Thursday, August 30, 2012

Looks like I'll be here another week.

Everything that can go wrong, has gone wrong, and will probably continue to go wrong.  I'm going to be delayed by about a week getting home.  This sucks.  

I was ready to be home last week.  Ugh.  

I think this "adventure" has officially turned into nightmare.  Mama is not happy.


Monday, August 27, 2012

Ooops! Too long since last update.

Sorry about that!!  

Monday, August 27.

I got to my friend Pete's place and have been hanging out here just recovering.  I haven't done anything until today.  I drove around for a little sightseeing.  Went by the Bay of Fundy but really didn't see any tidal action.  Drove down to Cape D'Or.  It's really beautiful here.  All over.  Dramatic coastline or rolling farm land.  Really nice.  

Other friends are starting to show up so starting today, it ought to be party city.  Not that I'm a party gal.  But it's fun to watch.  

Finally got hold of the guy in Port Hope Simpson about my bike.  I had called and left messages as well as emailed the guy but who knows what happened to that.  He said he wasn't in any hurry because he was waiting to hear from me.  Doh!!!  Holy cow.  Anyway, he said he was going to get the bike off the road today or tomorrow.  Then the shipping sequence can take place.  I hope they hurry up because I need to start heading home.  

I'm doing better each day.  Hopefully that trend continues.  

Thanks for all the emails and calls.  It's pretty remote up here and I have no phone or data and just occasional wifi.  I can send and receive texts though.  

I'll update again when I hear where my bike is.  

Latah gatahs!!  C

Thursday, August 23, 2012

A new day.

What a difference a day makes!  

Yesterday (Weds, Aug 22) I flew from St. Anthony Newfoundland to Halifax Nova Scotia.  I wasn't feeling so well and it was a rough day.  Got in here last night late and went right to bed.  Woke up this morning feeling much better.  I didn't have to struggle as much to get out of bed.  That's nice!  

Today my friend Pete is picking me up at 4 so in the meantime, I thought I'd wander over to the Titanic museum.  

That's it for now!


Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Chillin'

Tuesday, August 21 update:

In a hotel in St Anthony NL.  My flight to Halifax isn't until late tomorrow afternoon.  Spent the day sorting out all my motorcycle gear and putting it into a couple of bags I can take on the plane as checked baggage.  Other than that, nothing else going on.

Tried to get a rental car to be able to go to L'anse aux Meadows but there are none available.  

Feeling just so-so today.  I think it's all catching up to me.  I need to slow down a bit.

Oh, good news...  I contacted the company that will be shipping my bike.  That's all taken care of.  They'll let me know as soon as they have possession of the bike and are ready to ship it.  That's one less thing to worry about.  

That's it for now.  Latah gatahs.


Monday, August 20, 2012

Finally free!!

Monday, August 20 - update:

I've been released from the hospital!!  No surgery required.  Woohoo!!  At the hotel now.

Well, getting out of this little town - even though it's the biggest town for a zillion miles around - is nearly impossible!!  There are no rental cars.  There used to be a "bus" that would run back and forth between here and a town 7 hours away but it's no longer in service.  There's only one flight per day that leaves from this airport and the airport is an hour away from town.  There's one guy who shuttles people to the airport and I think he only does that once a day.  

Anyway, the best scenario would have been if that bus was still in service and you ride down to Deer Lake, catch an Air Canada flight directly to Halifax, Nova Scotia ($385).  Since the bus doesn't run anymore, I have to fly from here to St. John's Newfoundland on a small regional airline, catch an Air Canada flight that goes to Halifax with a stop in...  Deer Lake!  Doh!!  That crazy scenario costs $1000 for the airfare part alone.  Nevermind the shuttles, hotel, extra bag fee*, trip insurance**, etc.  Ugh!!  

I would have never been able to pull together the whole thing.  I was searching google for solutions when I came upon the town website and on there was info for a travel agent!!  Woohoo!  Called her up and she arranged everything.  Turns out the guy who drives the van to the airport here is her father-in-law or something of the sort.  

