Tuesday, December 20, 2016

First Snow Part IV

December in New England can be anything, last year the weather was pretty warm, no snow. This year, it's been cold since the first of the month, and we're on our fourth snow event. The temperature the other night was ten below, snowing pretty good right now.  Good day to wrap Christmas presents..
We have five grandkids now, the latest was born on the ninth, Arcturus, Four boys and one poor girl!



Saturday we shovelled snow, then it rained Saturday night, so Sunday we spent 3 hours chipping and scraping ice off the driveway. Now this morning it's 14 below.. Really cold December.
I know all you republicans out there are saying "See, no such thing as Global Warming!"  Regardless of how cold it is now, 2016 will go down as the warmest year on record. Facts are facts, the climate is changing, and anyone who thinks it isn't or thinks we don't have anything to do with it is just plain ignorant.


I was glad to see Andrea Bocelli is refusing to sing at the inauguration. My father would be happy, he was a devoted fan. My father grew up a Republican, back when politics was far less partisan than now. He taught me to listen to what they had to say. He never voted the "Ticket" he voted for the candidate whom he thought would be best for the country. He would have despised this years republican farse.


We all look upon the Statue of Liberty as a great symbol of our country. Yet, as I still reflect on this past election, an election won by greed, racism and isolationism, I have to wonder, how many of those who voted have read the poem on the base of this great American symbol...

Read it, think...  read it again

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,With conquering limbs astride from land to land;Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flameIs the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"


This is who we are, not what this administration is threatening for us to become



Friday, December 9, 2016

First Snow Part III

It's depressing getting your plow truck stuck, especially when you live in the middle of nowhere.
Luckily for me I have my neighbor down the road, Rollie. Rollie is a true Mainer. Born and raised here, and most likely, hasn't been anywhere other than here. He tells me he's been plowing snow every year since he was about 10. He takes care of all the roads here in the rural development where we live, so anytime I get in a jam, Rollie bails me out. I remember one time we had a big dump of about 2 feet of snow, and I got my truck so buried I didn't think I'd ever get it out. I spent about 2 hours digging and finally crawled back to the house and called Rollie and told him I was stuck. Well he showed up with his old reliable plow truck, took one look at my predicament and says to me "Dave, you ain't stuck, you just ain't goin nowhere". he walked around my truck, thought for a minute, hooked up a tow chain to his truck, told me to turn my wheels and put my truck in neutral and in about 10 seconds I was 'goin somewhere'. Now Rollie is no young fella, he's about 83 or so now, but I also remember one nasty, cold and windy winter day stopping by his house and there he was outside under his truck pulling an axle. It's just what you do if you're a Mainer.


Another joyous winter event I recall was during a sleet storm I was backing my van out of our driveway, which goes up hill, and I could not get any traction, But I kept trying, a little faster and a little further up each time. On about my fifth try the van slid off the driveway on to the edge of a steep embankment. Now I was definitely "Not going nowhere". I was in the driver's seat on the uphill side, but what I didn't realize was that I was the ballast that was holding the van in place. So, when I crawled out of the van, in slow motion, the van rolled down the hill onto it's roof! Meanwhile, DeeDee was watching the entire event form the bedroom window! Good thing there was no 'YouTube'!  Rollie couldn't help me that time, that was a 2 tow truck project!



Our next winter activity was "Extreme Sledding"  I'm not sure how we got started, but we had these cheap plastic Walmart sleds that we would use in the back yard and the hills at the end of the road. Then we started dragging them up hiking trails. The next thing we knew we blasting down 3 mile runs from the top of mountains. We started customizing our sleds and trying to figure out braking systems. With our friends Nancy, Rick, Lucas and Liz we did some harrowing descents on those crazy little plastic sleds.


One problem with New England winters is that it's not always cold and snow. Almost every winter we get at least one rain storm, that ruins the snow and wreaks havoc with driveways, roofs, gutters and everything. Because after the rain comes down, everything freezes, rock solid! One such event was the ice storm of 1998. A real strange weather pattern cause a catastrophic ice event in most of the Northeast. At our house at the end of the road we were without electricity for 23 days! It took me a day to clear enough trees to get out. Luckily we had a wood stove in the basement for heat and a generator. Another rain event happened in 2004. We had had a lot of snow, so our snow banks we really high, a torrential rain came down flooding our garage and basement. We were up to our knees in water and slush trying to trench the water away. Almost every winter I would be up on the roof shovelling snow. We had a repeat rain event several years later, got my plow truck stuck a few more times, slid into a tree and mashed in the whole right side, lost power at least once a winter. Had several chimney fires, fell on my ass on the ice multiple times...  

