After leaving the motel in Mont-Laurier, Jim and I headed North toward Ste.-Anne-du-Lac.
We stopped at Mont Michael, bought some snacks at a little convenience store, and ate them across the street at one of those rest stops. This one however was right in town with nice "gazebo" structures with benches beneath them. I took off before Jim as I am slower on the dirt, and we agreed to meet up in Parent.
Once I hit the dirt I lowered my tire pressure, looking back all the tie expecting Jim to come barreling by. No jim…..
Oh well, he must have started talking to some pretty girl walking by I figured.
The road was squirrelly and it took me a while to get my dirt groove







I got to Parent around 5 and all the while no Jim.
Now I started getting worried that maybe he just went to fast somewhere and crashed!!
I decided to buy some juice and sit on a bench reading right at the entrance of the Town so I could see Ji coming. Luckily there was only one road coming into Parent.
I sat there till after 7 while watching the road and hoping the black clouds did not decide to empty their load of water on me!
Finally I heard a bike (after hearing several ATV's fro a distance thinking it was Jim) and yes, it was him. Phew!!!!
What had happened was that Jim did not pass me while riding, so he thought I had taken another route. He turned around and took another dirt road just to me sure I hadn't crashed somewhere. Awwwww…. that was so sweet of him! :raabia
I guess I had been riding a lot faster than he thought I would be so that threw hi off.
I was glad he was finally there, but by then I was pretty tired, and so was he (I think he added another 100 miles of dirt by backtracking).
We set out toward Hibou, and were looking for a place to pitch the tent.


Following Jim into the sunset, I felt like Tonto!

After a little while Jim turned left on a little driveway where a house was. What the???
Turns out that the house was deserted, but even better, there was a deserted Indian cabin below the house near the lake.

Jim unpacking. We made the cabin our home for the night.

Somehow the picture I took of the cabin didn't take. I'm sure Jim has a bunch
The moon rose not too much later and reflected on the lake. It was beautiful!
We put my tarp on the floor, and how tent foot print and piled our pads and sleeping bags on it.
As I lied down to go to sleep I could feel my body still vibrating from riding on dirt. Boy that sucks the energy right out of me!!!

The next morning I woke up and went blueberry hunting. There were millions all around the cabin and it took no time at all to fill up my bowl.

Made Jim and I some scrumptious apple/banana/raisins pancakes topped with Agave syrup and Blueberries


After having packed up this Moth? Butterfly? landed on my bandana


One last photo of the beautiful lake

We made it to Hibou not too much later as it was not that far from where we had camped.

In case you are wondering why no pictures………..
I was holding on to my handlebars for dear life!!!

Once we made it to camp Hibou, the folks that ran the place, Daniel and a woman whose name I forgot, told us that the cabins were all booked….
They kind of frowned upon us wanting to pitch our tent, and didn't know how much to charge us for that, so they told us that they would let us know the next day after having talked to the owner. We walked around camp with Daniel who showed us where we could maybe pitch out tents.
We found a spot between the trees with a view of the lake away from everyone else.
After pitching or tents I strung the tarp above them and parked Spirit partially under it too.
They even had showers!!! Awesome.
Jim said that now would be a good time to do the valves, as there was no wind and we had the tarp over our heads.
It didn't take too long luckily and we ended up changing two shims. Still, working on the bike again, albeit regular maintenance, got to me. I was glad Jim did the shims, I took care of taking her apart and putting her back together again.
At one point Jim jokingly asked if I carried some sort of mosquito vestibule as those pesky buggers were everywhere.
Should have seen the look on his face when I told him I did!.

I set up the little bug "tent" and sat underneath ready to make some dinner.
Before I got started Jim got to talking to a couple of guys, Mark and Michel, who were bringing us some food!!
Stir-fried vegetable rice, no meat or egg!! JIm got fried Walleye on top of his rice.


Yup, JIm's in heaven!!

I took a lovely shower that night, not realizing that the window cover did not work once the light was on………
Luckily there were shrubs in front of the window, and even if there weren't I"m not exactly built like Marilyn Monroe, LOL.
The next morning the weather had changed, the wind had come up and Jim was wondering how big the waves would be on the big lake.
He had planned on taking me on the lake in a motorized canoe that he was going to rent.
Turned out that renting the canoe was a heck of a lot more than we thought it would be!! $130 plus gas!! Yikes.
We decided to break camp and head to Obijiwan and then back unto solid road toward Alma.








The road to Obijawan started out real loose and gravelly, but got better after a while. Still, even though I've gotten better at riding dirt, I was happy once we hit pavement!!
On my map of Quebec it showed a campsite on our way toward Saint Felicien, not sure if I spelled that right!
We almost missed it, but I am glad we didn't as it was a wonderful, albeit neglected and no longer maintained, camp ground.
We found a spot between the trees, right across the lake, and again put the tarp above us.

We had just finished eating when the rain started.
I slept wonderful as the sound of rain just knocks me out!!!
We spent the next day in our tents reading, eating and relaxing.

I do have to mention one really funny episode, that made me crack up!!
At our deserted forest camp ground at the lake, Jim took it in his head to go take a bath!! So here is is while it's raining, running butt-naked (nope I was in my tent and didn't watch) through the campground into the lake.
Like I said, even though I didn't watch, just hearing him make me laugh so hard! He is seriously funny at times!!!
Hope you don't mind I wrote that on my RR Jim!!

On the third day I felt the urge to pack up and go, even though it was still raining. I wanted to see how easily I could pack up in my new tent with the tarp above, and i I could stay dry.
Well, the pack up went pretty smooth, but I sure didn't stay dry! LOL.
I think I shocked Jim by packing up as he was all cozy in his tent ready to relax another day.
We had run out of toilet paper, and I had run out of books to read, so the thought of not having anything to read for a whole day did not sit well.
JIm packed up as well, but I could sense he wasn't too happy about packing up in the rain.


We rode to Alma and Chicoutemi/Saguenay where Jim got a Motel. We were both soaking wet!!
The rest will be on my next RR

Now where did I leave off??
As I am writing this, not posting this, I am camped near a small cabin on route 500 toward Happy Valley. Jim Just packed up and headed toward Happy Valley after having spent the day in the tent while it was raining. He had had enough of reading and listening to music he said, and was in the mood for a pub and some human company (well, other than me, to spread to light to

I’m trying to rack my brain as to where I left off with my ride report. It’s easy once I am online and can check. I think I left off that we got to motel The Parasol, in Chicoutemi.

Jim treated me to dinner at the restaurant that was in the Motel. I had a wonderful salad while he had 2 appetizers, rather large, and a huge meal. The hostess and the waiter were really amazed that he could eat all that.
In the motel room we had hung our soaking wet tent stuff to dry on the curtain rod (I am afraid that we made the floor a tad damp).

The next morning we worked on Spirit after quickly packing up our stuff and getting out of the room by the required time. Jim put a new rear sprocket (front was still in excellent shape) and a new chain on her. I worked on putting the starter wiring, it had rattled loose on the way to Obijiwan, back in the frame. I had bypassed it quickly while on the road.


Jim with my rear wheel after having put on the new sprocket

Jim had gotten me a bright halogen light bulb, but when I put it in the low beam didn’t work. I think the poor bulb bit the dust on the dirt roads. I put my new light back in, as I had just gotten it I Wawa.

New chain on a really dirty Spirit!!
We were done in a couple of hours and went into town to find freeze-dried meals for Jim and Tasty Bite or something similar for me. We bumped into a health food store that sold awesome vegie wraps that were made with rice flour.

I found an IGA extra and scored! Tons of Indian ready made dinners. At a sporting goods store we found freeze-dried meals for Jim.
We also got to talking to some folks who said that the route we had wanted to take to Labrador City was not feasible, and that the end of it that connected to 389 was not there.
We decided to go to Baie-Como


crossing the bridge out of Chicoutemi, I really liked that little town!






We missed the turn that headed North back into Saguenay, so Jim looped us around a back road



We didn’t ride too far that day as we had left pretty late.
We noticed a pull off on the side of the road and I asked Jim to see if there was a place to camp down the steep dirt road. There was, sort off!
It was a really great spot with a river or creek on reach side, and a roofed picnic table.
We pitched our tents next to each other as that was the only way we could both sleep somewhat horizontally. For some reason I forgot to take a picture.
The sound of the water was soothing and I slept great!!!


