Day 9: North to Baddeck

Slow day really, not a lot to say.

We hopped on the bikes about 10am and the ladies in their rental van, and off to Baddeck in Cape Breton.

Long ride for us, just a very straight road freeway type of road. The trip took about 4 1/2 hours.

Upon our arrival we checked into the hotel, Gisele Inn, and some of the gang smoked cigars on the way to walk around the town of Baddeck. Neat place. It's small and laid back here.

We stopped at a restaurant/bar that overlooked the ocean, and drank some local ligt beer that was excllent. The weather was warm and pleasant although it was somewhat overcast. After an hour or so, we walked on to an all-you-can-eat lobster place that was fantastic. A 1lb lobster with an unlimited amount of mussels and seafood chowder was perfect. We'll be full for days. Slowly made our way back to the Inn, worked on the bikes - just checking to make sure all was well - and then in for the night. All in all a very nice day.

That was it for today. The next blog will be more entertaining, we're riding the Cabot Trail tomorrow.

7B

Pics:

Day 8: Rainy

Today gave us a full dose of rain, wind, and cold. But it was fun.

The guys and girls (except Rash and his wife) decided to visit Peggy's Cove. Peggy's Cove is a small community on the coast line that is marked by a lighthouse. Boog said it's the most beautiful place he's ever visited. I would have to agree.

Some things cannot be described even with all the words in the dictionary and give the reader the proper mental image. This was one of those places.

Coming into the cove the landscape was littered with boulders in small rolling hills, like they were sprinkled onto the land. It doesn't sound pretty, but it was amazing.

Before the lighthouse we saw several small houses with docks that have been used for fishing for many years. Nothing was new there, very rustic and worn.

The lighthouse was built on rock formations that are hard to describe, much like the landscape. But from the lighthouse we could see the entire coastline, which was gorgeous.

On the way out we visited the Swiss Air Flight 111 Memorial. It was cool to see, and humbling as well.

Then we rode home in the rain, which was terrible. But then we ate lobster, which was awesome.

Joey's lobster. He wanted to have a personal relationship with his soon to be dinner.

Bedtime.

7B

Pictures from Peggy's Cove:

Day 7: We Made It!!!

Distance Traveled: Not sure, but we made it to Halifax!

Sussex, New Brunswick --> Halifax, Nova Scotia

**Pics will come when Boog gives me the computer back.

Simple ride today, not too much to say really. Nothing happened that was very interesting like the day before, which was a relief!

We did stop at a bike show in Moncton, NB on the way and we were very disappointed. It was all for cruiser riders so we didn't stay long.

It was cold and damp so we bundled up and headed on to Halifax. We just stuck to the main highway and stopped by the airport to get our bearings. Because we have magnificent timing, we stopped just as the girls landed. So we headed on to the hotel and checked in and the girls arrived.

We went to a local pub and drank some wonderful draft beer and had some seafood. Then it was night night time.

This one is short and sweet.

Cheers,

7B

Day 6: We Didn't Know Hwy 1 Could Be So Complicated

We left at 8am, like usual from our hotel. We had a nice hotel so we decided we should savor the moment via photograph...






We jetted off onto Hwy 1 headed for Canada. It turned out that the "coastal" road was a flop. There wasn't much coastline at all to see and when we did get a tiny glimpse, it wasn't the picturesque view we imagined. The Hwy was incredibly inconsistent with nice stretches and very rough ones. Honestly it was a boring ride.

But alas! The boredom ceased!


There was so much that went on that it was hard to mentally document in the exact order of the occurrences, but I'll do my best to hit the highlights.

The main problem we encountered was a nail in Smoke's tire. Noticing the problem we immediately pulled over into an optometrist's office to took out the plugging kit and got to work. As if this wasn't enough of a pain, Smoke's handle broke from the plugging tool. Luckily we had another kit. Smoke wasn't too sure if the tire would hold up so we all kept a close eye for any drops in tire pressure.

We went through several construction/work zones on Hwy 1 that were frustrating to say the least. Bone in particular didn't like riding in the dirt because it made his bike get dirty. He has the cleanest BMW GS on the planet.

