Here We Come Canada!

Sorry it's been so long!

2008-07-25T01:16:00.000-04:00

Here's a link to all our pics! (Well, most of them)

http://picasaweb.google.com/jjern80/

Thanks! Take care!

2 more home, one left on the road still

2008-07-14T23:48:00.002-04:00

Smoke and I rolled into my driveway late this afternoon after slabbing from Fairport, New York, the temporary home of The Beaver and his out of sorts motorbike. Have not heard from him so don't know of his current status.I will call Mrs Beaver tomorrow and get an update. I have a lot more respect now for the 4 members of our band of rowdies who did the iron butt ride. Smoke and I took 2 days to do the same ride and it wore us both to a frazzle. My perineum will probably never recover. Interstate travel is a great way to cover ground rapidly but is severely lacking in entertainment value. Our only issue was I couldn't get Smoke to shut his bike off after Beavs trouble.I finally convinced him he couldn't let it idle all night in the motel parking lot. When I got home the Wee odometer read 6607 miles door to door.This does not include the mileage accrued riding in the cargo bay of our total of 23 hours on the various ferries. The GPS says our moving speed averaged 46.8 for the entire trip. I'm surprised it was that high. Cyphered out that comes to 112 hours of actual seat time..My ischial tuberosities coulda told you that. I've been perusing thru the pix and we have some good ones. I will get these together and load them on a web photo site so everyone has access. Sure was fun but I'm really glad to sleeping in my own bed and using my own wi-fi. So, where next?????...boog

Best Layed Plans

2008-07-13T23:25:00.003-04:00

I was looking forward this morning to taking the Niagara neophytes Smoke and the Beaver to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, a wondrous thing to see at least once. (kinda like top fuel drag racing) Anyway we rise with the chickens, like usual, and hear the pitter-patter of rain drops on the roof. No worries cause we are hard core adventure riders by now and we ain't skeered of a little rain.In the parking lot are several Harleys from yesterdays hog conclave.Harleys in my opinion are the most efficient mechanical devices on earth for converting gasoline into noise. I may just be sensitive cause Beaver says my V-strom sounds like a weed-wacker. We head west toward Niagara only about 40 miles away and stop at a small gas station on some obscure New York backroad. We all three fuel up but Beavers GS won't refire.The engine turns over but won't light. Hmmmm? The obvious things are checked like kill switch off, sidestand down clutch engaged...no luck. Look in the manuel under heading "won't start" but again no solution. Of course to make this a better story the rain picks up.....So Beaver calls the BMW road side service 800 number and gets some chick in Arizona who offers nothing other than to send a truck to pick up the bike and take it to the nearest dealer which happens to be 60miles away and doesn't open til Tuesday am. Drat! Beaver has them go ahead and get the recovery truck headed our way and in the meantime is able to get Milt McNally on the phone (Boy were we lucky we had cell service?).Milt owns the BMW dealership in Knoxville and advises Beaver immediately that the problem is in the ignition switch . Apparently this has been a frequently recurring BMW problem and BMW is recalling all these ignition modules. The solution: have the bike hauled to the nearest dealer, wait til they open Tuesday, get the module overnight delivered and installed, and by Wed. or Thurs., Beaver's sudden status as pedestrian will be repealed. Totally unacceptable plan but turns out to be the only option. Double damn!!! What about Niagara Falls? What about our leisurely ride home? But, as Smoke is fond of saying "it is what it is". The rollback arrives, the bike gets loaded and we head back in the direction from whence we cometh to the BMW dealer in Fairport, New York. Of course it has to be raining like stink, but Beav gets to ride in the nice dry tow truck. After a good bit of discussion about how this impacts the rest of our journey it's decided Beaver will stay in a motel near the dealership and when the bike is ready, ride it home.Smoke and I would head south on our own. That seemed like the best plan. If all three of us had stayed in a motel together for 3 or 4 days we surely would have pecked each other to death..Fair port seemed like a nice little community and knowing Beaver ,by the time his bike is ready he will he will be friends with half the people there. So smoke and I pointed south on the superslab and landed somewhere in Pennsylvania for tonight . I don't know where nor do I particularly care. I really wanted to go to Niagara.

2008-07-13T23:13:00.000-04:00

Hillary Country

2008-07-13T01:15:00.003-04:00

Vermont transistions in northern New York with flatter terrain and less of a farming bent. The roads we traveled ran right along the St. Lawrence so there were sport fishing actvities and more of a touristy feel. Weather was perfect, roads were smooth,traffic was light and all was right with the world...we don't need no stinking gravel ! Began to notice more and more Harleys along the road. Apparently the were having some sort of rally or meet.As we were zipping along one straight section of road, I noticed a Harley sitting crossways in our lane with it's rider standing in the middle of the road stopping traffic allowing a herd of 50 or 60 Harleys to enter from a side road. Talk about brazen. Any way, that is our new procedure. Beaver stops traffic and me and Smoke pull out. Finally got to Rochester after a fairly long but pleasant day, anticipating a nice shower and a frosty product of the brewers art, but no rooms anywhere. We wind up in Batavia, New York before we find one room with a rollaway (Beavers turn on the rollaway) for $140 per night at an Econolodge...ECONOlodge...jeez! By then I am hungry and tired and I know when I take my helmet, my hair will be a fright...boog

