Day 12 Mon June 17 Baddeck to Margaree, Inverness County, NS....toes in the Atlantic

As forecasted, the day started out with drizzling rain in Baddeck. We spent the morning at the Alexander Graham Bell Museum.   I had not realized that he was an extensive inventor. Visiting his house in Brantford will be on my "bucket" list when I return home. 

A picture of The Silver Dart, Canada's first airplane, with Bell overlooking it.  

By the time we left, the drizzle had stopped and we were pleasantly surprised to see the fog lift and have sun for most of the afternoon.  We hit the road to ride around the Cabot Trail.  The scenery along the trail was incredible...ocean views, rugged shoreline, mountain vistas, s-turns. 

--- along the coast (with fishing boats in the background)

--- with rugged coastal scenery

--- one coastal  vista after another

--- and the highland roads and views were also amazing. 

 I put my feet into the Atlantic Ocean  as I did when we reached the Pacific Ocean two years ago on our Venture West trip. Yes, I am wearing rain gear to keep the rain away.  The Venture, Evan and I have now made it to the oceans on each side of Canada. 

At a stop at one of many whale watching outlooks, we learned from others that we were seeing a minke whale surfacing every few minutes. 

After riding most of the Cabot Trail, we decided to stop for the night at a cabin alongside a very picturesque lake (called The Lakes). 

4175 cum kms

Regards to all,

Anne

Day 11 Sun June 16 Sackville, NB to Baddeck NS....Father's Day

What direction??  After making calls to our fathers, we spent considerable time trying to decide whether to ride north to PEI, east to the Cabot Trail, or southeast to Halifax because there was rain in the forecast for Monday and Tuesday. In the end,  the lure of the Cabot Trail made the decision for us.

The ride there was again peaceful and scenic, turning to amazing as we entered Cape Breton, a biker's paradise!

Riding east towards Cape Breton

At Timmy's, after we topped up with coffee and food, Evan noticed a bit of oil dripping from our bike.  He met a local guy, Ted, who insisted on driving him to Canadian Tire to buy some oil.  So, the Venture got topped up also at the same stop.

Getting help from local folk at Timmy's

Crossing into Cape Breton over the Strait of Canso

Finally, joined by our shadow

Today, we experienced some new aromas  in the air which reminded us of the many smells we have experienced along the way, including lumber, fish, seaweed, cow manure, fresh cut hay and the smell of trees...one of the joys of biking.

We are staying in Baddeck tonight at the Inverary Resort where we listened to a local musician.

In front of our room for the night

--- more relaxing

---and all ready for an evening bonfire

3,899 cum km

Regards,
Anne

Day 10 Sat June 15 St. George to Sackville,NB ....scenic routes

We started the day with a wonderful breakfast at our extremely nice motel in St. George and before leaving the village, we spent time at a very scenic waterfall with a salmon ladder along the side of the gorge.

The roaring waterfall is in the background

With the salmon ladder along the side

New Brunswick promotes five scenic drives throughout the province and we manages to ride parts of three. Along the Fundy Coastal Drive, we rode into several remote fishing villages including Dipper and Chance Harbour. 

--- some good looking fishing boats

--- and this guy  in front of a small fish processor

--- with fish readily  available. 

We also saw several covered bridges along the way

Along the River Valley Scenic Drive, we saw beautiful vistas along with rich farm land.

A major highlight after riding through Fundy National Park was our walk down to the Flower Pot Rocks at Hopwell.  We experienced the tide as we had to leave the sand beach due to the rising water level.  There, the tide can rise up to 46 ft which is one of the highest tide areas in the world. 

Last but not least, we had our 4th continuous day of dry weather.

We are staying in Sackville, NB which is located on Hwy 2, close to the Nova Scotia border.

3,469 cum kms on 2 wheels

Regards,

Anne

A happy Fathers Day to all those fathers reading this blog.......

Day 9, Fri June 14, Gorham NH to St. George, NB...return to Canada

It was a long but great ride across Maine today through so many interesting small towns with the most scenic portion being rt 9 from Bangor to the border crossing at St Stephen, NB. It was also our 3rd continuous day of dry weather. 

