Home, Sweet Home

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We departed Augusta around 8:00 AM heading South to get GA SR 16 instead of taking
I-20 to Atlanta. It was a nice ride through the countryside of Georgia going through towns I have not been through before. It was not new to Alan as he had lived in Augusta for five years and had taken this route before. The skies were clear when we departed Augusta, but shortly after getting on the road, the weather threatened rain. Finally, around Eatonton, GA it started raining and we rode a short time in the rain.

We arrived in Peachtree City around 1:00 PM completing our trip of 24 days, almost 6300 miles and traveling through 15 states (GA, NC, SC, VA, MD, PA, NJ, MA, CT, NY, VT, NH, ME, RI, DE) and three Canadian Provinces (New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia).

EPI'BLOG'UE
We started each day with devotions and prayer and asking for God's guidance and protection as we traveled. Here are some examples of God's intervention and answered prayers.

- Day 2: As Alan and I was taking a Scenic Byway along the Delaware River in New

Jersey, we became lost and it took us about 3 hours to go 40 miles. Later,
when we arrived in Hadley, MA we were informed that they had

encountered severe storms earlier with high winds causing power loss and
hail.

Had we not been lost and delayed, we would have been in the middle of the
storm.

- Day 3: As Ronna and I were departing the Portland airport, a car (the car drove
around another car who was stopped, waiting for us to turn) drove in front of
us as we were making a slow speed turn, and as I hit the brakes to avoid a
collision, the bike went down.
A man jumped out of his car and up righted the bike - with Ronna and I still
on it! No one was hurt and no damage to the bike.

- Day 4: While we were in the motel at Bangor we met a man from New Brunswick.
We told him that we planned on staying at Melrose, NB the next night. He
told us that there was nothing at Melrose and that we should stay at
Shediac, NB.
The next evening we stayed in a nice two-bedroom chalet in Shediac!

- Day 6: Alan had a nail in his rear tire, and had to plug the tire before we departed.
Once we departed, a few miles down the road was a serious accident which
we could have been in if we had not been delayed by the tire!

- Day 16: While traveling from Wolfville to Walton, we made a wrong turn and were
turning around when a woman stopped and ask us where we were headed.
She told us to continue on the road we had turned on as the road we had
planned to travel was "the worst road in Nova Scotia and definitely not fit
for motorcycle travel!"

The four of us are extremely grateful for the opportunity to have made this trip and see another small portion of God's beautiful creation we call the world.

Jacksonville, SC to Augusta, GA

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Today, Alan and I, got off the interstate for a while and rode down some not so highly traveled roads. It was an extremely hot (around 90 degrees) and very humid day. When we arrived at Florence, SC we got back on I-20 to head West toward Atlanta. After a while, it started to rain but we didn't stop to put on rain gear as the rain was such a relief from the heat. It was 92 degrees before it started raining and dropped to 77 degrees while the storm passed. After riding through the storm, the temperature rose again - to 97 degrees! We stopped for the day at Augusta, GA,

Cedar Island and Jacksonville, NC

We had a leisurely morning as we were scheduled on the 10:30 AM ferry to Cedar Island (Outer Banks Of North Carolina). We arrived at the ferry terminal about 9:30 AM and placed our bikes first in line for boarding. At 10:30, we boarded and departed for our 2 hour trip to Cedar Island.

We disembarked and rode to the end of the island and then rode inland for ninety miles to Jacksonville, NC to spend the night.

North Carolina - Outer Banks

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This morning we retraced our route from yesterday back down to Hatteras via Kitty Hawk. At Kitty Hawk, we visited the Wright Brothers National Memorial.

They Taught the World to Fly!
Wind, sand, and a dream of flight brought Wilbur and Orville Wright to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina where, after four years of experimentation, they achieved the first successful airplane flights in 1903. With courage and perseverance, these self-taught engineers relied on teamwork and application of the scientific process. What they achieved changed our world forever.


It was a very interesting and informative visit.

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Next we arrived at Cape Hatteras just in time to catch the ferry to Ocracoke, NC on the outer banks. We rode down the island to the next ferry which crosses to Cedar Island. However, the ferry was already booked for the day, so we decided to get a room and stay at Ocracoke for the night.

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The Chesapeake Bay

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Ronna and Janet, we really missed you today . . . . especially tonight - at the laundromat!

Today we departed Lewes, DE and rode through Delaware, Maryland and Virginia enroute to Hatteras. At Cape Charles, VA, we took the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel structure which connects Virginia's Eastern Shore with the Virginia mainland at Virginia Beach near Norfolk.



When we arrived in the Cape Hatteras area, there were no motel rooms to be had, so we had to back track 35 miles to Elizabeth City, NC to find lodging.