Other Brother Daryl

2008-07-13T00:16:00.002-04:00

There are several good reasons to be back in the US. The roads signs are in English, not French ,and speed limits are mph not kilometers. Fuel is only $4 a gallon vs $6 in Canada.(so quit you grumbling) and my cell phone is back to free long distance instead of rather onerous international rates in Canada. And reason #1...US has card readers so you can pay for your fuel by credit card at the pump without having to go inside and stand in line to pay. (Can you believe there, was a time in our history when we did not have pay at the pump, or automatic tellers, or even TV remotes. How did we endure?) Anyway, there was one exception at a fuel stop just south of Quebec City. Not only did they have pay at the pump. They had rest rooms located right on the gas islands...Wow! Now that is an idea whose time has come...So we left Newport, Vermont bright an early this AM with the vague intent of making it as close as possible to Niagara Falls. Hard to believe Beav and Smoke in all their travels have never been to Niagara Falls, but I am trying to be accommodating . Besides I may decide to be the first in history to go over the falls on a V-Strom. We stayed north, snuggling up against the south shore of the St Lawrence waterway and traveling thru rolling green hill country. The grass really is greener here, seeming to prefer the cooler temperatures rather than the transitional zone temperatures of E. Tenn. Northern Vermont is farmland; nice little family dairy farms scattered among the hills. Traveling on a bike is said to offer the advantages of heightened senses, but heightened olfaction when riding past these farms was definitely a negative. These barns reaked with the foulest of odors, to the point where I held my breath til my nail beds were cyanotic. I grew up on a cattle farm and our cows never smelled like that.Whatever they feed these cows they could do with more fiber. Stopped at a little cafe in some small town for coffee.Stereotypical Vermonters in there. Expected Bob Newhart to walk thru the door any minute In fact there were 2 guys in there ,both named Daryl...looked like brothers to me...boog

Ok, I was Hasty

2008-07-12T23:31:00.002-04:00

The novelty of blog posting has worn off for Smoke when he figured out it is a bit of a chore after a long day of wearing the tread of a set of Metzlers, so it again falls to my lot. As I type this he is in bed making sleep sounds suggestive of a 42cc Husqvarna chain saw with the 36in. bar. ( And he denies snoring.) I have not posted since we left Baie Commeau and in my last post after coming off the translabrador highway I was bemoaning the fact that the adventure part of this journey was at an end and we might as well be superslabbing on Goldwings from here home. Well , I was hasty in my conclusions. Seeing the countryside from an asphalted surface can be quite satisfyng, even when it is not threatening to stick your face in the dirt. I was just in a bad humor the other night. I had terrrible helmet hair and could not do a thing with it, and I was still chafing at the French for refusing to include a bit of English on their road signs. I'm better now after 2 days of really good plain touring touring. The road from Baie Commeau to Quebec City was past beautiful countryside and other than being somewhat heavily trafficed was a ball. Quebec City I probably could have done without. No question it's a very interesting place and I enjoyed my 12 dollar salad in the little sidewalk cafe in the old city section,but the place was crowded to a fault. When we tried to find our way out of Quebec City, we became entangled in heavy traffic and were imprisoned on 5mph 4 lanes for a good 10 miles. At that point Smoke and I became separated from Beaver and we did not rejoin for another 150 miles. Headed south to the closest border crossing we could locate on the map.and near the end of the day settled in Newport, Vermont in the good old US of A.....Glory!...boog

