By the time we arrived back home we had visited seven US states and nine Canadian provinces. We were in the rental truck for 6 days (May 24 - 29) racking up 2,135 miles, then we were on the bikes for 62 days (May 29 - August) riding a total of 10,700 miles (each).
It was a fantastic trip!
Here are some of our favorite photos from the trip (each photo is a thumbnail linked to a higher quality picture.):
39) Our entrance into Canada was a wet one. It was misty as we rode out of Maine and deteriorated as the day progressed. By the time we rode into St. John, New Brunswick it was pouring rain. We dried off a little during the ferry ride over to Nova Scotia but were drenched again on the short ride from Digby to Annapolis Royal. We ended up covering the floor of our hotel with all our gear in the hopes it would dry a little before we suited back up the next morning.
40) Fortunately, our first day full day in Nova Scotia was a sunny one. We gave our gear a another chance to dry by visiting the nearby Annapolis Royal Botanical Gardens first thing in the morning where we got to enjoy the idyllic landscape while our damp riding suits steamed dry out in the parking lot.
41) We made our way east across the width of Nova Scotia and ended the day with a spectacular campsite at the Ovens Natural Park looking out over the Atlantic Ocean.
42) For dinner we headed to neighboring historic (and very touristy!) Lunenburg, NS. It had the feel of a town that used to be a quaint fishing village but which has gone all-in on tourism and is now just a mix of expensive seafood, ice cream and souvenir shops.
43) Our second day in Nova Scotia had us again zig-zagging our way north. After lunch in Halifax we crossed back over to the west coast where we decided on New Glasgow as for stop for the night. Since we checked in late in the afternoon, Alan took the opportunity for an evening solo ride out along the coast to see the Cape George lighthouse.
44) One of the most anticipated destinations of our summer vacation was a visit to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Our first stop once we got onto the island didn't disappoint - a visit to the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site. This is a "living" museum which is filled with actors who are reenacting life in a 18th century French colonial town and fort. Fascinating!
45) Our second day on Cape Breton started as another rainy one so we found another museum to explore while the weather blew through. We rode from our "base" in Sydney to Baddeck where we spent the morning in the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site. This was another excellent history museum and we both enjoyed it.
46) Once the weather improved we headed to the northeast corner of the island to see yet another museum - the Glace Bay Miner's Museum. This museum explored the coal mining history on the north coast of Cape Breton, as well as the history of the labor unions in the Canadian mining industry. Another fine museum where we learned a lot.
47) If Cape Breton was one of the highlights of the trip, then riding the Cabot Trail was one of the highlights of the highlight. This is a scenic drive that goes around the northwestern quarter of the island and most of that drive is through a huge national park - Cape Breton Highlands National Park. This is a great motorcycle road - twisty, scenic and well maintained. We had a picnic lunch on the eastern side, then rode straight into a rain cloud.
48) On the northern coast we dropped down out of the clouds where we took a very wet side trip just outside Pleasant Bay to visit Gampo Abbey - a Buddhist monastery located in an isolated coastal forest out on the northern edge of Nova Scotia.
49) We ended our first day of riding the Cabot Trail in Cheticamp on the western side of the island where we settled into a rental camper for the night. Once again we spread out our wet riding gear all over the place to dry. We walked to a nearby restaurant where we had a delicious dinner and then walked around to explore some of the small village of Cheticamp.
50) We enjoyed a sunny, dry day for the second half to our Cabot Trail ride and then crossed back over to the main island of Nova Scotia to end the day in Truro. We arrived in Truro early enough that we were able to do laundry and still go across the road from our hotel in the evening to watch the Tidal Bore roll up the Salmon River at the Truro Tidal Bore Viewing Visitor Centre. It wasn't the most spectacular sight but it was a captivating natural phenomenon that we were glad we got to experience.
51) With another glorious sunny day we chose to explore the Tatamagouche Bay coast. We headed to River John where we found Lismore Sheep farm - we got to pet some lambs and learn about their wool business.
52) The second stop of our coastal ride was at the Seafoam Lavender Gardens where we took in the story and scent of this lavender farm.
53) We ended the day in Pictou where we found a hotel and then went into town to visit the Hector Quay Museum and grab dinner. The Hector is a 18th century ship which brought Scottish settlers to Nova Scotia in 1773. It has been restored and turned into a very well done museum.
54) The next morning we were up early and onto a ferry over to Prince Edward island. Once off the ferry we chose to do a scenic ride around the eastern coast of PEI on the Points East Coastal Drive. Beautiful! We stopped frequently to see some of the lighthouses along the coast including the stunning Panmure Island lighthouse.