*In trying to think of how to get all the gear that was on my motorcycle back home, one of the clever nurses at the hospital said just get a couple of suitcases and put everything in those, pay the extra baggage fee, and check it onto the planes.  Well, wouldn't you know that after she got off work, she went home, got an old duffel type bag, and brought it back for me to take.  How awesome is that?!?!  Then, the front desk gal at the hotel I'm staying at brought in another big duffel for me to use!!  All I have to do is split everything up so that each bag isn't more than 50 lbs.  Problem solved!!

**The travel agent asked me if I had travel insurance for my motorcycle trip.  I didn't even know there was such a thing!!  So if you're planning on a trip like this, check into it!!  It would be well worth it.

My awesome friends that I had planned on meeting at the end of August in Nova Scotia, are driving my truck up from NY.  All I have to do now is get the bike shipped to NS and then I'll have everything together and I can drive home!!  While I'm waiting for them to show up, I can rest up and I should be ok to drive home.

BTW, I'm doing much better today than yesterday.  I'm moving much better.  Still need the pain meds and the doc said I'll need to take the loopy-head stuff especially when I'm travelling.  I'm glad I have them if I need them.

I'm really sad I can't do my tour of Newfoundland.  I was really looking forward to seeing the island.  But I'll just have to come back and do it another time. That's now on the bucket list.

Stay tuned...  the adventure isn't over yet!!

PS...  for those following my SPOT - Jeremy will be taking SPOT with him since he's still on the bike.  That way his family and friends can follow him on his adventure.  I'll have to take it after Nova Scotia when I head home so you'll be able to follow me again then.  It won't be as exciting though as being on the Trans Lab.  



Sunday, August 19, 2012

The saga continues.

Sunday August 19th update:

The doc I saw in the ER came by today and asked me if I saw the bone doc.  I said no.  Nurse said he was here yesterday but didn't come by.  I asked if he was going to come by today and they said no, probably not until Monday.  WTF?!?!  So I'm just sitting here waiting?  I could have done that in the hotel across the street!!  Crimony!  So I continue to wait for the doc to stroll his butt in here and tell me if this needs surgery to fix or not.  Sheesh. 

In the meantime, it seems that it's not so easy to get off this rock.  There are no rental cars.  I found that I can fly from here to St Johns and then get a rental car and drive back to the ferry.  The nurse said she knew what airlines go where and she'd come back later to help me figure it out.  Thankfully Jeremy got on the ferry this morning and is on his way here.  Then we'll figure out a plan.

Sounds like my friends are working out a plan to drive my truck to Nova Scotia where we were going to be meeting anyway.  That would be great because then I can have the bike shipped there (avoiding border issues) and I can drive home from there.

I know some of you think I should just get on a plane and fly home and deal with my shoulder there but I've thought about that and think it's best to get it done here.  If I wait, I'll have to find a doc at home who will see me, wait until I can get an appt there, then wait until they can schedule surgery, etc.  By that time, my shoulder would have healed a good bit in the wrong way and would be more complex to fix.  The fix would not be a complex one if I can just get it done now.  I'd rather just have it fixed here and get on with things.  So I think that's what I'll do.  That's all IF the doc says it needs fixing.  I still don't know that yet.  

Anyway, I'm doing better today.  It doesn't hurt as much as yesterday, my head is clearer, I'm moving around better.  I still need the pain killers but I'm taking ones that don't mess with my head.  I hate those.  I'm taking a powerful NSAID class drug.  It works well but is limited to 5 days max.  By then, Aleve will probably work fine.  

I found a pepsi machine.  That's a nice treat!  The food really sucks here.  I bet prisoners have better food.  The breakfast is 100% carb laden which is the total opposite of what I need.  Can't wait to have a proper breakfast!  And lunch and dinner for that matter.

I'm doing ok.  I'll be glad when I can move on.  Maybe I can still salvage some of this trip.


Saturday, August 18, 2012

It's an adventure all right!