Toward the end of the day we decided to try and take a detour to maybe see some scenery. While seeing something besides nothingness and boredom didn't happen, we did stop for a beef jerky break and Bone needed to stretch his legs. Yes, he was hopping/skipping through the field. It gave me a funny feeling in my stomach. Maybe it was because I wasn't sure if it was okay to laugh or not. The difference between laughing with someone and laughing at them is a thin line. Also, it's rude to point at someone with mental disabilities. I just felt confused. Okay, I'm still laughing, I admit it.




It seemed like when we started to get into upper Maine the temperature changed instantly, like we hit a wall of cold air. From then on the temperature was about sixty degrees and very chilly.

We made it into Canada and started hotel hunting in New Brunswick. Our leader found an Inn on his GPS so we follow it. We're rode along down an unpromising backroad off the interstate and we saw Fred u-turn. None of us knew why so we just went rode down the road. We come to a house that has a little sign letting us know we've found the "inn." It's really more of a bed & breakfast place with just a couple of rooms. So obviously, a no go.

Remember, still no Fred.

Everyone took off and I noticed Bone's bike wouldn't start. I hopped off my bike and we tried to figure out what was wrong. Turned out it was the starter, awesome! I had to push him off, hop back on my bike and catch up with the rest of the group.

The group came to a gas station we passed before the road with the house/motel/inn. Fred was standing beside his bike and looked nothing short of pissed. He vented some of his fury upon Smoke and then obviously felt better. They made up if you're wondering...

Smoke's tire was starting to deflate again, so he had to fix it, AGAIN. I think it will be good to go for the rest of the trip now, however. Two tire fixes in one day is never fun.

So we filled up for $5.60 a gallon and talked about what we needed to do and where to stay. Keep in mind that everyone was starting to get frustrated and just wanted to find somewhere to tuck in and get out of the cold. 3 of us were on the right side of the gas station and 3 of us on the left, with Beaver's bike still sitting at the gas pump.

Someone had to take the lead, but no one wanted to. Bone pointed at Boog, and Boog gave a slow but stern head shake, meaning "Hell no."

We kept staring at each other across the gas station. BOOM! Fred dropped his bike! It was in neutral and when he mounted he accidentally put the bike in first gear and it jumped forward and over it went. No major damage, it just gave us another incident report for the day.

We made it to Sussex and found a hotel.

Here's some pics from the day that didn't make their way into the blog because I didn't want to make the post too long telling each story.

***I've been having tense issues in the writing. I try to see them but I can't get them all. I'm not sure what makes me change tense in the middle of writing when I'm tired but I do...I apologize.

Day 5: A Day of Variation

**I'm behind again. Sorry.

**Bunch of pictures coming tomorrow!!!

Lake Placid, NY --> Bath, ME

Distance: ~375 Miles

Had an interesting day, a much different one that we could've imagined for sure. A Canadian tagged along with us for quite a while, a ferry ride, and tons of rain and wet roads made up most of the day.

The rain hit us right before we hopped on the bikes for the day. It was cool and dreary and very grey.

Leaving Lake Placid we pulled over on the side of the road and a biker pulled over beside us and asked if he could ride along. We agreed and he fell in line behind us. A few minutes later we arrived at the ferry crossing from New York to Vermont over Lake Champlain. Of course, we just missed it so we had a 40 minute wait. While we were chilling out we found out a lot about this tag along. His name was Ean and he was headed to Nova Scotia from Toronto, his home town. He turned out to be a cool guy. He received a nickname immediately, Tonto from Toronto.

The ferry ride was uneventful but from what we could see it was a nice view. Just too much of an overcast to see too much but luckily the hourish long ride went by quickly.



After the ferry we finally rode through some scenery, the White Mountains. I don't think we have any pictures because of the drizzling rain that kept on us most of the day. The roads were twistie as well so it was difficult to do much photography. What I did think was interesting about the mountains was their shape. They weren't just straight slopes that come to a point. Most of the mountains had something distinctive about them. Some of them had cliffs and some just were strangely shaped.

We stopped soon after that and Ean decided he needed to make up some time and split apart from us...hopefully he made it alright.

We finally made it into Maine and were licking our lips in preparation for the famous lobster. Bone has an interesting method for determining out ending position for the day. He asks a simple question, "Are we eating Lobster tonight?" Finally, we could say yes. We all wanted lobster but we could all tell this was one of his goals, to eat Maine lobster.