The point below our campsite



The next morning a fisherman was standing in the river, and after him a few others showed up.
One of them told Jim he had to have a fishing license and another permit, otherwise they would take his gear. A little while later the county guy showed up and said that we normally should have paid to camp there, but he would pretend that he hadn’t seen us. That was very sweet.
Turns out that every camp area has a different town attached to it where you have to get the permit. That system works great for the locals I guess, but when you are travelling like us, not knowing where you’ll end up, it’s not too practical.

We got on the road at a decent time I think, I kinds forgot
The road to Baie-Comeau was gorgeous!!!

In Forestville we stopped at a diner where Jim again ate a lot of food, and me a salad again but this time with potato skins as as well.
There were some gorgeous flowers outside the diner and I just had to photograph them.



We set off again and the scenery got even more awesome!




When we crossed a bridge we saw an amazing river and parked our bikes in the parking spot.
There was a small wooden viewing area and I took a couple of pics and decided to walk down the trail I saw in the bushes.
It was a short wet hike, but the view below was amazing, and amazingly wet too! It was like standing near a waterfall!!












Managed to take a shot of Jim riding under the rainbow



We arrived at Baie-Comeau after 5 I think, as the tourist office was already closed. After filling up our gas tanks we headed North on 385 having decided not to take the iffy dirt road that started from Cartier.
Immediately the road turned windy, like any other mountain road. Awesome. We hit rain of and on, and I was hoping that we’d have a little bit of dry time to pitch our tents.
Jim spotted a dirt road to the right, and we hopped on it. After riding down it my GPS showed that it was looping us around to the main Hwy again, but right before we did, we saw another small loop off to the right. Perfect! The weather was helpful too, as it didn’t rain.
We both found a spot to pitch our tents, albeit further apart than normal, LOL.
We just ended up hollering back and forth.


The next morning Jim was up at 5 AM, and by the time I woke up he was ready to get out of there. I felt like relaxing a bit more as I was not even fully awake at the time. We would meet up at Manic Cinq.

Part of me felt a bit deserted, but I realized that we are two different people even though we are also very similar in a lot of ways. And even though Jim wanted to travel with me I realized that my version of traveling with someone is different than his version of traveling with someone.
I had to make myself realize that when friends travel together this is probably how things go. We each go out own way and meet up at some point in time.
Part of me felt that this was not really traveling together, but then I really talked to myself and found that there are some nicer aspects of traveling this way. I could now relax and go at my own pace without feeling “forced” (by my own self) to go at Jim’s pace. I could enjoy doing what I liked doing, i.e. reading and taking pictures of flowers etc., and ride at my own speed while stopping when I felt like it. For me traveling with Jim was something new, and even though we are just friends, part of me wanted our traveling arrangement to be more like how couples travel, even though we are nothing of the sort. Jim’s kind of my little soul sibling for lack of a better description.
(I am saying little as he is 5 years younger than I am so I can)
I relaxed and read a while, made myself breakfast, and waited for the sun to come out and dry my tent.
After a while it got lighter and the sun peeked out as well. Awesome!


I looked at the area Jim had camped (habit to see if he had forgotten anything) and noticed this gorgeous mushroom/berry still life.

It was nice and warm by the time I hit the road, perfect for picture taking!


small waterfall off the rocks on the side of the road




Enjoying the wide-open road!

I was thoroughly enjoying the road not thinking much of anything just being one with the beautiful views when I noticed a biker heading my way.
LOL, it was Jim!
“Have you seen my toothbrush?”, Were the first words out of his mouth.
I told him I hadn’t, and that I had even walked around his tent space.
He had put it in his pocket, but found out after having spend the morning having breakfast and talking to the hostess, that it was no longer in there. So he rode back about half and hour’s worth to find it as it is his favorite traveling toothbrush he has had for years.
As we were talking he checked his pockets again, and it wasn’t in there, then he miraculously found it in the pocket area of the back armor. It must have slid down in there somehow. He was happy to have ran into me cause it made him find his brush.
We set of to Manic Cinq together, but before long he left me in the dust as I just didn’t want to make Spirit go fast. She really does well fast but I am just worried about taxing her heart.
When I got to Manic Cinq Jim was in a diner eating, again! I told the hostess that I was fine, that it really was too hard for me to eat out. Riding with Jim puts me in an awkward position as he always wants to pay for my food. I treated to dinner once, but it puts me in a precarious position financially. Having him pay for dinner all the time does not feel right either.
I am totally happy with eating my snack bar for lunch and warming up my Indian food for dinner.
I decided not to gas up there, as I knew we would hit dirt soon. I had enough gas to make it to Gabriel. I told Jim see you soon, and set off again.


Manic Cinq has a huge dam


The size of it is staggering!

The road turned into dirt heading up the dam


Once on top I stood on the fence so I could take a picture of the view. The gates were locked.
I rode over a huge bridge that came right after the dam, and one side had a dried up view of a once big river, and the other side had the gorgeous view of two lakes





The rest of the road to Fermont and Labrador was supposedly gravel.
So far it was easy riding, yippee!
Some time later Jim passed me.


Yep, this is going to be one heck of a long ride!!


Long but gorgeous

Before long I got to Gabriel, a small town with a gas station, the last one till Fermont.
Jim was at the gas station having bought some snacks. He bought me some chips and juice as well.
A couple stopped by and Jim got to talking with them. They were from Ontario I think but on their way to either Newfoundland or Nova Scotia. She was a student and he was still looking for work.
I told Jim that I would go ahead as he rode a lot faster than me anyway, so I left, but not before taking a pic of the beautiful view at the back of the gas station



The road had turned into asphalt right before the diner, and it looked like it was going to stay that way. I pulled over and filled up my tires again.








Whoa!! Really?? Guess they were saving money on the bridge.






Yep you could look straight down and see the river



It was getting later and I still hadn’t seen Jim yet. I had turned off a few dirt roads and looked for places to camp, so I figured he probably passed me by some time then.
I knew that he really wanted to get to Labrador City, so I figured that I wouldn’t see him until then.
I had just passed a lone cabin on the side of the road, and made a U-ey when I saw Jim heading toward me. I pointed at the cabin and turned on the gravel driveway.
The cabin looked deserted and when I turned the knob it opened. Looking inside I saw that it had been used as some sort of way station for the weary traveler.
Jim came inside too, and like the cabin. There was a French sign on the wall that translated roughly into keeping the place clean, and the name of the owner. But I couldn’t quite decipher the whole message.
Jim had a friend (or family member) who had passed away a year ago tat day (or he thought, he couldn’t remember) so he really didn’t want to stay at the cabin but go to Labrador City so he could call his wife. I told him I really wanted to stay. He said that it was only an hour out, and that he might be back afterward as it was cheaper to spend the gas than to pay for a motel.

I unpacked Spirit and got myself settled in the cabin.






Made myself dinner and lit the candles that were on the table and put Teddy there for company (a much quieter companion I might say, just teasing Jim, I enjoy our conversations) and had a wonderful evening by myself.
I put a candle in the widow to make it easier for Jim to see the cabin if he came back, but my gut told me he wouldn’t.
I fell asleep as soon as I lied down; I was exhausted!

The next morning was chilly so I started the woodstove. Everything was there, dry wood, birch bark, the perfect fire starter, and tons of paper.


The cabin was toasty warm in no time, too toasty!! I quickly opened a window as it started getting uncomfortably hot. I had pancakes with blueberries for breakfast, and made myself a new bottle holder liner, as the bottom had broken out again. The wool liner I had made earlier that week had already chafed loose and broken.

Mushroom between the blueberries.

Then I packed up and headed for Labrador City.
Was I ever in for a surprise!! The road turned into dirt again!!! I thought the rest was paved……!
So here I went and got rid of some tire pressure.
As it turned out the road was perfect. It did look like it might have rained the day or night before. If that were the case, then no wonder Jim didn’t make it back, it would have been a nightmare.

