July 7, 2017 Baddeck, NS to Summerside, Prince Edward Island, 335 miles

Today was a long day; 335 miles and over 8 hours of riding.  Luckily we broke it up mid-morning by stopping at The Dancing Goat just off the Cabot Trail. It is an amazing bakery and sandwich shop.  One of Suzie's friends recommended it and it did not disappoint.  One of the pictures below shows our breakfast of champions, coffee and mint, coconut cream pie and an egg, bacon breakfast combo on fresh bread.  We also had them make a couple of sandwiches for the road.

We rode the Cabot and Ceilidh trails through thick forests which were close to the edge of the roads.  When we approached the coastal area and the scenery opened up the views were spectacular.  Wide open expanses of rocky shorelines for as far as you could see.  The pictures don't do it justice.

As we approached the 8-mile long Confederation Bridge to PEI I was getting a little nervous. The winds were still strong and gusts felt at least 20-30 mph.  I told Sooz to wrap her arms around my waist and hang on when we rode onto the bridge.  But as it turned out, the winds were at our backs and it was so quiet I could hear the valves on The Mighty GS tapping away.  The ride over the bridge was uneventful and even relaxing.  Checking in to our hotel in Summerside was another story but it worked out and we were even comp'd complete breakfasts for our inconvenience, after I asked of course.

July 6, 2017 Port Aux Basque, NL to Baddeck, NS, 30 miles and a ferry

The weather was gorgeous as we boarded the ferry from Port Aux Basque to North Sydney, NS.  We spoke with several other bikers as we waited to ride the bikes on the ferry and strap them down. A couple of Harley riders from Ottawa and a fellow GS rider from Quebec. This was a 6 hour ferry ride and we had reserved seats in a very comfortable deck with front row seats to the windows at the rear of the ship.   Very comfortable seating and the sun coming in the windows put us to sleep pretty quickly.

It was an uneventful cruise and the seas were fairly calm. However, I can get seasick in a bathtub so I took some recommended medicine to help fight seasickness and I did fine.

After disembarking we had a short ride to our motel in Baddeck, NS.  The motel is called St. Ann's and is right on the shores of a bay with a beautiful view.  We also had the best meal so far on our trip at the Cedar House Restaurant and Bakery.  Sooz ordered a piece of strawberry rhubarb pie with our meal that was excellent.  I left with a half dozen peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. 

I haven't had much luck uploading pictures but will try again.

Tomorrow we are off to Prince Edward Island.

July 5, 2017 Twillingate, NL to Port Aux Basque, 360 miles

It was not any warmer when we left our motel at 7:30am this morning.  However, due to the shockingly strong instant coffee I made I ran next to The Mighty GS for the first 10 miles or so and warmed up, not really.  It was in the mid 40s, windy and overcast when we left. We did not bring our electric heated gear, thinking we would never need it (duh!), so we layered upon layers to the point we could hardly get on the bike.  But we did and made really good time. We arrived at Port Aux Basque at about 2:30pm, 6 hours and 360 miles later.  We made one pit stop to thaw out over coffee and pie,  and a couple of quick gas stops.  We weren't sure what to expect and were pleasantly surprised.

We saw a moose and lots and lots of trees. The picture below captures the general terrain. The scenery wasn't all that impressive until we were about 50 miles out of PAB.  That was where the trees and rolling hills turned into sharp river valleys with beautifully deep blue water running over rocks and some open vistas. 

 I think the weather will be warming up which will be nice.  A little tired tonight but should be able to take nice naps on the ferry tomorrow.  Bike is running great, knock on wood. I have only had to put air in the tires once, that's all the maintenance so far.

We were just commenting that it seems like leaving Newfoundland for Nova Scotia is like going back to civilization, not that Nova Scotia is over developed!   I think we rode over 100 miles today without seeing one gas station. And that was on the Trans Canadian Highway! 

Tomorrow morning we take the ferry back to Nova Scotia and begin wandering southwest.  This will be a 6-hour ferry ride, not the overnight ferry.

Dinner tonight included fish cakes which are made with salt cod and potatoes. Locals call salt cod 'dry fish'.  Locals also call themselves Newfies, who's to argue?

July 3-4, 2017 Trinity, NL to Twillingate, NS 264 miles

What a difference a day makes, and then again.  We loaded up The Mighty GS after breakfast and much coffee in Trinity and left for a B&B we had reserved for 2 nights near Twillingate. When we left Trinity it was in the mid 60s and warming up. By the time we picked up the Trans Canadian Highway it was nearly 80 degrees and sunny.  That is about a 25 degree difference from the previous day.  About 10 miles from the B&B the skies unloaded.  We had stopped and put on rain gear so we were prepared for the rain and did pretty well. Of course the rain stopped when we arrived at the B&B and we were sweating.

We met the nice couple who were renting the room and soon realized it wasn't going to work out.  Our room turned out to be their own bedroom upstairs past their family room and living room. It just felt weird; their things were still out in the bedroom and we were not comfortable so we told them. We used their phone to find a room at a small motel about 15 miles away.  We packed up and went to Muggee's Causeway Motel and Restaurant.  A decent place and beautiful view out the back of the room worked out well.  Yesterday we had lunch in the town of Gander.  About 38 planes landed in and around Gander during the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

Today, July 4th, we rode into Twillingate and went on a 2 hour iceberg and whale sightseeing boat tour. It was really fun.  We got close to many large icebergs but saw no whales.   If you look closely at a couple of the pictures you will see a 30-foot tour boat providing some scale to size the icebergs.  One of the pictures also shows a crazy guy on a paddle board in the middle of the bay, we were not sure where he came from.