Rhode Island and Delaware

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We rode today from Danbury, CT to Lewes, DE. We rode through Rhode Island and Delaware which means that Alan has ridden his motorcycle in 49 of the 50 states, with Hawaii left to do.

Post tour note: In two years, I have ridden my Goldwing 22,000 miles, through 35 states and three Canadian Provinces.

The Ladies Fly Home

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Today we said our goodbyes to the ladies as they are flying from Portland, Me, home to Atlanta. As always, the trip went fast.

Alan and I departed Portland for the ride home. We stopped for the night at Danbury, CT. The day was mostly interstate riding and it was slow moving at times due to traffic congestion. We had 12 miles of stop and go while skirting the edge of Philadalphia.

No pictures today. If you've seen one interstate, you've seen them all.

Last Leg of Canada Trip

Well, the Canada trip is winding down. Today we rode from Bangor to Portland, ME; all interstate riding and not much to see except pine trees and more pine trees. We kept looking for the elusive moose but there were no sightings.

After arriving at the motel in Portland, we took a ride down to Kennebunkport. It was a tourist town with lots of people walking the streets. We enjoyed the visit.

Ronna's Recap:
Here we are at the end of our two week tour of NB, PEI, & Nova Scotia. Janet & I fly back to Atlanta tomorrow afternoon. We've had fun but we are ready to get back to our normal life again. Here are my thoughts on the trip using our five senses.

Sight: We saw some amazing sights, the flower gardens of PEI, the beautiful coastlines of PEI & NS, especially the Cabot Trail with the mountain climbs, and curvy roads, the tall ships in Halifax Harbor, many small old white churches, lots of green trees and miles of roads (some bumpy & remote) and blue skies & fluffy white clouds.

Sound: The French language especially in PEI, the quietness in the remote areas, the alarm going off way too early in the mornings.

Touch: The feel of a soft bed after riding for hours, that feeling of knowing God created all this!

Smell: The aroma of flowers along the roadside, the smell of good food at the cafes and restaurants, the not so good smell of farms and industry and sometimes roadkill.

Taste: All that good food we indulged in.

Highlights: The 8 mile Confederation Bridge to PEI was easy to cross going over - just seemed like a paved road going over water. Coming back it was rainy & windy and the bridge turned into a scary adventure. I loved the ride on Cabot Trail. The B&B's were all fantastic. One hotel was not exactly my cup of tea. The towns of Baddeck & Wolfville were very quaint with their outdoor cafes. I enjoyed the restaurant on Cape North on the water's edge. Did not enjoy the rainy days riding on the motorcycle! Biggest disappointment - not seeing a moose!

All in all, it was a good trip! It was fun to share the trip with Janet & Alan and riding behind Dave on the motorcycle. Great place to visit but would not want to live there - too remote! And I love the good ole US of A!!!!!
Ronna (aka "Motorcycle Mama")

Returning to the United States

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First, a word about this blog. The blog was created to be an information source for those interested in our where abouts and adventures while traveling in Canada. I'm sorry if you were looking for a detailed travelogue for the regions we traveled, but I'm really not a journalist. Also, kudos to those blog writers I have read before (Tom Arlotto and Jim Cox) who were dedicated and talented enough to keep a very interesting journal as they traveled.

Now for today. We traveled from Moncton, NB to Bangor, ME with a stop at Hartland, NB to see the world's longest covered bridge. The bridge is a 1,282 foot structure spanning the St. John River. The bridge was completed on May 14, 1901 and officialy opened on July 4, 1901.







Longest Covered Bridge
. . . . . . . the movie!



We reentered the US at Houlton, ME

Goodbye Nova Scotia

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Today we left Nova Scotia. We departed from Wolfville, through Truro, and on to Moncton, New Brunswick where we will spend the night. Not much to report today, just a basic day of travel. Below are some pictures Ronna took while traveling.


Noel Foster - We passed through Noel, Nova Scotia. Nice little community.

Lobster Capitol Of Canada

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We stayed the night in Barrington, NS which is the lobster capital of Canada. So, while in Barrington, we did as the locals do . . . . we ate pizza!

We stayed at a B&B in Barrington called the Stagecoach Inn. It was an old house which had been renovated and the rooms done in a theme. Ronna and I stayed in Fisherman's Cove and Alan and Janet had the Saloon Room. The rooms were very creatively decorated.



We departed Barrington and headed for Cape Sable Island. The island had a large number of homes on it and a lot of commercial businesses related to the fishing industry (probably lobster).



After Cape Sable, we traveled on to Yarmouth and then Digby. At Yarmouth, you can catch a ferry to Bar Harbor or Portland, ME. The Digby ferry will take you across to St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. Both Yarmouth and Digby are unique little harbor towns.