Still it was a really nice stretch of road.











Another one of those half finished bridges


Had to take a pic with Spirit on one. Good thing it was a quiet road!!


There was mining going on further down the river, making the water fairly red!!
Soon afterward I hit a huge construction area and paved road followed after that.
I rode past the turn-off to Fermont and right into Labrador!!



Jim had holed up in a fancy hotel and because he had overslept ended up having to stay for another night. So lucky me, I got to room with him again, take a shower and wash clothes.
The internet was horrifying so later on in the evening I went next door to McD and downloaded most of my pictures.

Well, that’s it for now, as we are about to go on a 500km dirt road to Cartwright, and afterward to the ferry that will take us to Newfoundland.
Still, that will be a few days from now.

Also, a very warm and heartfelt thanks to Jo C. and Dusan S. for your wonderful donation. I really appreciate it!!

I should really be writing every night after I pitch my tent, or in this case (and others) when I’m in a hotel or Bed & Breakfast room. I find that if I don’t write things down immediately that I tend to forget the little but important things.
Well, I’ll try to see if I do still remember my thoughts from a few days ago.

I made it to Labrador City and met up with Jim at Wal-Mart (what did we do in the days without cellphones???). He had gotten to town late in the night having ridden that dirt road in the rain and the dark. Then after some drinks in the bar he overslept and had to pay for another night, so he figured I could stay there as well.
We got the stuff for cleaning the airfilters, and He was going to change his oil. I only had 2000 miles on it, so I figured I’d change mine in Newfoundland as nobody sold quarts of Rotella-T.
Jim dropped me off at the Hotel while he went to change his oil behind Canadian Tire. I took a wonderful shower

Once Jim got back he got to cleaning the filters that we had taken out (they were filthy!!!!) in ziplock bags with mineral spirits. Since Jim lost his sense of smell, that was no big deal to him, but boy!! I could smell that stuff way down the hallway….. First order of business, open the window! Yep that long dirt road to Parent and Obijiwan sure did a number on them, plus I had a lot of other dirt roads that I had taken after leaving Just Jeff’s place in Lac La Biche.

Afterward I spend the evening downloading my pictures and writing part of my last report. The internet was too slow, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to post anything from there.
The next day we backtracked a tad so we could see the “wall” in Fermont that we had been told about.


It wasn’t really a normal wall, but an apartment wall.
It had been built this way to keep the wind out of the town in the winter, and lot of housed were built on the other side, really close to the “wall”.
To me it seemed that everyone was practically living on top of each other, not a place that would sit well with me if I may be honest.

Jim was riding on reserve and luckily there was a gas station nearby. We gassed up for the road (Jim kindly filled my gas tank too ) and headed for the open road toward Goose Bay.




We rode at our own pace and after a while I lost track of Jim.
Turns out he had stopped somewhere to go fishing.

There was a stop sign at a railroad and it’s a good thing I stopped




I enjoyed my solitary ride down the road, and occasionally found a reason to stop and take a picture




Some I took while riding.




Don’t we just love these steel grated bridges. This one wasn’t that bad, some others were.



After a while the road turned into dirt. I saw some road workers at their truck on the side of the road, and asked them how long this stretch of dirt was. I didn’t want to air down just to find out that it was only a few miles long. Turns out it was about 60 Km, about 40 miles.
I started out just keeping the air in my tires, but some parts were just too squirelly, so I aired down.
I have to admit that before I hit dirt, I actually started to nod off here and there. The road was not exactly captivating after a while, so having it change into dirt woke me up quite a bit.
Then it started raining!! That really woke me up as the road got a tad muddy here and there. At one point I had to stop due to roadwork, and got to talking to the young native kid who stood there stopping traffic in the pouring rain. I told him they should have given him an umbrella.
He fully agreed and we got to talking. He was so amazed that I was from Hawaii. I asked him if he had seen a guy on a bike like mine with cases, but black. He said he had about 2 hours ago. I figured that Jim had gone ahead to Goose Bay, but I knew that it was just too far for me to go there that day. I was exhausted.
Finally I was allowed to go, and I said Aloha to the kid. He hollered slow down after I left, oops!!

As soon as I hit pavement I looked for a place to pull over to air up my tires again. The perfect spot showed up in a jiffy!!
As I was airing up I caught a bike riding up to me out of the corner of my eye. It was Jim???? Huh??
I guess it must have been someone else on a black dual sport bike.
Jim never aired down, so he was good to go.
After riding a little while longer we started finding cabins, but they were all locked. And some looked like the owners got there frequently.
Finally we found another cabin, locked as well, but remote with an outhouse, that looked like no one had been there in a while.


We pitched out tents there, Jim in some nice soft moss, and me in sawdust (soft too).
Of course there were tons of blueberries all over the place. Yum!
We sure were not having the best of weather as it was raining again the next day. Not heavily, but enough to not want to break up camp.
So we lounged in our tents and ate and read. I even made popcorn, which unfortunately burned, but it was still it was good.
Then around 6 PM Jim decided he had enough of hanging around, and that he really wanted to find a pub and get something to drink. He said he was sure that he’d find a drinking buddy.
Of course that same old twinge, he’s leaving me again??
LOL, what’s up with me??
I started thinking about how women are raised in society, and even though I am a strong and independent woman, who enjoys being by herself and camping out in the middle of nowhere without qualms, I still freaked out a tad at the thought of being by myself again.
I thought it funny that once I team up with a guy, I have a tendency to loose my own voice. I wonder if there is something ingrained in women, (through society, not in upbringing in my case) that lets us have men take over and make the decisions and such, and we kick back and cruise. LOL, that is just so not me, but I caught myself doing exactly that.
So traveling with Jim is quite an eye opener, and making me realize things about myself that I didn’t see before.
Of course, the first thing I did once he left, was run to the bike and get out my bear spray and fog horn, LOL!!
I spend the night reading and finishing my ride report that I had started at the hotel.
The sky had cleared earlier, and I hoped that Jim had gotten to Goose Bay in one piece and dry. I packed up as much as I could, so I could leave on time in the morning.
Somehow it took me a while to get to sleep, but when I finally did I slept great.
I woke up to rain and realized that I would be packing a wet tent!
Still, by the time I got ready to break down the tent it had stopped raining, and I was able to dry most of it off with my REI towel.
I was out of there by 10




The road to Goose Bay was really nice, and no rain.
I stopped at the visitor center in Goose Bay and got a good map and info. I checked my messages, and it turned out that Jim was across the street from where I was.
Turns out that he indeed found a drinking buddy, and had barely had any sleep that night. LOL
We didn’t linger in town that long, just enough for Jim to get some smoked Char, and brake fluid. We filled up our gas tanks, and ended up at Tim Horton’s (where I finally got to post my last ride report) to check our emails and such.
Jim ordered me a new tire as the one I have now is getting low on thread again.
Lac La Biche doesn’t even seem that long ago!!! Still, by the time I get to Newfoundland I’m sure I’ll have a bald tire!
Jim ate a ton of doughnuts!!
It was pretty late when we got out of there…….




I was very excited to be on this stretch of dirt. Even if I hadn’t met up with Jim, this is a road I would have done on my own.










This bridge was the worse one yet!! Our bike were weaving left and right, unbelievable!!


Jim under another rainbow




If you look closely you’ll see that the red road is turning into a black road

Yep, Jim had to do a hair raising stunt and ride up a rock hill to get his picture taken!


You can see his tire track


Now back down!


Someone had put a large man-sized doll on a rock! Looked pretty darn real!!



As we were riding down the Labrador Coastal Hwy I started realizing that the road was all there was!! There were no rest stops, not side roads, no places to pitch a tent, nothing! Just the road.
Hmmm, we were both getting tired, Jim due to lack of sleep, me cause I still don’t’ like to ride for more than 200 miles a day.
We kept on looking at areas, and Jim even tried walking on some green “grass” on the side of the road, which ended up like walking on a trampoline with water squishing below his feet. Yep, swampy!!

