was still foggy when we set port in Quebec. We took a few obligatory pictures and hit the road for the Labrador border. It was so foggy that everytime we saw a large sign, I had to slow down to see if it was the one we wanted. I really wanted for the 3 of us to be in this picture as to me it represented one of the large goals of the trip. Since nobody was there, I put my camera on a mini tripod I carry and took the picture. If you wonder why we had a white backdrop, now you know it is fog. Luckily, the fog cleared soon as made our way down the road.

We stopped at Barney's Bed and Breakfast. We had seen a sign at the ferry terminal and there was a tri-fold pamphlet on the ferry. The prices listed made it a better value to stay in two rooms than try to find a larger room elsewhere. Plus, it came with a home cooked breakfast. So, we stopped to let Mary, the proprietor, we were here and then took off to find the end of the pavement.

Labrador started off as a wind swept rocky land with low vegetation and a few scrub trees. As we got closer to Red Bay, where the gravel road begins, the landscape turned more hilly with some pine trees. Still, all very gorgeous. Plus, we also saw some wicked low clouds and fog combinations ahead. About 15km outside of Red Bay, we hit even heavier fog. During that time, the temperature dropped 11 degrees. We slowed down a bit and found the end of the road. I had pictured in my mind the pavement just ending and the gravel beginning, but in reality, there was a fork to a large gravel road and the pavement went into town. Sadly, no big signs denoting the Trans Canadian Labrador Highway, so I took a picture of my bike on the gravel and we went to town to look for souveniers.

This was literally as far as we were gonna travel on this vacation. I had traveled 6,366.5km or 3,955 miles to get her. Everything from that point forward was heading back home.

Mary was quite charming and served us pancakes with bacon, juice and coffee for breakfast. With the pancakes, she had parson berry, bakeapple and squash berry jams. Very good!

With our easy experience of getting on the ferry from the day before, we left Barney's to board the ferry back to Newfoundland. When we got to the terminal, there was a line of cars. Not to worry, they can always fit a motorcycle on. We got inside and saw a line. You had to get a number. I got 29, Mike got 30 and then there were no numbers left for Johnny. This was a bad omen. When we asked about more numbers, we were told that we probably weren't getting on the terminal anyway since we didn't have a reservation. This is where I start asking myself why the agent from the day before didn't take at least a reservation. But, that is now in the past and I am trying to get over it. So, we stood in line waiting patiently to see what the outcome would be after they loaded the ferry.

Sadly, we didn't make the 10:30 ferry. Luckily, we were sold tickets for the 3:30 ferry. But now, what to do with the bonus time? It has been 9 days since we left and my dirty clothes bag was pretty full and my pile of clean clothes was sparse. I asked the agent if there was a laundry facility in town. She said that a hotel down the road a such a facility. Sadly, they had only one washer and one dryer, but with judicious loading and unloading, we had just enough time to wash and dry 3 large loads before we got back one hour early for the 3:30 ferry.

We also realized that our plans for making the ferry back to Nova Scotia via Port aux Basques were compromised. We went online and now have tickets for the 8:30 ferry. We were going to try to make it to Deer Lake tonight, but that would have had us riding after dark and in this part of the country, moose are a definite danger. We started stopping at motels and found a small hotel and we are north of Gros Morne National Park. This is a good thing because I didn't want my last look to be in the dark!

In theory, tomorrow should be an easy day to get to the ferry to get to Nova Scotia. After that, I can't say, but that will be another post :)

Canadian Fortune Cookie

Two posts in one day? Yes!

After riding in the rain and unloading all our wet gear, we decided we didn't want to ride to dinner. The hotel has a bar, but no food. So, we find some menus in the lobby of places that will deliver and decide on Chinese. Each dinner came with a fortune cookie. Mine had no fortune (I am not reading any omens into that), but Johnny and Mike both had fortunes. What was fun was that one side was in English, but other side was in French. Also interesting is that the lottery numbers were different ... which begs the question: Which numbers do you play?