To the BMW MOA Rally in Vermont, and beyond. Way beyond...

[amorley]

Tomorrow I ride north-east to the 2026 BMW MOA Rally in Burlington, Vermont.

After the rally, I’ll summit Mt Washington before I take the ferry from Bar Harbour across to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. I’ll ride the scenic east coast of Nova Scotia up to where we used to live in the early '80s in Halifax. I'll continue on to Baddeck, the Cabot Trail and the historic French fort at Louisburg in Cape Breton.

From Sydney, I’ll take the overnight ferry to Argentia, Newfoundland and ride around the Avalon peninsula to St. John's. I'll ride around the north coast of "The Rock" to hopefully see the icebergs from Twillingate. I look forward to a return visit to the Viking settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows before taking the ferry across to Labrador.

It is 47 years since I last saw Happy Valley/Goose Bay in Labrador so it will be interesting to see how it is changed. I'll tick the Trans-Labrador highway off my bucket list before riding across northern Quebec and Ontario to Lake Superior.

Finally stay with family south of Winnipeg, Manitoba before the 1,500 mile ride home.

9,000 miles in five weeks. Retirement is rigorous.

You can follow my ride here…

…and I'll be posting updates and pictures on our website.

 

[the Ferret]

Wow nice! Have a fun safe trip! I'm envious

 

[Sadlsor]

Sounds like a real trip.
A good one, at that.
I used to ride trips, I can still remember some of them.
What the heck happened, I wonder?

 

[Andrew Shadow]

Sounds like an amazing trip. I did it when it was 500 miles of gravel from the Quebec border and the road had not been extended past Happy Valley-Goose Bay so, unless a very long ferry ride was taken, it was also 500 miles of gravel coming back, which is what we did. It was an incredible trip. Now that the entire Trans-Labrador has been paved and extended it can only be an even better trip. I will be following along with you on this one. Enjoy it and happy trails.

You seem to research your trips quite well so I am sure that you are aware that the Trans-Labrador Highway has been renamed to Expedition 51°, which seems like a rather dumb name change to me. Just thought that I would mention it in case you were not aware and begin wondering why, if all of the road signs have been changed, you do not see any road signs for it, not that it is a difficult highway to find by any means.

Satellite phones are loaned free-of-charge to anyone who wants them while traveling the Trans-Labrador. There are many pick up and drop off points along the way. I highly suggest taking one along on your travels because you never know.

 

[irunamok]

Sounds like a bucket list trip to me. I know the VT MH ME area having lived there and it’s lovely riding. Not sure I would ride to the top of Mt Washington though. It’s hairy enough on the train and it’s literally the windiest place in the USA. Not all the time though and probably not as bad in summer, I suppose, with no data to support that. In North Conway there are numerous good restaurants but our favorite is Moat Mountain Brewing Company, which actually overlooks (underlooks?) Mt Washington. A little north of there is a quaint NH town called Jackson, also with some excellent restaurants. If you have time. I’ll be watching your progress with interest!

Do you have a confirmed place to get new tires if needed?

 

[Andrew Shadow]

Not sure I would ride to the top of Mt Washington though. It’s hairy enough on the train ......

I have done it several times on motorcycles. It is a beautiful ride and well worth it while in the area. The last time that I was there we didn't go up because we had already done it a couple of times previously. We did stop by to have a look and they had some kind of restrictions in place on when motorcycles were allowed to go up. We didn't stick around to find out what that was all about. Maybe it was due to with the weather conditions at the top, I have no idea. This might be something to look in to in case they have implemented something with regard to motorcycles.

 

[the Ferret]

Not sure I would ride to the top of Mt Washington though. It’s hairy enough on the train and it’s literally the windiest place in the USA.

When my wife and I rode up there on our ST in 2012? they would not allow us to ride up on the bike because it was too foggy and the winds were too high that day. I called a friend that lived nearby and he picked us up at a B&B nearby and we went up in his 4WD Pickup truck. He had never been up there and to quote him "You were going to ride up here on your motorcycle? You're nuts. It's scary in my truck" lol. But yea, if they'd have allowed us we'd have ridden up.

a pic from that day

 

[amorley]

Sounds like an amazing trip. I did it when it was 500 miles of gravel from the Quebec border and the road had not been extended past Happy Valley-Goose Bay so, unless a very long ferry ride was taken, it was also 500 miles of gravel coming back, which is what we did. It was an incredible trip. Now that the entire Trans-Labrador has been paved and extended it can only be an even better trip. I will be following along with you on this one. Enjoy it and happy trails.

You seem to research your trips quite well so I am sure that you are aware that the Trans-Labrador Highway has been renamed to Expedition 51°, which seems like a rather dumb name change to me. Just thought that I would mention it in case you were not aware and begin wondering why, if all of the road signs have been changed, you do not see any road signs for it, not that it is a difficult highway to find by any means.

Satellite phones are loaned free-of-charge to anyone who wants them while traveling the Trans-Labrador. There are many pick up and drop off points along the way. I highly suggest taking one along on your travels because you never know.

Thanks! I was not aware of the name change for the Trans-Labrador.

I stayed in Happy Valley/Goose Bay back in 1978 while working on a drillship for Chevron offshore Labrador so it is going to be interesting to see how it has change. I carry a SPOT Satelite messenger but plan to take advantage of the loaner satellite phones.

 

[amorley]

Sounds like a bucket list trip to me. I know the VT MH ME area having lived there and it’s lovely riding. Not sure I would ride to the top of Mt Washington though. It’s hairy enough on the train and it’s literally the windiest place in the USA. Not all the time though and probably not as bad in summer, I suppose, with no data to support that. In North Conway there are numerous good restaurants but our favorite is Moat Mountain Brewing Company, which actually overlooks (underlooks?) Mt Washington. A little north of there is a quaint NH town called Jackson, also with some excellent restaurants. If you have time. I’ll be watching your progress with interest!

Do you have a confirmed place to get new tires if needed?

I have ridden up Mt Washington before but am aware that the weather could prevent it this time.

I will change my rear tire in Manitoba at my sister-in-law's farm. It will have 6K miles on it by then so I won't risk it last the 1.5K mile ride back to Texas.

 

[GhenghisKen]

How far head ahead do you need to book the bar-harbor to yarmouth ferry?

 

[amorley]

How far head ahead do you need to book the bar-harbor to yarmouth ferry?

From my prior experience in 2018, I know that these ferries book up quickly.

I made all of my reservations as soon as the 2026 timetables were available. I made the Bar Harbor - Yarmouth reservation in Nov’ 2025, the Sydney - Argentia ferry reservation in Oct’ 2025.