We arrived in Bath and started hotel hunting. The only one we could find was an overpriced inn that didn't even have wi-fi. (but excellent muffins) So we reserved rooms and received some directions to a pub that had a discount deal with the hotel. It was nine 9pm so we didn't have time to change out of our gear. I can't remember the name, and no pictures.

The pub was definitely one of those places that could never be recreated. Every inch had character. The bar downstairs had mugs that hung from the ceiling with numbers on the bottom of each one. It appeared the locals had their own mugs. A couple of guitar players were the entertainment which gave the pub an intimate atmosphere that was very inviting. It was very small and tight fitting but it was definitely the place we wanted to be; something different with serious local flavor.

Arriving at the pub we were greeted by the hostess who directed us down to the bar area. We asked her immediately about lobster and she informed us that there was one lobster left. Needless to say, Bone didn't get his lobster and had to opt for pineapple salmon.

We had a good day, a big variation from the others. Thumbs up!


7B



**I'll edit this tomorrow or something.

Day 4: New York Was Great

Emma, New York --> Lake Placid, New York

Distance traveled: 320 Miles

When we left Emma, we hopped on Highway 30N as quickly as we could and took off. The road led us through some beautiful landscape. We road through a valley for a while with tall mountains on each side of us, giving us a different perspective than West Virginia.

The road was superb. It was nothing but clean pavement, beautiful landscapes, and little traffic. The ratio between straight aways and curves was perfect. Some fun sections and then we could relax. We just had a great time on the road. We did have one minor incident with the New York Highway Patrol, however...

We passed several lakes, all of them were gorgeous. Most of the shorelines were lined with tall evergreens, making for a nice reflection. Indian lake was the largest and prettiest. I think we would all want to see it again. This isn't a picture of Indian lake, but a "Finger" lake or something, I'm not sure the exact name...

Okay so here's the story. We get into a curvy section and start playing (speeding) and there's a split between us. Bone, Smoke, and Beaver are up front followed by about 200 yards by Rash, myself, Boog, and Pawn Dog. We're riding about 70mph and crest a hill and see a navy blue suburban slam on its brakes (we did too) in order to not pile into us. I notice that it was the NYHP. It dawns on Rash and I that the policeman was intending to pull over our front group ahead of us. So when the Suburban pulls out behind us, we slow down to about 45mph to let the rest of the crew get some distance. After about 3 minutes the NYHP couldn't get around us and pulled off. We fought the law, and we won. Interesting how Rash and I new what was going on, and what to do about it. We were thanked, as we should have been. They didn't even realize they were being chased.

After stopping Smoke was jonesing for a cigar and so some were smoked. Very relaxing after a long day.

We haven't gotten to see all of Lake Placid yet, but it's beautiful from what we can see. We ate an excellent meal tonight, mostly seafood. Here's what we can see...

Hidey Hoe

Hey Guys,

 

Sounds like you are really covering some ground and seeing some fascinating sights. Although I'm sure it's nothing compared to how much fun you'll have when us girls get there!

 

The only news I know is that another black bear has been sighted on the east end of town and the RLC issue is still being debated.

 

Have fun  and be careful. We'll see you on Saturday.

 

Debbie

---

Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars.

Day 3: Gettysburg and Circles

** If you have noticed, I'm a little behind writing this. I should be finishing yesterdays tonight and hopefully will get today's events blogged today as well.

Frederick, Maryland --> Emma, New York

Gross Distance Traveled: 7,829 Miles
Net Distance Traveled: 14 Miles

We had some navigational troubles yesterday that was no one's fault in particular. The roads up here are unfamiliar to us and our maps and GPS systems just aren't accurate enough for the back road travels we prefer.

We started out the morning by heading to Gettysburg. We gave ourselves enough time to go on a quick tour of the new visitors center and auto tour...but not enough time.

We're trying to find where the auto tour begins. So we drive in some circles. Finally Beaver realizes we're going in the wrong direction and he turns around. I follow right behind him because I saw the same thing. We're going right, the sign says left. Smoke, Boog, Bone, Pawn Dog, and Rash keep going the other direction. Beaver and I just follow the sign and take the auto tour of the battlefield. Then we missed a sign and ended up at Gettysburg College which happened to be hosting a lacrosse tournament. Literally hundereds of kids of all ages walking around with huge lacrosse sticks. Gotta watch your mouth around people with those kinds of weapons.