 It was about this time when winter stopped being so much fun.. Oh but then there was 'Mud Season"  still to come. That's when it warms up, rains and floods everything, washes out your driveway, fills up youe basement and makes things just miserable.                                                  

Then I discovered Mexico

Thursday, December 8, 2016

First Snow Part II

Having fallen in love with the mountains, I finally moved to New Hampshire's Mount Washington Valley in the mid eighties. The nice thing about living in the Valley was, you got to ski cheap and mid week without the crowds. So all our days off would be skiing, snowshoeing, back country skiing, ice climbing and even night skiing.  By the late eighties the new sport of snow boarding was just starting to make the scene. My good friend Dave Goodwin took to boarding immediately. Dave was good at anything he did, he was an expert sky diver, expert kayaker, great skier, he climbed, he rode dirt bikes, hunted, fished, so he was a natural at boarding.  He went on to be a snowboard and telemark ski instructor. Dave passed on a few years ago from cancer, he is missed.



DeeDee and I took to snow boarding a few years later and haven't been on skis since. I started guiding about that time, so as my commitment to the restaurant decreased, my time in the outdoors increased. Eventually I was a full time climbing guide, spending sometimes 7 days a week out bringing folks up Mt Washington or teaching them to ice climb. As a member of the Mountain Rescue Service, we'd sometimes spend all night rescuing an injured climber or searching for lost hikers in quite often miserable conditions. After several rescues where we had to snowshoe miles up steep terrain is awful conditions, I decided I hated snowshoeing! Rescues were tough, but when the result was good, it was worth it. Unfortunately, all the rescues did not always end well. Finding and recovering a body is a somber event that stays with you forever. Most rescues and searches were a result of poor judgement, lack of experience or just stubbornness. Almost all could have been prevented.  The White Mountains in winter are harsh. On Mt Washington alone there have been over 150 fatalities.


Why do so many die on a 6000 foot mountain, that in other areas would be just a hill?  It's just a few hours of driving for millions of people, it can have the worst weather on the planet, and people just don't want to head warnings. Outside magazine did an article about why so many die on Mt Wahington, good reading  if you're interested HERE...


In the meantime, DeeDee and I had bought a house in Fryeburg, Maine, a short distance from the Valley. The house was at the end of a dirt road, so we had a driveway about a quarter mile long. That first winter we shovelled the entire thing by hand. Luckily our nearest neighbor had a tractor and plowed us out enough for me to realize, I needed a plow. My first plow was a 1950's Ford Tractor. Tractors can move snow, but by no means do they move it fast or very efficiently. And without a cab, not very much fun. After a few years with a tractor, I finally smartened up and bought an old Chevy plow  truck. Much better, but there's still a learning curve to plowing snow, and as with most things in my life, I learned the hard way...

to be continued

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

First Snow

For the first 60 years of my life I loved winter. I loved the snow, loved the cold.  Now, not so much.

As a kid, snow meant, first of all, a chance for 'No School'!. Snow was fun, build forts, snowball fights, sledding. We had a great hill in our backyard and my father and my grandfather would work for hours perfecting a luge for our flying saucers, complete with huge banked corners. My Dad would sprinkle water on the track at night and wax the bottoms of the saucers. We flew down that hill, almost like Clark Griswold in Christmas Vacation!


Then I discovered skiing. I got a pair of Northland wooden skis, bear trap bindings and leather boots. Believe it or not, in south eastern Mass and northern Rhode Island, there were five ski areas within a half hour of our house. All but one are gone now, the hills covered with expensive homes.


As soon as I could drive, it was off to the 'real' mountains. The first big ski trip I can remember was with my friend Brad, he took the family Bonneville and we loaded up and headed to Stowe, Vt. We stayed in bunk beds in a hostel, cooked our own meals. That first day on the mountain was an eye  opener for us, the temperature was below zero, the wind howling. Stowe had a single chair, that was at the time, the fastest lift in the country. Two attendants would load you on and launch you as the third attendant tossed a packing quilt over you for warmth! The 'Front Four' at Stowe were and probably still are four of the steepest ski trails in the country, and we had no business being on them! From the lift we skied across the top of Liftline, yikes, really steep, then National, yikes, really steep, big bumps, then Goat, yikes, really steep and narrow, and big moguls, finally we came to Starr, end of the line. I remember looking down, it seemed to be dead vertical, all I could see was several giant moguls and the the roof of the lodge! Yikes. My way cool Head black metal skis all of a sudden seemed really long and heavy. Somehow, we made it down it one piece, had some hot chocolate in the lodge and spent the rest of the day on the easy trails.


We took a lot of ski trips over the next few years, skiing as early as Thanksgiving and late into the spring. As the years passed I continued to ski with new friends. My friend and business partner John and his friends loved to ski, all my motorcycle buddies loved to ski. Then I got into climbing and ice climbing and winter camping.  Winter was fun...

To be continued....

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Winter... 2016

Well after spending the month of November in Mexico, we are back in Maine for the holidays. It's a bit of a shock, 28 degrees and dark at 4:00 today...

