Puffins and the Rock

August 11, 2015

Had a good ride from Pugwash to the ferry in North Sydney NS.  I had some time to kill before I had to be there so I thought I'd find a provincial park to hang out in.  I picked one off the gps and made my way toward it.  But when I got there, I didn't see any park.  But on the way I saw some signs for puffin watching boat tours.  I decided to check that out.  

I arrive at the place and asked the details about the tour.  "Leaves in about half an hour; 3 hour tour so returns to the dock at 8pm; plenty of time to get to the ferry which is only 15 mins away."  Perfect.  

We motored out to a couple of islands where there were several species of birds including puffins.  There were puffins, razorbills (similar to puffins), northern gannets, 2 species of cormorants, bald eagles, blacked backed gulls and herring gulls.  There were also a bunch of gray seals there.  They were in the water and would poke their heads up out of the water to watch us go by.  It was a great tour.  I'm glad I went.

Gray seals poking their heads out of the water to look at us.

Puffin.  That's the best I could do.  The boat was bouncing around, the birds were moving, even though they were close they were too far for the camera to catch well.  What can I say?

I know this is pathetic, but this is a razorbill.  Sorry.

This one is actually a little better.

Hey!  It was hard to get a decent pic!!  

Cormorants.  Adults and immature; Great and Double-crested.

Got to the ferry and found out I got a cabin!!  Boy and am I glad I did!  I saw the reserved seating and it was kinda like bus seats.  A little more room than an airplane and the seats reclined some.  The cabin was great!  It had a bathroom and shower and it felt so good to lay down.  I slept well although not for all that long because the ship sailed just before midnight and got in to Newfoundland at about 6am.  At 5 am they announced over the loud speaker that docking was in 1 hour.

My room on the ferry.

It had its own bathroom with shower.  So nice!

On the Rock

August 12, 2015

Motorcycles were first on the ferry and the first off.  The weather was gray, cold and dreary but not raining yet.  I rode up to Rocky Harbour and got a room in a hostel.  A bed actually but no one else was in the room.  On the ride up, I had a really hard time staying awake.  I was really fighting it.  So as soon as I got to the hostel, I figured I lay down for a few minutes and rest.  I slept for 3 hours.  So glad I stopped and didn't try to push on.  I needed that sleep.  

There were 2 guys at the hostel - Paul and Marco.  Paul reminded me of Paul Lynd with his voice and mannerisms.  He was very funny and animated and full of travel info.  Right away he started telling me where to eat, where to get this, how to do that.  He was nonstop with info.  Good stuff too!  I really needed a recorder or shorthand.  I hope I can remember a little of it.  

Marco reminded me of a much thinner Chris Farley.  He had the accent of Chris Farley.  He was a kind soul.  A photographer by trade.  On Newfoundland for work and taking a little time for himself as well.  He had a bunch of food and said he'd take me to the fish market to get some scallops and he'd cook dinner for me and Paul.  $5 for a whole mess of fresh scallops.  Oh man, was it good too.  We all sat and talked and had a good time.

The rain started after I got to Rocky Harbour.  It continued all night and all day today.  I had wanted to stay to do some hiking around Gros Morne National Park but decided to move on because the weather was supposed to be a little better at L'anse aux Meadows.  Then in a few days, it should be better at Rocky Harbour.  So I rode up to L'anse aux Meadows today.  Off and on rain all day.  But light.  No frog stranglers.

I'm staying at a B&B.  It's only $65 a night so that's about $50 US.  The hostel was $35 which is way too much for what it was.  The bed was a bunk bed with a mattress what was...  like a plastic mattress-shaped bag stuffed with...  toilet paper maybe?  It was bad.  But the company made it good.  Anyway, the B&B is right across the street from L'anse aux Meadows.

I went over and walked around and took a bunch of pics.  They're uploading now.  I'll probably have to update this post later with pics.  It's incredible to think about the Vikings sailing across to Iceland and Greenland and to here.  Oh, a guy staying here at the B&B from Norway said that the Vikings named Iceland Iceland and Greenland Greenland when it should have been reversed.  He said Greenland is nothing but ice and Iceland has very fertile land on the coasts.  He said the Vikings wanted to mess with people's minds so they named the green fertile island Iceland and the icy one Greenland.  I thought that was funny whether it's true or not.  

Since it's cold and rainy out and supposed to be nicer tomorrow, I thought I'd try uploading pics and updating this blog.  I'm kind of tired anyway.  I'm going to see if anyone here is going to dinner and see if I can go with them.  

Oh, something I learned last night from Marco:  United Airlines uses one ply toilet paper.  So don't fly United.  LOL!

Crossed into Canuckistan.

August 10, 2015

Ride was good today.  Weather is perfect. It couldn't be any better. It was a long day though. 9 hours of riding. My back is really bothering me. I think I need to take another Aleve.

I couldn't get my phone to send music to my helmet. My little Bluetooth thing for my Sansa player was acting weird and it wouldn't play from the Sansa. So today was a music-less day.

I got a lot of "Good for you"s and "I'm so jealous! "s from people. This one lady said she used to ride but can't anymore. She said she started riding in the 60s when very few women rode. I said I started in 1970 and she said "so you know exactly what I'm talking about. " She said "I wish I would have met you yesterday; I would have given you a place to stay". We chatted about stuff for a bit. She was really cool. People are genuinely interested in what I'm doing and amazed and one said "inspired" by what I'm doing. It's cool but weird too because this is just normal for me. But the people I've met are the coolest. I'm a total stranger and they just want to help me out and hang out and talk. This lady I was talking about - she said if I need rescue while I'm up here to call her. She'll come get me. Now THAT'S cool stuff right there. (Thanks Linda! You are awesome! )

Random pics...