I checked my phone to see if anyone had called and sure enough, Pawn Dog. I called him back and he was actually riding his bike and talking to me so the conversation was difficult. We finally figured out the rest of the group made it to the auto tour so Beaver and I went to meet them. Bear in mind this took quite a while to get in contact after we stopped at the college.

So we finally met them on the part of the auto tour that over looks a great deal of the battlefield. We realized we were running way behind so we darted off and tried to finish the tour. We ended up where we started, we rode in yet another circle.

Not much else happened during the day. To make up lost time we did something we all hated immensely and hopped on the interstate for about 150 miles. The traffic was incredibly heavy and hard to deal with. Most of the drivers didn't pay attention to the fact we were riding as a unit and would cut right in front of us or not let us around and just annoying stuff like that. Not fun at all.

We lost Rash...

An exit came upon us quickly and we had to really rush to make it on the ramp but poor Rash just couldn't make it. As we were riding on the Ramp we seem ride by us on down the interstate. He was sort of sad but in that funny sort of way.

No problem really, he just turned around and hopped on the exit we were on at met us, no biggie.

That was really it. PA wasn't spectacular because we rode nothing but interstate but when we rolled into New Jersey and New York the scenery really picked up and that's pretty where we stopped.

7B

Day 2: Better Than The First

**Please click on the pictures for a full resolution view. Blogger often times distorts images and it makes them appear blurry.

Lewisburg, West Virginia --> Frederick Maryland

Distance traveled: 270 miles

Beaver wasn't feeling well, he had a cold. We decided that since we made great time on the first day that we would cut this one short so Beaver could get some rest and start feeling better.

A much better day! No hail! We did run into some rain, but only 15 minutes or so and it wasn't heavy so we just shook it off, didn't even have to put on the rain gear.

Riding through the mountains of West Virginia was awesome. The roads were unpopulated for the most part and clean of debris. We could see a mountain ahead of us and it seemed like all of a sudden we were on that mountain overlooking the valley below. Then we would go back down that mountain, and up another. The mountain roads and views described in the last post will suffice; the views were just gorgeous. Unfortunately there weren't many places to stop and Pawn Dog had to take this pictures while riding.

Probably the most interesting place we passed was Seneca Rocks National Park. The rock formations wereawesome and nothing like most of us (if not all) had ever seen. Definitely something that's unforgettable. This was the most prominent formation of the bunch, but the whole park was littered with interesting formations.

We arrived in Federick Maryland and stopped in the middle of town while we tried to decide where to crash for the night. While we were waiting on Bone and Rash to go to the bathroom or whatever Smoke started handing out beef jerky to everyone. We're just standing and talking and a stranger from the sidewalk comes up to us holding a box. He tells us that he has some leftover pizza if we would like to have it. We all politely declined. He turned away from us and threw his hands up in the air and told his wife (I assume), "They didn't want it!" We were all slightly confused and then it hit us...he thought we were hungry and needed food! I didn't think we looked that rough...

Anyway, so that was our day. Gettysburg is next.

7B

It was a looooong first day

Distance traveled: 410 miles

Oak Ridge, Tennessee --> Lewisburg, West Virginia

**I have revised the version that was previously written.


The Revised Version:

When we left Oak Ridge we hopped on Highway 90 which is a twistie mountain road, motorcycle bliss. The sun was shining and warm but not too hot, just a perfect day for riding. It was a great road to set the mood for the trip.

We're cruising along, and I'm sixth in line with Pawn Dog and Bob behind me. Boog is leading and I see him dig into a curve and out of my vision and the next thing I see is 4 sets of red brake lights and birds flying. It happened so quickly I didn't know exactly what was going on but it turns out that turkeys were in the middle of the road and Boog made them get some flying practice.

Kentucky was uneventful. Kingdom Come freeway was pretty, but nothing worth mentioning in too much detail.

As we were riding it was easy to notice that we were getting into the heart of the Appalachian Mountains and into West Virginia. Our elevation increased quickly and soon we were riding on the side of a mountain with a breath taking view. It reminded me of a BMW commercial. The mountains were for the most part untouched and thick forested. From the road we could see miles of mountains and the sun gave some texture with some shadows and highlights.

So we're cruising along and all is well, wonderful. How could it get better? It probably couldn't have. Logic seems to point to that if something is at it's best it can only get worse and that's exactly what happened with our day...