Ouest along des St Lawrence

2008-07-11T21:51:00.002-04:00

Morning brought an entirely new weather pattern and vive la difference. We woke to sunshine. Beav would not hear of a plan to skip breakfast and indeed had scouted out a place for us to dine prior to our making our morning appearance at the bikes. As we finished breakfast I caught a glimpse of the Beav nicking an extra bagel and putting it in his pocket. He really learned something from yesterdays fast. Anyway, I suggested that I take the lead again as I only led the latter half of the day yesterday, but it was suggested in return that my demonstration of what Boog called excessive exuberance on the trottle after we reached pavement disqualified me in light of the now apparent law enforcement presence. I was banished to the back where boog told me to get in touch with something he called his muse. Ostensibly, I was to become a man of letters like the boog if I could get this muse thing to talk trash to me like he does to the boog. Then it came to me. "We departed under a high azure canopy with the occassional scattered fluffy white thing. (Note to pawn dog--not all fluffy white things look like the purloined motel towels you are so fond of) As the spindly fir trees of the north country gave way the the more substantial alder the the odd maple we traversed a broad high plain along the eastern most part of the St Lawarence seaway. We found ourselves on the route des balienes heading ouest. For you who only speak anglaise and have no experience with boog's favorite cartoon character the means road des whales heading west. These French! The only sign in english I saw today was one to remind us that radar detectors are illegal. Begrudgingly I must admit that Quebec is actually a really beautiful bit of eye candy along this route. After only a few miles we leave the plains and enter some really nice hilly terrain with large granite boulders and wooded hillocks. This muse thing is really inspiring me to literary flights of fancy. Then we come to some real twisties and I'm dragging foot pegs and becoming my old self. Then I remember that I am no longer a man of action and return to my now more contemplative ways. Oh hell, it was really fun 'til the road straightened out again. After about 100 miles we head over an abrupt rise to find that the road falls away abruptly into a river. Fortunately for us there is a ferry waiting to recieve us at this point. We have been assured that we should expect to see the balienes on this crossing. No balienes in evidence, but an uneventful crossing took us to yet another "side" of Quebec. We begin to notice that the countyside is beggining to look a lot like old Europe. The architecture is becoming decidedly more French in appearance and even the barns are beginning to look a little sissyfied.. Two hundred fifty miles of this and we make it to Quebec City for lunch. In reality I don't think the beav could really be hungry because I spied him surreptitiously consuming his stolen bagel. He was very careful not to be observed since he was concerned that he would be in violation of some arcane ordinance such as "thow shalt not eat with thy left hand while astride a two wheeled conveyance" Yep, your'e right I'm still pissed about the beer. We have a good lunch with green things that we have been missing on our mostly deep fried trip. Somehow we become separated on our way out of the city but fortunately we have decided on a terminus for this day's journey and we head sud ( that's south) toward CONUS and Newport Vermont." I'm sick and tired of the muse thing now and it's bedtime. Get back in the box, muse. more to follow............smoke

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The French in Quebec

2008-07-10T23:09:00.002-04:00

I'm not trying to create a furor over political incorrectness here, but, why are all the road signs in Quebec only in French? We have traveled all the Atlantic Provinces of Canada on this little adventure and all the others have road signs in both English and French, but in Quebec where the French are in the substantial majority no signs of any sort are bilingual.{ I figured out pretty quick that "arret" is stop.] This strikes me as a bit arrogant. And surprisingly in an area where lots of English speaking folks come and go, people like our motel clerk and even our waitress, spoke very little English. We were only able to check into the motel and order our dinner because Pepe Le Pew cartoons are some of my favorites, so I speak a little French. When we traveled the Alps 2 years ago language was not an issue because English was a second language to most Europeans.(Except the Brits, I'm not sure what the heck they were speaking.) Maybe these Quebec French should give up some of their nationalistic pride and realize that society is global nowdays....Le Boog

Misadventures

2008-07-10T22:35:00.002-04:00

In perusing Smokes posts ( mostly to correct any misinformation he might post about me) I note he failed to describe his terrifying encounter with the.......shower. Last night I was lying on the bed catching up on the days events on the tube, when a most gosh-awful ruckus ensued in the bath room where to my understanding Smoke was washing off the accumulated crust from the days ride. Fearing the worst I ran to the door and enquired if he was ok.He assured me everything was fine, and I sure as heck was not going to open the door.(That just isn't done by guys.) He finally came out and knowing an explanation was required indicated he had slipped in the shower,fallen out of the shower and landed on the bathroom sink and in the process broke off the toilet lid in an effort to catch himself...I saw it, he broke it... Imagine the irony of traveling 4500 miles on a motorcycle including several hundred miles of treacherous dirt roads and then causing grievous harm to oneself by falling in the shower. Now if he had indeed injured himself, the Beav and I would have no doubt come up with a another explanation with better story telling potential, something along the lines of say, a grizzly bear, or a damsel in distress, or a 70 mph highside which he almost saved...boog

Baie Comeau

2008-07-10T21:51:00.002-04:00

Well here we are motel sitting in Baie Comeau, Quebec ,a thriving little city on the north shore of the St Lawrence waterway. Unlike the communities we've visited the past few days, this a "normal" city with a McDonalds, several motels and more than one restaurant. Even has a Walmart. Now I'm not against "normal" little cities, but the point (to me anyway) of adventure touring is seeking out and exploring locales outside your sphere of familiarity and, believe me, Newfoundland, Labrador and the stretch of Quebec we traveled today definitely qualify.The rest of the journey home will be ,I fear, touring touring instead of adventure touring. Might as well be on Goldwings. The roads over the past week have been a challenge certainly but they were not built to entertain motorcycle riders or to transport tourists into the spectacular beauty.They are working roads that transport supplies into the iron ore mines and equipment into the huge hydroelectric facilities, and bring logs out of the north woods to be loaded onto ships on the St Lawrence. Work trucks inhabit these roads not tour buses.And we bikers are a bit of a curiosity here. We are tolerated, even welcomed as long as we don't get in the way and we learn that East Tenn. is not the center of the universe ,not by a long shot. I very much regret that the other members of our gang of rowdies was unable to make the long loop with us. but I definitely understand the work issues involved...boog