A few weeks ago on the beach, bonfire with friends, hot dogs and a brilliant sunset...




I'm still mulling over the bizarre election and the insane process that went along with it...

Changes I would like to see, but will probably never happen:

  1. Shorten the whole process to six months, 3 months for primaries, and 3 months for the final.
  2. Get rid of "Citizen's United". There is enough dirty money in politics as it is.
  3. Get rid of the Electoral College. It is antiquated, and not  the way a democracy is supposed to work. Every vote should count.
  4. Somehow, make voting mandatory! There are approximately 260 million Americans eligible to vote, yet just half did so. As a result, this president was elected by barely 20% of the electorate.
Henry Louis Mencken, a prominent newspaperman and political commentator during the first half of the 20th century, wrote for the Baltimore Evening Sun 26 July 1920,

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." 





Ok, no more politics for a while, needless to say, the next four years will be interesting.

The World Series is over. It's nice to see that the teams that spend the most money don't always get there. The Cubs were # 5 in spending, with a 188 million dollar payroll, but the Indians were # 21 with 144 million. Crazy numbers still. The Dodgers spent 288 million, while the Tampa Bay Rays spent just 71 mil. I wonder what would happen if there was a salary cap in baseball?
Speaking of salary caps, the NFL is in full swing. The salary cap, along with free agency was suppose to create parity in the league, so that no one team could dominate. That's why everyone hates, Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the Patriots, They have dominated the league and certainly the AFC for 16 years. Even when the dictator Roger Goodell trumps up phony charges against  them, suspends Brady for 4 games, takes away their draft picks, they still manage to win.

Every time I think of Baseball and Football, I have to listen to George Carlin's classic skit..
If you've never heard it, click here.

Ernest Hemingway stated  "There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games"

Speaking of such, the 49th Baja 1000 off road race was held a few weeks ago, with Rob MacCachren and Jason Voss winning in a Trophy Truck for the third straight year, while Colton Udall won for the fourth straight year on a Honda CRF450. Race spirits were dampened though by the death of racer Mark Uhtala, who was involved in a head on collision with another racer during a speed control section late at night. Baja can be brutal and racing is dangerous.

Next year is the 50th running of this incredible race. The race will come through Loreto and we plan on being there.



Saturday, October 8, 2016

Autumn, the Fair, and an injury

Over the years DeeDee and I have climbed and hiked and ridden our motorcycle all over the world. DeeDee has bravely hung on to the back of the bike through rain, snow, giant mud holes up endless rocky hills and getting lost for hours. We have gone down on the bike more times than I can remember even going over the bars on my big BMW 1200. We have come out mostly unscathed with just a few scratches and bruises. Two weeks ago DeeDee was trimming flowers in the back yard and proceeded to scramble down one of the large rock walls, when a boulder moved and she tumbled down wrenching her knee. Go figure!
She could not walk, so she crawled into the house and waited for me to return from a day of dirt biking. Off to the emergency room, good news, no significant damage, most likely a strained MCL. She was not happy being immobile, but after a week of bed and lots of ibuprofen and ice, the swelling has gone down and she is slowly on her way back, still pissed at missing all this beautiful weather..


And beautiful it has been. After a bit of a cool rainy spell, the perfect autumn days have arrived, right along with all the tourists and the Fryeburg Fair!



All the experts predicted this years foliage would not be very good due to the drought. I climbed yesterday up in Berlin, NH and drove through Pinkham Notch. The colors are as good as I have ever seen, and the perfect crisp blue sky made for a postcard view around every corner.



The only thing cluttering up the view was all the stupid political signs everywhere!!  Can't wait for that fiasco to be over. With the exception of the Presidential mess, Maine has several interesting questions on the ballot, Legalizing Marijuana, Background checks for gun sales and Question 5, which would allow you to rank your voting options.  This would be a realistic way to have viable third party candidates and hopefully will be adopted here and then maybe Nationally as well. Had we had that option five years ago, we wouldn't have the worst governor in the country, asshole Paul LePage now!  So you Mainers out there, get out and vote YES on Question, 1, 3 and 5!!

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Back to it..

Back home, get the grass cut, laundry, groceries.
And reality brings the news, depressing as ever, shootings, and more shootings here, poisoned water, food re-calls, Wells Fargo stealing money, Big Pharma raising prices, more terror attacks over seas

And then there's the politics. Political signs line the streets on every corner, Politicians lying in TV ads every minute, and the worst Presidential election ever. I have a hard time wrapping my head around it. Why do so many despise Hillary? Did she do anything worse than any other politician? Not that I can figure. And how in Hell can so many think that Donald Drumph could actually be president? Does anyone actually look up facts?

This is from a USA Today editorial

"From the day he declared his candidacy 15 months ago through this week’s first presidential debate, Trump has demonstrated repeatedly that he lacks the temperament, knowledge, steadiness and honesty that America needs from its presidents."