I got ahead of Jim a little, and loo and behold, a side road!!
I waited for Jim to catch up and he was just as surprised as I was.
He went ahead and I followed,
All went smooth until out of the blue the road went up very steep. Not only that, but it was very rocky, with boulders jutting out here and there. I Yikes! I couldn’t brake so I did the only thing left, gunned it!!
I couldn’t believe it but I actually made it up the hill! What I saw there was worth the pee in my pant scare, namely a wonderful area for us to pitch our tents!!
It was a wide open gravel area, and we lucked out. No bugs and no rain!!
By now the sun had set, but there was still enough time to pitch our tents.



It cooled down quite a lot that night, but I slept great!!

I woke up at around 8 in the morning but Jim had been awake since 5 and had already eaten oatmeal twice, made coffee and was ready to go.
This time I told him that I was worried about making it down that rocky incline, so he was kind enough to hang around a bit longer.
Unfortunately it started to heavily mist, and our dry tents got wet. Darn!!


In this desolate spot, a flower found a way to grow, just amazing!!





As it turned out, I should not have worried because I effortlessly (well if you don’t count me biting on my lips to keep from screaming) made my way down the hill without crashing.
We were off to Cartwright!






We stopped at a river to fill our water bottles, and Jim took some time to go fishing! I kept on sending vibes….. fish, go away, only pain will come to you if you if you near. I kept this up for a while but decided to walk around for a while. As soon as I did Jim hollered, “Esther! I caught a fish!” Yep, I did so not want to see that!! Luckily he didn’t kill it and set it free. Still, to me that just seems inhumanly cruel to cause a fish that much pain and terror, even if he is being let go.
Jim and I definitely do not see eye to eye on that subject, as he is an avid hunter and fisherman.
It confounds me, because he talks about living through your heart, to love all beings, people and animals alike.
I cannot conceive how loving someone or something would make it okay to hurt or kill them. Even though saying thank you for giving your life to an animal after you’ve killed it makes you somewhat sensitive to what you’ve done, still, not doing it in the first place………
But I guess as far as most of the world goes, that is just normal.
The only people that would understand me are the people in India, as most of them are also vegetarian, and the Tibetans or Buddhists who practice the way of Ahimsa (Sanskrit word meaning not to injure).

After I had filled all the water bottles, Jim was done fishing. He found more broken bottles and he hooked fish, and he packed then all on his bike!! He is very eco conscious, I have to admit to that. Not many people seem to care about a clean Earth.

We hit the road again.







We got to the split in the road where we took the left turn to go to Cartwright.












As soon as we got to Cartwright we filled up at a gas station. This little place was really one of a kind!!






The owner carried a ton of different bearing in his shop

There were wheel bearing for the KLR!!

Well, Jim and Peter(owner of the gas store) hit it off!
They spend an hour talking about fishing!!
I really didn’t know what to do, LOL. There was no camp ground there, so I couldn’t go there and pitch my tent while those guys where shooting the breeze, not could I go to a motel and book a room.
Part of me wanted to turn around a go back down the road where I saw a place I could have pitched my tent, but it was getting really cold, and the mist was rolling in. I got a bit grouchy cause I tired, but tried to stay cheerful and just focused on inner peace and just flowing with the time, all the while trying to stay patient and not get annoyed.
I guess I got to learn just waiting around when traveling with Jim, cause he sure likes to talk!! I find that I don’t’ really ever have much to say when I meet people. The things I am interested in are not really your usual topics.
Oh by the way, are you a lucid dreamer? Let me share some LDs with you, and you can tell me about yours. LOL
Or, have you ever achieved astral travel? Any tips you can give me that work, cause I am having a hard time doing this.
Yep, I cannot imagine those topics to go over too well!!
I’ve got to face it, I am an oddball who has a hell of a time connecting to people at times.
I can talk bikes at least!!!!!

Peter told us where the inn was, as Jim really didn’t want to turn around in the fog, and we rode into town to find it.
Turns out it was booked, but the motel owner Tilly called her sister who had a bed & breakfast. She had a room available!!


The B&B

The lady who ran it, Gladys, had just lost her husband, so Jim talked to her about a book he had just read about a lady who could see angels.
While they were talking I took some of my stuff up to the room and breathed in the silence for a little while.
Afterward I walked to the restaurant (Jim rode his bike). The air was cold but clear. I loved breathing that cold fresh air, it made my cheeks all rosy and gave me energy. There is something about cold clean air, I loved it in Fairbanks as well. The crispness gives me a total sense of well being, I can’t explain it, but the closest I can get, is that you can actually feel the air entering your lungs and rejuvenating you.




View from the table in the restaurant (felt like I was in prison, LOL)
I had two small garden salads (it was all they had I could eat) and Jim had a ton of fried food.



We left around 7 and headed back to the B&B.


Desire is parked dangerously close to the edge!!

Jim and Gladys talked some more, and I got to talking to her about crocheting a bit.
Then I took a wonderful shower while Jim went back to the bar to meet Peter.

It’s past midnight right now, and I haven’t even checked my email.
Hopefully I can do that in the morning while the laundry is going.
Afterward we’ll be going to Port Hope Simpson, and then Blanc Sablon to catch the ferry to Newfoundland!!

A very special thank you to James S. for your donation!! I keep being surprised, but happily so!! Glad you are following along.

As I am posting this I’m sitting at a little café called Frog Pond Café on Cape Breton, having just packed up from one of the most amazing camp spots yet!!
You’ll have to wait until later for that ride report, as it will be a while ere I have all that typed up.

Our stay at Gladys’ was wonderful! She is such a wonderful and warm person, and we felt right at home. She let us do our laundry there as well.
She and Jim got along fabulously, and he enjoyed talking to her about a couple of books he had read about angels. Her husband had passed away not too long ago, and he wanted to ease her pain by telling her about them.



After she had made Jim a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast, and me some maple oatmeal, we set out toward Red Bay, but not before I took some pictures of the flowers in her yard.







The view from her house


I told her that if I ever came back I’d paint her a new sign.



Sandwich bay


The helicopter was either delivering or picking up supplies for a camp somewhere.

The day was nice and sunny, and a vast difference from the day before!!
The views on the road were amazing, and even though the road was gravel, it was fairly easy going until we hit Fort Hope Simpson.









Yep, we had to add that silly half hour to our clock! What the???????














We both pretended to be in England for a few minutes.
I wonder how many pictures Jim and I took that will look the same or similar.
Guess I’m gonna have to wait till he gets back home.

After we got to Fort Hope Simpson the road was going to get worse we were told.
Some folks told us that it actually took them 5 hours to get fro Red bay till there because of all the waiting at construction sites.
Jim and I had gassed up and sat down in some comfy seats outside enjoying the sunshine on our faces.
After all that rain it was total bliss!!
When we finally continued it was around five, and as it turned out, most of the road was clear and the longest we had to wait was about 30 seconds.
The road itself was indeed very rutty!! Lots of potholes and after a while I figured I’d just go fast and fly over them, because there just wasn’t a way around them.
That actually worked, and nothing rattled loose on the bike, which rally amazed me!




Nearing Red Bay


Awesome hitting the other side of the continent!! You can see the trail of dust that Jim leaves behind!








We found a restaurant, and at the door was a map with pins in locations that their costumes were from. I looked and there already was a pin on Kauai. Hmmm, I wonder who made it there, and if I might know them…..
Jim ate for three again, and I had a salad and a baked potato. It was really good!!
They also had a drink with a “secret” non-alcoholic ingredient, and after drinking it I was pretty sure that it was ginger ale. When I told her what I thought it was I watched her face, and I think I hit it right on!!
She of course couldn’t confirm it but she did say I was quite clever, which I guess means I was right.


After dinner Jim went shopping there, and he bought a whole bunch of stuff, including some chocolate and a Labrador sticker for me.
I bought a fleece scarf, as I must have left my balaclava at Red Bay somewhere.
Jim liked it too, so I got him one as well.

It made such a difference to keep my neck warm. That is one thing I really don’t like about my fly jacket. No collar!!! What were they thinking???