Rain and mud

2008-07-10T20:32:00.002-04:00

We begin this morning early without giving beaver a chance at the breakfast table. Boog and I devise a plan to get him going by promising food and coffee "down the road". Well beaver is a pilot not a navigator so he has no idea that there will be no breakfast or lunch this day. By noon he knows he's been had. The first clue he gets is 20 miles out of Lab City the pavement ends and the fight is on. Rain falls steadily and the road has hundreds of little visible ruts that are impossible to see with our clouded face shields. Early experience entering muddy turns teaches us to slow down and weight the pegs. Now Boog and I are in communication via our new toy, blue tooth scala rider headsets. After I take a dab to save myself from a mud bath after a particullarly "interesting corner entry", I ask boog if he thinks the girls might enjoy this ride two up. As I wait for the usual snide remark, I look up to see boog's little wee strom shaking from side to side like a cold puppy. All I hear is oh sh..t. He was silent for a while (ususual for him). I took his silence as a qualified "not likely". By the time my fuel warning light got my attention we had covered 175 miles mostly in fourth gear. The afternoon brought a little sun and more complaining from a now very hungry beaver. We fuel up in Gabriel and meet some folks from NY who give us some real encouragement. Only 60 to 70 more miles of dirt before it gives way to pavement. The road dries somewhat and beaver smells the barn and the trough. He's leading today and puts the hammer down. By the end of the dirt section we come to Manic V. A huge dam and power station. Beav and boog stop for a photo and boog notices that my right side bag has broken free of it's mount. Yep, that fancy Jesse mount has finally fatigued under our constant battering over stutter bumps and pot holes. After a cleaver fix with multiple tie downs by the boog, we are off on the final stretch of undulating and broken pavement. What a relief for at least for the weary smoke. Baie Comaeux is the stop for tonight. Tomorrow, lunch in Quebec City in defference to the beaver and then on to CONUS. I learned this is military speak for continental US. More from boog later...............smoke

clarification

2008-07-09T20:22:00.002-04:00

Understand that Beaver and Smoke showed pretty much zero interest in the blog until last night ;while busy working on a post I casually asked if dipshit was one word or two. Since then each has insisted on reading what I was writing and Smoke himself even did the post tonight.And all I asked was a simple question...boog

Churchhill Falls.....Impressions of the town

2008-07-09T16:44:00.002-04:00

Man of action not letters forgot to mention that the whole town of Churchhill Falls is owned by the power company. All the homes are rented from the company and all but three small businesses are controlled by the company. 600 people in the town are virtually all controlled by the power company. Guess what happens when you retire. You leave. No retiring in Churchhill Falls. Boog and I found the atmosphere a little constraining. Beav thought it was just like home in the military. The gang once again ran afoul of the law. Decided to take a walk to the pub, one of the three private establishment on the "compound" only to find it closed. Not to be denied the slakeing of our thirst we stop by a mini-mart and buy a sixer of the very drinkable Alexander Keith IPA. Well as luck would have it, there was no place to open the first bottle in doors so I decide to imbibe on the walk back to the "company" hotel. Admittedly I was warned that it was frowned on to drink in public. What I didn't know was the clerk ratted me out to the RCMP and I was busted within 50 feet of the store while walking and very descretely enjoying my illicit beverage. These people need to have more to do. He asked me if it was OK to drink beer in public where I was from and I explained that it most certainly was. He allowed as how it was against some statute here but that he would give me as pass. Boog and beaver continue to be law abiding but it just some how pisses me off when people are petty. I'll grow up some day...........smoke

Churchhill Falls and on to Lab City

2008-07-09T15:56:00.002-04:00

Boog is too tired to blog this evening so your "man of action not man of letters" will do what he can to entertain the folks at home and the rest of the gang. Last night the boog and smole took a tour of the largest underground hydroelectric plant in the world. The beaver of course needed to eat and sleep so missed the tour. His loss. Really, it was an amazing thing to see. The French and the Canadians (go figure) came up with a plan in the early 1960's to divert all the water that falls on Labrador into a solid granite hole in the ground about a thousand feet below the surface where they got the help of Westinghouse (American perhaps?) and positioned nine turbines capable of producing 55,000 megawatts of power which by the way according to the boog is enough to shock the smoke. I take his word for this as he only rarly lies to me about the danger of our excusions. It actually is a pretty amazing plant. Huge tunnels carve out of solid granite with two lane paved surface for a floor which we specuate is the best pavement in all of Labrador. We get away to Lab City only after the beaver has been fully fed. Smoke gets to lead today and stay relatively clean for the first 80 or so miles. It gets interesting then as the dreaded road graders are encountered. Deep sand and deeper loose gravel once again nearly take their toll on our little merry band. Much standing on the pegs and the occassional dab but we live to ride another day. Tomorrow promises to be a long one as we have 355 miles before we sleep, much of it on gravel. Here's hoping. smoke