The entire editorial is well written and focuses on why Trump is unfit for the Presidency.

Read it   HERE

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Canadian Reflections

Even though the weather was less than optimal, the trip was great. For those who don't ride, it's probably hard to understand sitting on a bike for 10 days, and I'll admit there are times when our butts get sore, our backs are aching, it's uncomfortably warm or cold or it's wet. But there is also nothing like it. Leaning a bike into a turn on a perfectly paved road, being part of the environment instead of an observer. Flowers, dyeing leaves, back yard Bar-B-Ques, farms and the sea air all permeate the senses, yes, even your sense of smell is a big part of riding.  And then there is the exhilaration of acceleration, twisting the throttle, passing a car in seconds, flying down the straightaways.  While it may be inconvenient at times, there is no better way to travel.


All of the Canadians we encountered were all very nice, and very talkative, and boy, were some of them talkative! All wanting to know where we've been and where we're going, and all with great and not so great suggestions.

One of the  things that stood out to us, was that most of the homes we saw were very modest and well kept, Very few large pretentious homes and very few with piles of junk all about. And all seemed to have perfectly manicured lawns. It got to be a joke with us checking out how many folks would be out mowing their lawns at all hours of the day.



The other very noticeable thing was the coastline, while very similar to Maine's coast, the Canadian coast was far more accessible. In Maine the coast has all been bought up by the one percent, and immediately along with their multi-million dollar homes comes the fence and the "No Trespassing" signs. So, driving along the coast in Maine, and probably elsewhere in the U.S.,only gives you glimpses of the actual coastline dotted between the mansions. To the contrary from what we saw in the Canadian Maritimes, the roads hug and coastline and make it quite accessible. The homes that are on the water are mostly the same modest homes you see anywhere, and by the looks of the lobster traps and boats in the yards belong to fishermen. We really enjoyed these rides and scenery along these coastline roads.

The food during the trip was pretty similar to rural Maine. Lots of chowder, fish and fried food. Poutine seems to be a favorite everywhere. Poutine, for those who have never had it, is French Fries and cheese curds smothered in gravy. It has evolved into lots of creative alternatives with meats, vegetables and what ever else you can imagine. We even saw Lobster Poutine!
Craft beers are starting to appear, but certainly not to the extent that they are in the states. Wine selections are somewhat limited as well. Luckily the exchange rate is 25% in our favor, because food and fuel are on the expensive side.

For you New Englanders who have never been up to visit our neighbors to the North, take the time to go. It's not very far and well worth the trip, whether by bike, car or RV. Before the Fourth of July or after Labor Day seem to be the best times, eh!

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Heading Home...

Nice, but cool weather greats us as well as some home made muffins from our host. We stroll downtown to the Farmer's Market. Lots of local crafts and food and music. We get a fruit smoothie and some local honey. DeeDee buys some sea glass jewelry and we find some local smoked salmon on sale, so we get 3 packages.





We pack up the bike for the final time and head for the border. The U.S. customs agent is about as pleasant as a prison guard, so I skip the jokes. He asks us if we are bring anything back into the country, DeeDee doesn't say a word as I calmly say 'No Sir", I'm not letting that bastard take my honey and smoked salmon!. He lets us go and we head through Calais down rote 9 to the Maine Turnpike.


We pass the group of riders from Quebec on their Spyders. As we reach Brewer Maine, we are getting hungry and stop at a little place called the "Eagle's Nest", the parking lot is full even though from the outside the place looks tiny. Once inside we find that the place is tiny! We sit on two round diner stools from the 50's and order lunch, DeeDee has a chicken cheese steak and I get a fish sandwich. Jusyt about then we see a sign that say they have the best Lobster roll around, for $18.No big deal until I see one, there must be a pound of lobster meat piles high with lots of fries... If we had only known..

Just past Bangor we hit the Maine Turnpike. I can't help but notice the trees, 9 days ago they were mostly green, now tones of yellow, orange, brown and red abound.  Autumn is here.

We get off the turnpike not any too soon at Grey and take pleasant back roads home.  We've gained an hour getting back to the Eastern Time Zone, but it's still 4:30 when we roll into the driveway. I unload the KTM as DeeDee checks her plants, a few look parched, so she gets to watering. we settle in and finish a half a bottle of wine...

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Number Nine..

Breakfast is awesome at the Bay View Inn, light and fluffy blueberry pancakes, eggs, bacon, home made muffins....The ferry terminal is only 10 minutes away so we plan on leaving the Inn at 9:45. We leave on time and  cruise along several sides street admiring the architecture. The weather is partly cloudy and looks to be possibly raining over in Saint John.