Just not what I was hoping for.  Yesterday, Day 6, I crashed about 100 miles south of Goose Bay.  We had stopped for a break and when we started rolling again, the gravel was thick and loose.  It's really hard riding in that unless you get some speed up.  Once you get moving faster, the bike just floats on top of it and it's smooth sailing.  But before I could get up to speed, the front end started wobbling.  The cure for that is to give it a little more throttle but that didn't work and it got worse until it was a full on tank slapper and it pitched me off high side.  I fell hard on my left shoulder and broke my collar bone and a couple of ribs.  

A French Canadian couple came along behind us and gave me a ride to Port Hope Simpson (they were on their way to Blanc Sablon).  I went to the clinic there where they flew me out to St. Anthony's Hospital.  The clinic doesn't have xray equipment or a doc on staff so they fly folks to St. Anthony's on Newfoundland island for that.  I'm currently waiting on the bone doc to see what needs to be done.  Hopefully just sit still for a while until it heals.  

Once I get finished here, I'll get a rental car and continue on.  Bummer not to do it on the bike but a car is second best.  It'll still work!


Thursday, August 16, 2012

Churchill Falls to Goose Bay


This post is incomplete.  Pictures will be added later on when I can get them uploaded.


Day 5:  Light rain when we left.  Stayed that way for the first few hours.  Then it cleared up.  

120 miles of gravel road today.  It was like riding on marbles most of the time.  But if you went fast, it was fine.  60mph was the perfect speed.  

Once we got out of the rain, the road got really dusty.  A truck would come by and we'd be engulfed in a huge dust cloud that we could not see through at all.  

It was beautiful scenery again.  From Churchill Falls, the road starts dropping south again.  It changed from coniferous forest and sphagnum bog to a mix of conifers and hardwoods and sandy soils.  

We stopped just outside of Happy Valley/Goose Bay at Muskrat Falls.  It was about a 10 minute hike and it was well worth it!!  I took video of it and will have to post it later.  More on the falls in a minute.

When we got to HVGB, we stopped for gas.  While paying inside, a lady was asking us where we were from, etc.  I asked if she knew of any campgrounds in the area and she said there was one way out of town but that we could come camp in her yard.  So here we are, tents in the backyard and we're hanging out with her and having a great time.  She fed us, let us shower, and we even did laundry.  She rocks!!!  Thanks a zillion, Janet!!!  :hugs:

Janet was telling us that the Canadian government is preparing to dam the falls for hydropower.  What a shame to lose those falls!!!  While we were hiking there, there were workers clearing a path to the falls.  I'm glad we got to see it like it should be and I took video.  I will post it to youtube.  Sad though that the only way to see it will be on youtube videos.

That's it for today.  Sorry no pics yet.  It's hard to upload now.  I'll post as soon as I can.


The trip so far...

This post is incomplete.  Pictures will be added later on when I can get them uploaded.


Day 1:  Rode from NY to Quebec City.  It was all interstate riding.  Made it to just north of Q City and stopped for the night at what appeared to be a campground.  Turns out, it was part of the Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre.  It was a place for those visiting the Shrine to stay.  It cost $5 for the night.  The Shrine was quite an amazing building.  



Day 2: We got an early start to go to Baie Comeau.  The road followed the coastline and went through many small villages.  



There was a ferry crossing where we waited a few turns before we were able to get on the ferry.  




Rain was off and on all day.  It wasn't too bad though.  Luckily, we're waterproof for now.  




We met a couple from south Florida on the ferry who told us about the whale watching in the area.  This is the time of year for whale watching.  With that information, we decided to get a campsite at a campground just outside of Baie Comeau that was located on the water.  We thought this would be a good way to see some whale while we were here.  Well, the fog was thick and we could barely see anything.  Instead we had dinner of croquettes de poulin (which is chicken nuggets).  When you're a starvin' marvin, it's amazing how good those can be!! 