We ended the day at Wolfville. We stayed at a B&B called the Ginger Bread House Inn (hey, don't laugh - it was the women's idea). Wolfville is situated on the Bay of Fundy/Minas Basin.



The Bay of Fundy has the largest tide differential in the world, about forty feet. We went down to the old harbor of town to check out the tides and it looked like one big mud hole! When we returned about an hour and a half later, it was filling with water at a rapid rate.



We ate dinner downtown at a sidewalk cafe.

Rain and Fog

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You haven't been hearing a lot from me lately because I am sound asleep when Dave gets around to writing the blog. We have been staying at a lot of nice B&Bs. The food has been tremendous and the scenery amazing.

Today has been a bit of a disaster starting out with rain and fog and lasting for most of the day. We visited Chester and then Mahone Bay, both very picturesque little towns, and then headed for Lunenburg. We were excited to visit Lunenburg because people had rated it very highly. However, due to the rain, we were unable to get off the bikes and wander around the town. The town is not designed for motorcycles. The roads are very steep and hard to maneuver. Also, due to one-way streets and the Goldwing's unfriendly GPS system, we spent a lot of time trying to find our way out of town.

We are spending the night in an Inn in Barrington. The structure was built in the 1800s and has been refurbished.

Ronna

EXTRA! EXTRA!

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Note to Amanda:
You were right about Granna needing to make a lot of stops!
Ronna

Still In Halifax Area

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When planning the routing for the trip, we built in an extra day and decided to take it here in the
Halifax area.We drove about 30 miles to a place called Peggy's Cove. It is a small fishing village with a lighthouse which is the post office. We walked around the village a while and then headed back to Halifax and the harbor. We were going to cruise the harbor in a tall ship but arrived about 30 minutes after the last tour of the day. We sat at the pier and watched the ships in the harbor. We were surprised to see a US Coast Guard sailing ship pull in to port.

Halifax and Tall Ships

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Today we rode from Port Hastings to Dartmouth riding along the south shore of the Atlantic Ocean. There were many scenic and pastoral views as we rode the 210 mile route.

We are staying today at the English Gardens Bed & Breakfast, a very nice home in Dartmouth which is located across the harbor from Halifax. After settling in at the B&B, we rode down to Dartmouth Harbor and rode a ferry over to Halifax. We ate dinner at the Halifax pier and took in the views of the harbor.

We were pleasantly surprised to find out that there is a display of tall ships (sailing vessels) from all over the world in the harbor this weekend. You can tour the various ships. There is also a cute little tug boat in the harbor named Theodore. Check out the pictures below.

The Cabot Trail

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Today is the main reason for the trip to Nova Scotia - to ride the Cabot Trail. The trail is about 200 miles of awesome scenery which includes, forest, mountains, cliffs, coastal vistas and twisty roads made for motorcycling. Our prayers were answered for perfect weather (a Chamber of Commerce day (Lynn F.)). Blue skies and a temperature of 70 degrees. Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the ride.

Great Weather - Rough Roads

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We departed Port Hastings headed for the Fleur de lis Trail that will take us to the town of Louisbourg. The trail is a very rough road with pot holes, cracks and bad patch jobs. Not the kind of road that is “user friendly to those on motorcycles (or any other type of vehicle).
Once at Louisbourg, we stopped at the visitor center to find out about the town. It is a town steeped in history with the main attraction being the Fortress of Louisbourg. We decided to skip the tour of the fort due to time restrictions as we had 200 miles to make today to arrive at our final destination of Baddeck. We then left the visitor’s center and headed for Lighthouse Point which was a very scenic spot with the sea crashing against the rocks and spraying the water high into the air. We took advantage of the “Kodak moments” and then headed to a local restaurant for lunch.

After lunch, we began out trip to Baddeck via Sydney. We found a Wal-Mart on arrival at Sydney as Ronna needed a battery for her watch. Also, Alan replaced a burned out headlight bulb in the parking lot. With everything back in working order, we continued on to Baddeck.

Baddeck is a quaint little town located on the banks of Bras d’Or Lake and is known for being home to Alexander Graham Bell‘s estate and his descendents still use it today as a summer home. There is also a Bell Museum that can be toured.
We stayed the night at the Brass Door Bed & Breakfast which was owned and operated by Lars and Elaine Field (one of their four children lives in the Druid Hills section of Atlanta). They were very hospitable and the accommodations were exceptional, including a stunning view of the lake from their front window.



Our evening meal was at a local restaurant called the Silver Dart (named for Alexander Graham Bell’s airplane. The food was terrific and we had another fabulous view of the lake.