We arrive at the dock  and are directed to the front of the motorcycle line with two folks on Harleys. Another group of riders show up on Spyders and Gold Wings with trailers. The are from Quebec on a long camping trip, heading down into New England, then over through the Adirondacks. Bike camping would be fun, but we have no room for camping gear, and hot showers at day's end are pretty nice. We board the ferry and tie down the bike. As i secure it with an additional tie down, the attendant tells me in 25 years he's never had a bike fall over. He says, they only fall over when there are people on them!



A large tractor trailer pulls in along side. The driver tells me he is bringing a truck load of Maine lobster up to Moncton. That's strange, you guys have lobster up here? He tells me that the season is more closely regulated in Canada and is closed for three months, so lobsters are imported from Maine where the season is open all year. Now we know why it was $35 for a lobster dinner! The ferry is obviously quite large and has a nice mezzanine inside and a spacious out side deck with plenty of seating. We grab a table on the upper deck and play some cards to wile away the two hour trip. Our lunch consists of half of DeeDee's left over dinner, chips and our usual half bottle of wine. We disembark in Saint John and easily get onto the hi-way that leads to our destination of Saint Andrews.



The clouds are threatening and occasionally spit out light showers, the temperature is going down as well. We stop under an overpass and add layers, no rain suits yet. Saint Andrews by the Sea is one of New Brunswick's oldest settlements, established in 1783 by British Loyalists. This history is still evident by the street names, most of which are named for the children of King George III and his wife Charlotte. The main street has the usual selection of gift shops and restaurants along with some unique art galleries. It's a tourist destination, but again, not too tacky. We find a nice room in a home overlooking the Bay of Fundy with its unusual tides and as usual for us we just beat the rain. Our host recommends the Rossmont Inn for dinner, he tells us we should make reservations. Two problems with the Rossmont Inn for us is that it is about a mile outside of town, and neither of us feels like getting on the bike again just to go to dinner. The other problem is that he tells us it will be about $70 per person without alcohol!!  We opt to walk downtown and see what we can find.

We stop at a little pub for a beer, they do have a few on tap. And as has been the case for most of the trip, when I ask about IPA"s, they alwasy recommend Kieth's IPA, a Canadian brew. I made the mistake of having one on our second day, and Kieth's IPA is as much an IPA as Bud Light is a lager. So by now I no longer hold my tongue and just respond with "Kieth's is not an IPA, thank you!"
After a beer we head down to another restaurant with a little fancier bar, thy also advertise craft beers but are out of everything except Kieth's IPA and Shock Top. I have a Shock Top and DeeDee has wine and we have an order of mussles, which are quite good. We check out the menu, but a little too fancy for us tonight, so we mosey on down the road.


We end up a little fish restaurant overlooking the bay, that we cannot see. The place is packed and the food is great, DeeDee has a smoked salmon sandwich and I have New Bruswick Crab cakes.
Back at our room we have a glass of wine and watch in amazement as the tide has now come in almost 200 feet from where is was earlier,   pretty neat



Friday, September 23, 2016

Eight is not enough...

Day 8
Breakfast is excellent, we have fresh fruit and yogurt, delicious homemade scones and a vegetable and cheese frittata. Deborah asks us of our plan for the day and gives us several suggestions, including some of her favorite places.



We head north a bit out of the way to the small fishing village of Blue Rocks. It's a very picturesque spot, so we stop and take picturesque pictures!



Next we head south on the shore roads and stop at a few white sandy beaches. The weather is good, but not exactly beach weather. We continue along heading towards Kejimkujik Seaside Provincial Park. The entrance to the park is not signed very well. After several wrong turns we finally fine the dirt road into the park. When we arrive at the parking area, we find that we will need to walk over 2 km to get to the seashore...  We can't leave the bike unattended for that long, and don't really have the time to change our clothing and hike that far. I guess we should have made that a bit clearer to Deb, as most of her suggestions involve walking quite a ways, but that's ok, it's all good.


 So back we go heading northwest across Nova Scotia to Digby. The road is pleasant weaving through foothills and deep green forests. We stop at a little roadside stand for some pretty good fried clams, and of course, finish off a half a bottle of wine.


Digby is where we will board the ferry tomorrow for Saint John. The town itself is fairly small with a few hotels and Inns. DeeDee has booked us a room at the Bayview Inn. This Inn is very nice and our king sized bed over looks the harbor with its large fleet of colorful fishing vessels.



Digby is known at the "Scallop Capital of the World" so our quest for the evening is scallops. There are a half dozen or so seafood restaurants along the water, we settle on the "Shore Line Restaurant" a casual looking spot with outdoor seating overlooking the bay. I have a local ale on tap and DeeDee has a glass of wine and orders the bacon wrapped maple glazed scallops and I order the sauteed scallops. All is good, we relax with another drink and then walk down along the harbor. We pass an ice cream shop and try and convince ourselves that we shouldn't, especially since we have had no real exercise in a week, but our cravings win out.