On to Churchhill Falls Labrador

2008-07-09T05:47:00.002-04:00

Sleeping on the big boat was good, not nearly as noisey as our typical motel and the pulsation of the giant diesel engines is relaxing. Disembarked at 8 am and motored into the metropolis of Goosebay to (guess what) find Beaver some breakfast before attacking the gravel highway to Churchhill falls. This section turned out to be tougher than road to Cartwright because its better maintained meaning the roadgraders come through regularly and spread the gravel around so we are frequently riding in deep gravel. The bikes get squirrelly in this stuff and threaten to spit the rider into the bushes. Paradoxically the faster you go the more stable the motorcycle becomes because of the gyroscopic effect of the wheels. The downside is, if you do go down you are gonna tumble a lot longer.So, you establish a comfortable speed based on the size of your...ah...bravado, and proceed.The bike moves around alot on gravel and you need to just let it happen without micromanageing the handlebars.The throttle is your friend. Power allows the front wheel to stay light and on top of the gravel rather than knifing in and creating the oh so hurtful highside. Anyway, we made this section without harm to ourselves. Haven't seen as much wildlife on this trip as expected but did see our 3rd bear yesterday. I was in the lead and saw the big fella laying beside the road tearing apart a fresh kill. I slowed immediately, riding with one hand while trying to extract my camera with the other.The bear stood up with his kill hanging from his mouth. He was huge ,which made me rethink my plan to stop. I sped by him not knowing if he considered Vstrom riders prey or competition. He was black but had the short snout and dished face characteristic of a grizly.Fortunately just as Smoke and Beaver arrived the bear decided we were at least his equal and fled. Those rascals are much faster than I thought.He stopped about 150 yards away, and calmly resumed dismantleing his pry. I suspect this encounter was more exciting for us than for the bear...boog

Cartwright and the ferry part deux

2008-07-08T21:46:00.002-04:00

Left the restaurant and toured Cartwright, both streets of it, even the cemetary. If it sounds like we were killing time, we were. The ferry was not scheduled to board for another 3 hours...spied the crab plant which plays such a pivitol roll in the lives of Cartwright dwellers and we already knew the plant managers name was "Dink" from our source at the restaurant so we walked into the plant and asked "Dink" if we could have a tour. Actually, to be candid, Beaver walked in and Smoke and I just followed along.We call him "Beaver the Bold"...But we got our tour.Place smells really fishy. Surely there must be better ways to make a living than yanking legs off crabs and putting them in a box all day long ,day after day, year after year for a lifetime...Left there a little pensive...Still had time before boarding so smoked a cigar and did some maintenance on the bikes in the ferry parking lot. A couple in their early 50's drives up and says, "Hey you all are the bikers we saw stopped on the road from Port Hope Simpson". "Yea," says we. Says he,"looked like guy in the yellow coat was relieving himself by the side of the road". We say nothing. Says she, "don't be embarressed,I didn't see anything even looking through the binoculars" My coat is red...Beavers is orange......So we finally get to board the really big ferry boat and after a time we are steaming through the North Atlantic on the way to Goose Bay.This a scheduled 13 hour trip (overnight) so we book a 4 person berth.Four people could get in this "berth" only if all four were in the bunks.We took turns in the room, one at a time, with the other 2 standing in the hall.Spent the evening on deck watching the sunset over the sea..nice,very. ..I, in particular, was on the lookout for icebergs, with that Titanic thing and all...didn't see any...boog

Cartwright and the Ferry

2008-07-08T21:12:00.002-04:00

So, I'm back...On the ferry last night and no comunication of any sort. Bailed out of Port Hope Simpson yesterday Am after fueling at the smallest gas station I've seen anywhere...basically a tiny shack with a big lock on the door.To access it you go across the street to a grocery store and the clerk gets the key,opens the shed and hands out a gas hose. The fuel is pumped from an above ground tank and is of suspect quality, but the bikes ran ok on it. Trip from Port Hope Simpson was on gravel of course but not too deep and was relatively smooth so we made good time. Along the way passed 2 BMW GS riders coming from Cartwright. The second bike in line was yellow and I recognized it as T-Bones bike he sold recently to Susan Stockdale from Knoxville.She and her Husband Mitch Trailered to Maine and were making the translab loop clockwise. I was aware of their plans but It was still cool to run across them in such an obscure place as this. We stopped and chatted for a bit until the mosquitos ran us off...Rolled into Cartwright early afternon and of course Beaver had to have lunch. At the little restaurant we talked with the highschool aged waitress about Cartwright. Seems most of the adults there work in the crab processing plant.Both her parents were employed there. She was going away to school until she had a baby 6 mos ago; now she's not sure...probably go to work in the crab processing plant like everybody else...boog