Afterward we went outside to look at the bay. The sun was setting and it was very picturesque.
Jim decided to keep riding to the ferry and grab a Motel there so he could catch the 8 AM ferry to Newfoundland.
Another motel?? LOL, I have never stayed in that many motels in my life as I have since meeting up with Jim.
I prefer sleeping in my tent, just cause I can breathe easier, and most of the time it’s just quieter too. Luckily we are comfortable around each other, and best of all he doesn’t snore!! He does talk in his sleep a lot, but somehow I manage to sleep through that (most of the time at least).

The next morning Jim got up at a 5:30 and I had planned to take the next ferry as this was where we would go our separate ways for a while anyways.
As it turns out, promptly at 3 some machine in the hallway started making a racket ! So much for turning around and sleeping in ….
I figured I might as well leave too, and see if there was room on the ferry for one more bike,



Taking a shot from behind me



Our ferry

When I got there I walked up to the counter and asked the lady if there was room for a bike, and she said sure honey
I paid my cheap ticket and rode toward the ferry where Jim stood waiting in line.
I’m not sure if he was surprised to see me, but I hope he didn’t mind be being on the ferry with him.
We were last to board, and as I was edging my bike a tad further to line up with the anchors I somehow lost my balance, and felt myself teetering to the left.
An older ferry guy was standing next to me, and even though he saw me falling, all he did was just stand there and watch me fall into him and knock him on the ground with me on top of him and Spirit on top of both of us!!
The other guys quickly came to the rescue and got Spirit upright. The guy luckily ws all right and so was I (other than my pride, or what was left of it, )
The bummer was that the fall broke my mirror off, and also the part that hold the mirror on. Go figure, did some major dirt roads, mud, sand, gravel, ruts, and I didn’t drop her once. Then all of a sudden, doing something simple, I drop her!!

Jim strapped Desire down and I strapped Spirit, got my laptop and book, and went upstairs.
I was a tad grouchy now, not enough sleep, just dropped Spirit and I was hungry to boot. Then the only thing they had on the ferry that I could eat was a fruit cup with horribly sweetened fruit pieces. Yuck! So I had to focus to lighten my mood and make it positive again. I was lucky that the mirror was all I had broken, and I was sure I could fix it somehow.

Heading toward Newfoundland

This was the last picture I took, as I had filled up my memory card!
I spend most of the trip downloading all the pics on my laptop, and erasing my memory card so I could use it again.
The ship was European and mostly had the big electric outlets that wont work with American plugs.
There was one I could use, but it was in the hallway next to the door, which would have been pretty awkward to use. I skipped it as I still had a lot of juice on the laptop.


First picture of NL

Once we landed in NL, I stopped at a gas station to fill up and see if I could fix my mirror. It was dry which was a blessing indeed.





Yep, I like the ball bearing mirror mount that Jim has. Very practical!!



I removed the broken piece from the mirror, when Jim pointed out that there was lots of thread left on the remaining piece. We screwed the mirror back on, and I JB-welded the big gap closed. Then Jim fixed the part of the mirror that swiveled by popping the glass out and re-inserting the rod and ball to the inside of the mirror,
I superglued it and wrapped electric tape around it to keep it in place.
I worked great for quite a while, but when the buffeting winds appeared the mirror started sagging. I got to redo the tape!

I said bye to Jim who headed toward Harvey place, and got a top up for my telus phone at the gas station.
I left afterward and headed North to Nordstad the Viking village.








Wow, surf!!!

Yep, another lone cottage by the sea. Somehow these just make me wish to move in!




Breath taking living locations for sure!







I took a few breaks on my way and bypasses a few areas where it looked like I might be able to pitch my tent, but I figured I’d better keep going as the weather forecast for the next day was not as nice.
I made it to Nordstad, and saw a couple of bikes and a few bikers in the parking lot


Yup, Spirit didn’t look anywhere near as packed up
One of the riders was also an ADVer named Ktog?? I don’t think that’s how you spell it though, as I couldn’t find him in the inmates.


I went in the ticket booth building and paid my $10 to go check out the houses and ship. I kinds was wondering why they wanted admission to see some old houses


Looks like a hill but was the back of the ship shed. Immediately I thought, Wow, hobbit homes!!


side entrance


This is a reproduction of the Viking ship and it actually made it’s maiden voyage the way that the Vikings came to Newfoundland






Inside one of the buildings.
There where holes in the roof to let the light and air in, and smoke out, like a teepee.






I loved the ceiling beams!!

Chicken pen including chickens!!


All the people there were in costume.

I thought I had taken a photo of the weaving loom, but I guess I didn’t


The rooftops were covered with wild flowers




This guy had his hair cut accordingly, and I loved his costume, the shoes especially!

I left Nordland in search of a place to pitch my tent. I figured it wouldn’t be so hard in a remote land like this. In a way it wasn’t hard, but it did take me a while. Some spots were just too close to the road or ended up being someone’s driveway LOL!



I ended up in a small town called Saint Anthony Bight, and asked a local guy where a good place to pitch my tent would be. He told me about a little park off the loop right outside town on the lake.
I remembered seeing the loop, so I went back there and hopped on the little road.
Sure enough, I found the wooden arch. Shucks, yep, there was no way I would get Spirit all the way down there. But I got her there partially.










The sunset was awesome!! I took a lot more pics then I posted

The sound of the waves hitting the beach was awesome, a little like the pebbles beach Jim had been describing. It started raining during the night, but I kept crossing my fingers that it would be dry in the morning.
I just love sleeping in my tent when it rains, think I mentioned that before LOL.

The morning was quiet other than the slight pitter-patter of the raindrops on my tent. It was so peaceful there that I decided to just hang for a day. Riding with Jim was awesome, but a lot faster paced than I am used to.
It was definitely a lot more luxurious than I am used to as well, as he opted a lot for motel rooms. At least this part of the trip I actually showered on a regular basis!!

I read and knitted, my favorite past times, walked the beach some when it only drizzled, and checked on Spirit to make she she wasn’t going to thump over.
Occasionally someone would walk by my tent, and either comment or stay quiet about me being there. Everyone let me be though, so I relaxed.
I packed up most of the stuff in the evening time, and went to bed early.

The next morning the rain had let off and there was actually a fairly good breeze.
By the time I had everything packed up, the breeze had dried the tent pretty darn good. I rode Spirit back up the trail and took of toward Gran Falls Windsor. Jim had given me the heads up on dropping by the cabin.



I decided to go by Roddickton to gas up and see a bit of the North east coast.



There were little fenced areas all along the road, like they used to be gardens but got overgrown.


Entering ?Roddickton
Once I had filled up my tank I headed back toward Deer Lake and then toward Grand Falls Windsor




The coast line was gorgeous!! It wasn’t really sunny but just having clouds and no rain was just fine with me.



There was still fireweed along the road edge!


Somehow Newfoundland reminded me of Kauai, and I felt a twinge of homesickness.
I can see what makes this place special, it has almost the same energy as Kauai.




after hours of riding and taking breaks I realized that there was no way I’d make it to Grand Falls in one day.
I looked around for places to camp, and on a whim looked at a campsite at Green Point, and saw it was only $15. I did not see a shower there, but the location was nice, and I was too tired to go and look for a deserted road.


The campground was pretty packed but I found a spot that gave me a little secludedness (hmm, don’t think that is a real word but I’ll use it anyways)
The was a family with 4 kids camped next to me, and they had the time of their lives screaming at the top of their lungs. I remembered when my kids were that age, and what a difference it makes with what you can tolerate. Now it almost got to me, but I told myself they are having fun and it is still early.
I get so used to the quiet that loud noise is something I have to mentally deal with and let go of.


Steps from the beach to the campground


Still Fireweed here as well





it was a beautiful sunset

I slept great until about 3 AM when the father of the family next door decided to start his truck and park it the other way around. What the???? It took me a while to fall asleep again, so I woke up a bit later and not so rested the next morning.
Thank goodness it wasn’t raining, even though it was very cloudy. I packed up my tent and was out of there by noon, right as it started drizzling. Perfect timing!!


Sometimes I think the rain adds a different dimension and feel to photos. This shot would have been beautiful in the sun, but now with the rain and cloudiness it just feels even more amazing.