Crossing Maine....a state of trees, rock and hills

A stop at Rumford Falls, billed as being the highest east of Niagara

Evan had promised to take me for breakfast at the fabulous Algonquin Inn at St. Andrews. Fortunately for Evan's wallet, the Inn is closed for renovation.

Interesting wall on the side of Home Hardware, St. Andrews

First ride along the Bay of Fundy (Atlantic Ocean)

Fresh caught fish and chips in St George on the Bay of Fundy 

Apple blossoms outside our hotel room in St. George

3051 cum kms

Regards,

Anne

Day 8, Thurs June 13 ...Stowe Vt to Gorham, NH.....Scenic roads

Another day with many memorable highlights ...

We started the day by driving through Smuggler's Notch.  After climbing for several miles in 2nd and 3rd gear, we reached the top and immediately had to navigate several severe switchbacks on the steep decline. 

We took a short detour to see the Trapp Family Lodge; the Trapp family made famous by the Sound of Music. 

Before leaving Stowe, we made a stop  at Ben & Jerry's plant where they make their famous ice cream. It was a fun place to be. There are plant tours, souvenirs to purchase and of course, ice cream, which we tried, of course.  We walked to their "graveyard of flavours", the description of  some of the flavours gave us more than a few smiles.

We drove along the very scenic and winding Kancamagus Hwy (#112) in the White Mountain National Forest which goes over the Kancamagous Pass and follows the scenic Swift River. It is one of the most popular biker roads and also because of the annual event called Bike Week, bikes outnumbered cars on the road by at least 20 to 1. 

The Swift River along the Kancamagus Hwy

Along the way in every town and village it seemed there would be at least one church steeple like this one. 

It turned out to be another dry day.....we were so happy...2 days in a row.

2,581 cum km

Regards,

Anne and Evan

Day 7, Wednesday June 12....Amsterdam,NY to Stowe, Vermont....finally, a DRY day

We had a great day with many highlights...one was that we rode through DRY weather all day. 

We rode through the very scenic Adirondack Trail through the Adirondack Mountains 

 and stopped at the Adirondack Museum which we recommend to all.

a view from the cafe at the Museum

 We rode to the top of Whiteface Mt., climbing for 7 miles up Whiteface Mountain on the Veterans Memorial Highway to over 4600 ft. What an impressive view. Evan had been on the same drive years ago with his Dad.

We enjoyed a  wonderful lunch in Saranac, NY at the Blue Moon Cafe, which we would recommend to anyone driving in the area. 

Since the driving conditions were so great, we were reluctant to spend time in Lake Placid. So, we made a plan to come back in the fall and spend a couple of days in the area. 

Tonight, we are staying in a beautiful setting on the outskirts of Stowe.

--- the entrance to the hotel's hiking trails

2218 cum km...

Regards,

Anne

Day 6, Tues Jun 11...Honesdale, Pa to Amsterdam, NY.....more great roads plus rain

 Leaving the historic Hotel Wayne ---

We started the day with a stop at "Rusty Palmer's" in Honesdale, which is by far the largest and most amazing bike shop Evan has ever seen:

--- just a part of the Rusty Palmer building

--- so large, the ceiling fan is a helicopter blade

--- with an amazing customer lounge and inside pond area!

From there we rode north into New York State through more small towns with stately older homes such as this one:

--- by way of more scenic biker roads. 

We started the day without our rain gear as we thought the rain gods must have been satisfied by now, but not so as we ran into more rain by noon.  So by mid afternoon, we decided to snuggle up in a motel room for the rest of the day in order to enjoy our ride to the Lake Placid area tomorrow up 30 through the Adirondack Park and mountains, hopefully on dry roads. 

I was glued to CNN and its coverage of the protest in Taksim Square as I was in the Square several times about 5 weeks ago.

Parked out of the rain for the evening

Finally, at a country diner, which also had great food!

1781 cum km

Regards to all from New York State

Anne