The Gravel

2008-07-06T23:09:00.004-04:00

One of our major concerns has been the quality of the gravel road which we will travel for the next several hundred miles.Will it be passable by 2-wheeled conveyance wihout risking life and limb? Well, so far so good,at least to some extent.Gravel is not the ideal surface for a single track vehicle but we did OK today. Certainly attentiveness was required , but we were able to maintain about 40 mph comfortably. Biggest issue today was those damnable winds. A gust would move the bike off line on the low traction surface and into a rut or pothole or a ridge of deeper gravel and create all manner of sphincter tension. It was difficult to relax and do what we came here to do, ogle the landscape.Did experience a little rain, not heavy but wet the road. Traction on wet road seemed good enough as long as we adjusted speed. After the brief shower conditions dried out and dust became a problem.Guy in front was home free but two guys behind were pretty much covered.Tomorrow I suspect the front position will be hotly contested. In AM we head to Cartwright.There is no road from Cartwright to Goose bay so we travel by ferry only this time we board at 7PM and ride 13 Hrs,arriving at 8AM Tuesday.We will sleep on the ferry. Not sure if we will have internet availability on the ferry so next post may be Tues PM. HEY how come none of you weiners are leaving comments? It's lonely up here!...boog

Blanc Sablon to Port Hope, Labrador

2008-07-06T22:35:00.002-04:00

Unloaded from the ferry and headed north.Navigation not a big issue since there is only one road and it only goes one direction.The road was paved for about 25 miles to Red Bay, then became gravel.This will be the last pavement we will see for at least the next 4 days. The landscape on Labrador is dramatic and different from what we just left behind in Nfld.The terrain is rolling hills with few trees and very rocky...little rocks, big rocks and every size in between. Small bushes huddle close to the ground trying to hide from the incessant cold winds.Is labrador beautiful? Yea,probably, but other words come to mind first, like isolated, wild, desolate, maybe even forbidding.I have never seen anything quite like it even on the Arctic circle in the Yukon. The ground itself is definitely arctic tundra.soft and spongey underfoot and covered with moss and scattered tiny wild flowers trying to see a little action before winter returns in a few short weeks. People live here, a few anyway and manage a living fishing or cutting timber.Some cater to hunters and sport fisherman coming from U.S. and other parts of Canada and to crazy motorcyclist like ourselves.The road system is sparse and only about 30 miles of it is paved...boog

Labrador on 6 July

2008-07-06T22:05:00.002-04:00

Here we are in the wilds of Labrador at the Alexis Hotel in Port Hope.It's not 4-star but it will do. Awakened in Plum Point Nfld to heavy rain and 50 degree temps.By the time we had breakfast (Beaver never misses a meal) and got geared to manage the weather rain had stopped.We rode the short distance to the St Barbe ferry and booked our crossing to Labrador.Had an hour to kill before loading so Beaver wanted to eat again.He must surely have worms.Trying to get Smoke to do a scotch tape test but so far he has resisted the idea. At the ferry loading area a chocolate lab showed up carrying a big stick and dropped it at our feet.He barked until Smoke threw the stick 10 feet down the parking lot.The lab ran down to the waters edge the ran back up and fetched the stick again dropping it at our feet.He obviously wanted the stick tossed in the water not in the parking area.We obliged, he retreived and this cycle was repeated several times until we finally said no more. The pooch not to be deprived of his play time went further down the traffic line and conned some more people into tossing the stick for him. Nice doggy and smart.He obviously lived close around and regularly used the ferry riders for his entertainment. Finally we were allowed to board,tied down the bikes and went topside for the 2 hr. crossing....boog

St.Anthony and the Vikings

2008-07-05T21:46:00.002-04:00

Left Port au Choix early this morning.It was 52 degrees and very windy ( so what else is new).Beaver was in a foul mood cause people in the room next to his partied all night and compromised his beauty rest. (Was obvious,you shoulda seen him) We turned north again and headed toward St Anthony on the very tip of western Nfld.Ride was not uncomfortable since we were dressed for it and it warmed fairly quickly. Lots of signs warning us of errant moose so we stayed alert...saw a couple but no collision risk. St Anthony is an old, very picturesque fishing village of probably 2000 people.There are icebergs floating in the harbor and of course we had to visit and photograph the requisite lighthouse.Every little town here has a lighthouse, just like every town in E.Tn. has redlight cameras.The real highlight of the day was a visit to a Viking settlement which was unearthed just north of St Anthony in 1960 by a Norwegian archeologist.It is now an official Canadian historic site and believed first settled in 1000 AD by Leif Erickson.The village actually thrived for 500 years until persisent conflict with the indigenous people forced its abandonment...Guess that settles the issue about who discovered America.Tonight we are settled in at Plum Point just south of our ferry crossing point tomorrow and on to Blanc Sablon Labrador...boog