Day 3: We rode from Baie Comeau to Labrador City.  The road was paved and twisty but in disrepair.  It didn't matter - we were enjoying it.  About halfway up, we came to Manic 5 (Manic Cinq).  It is a MASSIVE hydropower dam.  We stopped there for fuel and food and a few pics.

(insert dam pics)

After Manic 5, the road was a patchwork of unpaved and paved sections.  

(insert pics)

The scenery is fabulous!  Hilly, coniferous trees, lakes...  really beautiful. 

(beach pics)

This road is under construction in places.  They're working on paving it.  There was a lot of truck traffic too.  

(construction pics)

Finally, we reached Labrador.  Yay!!  Back into English speaking territory.  However, you can't understand what they're saying any more than the French.  Crazy accent they have up here.  We were told that the farther east you get, the worse it gets.  Haha!!  

(labrador sign)

In Labrador City, there were no hotel rooms available at all.  One hotel had a sign that said "No vacancy until August 2014".  Insane!!  We went out to the only campground in town and didn't like what we saw so we started searching for a spot along the road.  We found an RC aircraft field that had a perfect spot to pitch tents so that's where we stayed. 

(jeremy's campsite pics)

Day 4:  Labrador City to Churchill Falls.  Yesterday, after the stop at the beach, we noticed that Jeremy's KLR headlight was out.  On the ride to Baie Comeau, we meet a fella who said he lived in Labrador City and had a garage there.  If we needed anything, just stop by.  I said we would stop by to say hi at the very least.  So first order of business was to stop there to fix the light.  I also, lowered the front end of my bike because with all the weight on the back, the front end was really squirrely at low speed and in turns.  It felt like it just wanted to fall into the turns too quickly.  I didn't want to get on sketchy gravel road with it being so twitchy.  Jeremy's headlight issue was a blown fuse, burned out bulb, and a burned out turn signal bulb.  It took more time to unload and reload the bike than it did to fix the problem!  My bike was an easy fix.  I just didn't have a 12mm socket to do it myself.  

Bikes fixed and on the road again.  Another day of off and on rain.  Temps were good - cool enough to not sweat but warm enough not to freeze.  Again, more beautiful scenery.  There were a lot of what appeared to be peat bogs mixed in with the coniferous forest.

(road pics)

There was a lot of heavy construction on the road to Churchill Falls.  About 50 miles was gravel and under construction.  

We arrived at Churchill Falls and decided to try to see if the one hotel in town had a room.  They do!!  Woohoo!!  That gave us a chance to try to dry out our tents and other gear.  

(gear drying pics)

A hot shower was nice as well as a meal of pizza (for me) and pasta dish (for Jeremy).  

(food pics)

Time for a good sleep!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

A quick update...

Today is August 15th.  I'm in Churchill Falls, Labrador/Newfoundland.  So far, so good.  It's been rain off and on; paved and unpaved roads.  Internet access has been spotty.  All's well.  Working on updates with pictures but getting the pictures uploaded in challenging.  Otherwise, having a blast and making good progress.  Stay tuned for more quick updates as well as detailed posts.

See ya!  C

Saturday, August 11, 2012

It's time to ride!!

Wow!  I can't believe it's here already.  I'm at the starting point.  Tomorrow is the first day on the motorcycle.

Yesterday and today I had an uneventful drive.  Almost all interstate.  Stopped for lunch yesterday with Shawn and had a yummy shrimp burger in NC.  Made a little detour to visit my friend Kevin in VA.  Got to see the new abode.  Love love LOVE the garage!!  I want one of those!  Now I'm at Kathy's house hanging out with her awesome family.  I have the greatest friends!!!  

I have two pics for today - the bike on the truck...


  
And Marvin!!  He's excited about the rover landing on his homeland but he's more excited to be on this trip!!



Tomorrow it's on to Quebec City!  

A bientôt!!  

Sunday, August 5, 2012

In the meantime...

I thought I'd post a link to my trip to Moab UT.  It's got lots of pics.  Can't go wrong with that.  :-D

My week in Moab UT.

Enjoy!