Thursday, September 22, 2016

And on the seventh day...

We awake to sunny skies and running water.  DeeDee is happy. The motel is attached to a small restaurant where we head for breakfast. Ralph, the owner greets us and apologizes for the water problem. It seems his well has run dry for the first time in 25 years. He blames it on the construction of a development  near by, so until he digs a new well, he has to have water trucked in, and the truck never showed up yesterday. We have a good breakfast and he offers us a generous discount on our room.

The sun is warming things up nicely and we look forward to crisp, clear skies for a change. A nice short drive down the coast brings us through Halifax, Getting into Halifax is a toll bridge, we somehow get in the exact change lane without exact change... luckily there is an attendant close by, pretty much calls us dumb, but lets us bypass the gate. We've been told that Halifax is quite a nice city and we almost opt for staying a night, but instead head down the "Lighthouse Route". The scenery is excellent and the roads are fun. 



As we near "Peggy's Cove" the landscape changes quite dramatically, very similar to Acadia. Lots of barren rocks, small fresh water ponds and not many trees. We take the turn to Peggy's Cove and are immediately greeted with lots of traffic, people and tour buses... ugh. But I guess that's what happens to such a place when it's this close to two cities (Yarmouth and Halifax). We backtrack to a small picturesque pond with no one about and stop for a lunch of granola bars, cheese and a half bottle of wine. the day is perfect and lunch couldn't be any better.

Soon as we pass by Peggy's Cove and  the traffic disappears and the road again winds pleasantly along the coast. We detour onto a few small side roads and are rewarded with more nice views. Eventually we end up in the town of Lunenburg, a Port town originally founded by the British.



Lunenberg is a  UNESCO World Heritage Site, with its narrow streets and unique architecture. It is also the home port of Nova Scotia’s sailing ambassador, the Bluenose II. The graceful ship is a replica of the original fishing boat that found fame as a racing schooner. The town is definitely a tourist town, but without the tackiness of so many other places. We check into a small 2 room B&B, The "Linc". Deborah, the owner greets us and shows us our room and where I can park the bike. We enjoy a glass of wine on our private deck overlooking the harbor a few blocks away.

After unpacking we walk down town. There are quite a few restaurants and a few pubs. One of the more touristy looking places on the water has a "Happy Hour" special of a dozen oysters and a draft beer, it ends at 6:00, it's 6:15... If we had only known. Deborah has told us that a place called "The Grand Banker" has the best food. When we find it, there is a pretty long line of folks waiting for tables, but there are two seats at the bar, so we sneak in.


They have some good beers on tap, including an IPA and an IPA Stout We order up some drinks. The beer is good. The menu looks great, so we get a couple of appetizers. DeeDee orders the Crab, spinach and artichoke dip and I order a plate of mussels. Both are excellent, and filling, this may end up being dinner... after a few more drinks...

After dinner we stroll the narrow streets, admiring the grand architecture of the houses on the narrow streets,  get an ice cream and head back to the Inn. One more glass of wine on our deck and off to bed.



Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Day 6... Same old, same old, weather, that is

Party cloudy skies and cooler temperatures greet us as we head down for breakfast. The continental Breakfast here at Hillcrest Hall is excellent, warm hard boiled eggs, home made muffins and scone, fresh juice, fruit and yogurt, and good coffee. We joined by two couples from Nova Scotia, we exchange pleasantries, and after hearing my last name, one of the women asks if I have relatives in Nova Scotia, which I do, although I'm not sure where they are. She is sure I look like some Kellys that she knows. We chat for a while and then one of the men carefully brings up the U.S. election. I let himn know where I stand and they breathe a sigh of relief and question us as to how in the world can someone like Trump really be running for the Presidency??  I reply, that I don't have a clue other than there are a lot of stupid, ignorant racist people still in the U.S. They tell us that apparently, the Nova Scotia government is making a contingency plan for an influx of American immigrants should Trump win!  Pretty funny, well at least we have our permanent resident papers for Mexico!!



We pack up and head south towards the Eastern Shore. As we near the bridge to the mainland the weather deteriorates, more clouds, drizzle and fog. Once on the mainland we hit the shore road, The Eastern shore seems pretty sparsely populated and certainly not a main tourist route, which is getting obvious by the lack of Inns, hotels and restaurants. Our destination is a small town called Sheet Harbour, the largest town before Halifax. We stop for lunch at another cable ferry and continue down the coast past numerous quaint fishing village and  beautiful coastline. There is very little traffic on this wonderful road.