During a quick bathroom break and butt rest I noticed that Pawn Dog didn't have his face shield. Apparently it catches wind like sail and just flies right off the hinges. He couldn't get it back on in time so he just stuffed it and rode on. You'll understand why this was included soon....

Right after we took off from that break the rain started coming down heavily. We pulled over on about a foot of shoulder on an incline and quickly put on our rain gear and took off. I decided to hang with Pawn Dog because apparently I was the only one that knew he was without a face shield and the rain drops would be like getting hit with pin needles in the face. So now, there's two groups. The six ahead of us, and Pawn Dog and myself.

We're riding along slowly and the rain gets heavier. Heavier. Still Heavier. The winds started to really pick up. The wind became treacherous. Small hail fell. Then huge hail. Needless to say it was difficult to ride and having no face shield makes it impossible, so we pulled over.

Not sure where to put this, but I'll tell a story you'll get a laugh out of. While we were stopped and getting on our rain gear I covered my tank bag with the included tarp, which is tethered to the front of the bag. As soon as we took off and gained some speed and my tank bag blew up like a balloon and started flapping all over the place. I forgot to tighten it down! It was slapping my helmet and mirrors and was uncontrollable. I finally grabbed it and tried to put it over the bag again and pull the draw string tight. I couldn't do it, there was no way. The drawstring was on the bottom of the bad and was so close to me that I couldn't see it, just feel it. Then the heavy hail and rain started. The only option I had was to try and get the cover on the bag and lay over the top of it and try to keep it pinned down. So for several miles I had to try and restrain a crazed flapping balloon tarp thing by pinning it down with my chest looking through a rainy windscreen and getting hit with hail. I'm sure others have similar experiences.

When the storm let up after a couple of minutes we decided to try and find the rest of the crew. As we're riding we see Bone came toward us with the palms of his hands facing upward and in the air, the universal gesture for, "I have no idea." We meet up with Tom and Bone and find out that Boog, Smoke, and Fred are now where to be found...

We ride to the nearest gas station to try and call one of them and finally we get in contact. They said to meet them in Beaver. It didn't sound promising but we met them there anyway. We found out that they had taken a turn they didn't tell us about. How thoughtful.

At this point we're soaking wet and cold and want to find lodging. But we're in BEAVER, so there's no where to stay. Off we go to find somewhere to stay. We hop on the interstate. We're all running low on fuel but figure that we can find somewhere within 30 miles. Bone takes the lead.

As we're running down the interstate we're looking for populated exits that have a hotel, or campground, or something. Nothing.

We did however cross the New River Gorge on the way, which was spectacular. Wish we could have stopped.

What hasn't been mentioned is that Bone has a 9 gallon gas tank and the rest of us only have 5 gallon tanks. So he's cruising along with about 100 miles left to travel while the rest of us have less than 20. Smoke and Fred have to catch him and tell him to pull off immediately. When we finally find some mom and pop gas station there was about 15 miles left in their tanks and I'm sure the rest of us were in the same ballpark.

Also all of the GPSs were not working correctly because they had been loaded with the exact same route. So all day they were telling us to go places that weren't there, or turn on roads that didn't exist or were in the wrong direction. Just crazy stuff. One time it told them to "take a left then u-turn." Why not just turn right?

But somehow we ended up Lewisburg.

A couple of memorable quotes that will give you a glimpse into our day.

Boog: "No GPS and wet maps, how are we supposed to get anywhere?"

Bone, at the hotel: "I think we should stay here for a couple of days and drink."

7B

**No pics. We just didn't have a chance. A bunch will come though, no worries.

Canada....eh?

We are leaving on Sunday, June 22nd. So until then hang tight. Some preliminary blogs will probably be written.

The crew is heading from TN to Nova Scotia (and some further into Labrador) on our motorcycles. Call us crazy but it's an experience that's unforgettable and impossible to pass up!

To see a journey of more epic proportions please visit: 6bikers.blogspot.com 4 of the riders from this trip went from TN to the top of the world last summer! Definitely worth reading!

Here's a classic song that's often sung in Nova Scotia A capella (or so I hear). I've heard it live from a fellow who has family in Nova Scotia. It's a great song. Gets you into the mood of the sailor culture that is so prominent in Nova Scotia. Bear in mind I know nothing about Nova Scotia. :)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RJvz5W32bYg