Gros Morne Park

2008-07-05T21:12:00.004-04:00

yesterday morning we left Stephenville in a thick fog (" sea fog", according to Beaver ) but it burned off quickly and we were left with really nice weather except for an incessant wind that after awhile becomes a real aggravation, but according to the locals it's always windy here so you make peace with the wind and motor on. Gros Morne National Park is about half way up the coastal highway going north and was a major treat. The ocean is on one side of the highway and most impressive mountains on the other. These mountains arise abruptly from the near sealevel landscape and shoot skyward with a vertical face...dramatic! As we ride along the vegetation takes on a more subartic look like we encountered in the Yukon with low growing bushes and scattered groves of stunted spruce, hardwoods, and lodgepole pine.We end the day in Port au Choix, a small fishing village of about 600 people.The towns economy revolves round a shrimp processing plant which ships worldwide. The shrimp from these cold waters is smaller than warm water shrimp which makes it more suitable for salads and such ,at least according to the waitress at the hotel. ....boog

More Newfoundland News

2008-07-05T20:30:00.003-04:00

After the ferry discharged its vehicular and passenger load in Port au Basque, Newfoundland yesterday

2008-07-05T20:01:00.002-04:00

Port au Basques,Nf, Northward

2008-07-04T23:42:00.003-04:00

The big boat disgorged us in Port au Basque mid afternoon on the 3rd of July. The road north was smooth and limited access so we let the bikes eat asphalt to make some time, of course with the ever constant vigil for mounties.We made the 120 mi. to Stevenville without incident and found our lodging.It was a bit early for dinner so Smoke and I decided to make the big loop around the peninsula. Beaver demured.Loop turned out to be about 90 mi. and followed the coastline but was quite scenic.The entire loop is primarily residential with houses being built on cliffs overlooking the sea 1-200 ft. below...absolutely gorgeous building sites. If such sites were available in the U.S.,they would be worth 1/2 million dollars for a 1/2 acre lot and some mass tort lawyer would build a huge monument to himself on it....but here, the houses were typical Newfy fare with neat small to medium clapboard houses and gravel driveways.Obviously these magnificent building sites are inexpensive.I thought it curious that the rich and famous have not built here. Then I begin to notice that many of the houses had a pile of firewood in the side yard about the size of two school buses parked nose to tail...Aha! a clue...the summers here are short and the winters grim...boog

4th of July on "The Rock"

2008-07-04T22:59:00.002-04:00

Yesterday,July 3rd, me,Smoke,and Beaver arose with the chickens and were sitting at the ferry crossing in North Sydney,N.S..at 6:15 AM...don't know why those things have to sail so early...preparing to go to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. Ship was already there and was ,to the eye of a landlubber, one big boat...400 ft. long,with multiple decks and a really loud foghorn.On command, multiple lanes of cars,tractor trailer rigs,buses,motor homes and 6 motorcycles, including our 3 rolled aboard. We lashed down our bikes and went topside to get underway at the breakneck speed of 21 knots...took 6 hours to cross and actually was a little boring until Beaver befriended one the crew and got us permission to enter the bridge where they navigate and drive the boat(ship?) The bridge personel were quite cordial and showed us all around.I was surprised that the steering wheel was only about a foot in diameter. Guess I expected it to be more in scale with the size of the boat. Met the captain, a 5ft,4in...GIRL. Jeez! Chicks can't drive boats that big, but she did. In fact, when we arrived at our docking point, she slowed and whipped that ship around in its own length and greased her right in...hmmm?....boog

A Broken Computer

2008-07-04T22:53:00.002-04:00

Boog's computer is full of fail.

He wanted me to let you guys know that his laptop is broken and that he will blog if he can.

Sorry for the bad news...

Now the good news. Everyone is okay and they are on schedule!

This Ain't East Tennessee

2008-07-04T21:49:00.002-04:00

When we arrived in Nova Scotia I noticed I had taken very few pictures of the scenery on the way up...2300 miles and nothing worthy of a photo? Well, there was lots of natures beauty to admire like mountains of West Virginia,New River Gorge and the White mountains of Vermont, but it was all too much like East Tennessee. Beautiful no doubt' but since we followed the Appalachian mountain chain northward it all looked like E. Tn. at least close enough that we were not inspired to whip out our cameras and make a permanent image of something we can see out our window at home.Even Nova Scotia,if you leave out the seashore, looks a lot like home.Of course we did not leave out the seashore of N.S. because much of it would knock your eyes out...Peggy's Cove was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen with the lighthouse perched on the granite point jutting out into the North Atlantic and waves crashing onto the rocks...Wow! Certainly not like E. Tn. so out comes the cameras for a picture or ten .Now we are well up the coast of Newfoundland and I am here to tell you this place ain't anything like E.Tenn. and I am gonna need more SD cards...boog

Iron Butt Update

2008-07-03T07:58:00.002-04:00

Bone, Ryan, Rash and PawnDawg are now certified. They completed the 1000 miles about 1:00 this morning, 200 miles north of Niagra Falls. They were all very tired (of course) and are sleeping a little late, except for Pawn Dog who is already up and drinking coffee. They will wait until the current weather conditions improve as it is raining now. Once the rain moves through they will continue on to Niagra Falls and will enjoy the rest of the trip. We are all very proud of them and their accomplishment.