We reach Sheet Harbour just as the rain begins, the only viable place in to to stay is the Fairwinds Motel. We check in to find that you can't drink the water. It's interesting to note, that in most of our travels through Baja, the water is potable nearly everywhere, and now this is the third place in Canada where it is not... Water is certainly becoming an issue everywhere..  Lots of dry wells here and back home, as Nestle (aka Poland Springs) sucks the water out of the aquifer for billions in profits (they are currently taking 600,000 gallons per day out of just Fryeburg!) Much thanks to that going to our dingbat, trump supporting, pea brained governor  paul lepage (his name doesn't deserve to be capitalized) Anyway click here to read more.

We walk down the sreet to a nice little restaurant, The Henley House Pub, they advertise craft beers, but as has been the case, the offerings are slim. I have an ok stout and we get to watch football. Since we've been seeing signs for oysters the entire trip, I order up a half dozen for $15!, and DeeDee orders a plate of homemade potato chips. The oysters and chips arrive, the chips are really good, the oysters are, without a doubt, the smallest oysters I have ever seen, so taking away the shells, they were probably $250 a lb.  The rest of the dinner was good. There's a letup in the rain as we head back to our room to watch the Patriots game. When we arrive back to the room, there is no water at all. Grin and bear it. It's a Sunday night game, so up here in Nova Scotia, the game doesn't start until 9:30, DeeDee makes it to halftime, I manage to watch the whole game, luckily they won. I fall asleep to the gurgling of water pipes.


Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Day 5, The Cabot Trail

The continental breakfast at the Auberge was just that, cereal, yogurt, muffins, fruit and toast, but at least the skies were clear, albeit a bit cool. Off we go along the coast. The scenery is exceptional, blue skies, rolling hills, rocky coast and crashing waves. The road weaves along the coast and then heads inland before returning to the sea at Pleasant Bay. From Pleasant Bay the road once again turns east into the mountains to Cape North where we take a side trip to Bay St Lawrence.



There is very little traffic and the riding enjoyable with temperatures in the upper 60's. We stop at a local farmers market in search of some fresh cheese, but none is to be had. Another side trip brings us on a very scenic drive out to White Point, then to Nell's Harbour back on the main route and down to Ingonish.



 Ingonish is the major tourist destination on the Cabot Trail, with several Inns restaurants and the famous Keltic Lodge. There are several nice beaches, fresh water and salt water fishing, hiking and a well known golf course. So needless to say, it's crowded and expensive in Ingonish, so we pass on by. The road is still great as we cruise along the Atlantic. In a short while DeeDee is getting hungry so we stop at the "Bean Barn Cafe". Their sign reads "Everything Made Fresh". DeeDee, being a fan of Italian subs, orders an Italian Panini and I order their "Famous Sea Food Chowder"  The panini is two small pieces of toasted bread with pepperoni slices, tomato sauce and a little melted cheese, my cup of chowder is mostly potato and flour...  $23. We've had a few good meals, but mostly disappointed so far.

Just past Indian Brook the road divides with the Cabot Trail heading inland and the lessor road staying along the coast to the Englishtown Ferry. We opt for the ferry, as most of the traffic seems to be staying on the main road. The ferry terminal is a small shack with no one in attendance, a sign gives us all the information we need. The ferry runs every 30 minutes, we can see it docked on the far side waiting for vehicles. We are the only ones there so we park the bike, pull out half a block of cheese, a few granola bars and half a bottle of wine and enjoy the peace, quiet and view. A small motor home pulls up, looks at us, looks at the ferry and turns around and leaves... No adventure in their blood.



In a bit the ferry departs from the other side pulling itself along an under water cable. Apparently there are a fair number of these older cable ferries still running throughout the Maritimes. Two cars unload and we drive up the old rusted ramp, pay our $6 fare as two folks from New York drive up and  join us. "Keep the bike upright' the attendant tells us with a smile, and off we go. In ten minutes we are unloading and on the road again.



The drive now becomes just a drive, the road is fairly straight, the scenery benign. As we enter Nyanza, DeeDeec spots a small sign for a brewery with a tasting room, we turn around to check it out.  Big Spruce Brewing is a small building with a neat little outdoor seating area. Out front is a food truck with awesome looking food... if we had only known.  Inside the brewery they offer 4 oz glasses of any of their six current brews. We try the Wit Lemon Ginger, the Shame on You Boxing Rock IPA, the Stark Craving Mad IPA and Tim's Dirty IPA. They are all really good. A local musician is setting up to play, boy could I get comfortable.. if we had only known...




Just past Nyanza the road widens, we turn off the hi-way and head west on a nice road that brings us to Mabou and then down to Port Hood. The only glitch is that my Blair Witch GPS tries to send us down a rail road bed and a bicycle trail!

We stop at a grocery and liquor store for wine and cheese and check into our room at the Hillcrest Hall Inn. Fresh baked cookies await our arrival.


The sun is shining and the Inn faces west, it should be a fine evening to watch the sunset.  We unpack and shower, open the wine and cheese, sit on the porch and play some cards. The sunset is as advertised...





