1downfourup
09-05-2005, 05:44 PM
Left our home in Northern New Hampshire on Thursday and headed for the Gaspe. We passed through Berlin, rode along thirteen-mile woods (great road for the ST) and stopped for coffee in Errol. Then we rode up through Rangely, Maine and crossed the Canadian border just south of Lac Megantic where we left English behind and stumbled through French as we ordered lunch. Of course my wife had to ask if they had green tea (how do you translate that?), etc etc instead of just taking what they had. After lunch we made the run to Quebec city and headed east along the south bank of the St Lawrence River. You can't imagine how much undeveloped waterfront acreage there is left in the world! Gas is very expensive in Canada... paid about $6 US per US gallon for premium gas. The rate of exchange is about 85. Gone are the wonderful discounted Canadian vacations! We got a nice motel room (Motel Dube) in Riviere-du-Loop along the river and had a great dinner across the street at Gentilleries. The next day was the best riding day... rt 132 to the town of Gaspe at the end of the peninsula. The road was good riding, especially toward the end. Several places where we came over some nice elevation and had breathtaking views of the River/ocean way below. Some nice twisties and no cops in sight. Just following the cars with Quebec plates kept us well above the speed limit. We spent the second night in the town of Gaspe, which was nice...but we wished we had continued a little further and spent the night at Perce which we found the next morning. Perce was a quaint village with spectacular scenery. We stopped for coffee and breakfast at a nice little restaurant right on the water (fruit, goat cheese, homemade bread and good coffee). The third day of riding was mile after mile of ocean, small villages with big churches. Then we made our way across NB and crossed the border at St Leonard. Border crossings were uneventful. I look must more trustworthy than I used to on my Harley with a beard (when they loved to hassle me), but that is another story. We hit US 1 near its northern beginning, or is that end? Then we hopped on I-95 near its beginning/end, made our way to Rt 2 which took us back home. When it was done we had a great three day, 1500 mile ride with good weather. Well worth the trip. Next summer I plan to explore the northern shore of the St Lawrence. Our St is set up with a Russell seat, honda topbox with Givi rack, and helirisers.