Summer trip 2016

Cherie and I started our summer trip on Friday. Our first stop was a B&B 30 km north of Minden, it was a very unique building almost round ( actually 12 sided) and about 1 km off the highway on a private gravel road. They have about 170 acres of land and cut a number of hiking trails in there, I took the one to the beaver pond. Glad we brought the mosquito repellent along and that it was effective. From there we headed to Ottawa on Saturday using mostly back roads that where in good condition and had little traffic. Tomorrow it is off into Quebec. Here are some photos of the Journey so far.


Map of the route we took


Photo of the B&B


The owner rides a Honda Shadow and just came back with his wife from New Brunswick, oh I forgot to mention he is 79 years old. They let you park your motorcycle in the carport.


The road to the B&B is not Gert approved, all gravel with steep section and lots of curves. They have a sense of humour having various road signs along the way including this one that encourages you to keep going.






The beaver pond




In Ottawa the temperatures where pretty high even in the morning, kind of felt sorry for the participants in this ceremony.


They had a rib fest in Ottawa this weekend

I look forward to following this thread! Thanks for posting about your annual adventure. Good timing on the ribfest!

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the comments and I will try to post some photos tomorrow. I think this vacation thing is more tiring than working a 9 hour day, but we had a short day today and are staying put with no real plans tomorrow.

Gerhard

Enjoy!

Shawinigan local brew, most Canadians will understand the handshake, for those that don?t here is a short explanation. Our former Prime Minister Jean Chretian was confronted by a protester and before security could step in he grabbed him by the throat, pushed him away and carried on.



Our first of two poutine lunches of the trip



We spent a couple of days in Quebec City, we always enjoy the old part of the city with it?s winding streets



Bakeries are really good here and pretty economical lunch option



This is a Fjord that is about 1.5 km wide and the Quebec government operates three ferries at peak times which means virtually no delay in boarding and proceeding with the crossing. At lower traffic times the number of ferries is reduced so not quite as convenient.



One of the other ferries leaving as our ferry dock on the east side of the fjord



Bed & Breakfast in Longue Rive Quebec, out in the middle of nowhere on the north shore of the St. Lawrence



The view of Longue Rive across the bay where the B&B is



Forget the name but there is a National Park on the St. Lawrence where you can sit on shore to spot whales. When we where there we saw four or five whales surface but they where quite far from the shore but the fellow from the Park said that often they feed quite close to the shore so could see them at about 50 feet.






Two hour ferry ride across the St. Lawrence to Matane Quebec, I was surprised that the bikes weren?t tied down at all but every bike was still standing after the crossing

Excellent, thanks for sharing!

Pouring rain last night so I worked with the photos a little more


Along the north coast of the Gaspe peninsula the road resembles the Cabot Trail, the road is between the ocean and either in front of cliffs or on top of cliffs so lots of elevation change and lots of curves.






Lighthouses along the shore, not many opportunities for coffee though









Mussels just seem to taste better out here as does all seafood



The famous Perce Rock and it is impressive when you come upon it






Neat little bar in Perce that has a lot of craft beer on tap






In downtown Saint John NB they have they statues standing at the main intersection






They wanted to charge $21.99 a night to park the bike at this downtown hotel, took a bit of negotiating and some chocolate to park for free

Great report Gerhard. I'll be following along

Ya Hoo! Great trip report!
Love the gal taking your pic on the rock watching whales! Tit for tat? I'm not saying that you are a whale......but you were taking her pic.

I love blue sweaters too.

ToddC

Following along. Can't wait to get north of the border in August. Maps, we need maps! Did someone say sweater puppies?

Gerhard said:

The road to the B&B is not Gert (Gerd) approved, all gravel with steep section and lots of curves. They have a sense of humour having various road signs along the way including this one that encourages you to keep going.

Click to expand...

Gerhard said:

I think this vacation thing is more tiring than working a 9 hour day, but we had a short day today

Gerhard

Click to expand...

Try riding less on GRAVEL roads and you will be fine

Enjoying your trip report and pictures.

Yesterday was a long day for us. We woke up at friends outside Burlington Vermont, had a leisurely breakfast and where on our way just before 10. Took the ferry across Lake Champlain to Essex NY and then headed for Lake Placid. This was probably one of the the nicest rides in the eastern U.S., part of it was that it was a day where I just seemed to be able to ride better than most. We had a pizza in Lake Placid on a patio with a great view. We left about 3 and the riding remained good, met a guy from Peterborough returning from a BMW rally in Hamburg NY with the same bike as mine at a gas stop and had a short conversation. Once in Canada we had trouble finding a room and 645 km into the day we got a room near Pearson airport.

Gerhard

We made it home as planned on the 17th. The bike performed well with the only problem being that it is very dirty and needs new tires. We rode through hot weather, cold weather, dry roads and wet roads. Ate some good meals, drank some cold beer and had a great time. Met a lot of nice people along the way from Swiss marine biologist to a couple of kids from Colorado with a Dodge flatbed pickup running on french fry oil.



Nice lunch stop in Maine on U.S. 1


Meet Wilbur the lobster











Folks looking for shells on the beach in Bar Harbor


New England country


Riding under Boston


Another nice road


King Arthur Flour a great place to go for breakfast or lunch or both








You can watch the bakers in action








Can't always trust Garmin on which roads are paved and which aren't, they where a nice ride anyway


Who says there is no free lunch, we had one in this Chelsea Vermont park


The chefs at work





Visiting a friend in Vermont


Crossing Lake Champlain


Home made camper that runs on french fry oil








Lake Placid NY


Coffee stop in Gananoque Ontario after crossing the border back into Canada


The Socialist Pig was the name of the coffee shop, I asked about the name but the girl working their didn't know about it





Our last stop before coming home on Sunday was at the Timeless Bakery and Cafe in Waterloo Ontario



I guess our next trip will be to OnSTock and we can hardly wait

Cool photos! Thanks for posting them. Bar Harbor, Lake Champlain, and Lake Placid bring back memories from rides I've done over the past several years. While different than the majestic mountains and vistas out west, there are some great places to visit in the northeast!

Glad you are home safe and sound, with many happy memories.

PS - Had I known about your lunch stop I could have met you at the Timeless Cafe, it is a neat spot to stop at.

Excellent trip report Gerhard - it looks like you and Cherie had a super time! Thanks for sharing.

Pete

Great ride and photos!

This is an EPIC RIDE REPORT!!! Thanks for sharing with us.

Looks like it was a great trip! I very much enjoyed it! Again, thanks for sharing!

Thanks for sharing your holiday pleasures through this great forum!