We decide to save a few bucks and get some food at the little food truck and bring it back. This food truck doesn't quite have the selection of the one at the brewery, but it will do. Burger and fries, fish and chips... and wine.   A few more homemade cookies and off to bed.







Monday, September 19, 2016

Day 4, The Red Shoe

The weather forecast is dismal, not horrible, but certainly not great. This will be our forth day of clouds, fog and rain. Our initial thought was to head up and do the Cabot Trail Counter Clockwise and stay in Pleasant Bay or Cheticamp.  We start packing and head out to breakfast, we opt to skip the hotel restaurant, although it looks good, but pricey. DeeDee recalls seeing a little waffle shop on our walk, so we head in that direction. 'The Waffle Bus Stop' is a small place tucked in on a back street with a small sign. Inside they offer good coffee, smoothies and waffle sandwiches. We question the girl about the waffle sandwiches and she asks us if this is our first time there, we respond and she gets the owner. He is friendly and obviously very proud of his waffles, he tells us these are not your average waffles made with batter, but traditional Belgian waffles made with yeast. We order a waffle sandwich with eggs, bacon, spinach, cheese, and we get a green smoothie. It'a all excellent, and
apparently popular with lots of college girls, not that I noticed...  While we eat, we discuss the days plan and decide on a shorter route, heading up directly to Cheticamp and then doing the remainder of the Cabot Trail clockwise tomorrow, as the weather looks to be better. Back in the room DeeDee researches lodging, which is in short supply along the Cabot Trail. In Cheticamp she finds a four room Inn with space available and books it for the evening. We pack up and head out in the fog and drizzle.
Shortly, we reach the bridge at Port Hastings that brings us onto the Island of Cape Bretton. Since accommodations seem to be somewhat scarce on the island we decide to check out what's in Port Hastings and Port Hawkesbury for the following night. The two towns are on the water, although not very scenic, but there seems to be plenty of motels about, so we figure if we can't find an alternative we can end up here. We wander up the western coastline of the Island. The fog has lifted and no real rain yet. The road is pleasant with nice views. We pass a few B&B's along the way and stop for a bit in Port Hood. Port Hood is off the main road and a quiet little town, apparently there was a large mining operation here back at the turn of the century. There's a small motel, a restaurant, a B&B on the water and a grand old Victorian Inn. This might be a good place to stop on our return. We check out the B&B, the rooms are all occupied but they have three nice cabins on the water and a restaurant. It is run by a German couple, and although very nice, quite expensive. Dinner was limited to a five course meal for $50 a person!  So we pass and move on to check out the big Victorian, named the Hillcrest Hall Country Inn. The manager is very nice and she shows us a great room overlooking the water. The room is large with a king bed and the price is reasonable. So we book it for the following night. She tells us about the little restaurant up the street and a little food truck. There is also a whiskey distillery and a brew pub about 30 minutes up the road. So back on the bike on our way to Cheticamp.


We come to the little brew pub, The Red Shoe Pub and stop for a beer. The Red Shoe is owned by the Rankin family, The Rankin Family is a Canadian musical family group from Mabou, Nova Scotia. The group has won many Canadian music awards,and the pub is a hot spot for local musicians. Unfortunately there wasn't any live music while we were there.



The pub was cozy and the menu looked good, we could have gotten pretty comfy and I could have easily had several more pints!  But we have some miles to go and one beer is enough when you have to drive the motorcycle. I tried to talk DeeDee into driving, but that didn't go over too well. 



We arrive at our B&B in Cheticamp as the fog and drizzle roll back in. The "Auberge de Pecheurs" is run by a very nice french woman who takes us to our room is on the second floor, it is the cleanest room I have ever seen. Our room overlooks the bay lined with colorful fishing boats and crab boats. There are a few restaurants and a pizza place. Our host send us up the road to a small fish shack called the "All Aboard" where she says the food is good and there is live music. She tells us the place will be busy and calls for us to make a reservation. We walk 15 minutes prepared for rain that never came, and she was right the place is full, but we have a table. We order a bottle of wine, DeeDee orders a pound of Snow Crab Legs and I order pan fried haddock. We enjoy the food while a young girl plays her fiddle in the corner. One thing we are finding out is that food and drink up here can be quite expensive, a lobster dinner runs between $35-$45, DeeDee's crab was $29! Beers run about $5-7. Luckily the exchange rate gives us about at 25% discount.




After dinner we take a stroll along the water and end up at The Gabriel Restaurant and Bar. The place is huge, the bar is apparently quite busy during the summer with a large stage and dance floor and tons of sports memorabilia on the walls, mostly hockey, even some Boston Bruins signed posters and shirts. At the bar are a few crusty locals speaking some very strange mix of French, English and Gaelic. There were pretty buzzed and having a good time.  
We finish our night cap and head back to the Auberge hoping for better weather in the morning.