Tide is low.  Tributary that goes into the Bay of Fundy.

Tilting windmills?

A long day of riding ahead.

August 9, 2015

Yesterday was a lot of riding. Mostly interstate. Traffic wasn't too bad for the most part. A couple of sections of construction where traffic was at a standstill wasn't fun.

Today I need to get a lot of miles in but the plan is to stay off interstates. We'll see how well that plan works.

Heading up through Vermont and New Hampshire today.

Update:  I'm in Maine.  Found a little Mom & Pop motel to stay at.  I was able to stick to the back roads and had a good day of riding.  It's pretty all through here.  It's a lot like riding up through the foothills of the Carolinas.  

It's interesting how all these places are the same.  Poor little towns surrounded by farms.  Somebody gets the bright idea to take all the crap in the barn and call it "Antiques" and sell them by the roadside.  Next thing you know, they turn an old house into an "Antique Shoppe" and are selling the junk like hot cakes.  

Here are a few random pics from today.  Just scenery on the fly.

These were all taken in CT, VT, and NH.  I haven't gotten any in Maine yet.  I'll work on that tomorrow.

Ok, that's it for now.

On the Auto Train

August 7, 2015

Bike is loaded on the trailer that goes on the train.

A few pics of my sleeper room on the train.

Rolling through Jacksonville.  

Bedtime!  They come in and make the bed for you.

Nighty!


August 8, 2015

It's 8am. I'm near Fredericksburg VA. 

Along the Potomac River.

This is a great way to travel! I like it.

Should be arriving soon at the station. As soon as the bike is unloaded, I'll be on the road.

The bike is back home.

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Finally got the bike back.  It was supposed to have been finished yesterday but it wasn't ready when I went to pick it up.  They hadn't even started on it.  

It's a good thing the bike died when I was close to home.  If I had been out in the boonies this would have been much worse.  MUCH worse!  At least I could wait it out at home and I went back to work for the week so I wouldn't waste my leave time.  

So now all I have to do is load up the bike, clean up the mess I made in the house during the week, and get back on the road on Friday.  

And yes, I repacked everything again and I'm going to shuffle a couple more things around again.  It's really hard to try to keep track of stuff when you're travelling in tight quarters like this.  I can only bring just a few things on the train and on the ferries so I need to pick and choose wisely.  And have it ready so I'm not fumbling around when I get to the loading areas.  

Well, that's it for now.

And... I'm off!! Edit: And I'm back home.

Friday, July 31, 2015

Ok, I'm ready to roll.  Here's the beastie:

  

I sure hope I don't drop it.  I'll never be able to pick it up!

Latah gatahs!

Update:  Well, I got about 20 miles down the road and the bike died at a stop light.  I had no battery power at all.  Called AAA for a tow truck (which remarkably arrived fairly quickly) and had it taken to the motorcycle shop in town.  They diagnosed a fried stator.  This is a known issue on these bikes.  And of course my warranty ran out in March.  

Anyway, I'm getting an aftermarket stator overnighted so that it'll be here by Monday morning and the bike will be fixed on Monday.  I've changed my train reservation for next Friday the 7th and I've pushed the ferry reservations out one week.  I won't have a cabin on the ferry but thems the breaks.  

Stay tuned for the restart next Friday!

Here I go again!

Monday, July 27, 2015

Time to finish what I started a couple of years ago.  If you look back, you'll see that I went on a trip to ride the Trans Labrador Hwy in Canada.  I crashed and was not able to continue.  Well, now I'm going back to see what I didn't get to see then.  

The plan is to take the AutoTrain from Sanford FL to Lorton VA and then ride my 2014 Vstrom 650 from there up to eastern Canada.  I'll take the ferry across to Newfoundland and spend a week touring there.  Then I'll go to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and wherever else I decide to go.  Then I'll go around the Gaspe Peninsula.  I've heard that's a beautiful drive.  Then I'll start heading south toward home.

I've been prepping for months - gathering stuff, deciding what to take and what not to take, packing and repacking, fretting and stressing.  I'm just about ready.  As of today, I'm only waiting for a new tank bag to arrive to complete the ensemble.  

Last night - as with many nights recently - I laid in bed thinking about everything and decided I needed to repack again.  I have all my camping gear and clothes in a large Wolfman duffle bag.  I decided I want my clothes more readily available so I'm going to repack again tonight.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute!

Even though I feel like I've limited the stuff I need to take, I sure do have a lot of stuff!!!  I'll be camping some so I have to take camping gear including minimal food prep items and a little food (ramen noodles and canned chicken).  Clothes I've minimized pretty well I think.  Tools - I always have a ton of tools as if I would be able to fix something on the road.  Reality says that I'll probably just have to call in a tow truck.  Then there's the electronic gear.  A Garmin Montana 650T gps, Passport 8500 radar detector, SPOT3, Sansa Clip+ for music, Lumix point-and-shoot camera, GoPro Hero3, and my Samsung Galaxy Note 4.  Of course all that requires various recharging items and spare batteries.  Good grief!  But there's one thing I REALLY wanted to bring with and I think I've figured out how I can bring it.  That's my ukulele.  And that's where the repacking comes in tonight.  I'm going to try to pack my clothes in with the ukulele because if I stop at a hotel or something, I'll want to bring in the uke and my clothes. Might as well pack them together so I only have to tote that one bag and my tank bag.

So that's it for now.  I hope to update this as I go (unlike with the Wild West tour I did).  Of course internet access may prevent that but I'll try to catch up as I can.

Stay tuned!