Just amazing!! I loved this stretch of road from Rocky Harbor to Deer Lake


I’m guessing some sort of rockslide happened



I made it to Deer Lake in no time and found a Burger King. I was longing for some fries, and wanted to download my camera pics and charge my laptop some.
After ordering fires and a salad, I was told they were out of salad, and there was nothing else I could eat. Bummer. Then I realized they had smoothies so I ordered one of those. The girls there were so sweet, they gave me that on the house as they were out of salad.
As I was sitting there the weather cleared Yippee!!


The ride to Harvey’s cabin was sunny and beautiful, but nothing like the Rocky Harbor/Deer Lake route

Found the turn off to Harvey’s cabin

As I am writing this part I am on the ferry from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia so I’ll end it here as I really want to go upstairs and enjoy the sea breeze.

I am in Moncton now, staying with Riverman, and finally get around to posting at least part of my RR.
More later tonight as I got to run into town to the thrift shop to find a suitcase.

The dirt road to Harvey’s cabin was very potholey, and I was hoping my GPS would not lead me astray as it sometimes does when punching in GPS coordinates.
This time it was dead on and I got to the cabin easily.
Jim was working on the garage, putting the siding on, and Harvey was clearing out the area.
I had meant to help them and put on shingling or whatever, seeing as I had done it before, but Harvey wouldn’t have it, he told me to relax.
Yeah, I have to admit that I was wondering if he was just being a good host and wanting me to just relax and have a good time, or if he didn’t trust me with a hammer and nails………
I decided that he was just being a good host, even though I would love to have helped.
So what does a girl do when at a beautiful little lake that has a canoe tied on the dock? She goes for a paddle!
I asked Harvey if I could and he said sure, do whatever you want. I hopped in and grabbed the paddle.




I asked someone what those stones meant, and it is called an Inukshuk (not sure if I spelled that right) it’s made in the image of man, and it has been used to guide/navigate the traveler. Nowadays it’s more of a welcome sign





I had fun paddling, but at the end of the lake the wind was strong, and no matter how I tried I could not turn the nose of the canoe because the wind kept pushing it back. So in the end I said screw it, and crawled to the nose of the canoe and paddled dragging the butt along with me. As soon as it got less windy I crawled back and turned the canoe around. Yep, got to do things a little different when you can’t do something the normal way
After I docked the canoe, I decided to cook up a vegie stew with all the vegies I had found at a convenience store before heading to the cabin.
A huge bag of potatoes, carrots, turnips, and cabbage for only $10; it weighed a ton!
The stew came out great, and I ate early as the men were working until dark.
After they came in and ate Harvey pulled out a big bottle of rum, and that was a sign for me to hit the sack!!! As I don’t tolerate alcohol very well, I normally just don’t have any. Once in a while just to be more social I’ll have a quarter glass of wine or so.
I slept in a bunk bed that night hoping I wouldn’t forget if I had to get up in the middle of the night and pee



The next day we all went to Grand Falls Windsor, basically cause the food had run at the cabin. The ride there was uneventful. Once we got to Harvey’s house I met his wife Florence who had just gotten home for lunch. She is a wonderful person and I liked her at once. I also met their son Michael. I got my own room and Spirit and Desiré got a nice heated garage!
Harvey took u into town to Canadian tire to get oil for the bikes and some other stuff.
At first I had not wanted to start working on Spirit, I was getting tired of working on her I have to admit, even though it was just regular maintenance.
Then I figured I should. I changed the oil, and found the filter once more relatively clean for having gone over 3000 miles with the same oil.
Then my spring arrived and yes, it looked a lot thicker than the other spring!



Harvey Jim and I jumped into Harvey’s truck and went to town to get the spring installed on the shock. The first place we stopped at didn’t have the tools to do this, but the second place did.
Jim had some errands to do too, and after we got back we had dinner.
As I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do the next day I felt in limbo. I was tired, mentally and physically but really should get the shock on Spirit. The tire Jim had ordered for me hadn’t arrived, so here I was with a bald tire, and seeing as we had so much rain I didn’t feel comfortable riding around with it. I had wanted to go to St. Johns but the weather in that part of the island was worse.
I decided to put the shock on anyway and maybe wait for the tire.
Then Jim told me I could just use his knobby that still had a lot of thread on it. We were both silly, because neither of us remembered that he now sported an 18 inch wheel on the back. I had already taken the tire off when we realized that.
Meanwhile the neighbors had come over to watch us work. The ladies were impressed with my mechanical skills and the neighbor lady said she wouldn’t ever do something like that. That’s what her husband was for. Haha, I had to laugh. She was honest about it and didn’t feel in the least that it was a negative thing.
I guess I am a tad too independent at times, even though it is nice to have someone else do something for you.
I left Spirit on the jacks cause there wasn’t much else I could do. I hoped that the tire would be in the next day, but Harvey and Jim had planned to get to the cabin early, and I wasn’t sure how he would feel about me staying there while he was gone and Florence at work.
I slept well that night (Florence opened the window for me, as I have a hard time sleeping without a breeze)

The next morning Jim offered to buy me a new tire and we went looking first at some guy’s place who had a trailer filled with tires, old and new. None that would fit Spirit, except for a really teensy one and an old stiff one that I felt would start cracking the minute I started riding.
We did find one in a store, and it was a Kenda. I figured it would be interesting to see how those ride.
Again Jim saved my neck, as he has done countless other times! I’ve got to make it up to him one way or another!!
It was really sweet of Harvey to help me out like that, riding around all morning looking for a tire; I knew he wanted to get back to the cabin to finish the siding and all.

Harvey had pulled me aside earlier and told me that it would be hard for me to stay at the cabin as Florence and Michael were there too. He said also when the family arrived it would be noisy, crowded and lots of people smoking. (I guess he had noticed me edging away from the neighbor yesterday cause he was smoking in the garage)
He then offered to let me use the trailer in Badger. Wow, that would be awesome!
He gave me directions before left for the cabin. He took off before Jim and I because it would be slower going for him with the trailer down the dirt road

The tire was definitely a lot harder to put on than the Shinko, but mainly because it was an 80 instead of a 90. Jim helped me with the last bit.
Then I packed up my stuff and loaded it on Spirit to see how the new shock was.
Hmmmm, It needed to be adjusted for sure.


Jim adjusting the rings

The shock looked awesome, but adjusting it was a pain in the neck!!
The wrench did not quite fit between the frame and the airbox, so it was impossible to get the notch to rotate enough to grab the next one.
Both Jim and I realized that the wrench would have to be altered.


Jim went and grounded the handle of the wrench out so that we just had enough room to turn one notch. There are 12 notches to make on full rotation. And I had to adjust the bike I think 5 or 6 rotations. So yeah it took a while.
I guess the shock is meant for those riders who set it once and leave it at that. It is not designed to adjusting it easily while on the road.
Once it was set to the right height however I found that it was a wonderful shock. I could reach the ground, and I could use the kickstand normally. Even with the load off I could tiptoe and reach the ground. This would work!
Jim left to go do some shopping and then to the cabin, and I finished up packing Spirit.

When I left the house I ambled along the roads slowly watching my speedometer. I had remembered thankfully that I wanted to make a photo of the mileage and wanted to be somewhere quiet so I could stop when I wanted to.


Now how is that for a reading!!



I rode to Sobeys and did some shopping myself but unfortunately did not find much of any food I could eat for on the road, Seeing as I had a trailer to myself for a couple of days, I got some salad, avocado, cranberries, dressing and lots of other goodies that needed to be refrigerated.
I found the cabin no problem, and made myself at home.




View from inside the trailer

Amazing how nice it feels to have a place to oneself! I am really turning into a hermit at my old age!! LOL. I got settled and relaxed for a bit before heading over to the cabin. I almost missed the turn off.
Once there I spend the day helping Jim with the siding and relaxing at the cabin.