55) After lunch we turned west to ride along the north coast to visit the Green Gables Heritage Place. This is a National Park build to protect the farmhouse that is now a literary landmark thanks to the Anne of Green Gables book by Lucy Maud Montgomery. We walked through the park, saw the film and Alan even tried on the red pig-tails bonnet for a photo op.
56) Our second day exploring PEI was focused on the western half of the island. Our first stop was a morning visit to the Canadian Potato Museum in O'Leary. In addition to boasting the world's largest potato sculpture it also had a surprising interesting and informative museum about the history of potato farming on Prince Edward Island. From there we continued the scenic drive theme by following the north Cape Coastal Drive eventually cutting across the island to the southern coast.
57) Once on the south coast we picked up yet another scenic drive called the Central Coastal Drive. We took a break from the riding by heading inland into the lush rolling hills in order to visit the Island Hill Farm - advertised as the "Cutest Place On Earth". We soothed our nerves petting the adorable baby goats and bunnies. Afterwards we grabbed lunch in Charlottetown and headed back to our hotel in Brackley Beach.
58) We awoke to again see dark clouds chucking down rain. We reluctantly headed out and sloshed our way southwest to the Confederation Bridge where we left PEI and crossed over to New Brunswick. The rain slackened by mid-day and we rode back into Nova Scotia to explore the Joggins Fossil Centre. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the edge of the Bay of Fundy where the famous high tides constantly erode a coastal cliff exposing some of the best Carboniferous Period fossils in the world. This is an outstanding museum - we both loved it! We even had a tasty and affordable lunch there.
59) We spent the night near Moncton and once again awoke to dark skies. We managed to get over to Northumberland Strait coast before the skies opened up. We were in and out of the rain as we rode north along the coast before stopping for lunch in Rexton. Thankfully, the rain stopped there too. After our meal we rode through the scenic Kouchibouguac National Park. We had planned to do more sightseeing there but a strong wind sprang up with dark clouds following close behind so we bailed out early.
60) We went west and the storm went south so we managed to avoid another drenching. We ended the day staying in a treehouse in Glenelg. The "treehouse" was really just a cabin on stilts but it had the *huge* benefit of being high enough in elevation to be above the clouds of mosquitoes that were down at ground level.
61) Our final day in New Brunswick was spent riding through the Acadian Peninsula and included a stop at the sterling Village Historique Acadien living museum. This cultural museum is actually two reconstructed villages, one from 18th century and another from the early 20th century. 40 historical building were used to build the villages and actors in period dress portray villagers. We spent a few hours enjoying the park and had a tasty, culturally appropriate lunch as well.
62) One of the big surprises of the whole trip was the Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec. We crossed from New Brunswick into Quebec at Matapedia and then followed the Matapedia River north all the way to Matapedia Lake. This was a gorgeous motorcycle ride! It was very scenic riding along the eastern bank of the river with salmon fly fishermen casting into the water. There were small villages to pass through and then vacation cabin village of Amqui on the short of Matapedia Lake.
63) We ferried over to the north shore of the Saint Lawrence Seaway and then turned south to the tourist village of Tadoussac. We took a day off to enjoy the town, the Saquenay Fjord and to take a whale watching boat trip out into the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park. On the tour we saw numerous Minke and Beluga whales, as well as the iconic Haut-fond Prince Shoal lighthouse.
64) Unbeknownst to us, we had arrived in Tadoussac during their annual Song Festival which celebrates French-speaking musicians from Quebec. We bought an evening ticket and caught the band Misses Satchmo - a jazz band from Montreal. They were so much fun! We loved the show!
65) After our day off we were back on the road and straight into a stifling temperature as a record heatwave passed through the area. We rode south along the shore of the Saint Lawrence River but a serious traffic accident created gridlock on the Interstate and caused our body temperatures to spike to dangerous levels. Fortunately, we made it safely to our hotel in Repentigny and immediately dove into their pool to cool down. Thankfully, the temperature dropped in the evening so we enjoyed a nice picnic dinner watching the seabirds fly over the St. Lawrence.
66) The next morning we left the Saint Lawrence River and started heading west across Canada. We stopped for lunch in Sudbury and, on the way out of town, we stopped to see the "The Big Nickel" which is a famous landmark that we'd first learned about in the motorcycle movie "One Week".
67) We spent a few days burning up the miles going west on RT-17 which is the Trans-Canada highway. One of the highlights of our cross-country ride was being in the small town of Blind River on Canada Day. We arrived in the evening and the next morning everything in town was closed so our only breakfast option was the suitably Canadian Tim Hortons fast food chain. If was even even more stereotypical Canadian with the flag decorated mobility scooter parked out front. (We regularly saw mobility scooters toodling down streets all across eastern Canada.)
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