At one of our meals Suzie was brave and ordered fried cod tongues, yes codfish are endowed with 4 tongues per fish and restaurants serve them proudly.  We were not fans and won't order them again.  They are fried and then a fat is poured over them making them very greasy and not a favorite of ours. 

I had a great chat with the boat captain.  He had recently sold the boat, tour company, a restaurant and eight  B&Bs to a local guy who had been a sea merchant. The tourist business has been doing really well lately with last year being the best ever.  This year started out slow due to the pack ice just moving out and opening up the bay just 2 weeks ago.  That's about a month later than usual for a 3 1/2 month season.  Real estate prices have almost tripled in the last 5 to 10 years due to outsiders coming in and buying up properties.  The boat captain said about 80% of their business comes from people from Ottawa. Our boat tour left at 10am and returned at noon.  Winds and waves had picked up so much and expected to get worse resulting in the tours being canceled for the rest of the day.  Right now at 5:30pm it is 47 degrees, windy and cloudy with spits of rain. The weather changes very quickly here.

Random thoughts about driving in NL:
- lots of construction
- traffic signs I have never seen before warning of upcoming potholes, moose crossings and drifting, the snow kind
- lots of serious potholes
- very few police but drivers following the speed limits
- most of the roads are 2 laned
- billboard advertising is at a minimum

Tomorrow we are driving about 350 miles to Port a Basque where we will stay the night and take the 6-hour ferry back to the mainland the following morning.  I hope it warms up.

July 2, 2017 Trinity, NL to Cape Bonavista and back 75 miles

We had a nice breakfast this morning downstairs in our B&B and goofed with the women serving us telling them that I would be very grumpy if I  didn't get lots of coffee soon.  Sooz said I would only be a little less grumpy. They seemed to think that was funny.  It only goes to show that true Geezerdom knows no international boundaries. 

The weather was perfect for The Mighty GS - mid 40s, foggy, misty and breezy so I had to go for a ride.  I rode up to Cape Bonavista and saw the lighthouse. I purposefully rode slow, didn't use blinkers and would stop in the road for no apparent reason other than to take a picture and enjoy the scenery.  It's payback to all the fine Canadians who visit Florida - who we appreciate and want to keep returning.  Almost every local we speak with has visited Florida at least once and wants to go back, we encourage them to do so.

The scenery combined with the weather made for a perfect day.  Not sure why I enjoy riding in these conditions but I do.  Mid 40s temp, wind, fog, mist, rocks, cliffs, my first iceberg sighting, boats, saltwater, freshwater, beware of moose road signs, and 10 miles of pothole-filled dirt road made my day.  Sooz stayed back at the B&B enjoying the heat.  The flower is a Blue Flag Iris which to my untrained eye looks a lot like an orchid from Florida. 

After I returned we walked around Trinity, had lunch and Sooz bought a scarf and headband. They were handmade by 'local women' and sold through a town co-op. We are forecast to get more rain tonight and then clear up and warm up to the 70s by morning. Tomorrow we leave for 2 nights at another B&B near Twillingate.

June 30 - July 1, 2017 Auld's Point, NS to Trinity, Newfoundland 233 miles and an overnight ferry trip

Wow!  Quite the couple of days.  We left the Cove Motel in NS and made our first stop for an early lunch at Farmers Daughter Country Market on Hwy 105 in Whycocomagh, NS where we had our first taste of Donair which is a Nova Scotia specialty cured meat. They put it in everything from rolls to sandwiches, we even saw Donair flavored potato chips.  We then headed to the docks at North Sydney, NS to wait to board the overnight ferry to Newfoundland.

We met 3 guys riding motorcycles heading home to St. Johns, NL.  They gave us a heads-up on how to load the bike on the ship and tie it down. I have done it a couple of times before but advice was well taken to get 4 tie down straps before they are all taken.  After a couple of hours of waiting we rode the bike onboard and strapped down The Mighty GS. We rambled our way up to the eighth deck and found our quarters which were nice with two single beds, a head and even a window.  We had dinner a couple of hours later, went back to our cabin, watched a little baseball on the small TV in our room and went to sleep.

The next day we loaded up and rode off the ship around 10:30am and headed towards Trinity, NL.  The weather had turned cold, foggy and pretty windy. Temps got down to the mid to upper 40s and we got cold even geared up with multiple layers.  We made it to our room at the Eriksen B&B in Trinity, NL around 2:30pm local time.  Local NL time is 1.5 hours ahead of eastern time, who knows why they have a 30 minute increment?  We have absolutely no cell coverage so no texting and the wifi is very slow.  Today is Canada Day celebrating Canada's 150th birthday.  In one of the pictures you'll see a small Canadian flag on the bike to celebrate the big day.  We are staying 2 nights here so tomorrow will be less riding and no packing.

We just finished dinner and I added a photo below of Susie's meal, a local traditional Sunday meal of salt meat (kind of like corned beef), potatoes,  carrots, a mashed split pea mix, turnips, a type of pickle and cabbage.  She could not finish it all. I had a huge piece of salmon.

I posted a picture of a notice for a community dinner tomorrow night. I had to ask about the 'screech in' for $5. It's the local tradition of kissing a codfish and drinking the screetch, a hot rum drink.  Too bad we missed the deadline to sign up for the dinner.