Jim up in the rafters

When it started getting darker I had to tell Florence not to cook for me. I was tired, craving some alone time, and the trailer was beckoning me.
I wished everyone a good evening and hopped on Spirit.
Once I got to the trailer I felt like I had gotten home. Amazing how a little place like that can make you relax and just be.
I had been longing for the Salad and tofu I had bought, and whipped up an amazing salad with all the ingredients, yuuuummmmm, I can eat like this every night!
I crawled in my sleeping bag afterward with the intention to read, but realized as soon as I lied down, that all I wanted to do was close my eyes.
Even the loud noise outside of the sewage plant behind the trailer did not keep me awake.
When I woke up in the morning I took my time.
It was Saturday and Harvey’s family would arrive, and the place would be a zoo.
I’m not comfortable around a lot of people, noise gets to me, and I haven’t quite figured out yet how to tune it out. Eckhart Tolle suggested in his book “The power of now” to just let it go through you, to pretend that you’re air and that it flows right through you without it bothering you. Hmmm, not getting it yet!
So I got there around noon, but there was no one in sight other than Harvey and family. Turns out they were all at another cabin. Phew!! I helped Jim some more, this time with installing the garage door, and went to the party later. I rode Spirit down the trail, very bumpy trail, so I could ride back out in case it got too much for me.
As it turned out only about 20 or so folks were there, including Harvey’s family, Jim and I. There was actually something I could eat, some mashed potatoes with apple, rice, and I had brought my own Indian food as well.
Afterward I had snowballs, which were totally gluten free and vegetarian!! Wow, yummy.
I forgot to ask Florence for the recipe!!
Then while I was sitting with the ladies at the bonfire Jim and I were called to the deck in front of the house.
They had a surprise for us!! We were to be skreetched in!! What the???
Harvey held a paddle that had some sort of dead slug thing on it, maybe a mussel?
Anyways, he asked Jim, “Dyawannebeanufndlndr?” Say what? Haha, I did understand that though. Jim said Yes!
Then he held the paddle before Jims face and Jim had to eat the slug…..
Then, he asked me the same thing, and just out of curiosity to see what would happen if I said no, I answered no. He ignored that answer and held the paddle in front of my face. Luckily Florence went and put a candy on the paddle, and I grabbed it with my mouth and sis not quite eat it but held it long enough. Too sweet!
The he made Jim and I repeat some other slang sentences that I had no idea what they meant. Jim drank skreetch (the rum left on the bottom of a barrel and supposedly tastes horrible, and I got some ultra sweet syruppy drink that did indeed taste horrible. Then they handed us a certificate, a pin and a Newfoundlander hat, and we were officially skreetched in


Jim was just saying something when the picture was taken

I ended up staying longer, and Harvey pulled out his guitar and started playing and singing, “Bye, bye miss American pie,” and everyone started singing around the campfire, including myself. Everyone was very drunk and having a great time.
There was another guy there called Jim as well (I called him Jimbo) and he had walked up to me drunkenly, and told me life doesn’t get any better than this!
I could see from the look on his face that he loved this moment and was as happy as a clam, but my heart filled with sadness when he said it because I realized that for me this wasn’t so. All I really wanted was to get back to the trailer and have some peace and quiet.
I guess I am just not much of a social person. And my happiest moments are somewhere in nature with the wind blowing in the trees, the sound of the river or a brook and the birds singing.
Then I realized that I also love spending time with my kids, because I love them.
And I guess that is why he was so happy. He truly loved all the people around him and enjoyed their company. I was just a stranger in a strange land

Around midnight I was ready to get out of there, but there was no way I felt comfortable enough to ride that rough road in the dark. I asked Florence for a ride back to the cabin (I could stay in the bunk bed again with Michael on the top and Jim in the other bed in the room.
Turns out Michael had eaten was to much and was feeling really sick , so Florence drove of both to the cabin.
I went to bed shortly after, but was woken not too much later by Jim and Florence having a lively drinking and talking session! LOL.
I eventually fell asleep again.

The next morning Michael gave me a ride on his mom’s ATV to the party cabin where Spirit was patiently waiting. I hoped on her and took off for Harvey’s cabin. Well I should rephrase that, tried to take off. The gravel in the curve was really deep, and I found myself not moving forward all of a sudden. Spirit’s rear wheel was spinning and not getting any traction and thump, there I went!. Luckily Michael and Pete (?) where right there and helped me up and pushed her out of the gravel hole the tire had dug. This time I actually made it to the dirt and to the cabin.

Harvey, Florence, Michael and I went blueberry picking after breakfast; Jim wanted to stay and work on the garage.


Everyone was wearing rain gear, as it had started drizzling.

Harvey had given me his old one-piece coverall, which had a hole in the crotch.
It did not take too long before I had a wet seat, and had to stop to fill the hole with a plastic bag Jim had given me (which I forgot to return, oops) It stopped me from getting any wetter. We picked blueberries in the rain for over an hour, and decided to go back to the cabin instead of riding around the lake. It had just gotten too cold.


As I had not had enough sleep I was longing to go back to the trailer and rest for a while, so I said goodbye to everyone and headed back to Badger.

Ahhh, bliss!! I made myself another salad, kicked back and had a wonderful evening.
I swung by the cabin the next day just as Florence and Michael were leaving. They invited me to a BBQ that night at their house.
I hung around a bit helped Jim and Harvey at one point, and relaxed. When Jim was done the both of us headed to Harvey’s home for dinner.
It was a wonderful dinner and afterward the neighbor came by and us three girls started talking about our kids and such. I showed them pics of Travis and Tamara (my kids) and of the costumes I had made etc.
Florence and I hooked up on Facebook too, she was going to send me the snowball recipe.
We said out goodbyes and I took a photo of them.


Jim rode before me lighting the way. I think he was going too fast, as there were plenty of moose in the area, but we got to the turnoff to the trailer in one piece.
There Jim met this guy who was starting a motorcycle store in Badger, also an ADVer who was glad to meet Jim, but didn’t even acknowledge me even though Jim introduced us. ?? that was a tad weird, but he was really into telling Jim all about his shop.

After he left Jim and I hugged goodbye as well, as this was the last time we’d see each other in who knows how long.
I rode to the trailer ready for another section of my journey. This time alone again.
It had been a Joy riding with Jim, and sharing the beauty with the land.
He is an amazing guy, and a lot more adaptable than me!!
I get along with everyone and enjoy their company and getting to know them, but only for a certain amount of time, and then I need to retreat.
Jim can spend hours among people and be totally at ease and talk a lot.
I seem to run out of things to say after a while.
He’s definitely more connected to the world than I am!!

The next morning I got Spirit all packed up and chain greased and was really ready to hit the road again.


Saying goodbye to my wonderful little retreat

Heading back toward Deer Lake I made sure to stop and take a picture of this. I had seen it on my way to grand falls, but failed to stop then.


Who would have thought!! A Hawaiian beach on Newfoundland!!

The weather was great and I had planned to make it to Port aux Basque in one day.
A long stretch for me!







Just had to take a pic of the amazing cloud formation

Once I got to Deer Lake I stopped at the same Burger King again. The girls had remembered me from last time.
Once rested I hopped back on Spirit and headed for Corner Brook;
There I found the Dominion store that Florence had told me about.
Wow!! What a variety of food, and they also had those Indian dinners I liked, and also Indian snacks and such. I stocked up for another 12 days.
I was in heaven!!
Feeling happy about not having to worry about where to buy food, I ambled toward Port aux Basque







I loved this road!!




I did take a little detour along the coast via Black Duck

It wasn’t as pretty as I had hoped, but it was nice not having any traffic on the road with me.




I must have aimed at something cause I was not taking a photo of this cloud on purpose. Still it’s quite a nice shot



Looked like I was heading toward rain!!





The mountains looked so Mystical!!


When I got almost to Port aux Basque I was pretty darn tired, and didn’t feel like hunting for a spot to camp. There was a sign saying JT Cheeseman provincial park, and I turned unto the little dirt road.
The camping was lovely and quiet, and only $15, so I went for it.


As it looked like rain, I decided to tarp up so I wouldn’t be stuck with a wet tent in the morning.
There was a little wifi there, and a pay phone.
On a whim I decided to make a reservation for the ferry.
Good thing I did as I was supposed to be there 2 hours before. Luckily the camping was only 10 minutes from the ferry
I got u at 7, having packed most everything in the evening, and was out of there by 9.
It did rain in the night, and my tent was only slightly damp in areas close to the edge of the tarp.


