A Few Pictures

From around Prince Edward Island and the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia.

The NS trip

Somebody posted a comment asking about the trip and my reply got a little long, so I figured I'd post it here.

Hi. 

The trip was great - I did it in 5 days but I think 10 days would have been perfect. The roads are perfect for cruising on a motorcycle; I did not have a complaint about any of them. I took some side trips off the beaten path and those roads were picture perfect as well. Prince Edward Island is very nice, and I'd recommend it to anyone, but I did feel a little bored after a day or two there, but that just may be me. The highlight was probably riding the Cabot Trail, which is a loop that I think was 180 miles long. I met up with another rider who was from Ontario and we took off and ended together, as well as meeting several times during the ride. The reason we didn't do the entire length together is because every single foot of that road was an opportunity to pull over, look around, take some pictures and talk to other "tourists".

Shameless plug alert!!  I stopped at a place called the Cove Motel late one evening and the receptionist took a look at me and said, “You’re a motorcyclist?  That's an automatic 10% percent discount!"  It is an awesome, clean, picturesque and friendly place - a definite yes if you have to decide whether or not you want to stay there!

Excellent scenery, good food, friendly people, great roads, etc. but the most memorable parts of any trips I have taken are the ones that present a hardship that has to be overcome. So, I think the most memorable part would be in northern Maine, late at night on a two lane highway with only tractor trailers to keep me company. To top it off, it was pouring down rain, up to 3" per hour I was told, absolutely no light on the road and the exits were about 20 miles apart. Only a few exits had hotels, so those were all booked (supply and demand).  I was standing in a little lobby, soaked to the bone, boots full of water and physically shaking from the cold. I looked down at the floor to see an 8 foot wide puddle forming around me as the sleepy eyed, warm and dry receptionist told me they were booked up. Overcoming the mental challenge of walking back out into the freezing (45 degree) cold, pitch black, pouring rain night, getting back on the bike and heading out to the flooded, unlit road was very gratifying to overcome. Of course, it wasn’t gratifying at the time, I’m talking a week or so later!  There is also the physical challenge of staying on the road, avoiding hidden potholes and negotiating curves that come suddenly upon you, while at the same time watching out for animals on the road and convincing your cold shaking body to hold on the handlebars.

Of course if that is not to your liking, I imagine (but don't know for sure because I don't normally do it) you could plan out your trip to just ride during the day, reserve a camping spot or hotel/motel room in advance, and bring a little bit of food with you.  You can wing the part about what to look at and what to do while you're there because the possibilities are just about endless.  I'd say that if you see a sign in front of a little restaurant the claims to have the best fried clams in the world, by all means, pull into the little gravel parking lot, find a seat outside at one of the picnic tables and have them prove it to you!! What’s the worst thing that could happen, you eat a pint of the second best fried clams in the world?

If you do go, have fun, take your time, keep the "must do" list kind of short and enjoy! Maybe you should take a few Canadian dollars with you too, cuz you never know when the bank may shut down your debit card due to charges all over the place that look like a stolen, travelling card and some places just don't take American dollars.

Stay safe!

Glenn

New Adventure

I ended up heading to Prince Edward Island and then Nova Scotia/Cape Breton and the Cabot trail, which was awesome.  I haven't finished documenting my Alaska trip and haven't done anything with the NS trip yet but I'm thinking about a new adventure.  Too soon?

I posted this on my Facebook page, "I woke up this morning and my feet were itchin .... at first I thought it was from a mosquito, but it turns out that they were looking for an adventure. I'm open to ideas .... taking a raft down the mississippi keeps popping up in my mind ...." 

I'll have to wait and see what happens.

Nova Scotia

I'm planning a trip to Nova Scotia early next week ... well, planning my not be the right word ... I'm taking a trip to Nova Scotia next week.

I don't have a route planned out, I don't have much idea of the layout of the land up there, I'm not entirely sure how I'm financing it yet, not sure what I'm packing yet, but I'm definitly going.  I have to work this Tuesday thru Sunday so I'll either leave the following Monday, or perhaps Tuesday.
The high speed CAT ferry service was discontinued a year or two ago and I'm pretty disappointed that I never got to ride it, it was on my to-do list. Just goes to show what happens when you put things off. I'll have to take the long way up and around, although there is still a ferry that runs from St. John in Maine to Digby, NS, but it doesn't buy me any time as it's about 5 hours to take the ferry or to drive around. The only thing that would compel me to take the ferry is the chance to see a few whales. I'm undecided, which fits in perfectly with the program!

I originally thought about going all the way to Newfoundland. If I did that, it would be about 3,100 miles round trip, so I may cut that out and hit Prince Edward Island instead, which will put my trip between 2,000 and 2,500 miles. I figure that way I can hang out and see a few more sights while I'm up there.  The only things that I'm doing for sure are walking on the ocean floor when the tide goes out in the Bay of Fundy (usually a 30 - 50 foot tide cycle) and camping on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. Can't remember what town the camp site was in, but I'm sure there are more than one as there is an abundance of coastline up there.

I'm also undecided about taking the SPOT tracker.  I think I may - depends how much of a hassle it is to set up. Well, I suppose I do know how much of a hassle it is, cuz I did it last time.  If I can just append to the map I already have, I probably will.  SPOT has its own website that tracks onto a google map, but it doesn't save historical data, so I have to embed that into a website called Spotwalla, which does save the track, and then embed Spotwalla into this blog.

It's kind of funny - as I'm typing this my mind is a little bit distracted wondering where the next trip will be ....... I hear the Tennesse Blue Ridge mountains are a sight to see ... but then again, the Going to the Sun Road was closed when I was heading home late June, due to the fact that the 30 foot snow drifts were not completely plowed off the road yet ....

Canada - The Plains

This is the second video in the series for my ride. Not sure how many there will be, but there will be more.

First 3 Days

Here's a video I made of the first three days of my trip. I travelled from Massachusetts to North Dakota and although I felt that I had done something at that point, when I look back I can see that I had barely scratched the surface. Don't get me wrong, that was 72 hours of a crash course in motorcycle touring but it really was just the beginning. 

Random Pictures - probably some duplicates