Headed To Newfoundland

2008-07-02T19:34:00.004-04:00

Well ,we are in and safe for the night, at least the 3 of us headed to Newfoundland tomorrow.We endured the tearful separation from our travelmates this morning...not really tearful actually...but can't help but feel a little sorry for them. The poor fools have headed home to make it back to work Monday. Definitely a pitiable situation ;but on the other hand those of us unemployed types plan to board the ferry at 6:30 AM and head over to Newfoundland (6 hour crossing time) and make our way eventually to Labrador to tackle the Translabrador highway...a 1000 mile dirt road in the middle of nowhere...'Course this morning when the 4 employed blokes headed back south, the wives also split to Halifax before flying home. Sure enjoyed their presence the past few days. Don't know what I am gonna do about my morning coffee now...I'm going to sign off til tomorrow...no wi-fi in the room...using the hotel lobby computer and some large, grumpy looking Canuck seems anxious for my seat...and ,hey, my hat is a cool hat, dang it!!! Boog

Thursday morning in Halifax from the girls - Wednesday night, about 9:15 EDT , the Iron Butt 4 called to say they were only 150 miles short of their 1000 mile destination and they were going to push on until they finished. We haven't heard from them since and decided not to call them this morning in case they were sleeping in which is exactly what they should be doing. So, we will update their progress as soon as we can. We will walk and shop today and I am sure we will eat . . .

Cabot Trail - Last Group Day Before the Big Split

2008-07-01T22:02:00.012-04:00

Today was a long day full of beautiful scenery and Nova Scotia character. It was 250 miles around the northern most end of NS and it was worth every mile, every hour. Absolutely gorgeous. We did stop for lunch at a local eatery which just happened to be overlooking another gorgeous bluff with blue ocean, sail boats, warm weather, good food, and friendly people. Everyone we have come in contact with here has been extremely friendly and willing to give us information and assistance and ideas. Bone has a thing about lobster - here he tries his luck and taking one from a wooden fisherman.

This is lupine - a wildflower here that is about 10 times larger than what we can grow in TN. Fields of these flowers - beautiful.

Tom and Debbie at one of many stopping points on the Cabot Trail around NS.

Sandra and John. John was the leader of the pack today and Sandra was our driver. Only a few U-turns - nothing we couldn't fix with a little time.
John and Pat being siblings . . .

Patsy and Pam were walking at 7:00 a.m. looking across the bay at Alexander Graham Bell's home place where his great grandson lives today. It was misty this morning . . .

Ryan. He is fun to travel with.

Inland portion of the trail - didn't last all that long as we quickly found ourselves back on the coastline.

This picture was taken at the end of the road. We could not go any further north on pavement as the fishing boats were crowding the harbor with their catch for the day. It was awesome to know we were as far north as we could go.

South

Traveling south down the coast in the late afternoon.

Staying in a line - trying to stay together.
We were forced . . .

Lunch time -

This raven actually sat very still in this treetop while we took several pictures. As soon as we began walking away, he also flew. Kind of eerie, like Edgar Allen Poe.

Sorry the pictures are not in order. It is late and everyone is very tired.

Today is Canada Day, the day they celebrate like we celebrate the 4th. We walked to the waterfront about 9:30 p.m. and enjoyed the fireworks display over the water. We were all tired, but still the celebration was worth the short walk.

LAST DAY -
The group will split in the morning. PawnDog, Rash, Ryan and Bone will leave at 6:00 a.m. headed for Niagra Falls. They are attempting to ride 1000 miles tomorrow to certify themselves as members of the Iron Butt Association. Certified - that's a good description.

The rest of the guys will leave around 9:00 headed further north to Newfoundland and beyond. They have another 2 weeks of riding in front of them.

The girls will head back to Halifax on Wednesday with the hopes of shopping a little before leaving for Knoxville on Friday.

From this point forward, Boog is in charge of the blog. He will have his laptop and will have all the pictures. It's been fun . . .

Day 9: North to Baddeck

2008-06-30T20:09:00.009-04:00

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

2008-06-29T15:03:00.006-04:00

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.

Pictures from Peggy's Cove:

Day 7: We Made It!!!

2008-06-29T14:49:00.003-04:00

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

2008-06-28T07:38:00.007-04:00

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

2008-06-27T21:13:00.007-04:00

**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

2008-06-25T21:14:00.010-04:00

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

2008-06-25T09:31:00.001-04:00

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

2008-06-25T06:52:00.004-04:00

** 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.

Day 2: Better Than The First

2008-06-23T22:53:00.016-04:00

**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.

It was a looooong first day

2008-06-22T23:00:00.006-04:00

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."

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

Canada....eh?

2008-06-15T06:42:00.002-04:00

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