It was a very misty ride to the Harbor

As I got to the booth and gave them my name, the guy kept glancing behind me and waited. Finally he asked where the rest of the party was. When I told him I rode by myself he was really surprised. LOL, I get that a lot it seems.
Lane 11 was all mine he said


Yup no other riders.

I went into the big building to see about a Nova Scotia map, and when I came back out found two other bikes parked near Spirit.
Two guys, Alex and Ed were there, and they were heading back to I think Ontario, but also via Cape Breton.
A guy and his wife in a motorhome were pulling a trailer with a bike in it. He told me the ferry fee for him was $500! Yikes!!
He was really sweet and gave me a map of Nova Scotia and we talked about where to go for a while. He told us about a little ferry we should take to head to Cape Breton. He mentioned that he once bought a booklet with ferry tickets for cheap, $1.25 per ticket, that he still had. Now the ferry cost $5. I jokingly asked him why he told us that. He was pondering where he had them and disappeared.
About 15 minutes later he was back, and handed each of us a little ferry coupon. Awwww.


The ferry, no rain but really fine mist was in the air

At around 10:45 they started boarding and we were first to go.


I loved the way we could anchor the bikes. We got 4 straps each and 4 anchor points.
Spirit didn’t move a mm!!
I grabbed my laptop, some snack bars, chips and camera and went upstairs.


One last look at Newfoundland, knowing I’d be back in the Spring

I walked all the way to the front and scored a table with outlets in front of the window looking out to the front of the boat. Yippee
Ed and Alex showed up a bit later, but went to find another spot to sit; closer to the door as they smoked.

I made myself at home and started downloading my photos from the camera to the laptop. Before I knew it the boat had started moving.
There was definitely a lot of rocking motion, and I was hoping I wouldn’t get seasick. I basically told myself not to, mind over manner. I did get a tad queasy occasionally, but pushed it away


More later, especially the rescue videos, as I still have a lot to type up

Keep it coming NomadGal
I'm thoroughly enjoying your comprehensive reports

The ferry ride was fun. I also met Phil and his dad Ken, and they sat down at the table next to me. We talked about riding and bikes etc. Then Alex and Ed showed up too as the air in the other sitting area was getting stale.
I had cell reception most of the time and kept texting my dad, I also went outside a few times. It was amazing the amount of wind op on deck. I had to lean forward just to walk forward or I would be blown away!! LOL


The helideck.

I kept snacking a lot which kept the queasiness at bay, but at some point the snacks were gone and I was getting hungry.
There was an announcement a little while before, but nobody could understand what was being said, exempt for the words delayed. Seeing as Jim had once again given me $200 to keep me going he said (he's kinda my guardian angel ), I figured I could actually afford to eat something in the restaurant. So I stopped and asked the waitress if they had salad. Nope they didn't. Only fish and chips for dinner, and the chips were fried in the oil with the fish. Hmmm, bummer. I told her I was a vegetarian so I couldn't eat that. I went back to the table and sat down, but after a minute she came to me and asked if I would like stir fried vegetables in a ginger sauce with rice! Heck yes!! That was so sweet of the cook to make me something special. Ti top it off it was very reasonable, $13. I went to the table where Ed sat eating his fish and chips and jinxed him for dinner. Later Alex showed up too and had fish and chips. I wished I had thought of taking a photo of them, but I didn't.
When we were done and headed back to the table by the window (Phil kindly offered to watch my stuff) we noticed a lot of people there now looking outside. We asked what was going on.
Turns out that the announcement had said that the captain had to detour to respond to an emergency beacon. A fishing boat had gone down and ours was the closest ship in the area. He had spend the last hour honing in on the emergency beacon, keeping his eyes open for the boat.
We all intently stared out of the window to search for the ship or worse the survivors in case the ship had gone down.
Then one of the ship employees outside on the front of the ship was pointing to the right. He had seen the sunken boat.




zoomed in you can actually read Bradl I am guessing Bradley or something.

Then another ship employee started pointing to the left, and she had seen the lifeboat in the distance.


The paper said the weather conditions were perfect, but boy, to me it seemed really misty and if it hadn't been for the smoke I might not have seen them at all.




Search plane




Another fishing boat must have heard the distress signal too, and they showed on the scene. At least the ferry was big enough for them to find us :lol3

The captain had already ordered the life boat to be uncovered and the crew was ready to lower it, but now they could stop as it would be so much easier for the fishing boat to get to them,





Boy what an excitement! I was glad the crew of the sunken ship was okay!
The ferry changed course back to where we were originally going and continued on. We were still a good hour or so away from North Sydney.


The sun was starting to set and it had also started raining, Yikes!



When we finally got of the boat it was nearly dark. I had said goodbye to the guys, who were also going to look for a spot to camp for the night, and headed out of North Sydney. I was surprised not to see them in my rear view mirror even though they said they were heading the same way, but I figured they might have stopped for gas. Once outside town I found a road veering north into a more remote area, or so I thought. It turned out to not be so remote at all, lots of houses nestled in the trees, lots of farms, and the road itself was very bumpy and old. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw a no exit sign…..
Okay, that looked promising. I looped around and took it. It was a dirt road that all of a sudden seemed to steeply go down, but that had a nice flat area on the left right before it . I stopped Spirit right there and decided it was good enough.
I used my little GoalZero light and hung it on the handlebars, so I could see what I was doing.


I was exhausted and as I had already eaten on the ship, I crawled straight in bed. A in the tree near me kept making this strange call, over and over again. I have no idea what bird it was, but I figured seeing as it was making a bunch of noise, it meant that no bears were nearby. Right before drifting off I heard a dog bark in the distance and some cows mooing. Yep a farm nearby.

The night was dry and I had slept great. I kept lying in bed waiting for the sun to pop up and warm up the tent, which it did not too much later.


Yep, I actually found a really nice, albeit a tad muddy, camping spot.
I took my usual time and left for Cape Breton.








My trusty Spirit.


I would be taking the little ferry there

Sometimes you have a moment in your life that shows you that everything happens as it should.
On my way to the little ferry I ended up missing the turn, and had to loop around. The error took maybe 5/6 seconds or so, ere I had quickly made a circle unto the right road. As I was heading down to the ferry I saw a road to the right in the distance, and a little red car was coming downhill. Now I know that there was a stop sign at the end of that street, but the little red car did not even slow down. it kept going right through unto the road I was on and kept going. The lady hadn't even looked to the left! Now if I had not missed the turn, I would have been right in that spot and gotten creamed, seeing as she would not have seen me. That gave me goosebumps!!


The ferry.



Turns out that the little ferry ticket I got given was still valid! Awesome. The guy kinda smiled when he saw it.
I asked him if two other bikers had come by already, but he said no. Hmmm, I wonder what happened to Ed and Alex?

I wash now on Cape Breton and from the brochures it promised to be a gorgeous ride. Jim had told me also how beautiful it was, and had told me about a tibetan monastery near Pleasant Bay.






As I got to the Provincial Park I did have to pay an entrance fee, even if I only rode through. Luckily it was only $7.80. Strange amount!




This reminded me so much of Kauai that it felt I was back there again.








Breath taking!!











Once I got to Pleasant Bay I remembered I had to take the turnoff toward Red Bay. It turned to red dirt in no time.




what an awesome location!


Found it!

As I was sitting in front of the entrance wondering if I could look around even though the sign said tours closed, a young happy monk in red robes appeared and walked up to me. He told me I was allowed to walk around and check things out, and I should also take a walk to the Stupa of enlightenment. Cool. I said thank you and parked spirit in the gravel parking lot.










When I arrived at the stupa, what did I see?? Another biker! I walked up and said Hi. It was a young guy, mid twenties my guess, and he showed me his small ivory elephant that he included in most of his pictures. I had to laugh, I told him I had a friend who did the same thing, but with a little monkey.
We talked a while about camping and such, and he mentioned that he saw an area that might be great for camping near an old abandoned house. We said bye and he left.
I took my time and walked around to take pictures.

















As I got back to Spirit the same guy was sitting in front of her on his bike. He told me that if I would like to camp with him tonight that he had found an awesome spot. It was still early, but I felt that it would be nice to put up camp nearby in such a wonderful location.


I followed him,