Leroys73
Well-Known Member
Once again I apologize for the long gap between postings. I have been busy getting ready for summer adventures and The Wife's retirement.
The cabins as expected were small. We only took our toiletries and a change of clothes. It was good we only took the minimum. The storage space was very limited. Of course, we had our riding gear on when we left our motorcycles. The bath was like a “wet” bath in an RV. It was larger than I expected. We did have a window. The beds were comfortable. I slept OK. The room was way nicer than the room at Cold Foot on the Dalton Highway in Alaska. It was about the same size.
We were warned that the seas were going to be rough. However, the size of the ship and its stabilizing system smoothed things out. There was some “rolling” from time to time, but it was never bad. We did spend some time on deck.
There was food available and some gift shopping. We ate at the buffet which was very good and reasonable. We ate breakfast there also. The gift shop was reasonably priced also.
I had read about the stone, Labradorite. It is only found in Labrador. It is supposed to have mystic powers. I thought I’d like to buy a piece of jewelry with the stone in it for my wife. I figured it would be too expensive. A pair of fair-sized earrings caught my fancy for maybe $50 CAD. All of their things were very reasonable.
Our motorcycles tied down. Randy walking back from his 1200 GSA
Although we did not see any marine life or icebergs, I did drink an Iceberg beer. Not cheap and not the best.
We landed at North Sydney on time, 9:00 AM.
Back in 2016 I was to have gone to Newfoundland from here on the short ferry then return on this ferry. However, the day before I was to board the ferry I stopped at a scenic overlook. There was a pothole that I hit. My VTX fell over and broke my leg. So much for that trip.
A local, George, took care of my unhurt motorcycle until Med Jet shipped it home. He also drove the 2 hours back to my hotel to pick up my luggage and ship it to my home. Awesome guy. We have been friends since then.
Today, August 13, I had a date to meet him at the exact same location where the accident happened. The overlook is paved now. After I got home, I realized that not only is this the exact spot, Cape Smokey, on the Cabot Trail, but it was exactly 7 years to the day (August 13, 2016) of the accident. I could have never planned that.
The Cabot Trail is very pretty. George, Randy, and I rode together for a couple of hours. We ate lunch at The Cowder House up there somewhere. My lobster roll was good. After leaving George we rode to Meat Cove.
Meat Cove is the northernmost point in Nova Scotia. I was there on my VTX 1300 in 2016. Back then the road up there was not paved and very rough with some very tight turns. This time I was on the right motorcycle for that type of road. It is paved now, although full of potholes. The view there is well worth the trip.
Meat Cove
By spending the extra time with George, we were running later than we wished. Although the time spent with George was well spent. I probably will not get back up there to see him again. I am so glad I got to see him. He did so much for me while I was in the hospital.
This night we had reservations at a little place on the edge of Cheticamp. I believe the place was Cheticamp Outfitters Inn on the Cabot Trail. It was very nice. The lady who owns it was very friendly. The room was large with a kitchenette.
Cheticamp Outfitters was another place we wished we would have spent two nights. However, by now, we had been on the road 3+ weeks with a loop around Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island still on our list. I had time since I’m retired but Randy is self employed so every day away from work costs him income.
We thought we had made reservations on the edge of Halifax so we could avoid the traffic. The city did not interest us. The hotel was in the very downtown part.
The ride to Halifax for the most part was good. It was interesting country. We had some rain.
Halifax was not a good experience. The hotel staff were very nice. They tried to communicate with me but either they were not speaking English, or I could not understand the accent. It was not their fault.
The parking garage was up a long steep hill and a few blocks away. It was not a motorcycle friendly parking garage plus expensive.
Parking in front of the hotel to unload was very limited and not good for motorcycle parking. We managed to get the side stands down without either one falling over (sloping the wrong way). After unloading we took our motorcycles to the parking garage. We then had to walk down the long hill in our motorcycle gear back to the hotel. Checking out was not any better.
The good part of this stay was our room was very nice. However, the restaurant was closed for whatever reason.
When we started getting sort of organized for the evening Randy could not find his phone. We both knew he had it when we were walking down from the garage. We looked everywhere in the room and the lobby. He has all of his customers’ contact information on it. It is backed up but he needed some of them now. He was going crazy. He ran all the way back up the hill to the garage and back, no phone, he is 63. He was beside himself.
For some reason I moved his helmet. There was his phone under his helmet (Now we laugh about it). By now he was exhausted, and it was getting late. We had not even showered yet. We decided to order pizza.
As I said checking out was not any better as far as loading our motorcycles. After leaving the parking garage we realized where we turned left to end up in front of the hotel was illegal. Too bad, we did it again anyway. We were about ready to park on the sidewalk since a car was in the parking spot. The car moved. We parked in the same spot we unloaded at.
I had hoped the weather would be nice riding around Nova Scotia. The next day was raining all day, at times heavy. We were planning to ride on several coastal roads and avoid the main highway. I had hoped to make it a casual day stopping at parks along the coast. Because of the rain we stuck to the main highway all the way to Digby.
We had some options to catch a ferry from Yarmouth to Bar Harbor, Maine, or a ferry from Digby to Saint John, New Brunswick. We were tired of ferries. We wanted to go to Prince Edward Island. We opted to stay in Digby for two nights. We have found on other trips staying in one place for two or more nights keeps us from getting “burned out”. I have done trips where each night is in a different place. Each day was long for two or more weeks. It gets old.
The stay at Digby, The Admiral, was good. The parking lot was on a hill so finding a good place to park took a little effort. The room was larger than most. It was a short, enjoyable ride to the downtown.
After cleaning up we went to town to eat. The food was just OK. We enjoyed walking around town. At one place we just sat and watched the tide in the Bay of Fundy. It has the largest change in tide levels in the world. In places the difference between low and high tide is 50 feet.
We mapped out our ride to Prince Edward Island. We wanted to stay off the major highways as much as we could. Our route was not the most direct. Randy needed to get back to work, so we decided to travel to Moncton, New Brunswick, for the night and then decide if we wanted to go to PEI.
There is ferry service to PEI that lands at Wood Islands. Back in 1975 that was the only way to PEI. My buddy and I took it then. But now there is the Confederation Bridge that is 8 miles long. It is free to get to the island, but you pay to leave it. The cost was $20 CAD for motorcycles and $50 for cars. I rode across it in 2016. It is worth the experience.
The ride from Moncton to PEI was not all that far. The next morning, we headed back to Nova Scotia. We took the bridge from Nova Scotia to PEI. We did not spend much time there. After a good lunch we headed back to Moncton. Time became a limiting factor.
We met some extremely friendly ladies at the hotel. No, they weren’t hookers. We are both married to some very good women. We were only friendly with those ladies. We also visited with some motorcyclists from Quebec. They were having a little trouble with one motorcycle, so we helped them out. They were very nice riders.
Our next night would be in the good ol’ USA, Bangor, Maine. We spent two nights there, ate steak at Texas Roadhouse, excellent food and service. We knew it was going to be a long, hard, hot push home.
From Bangor to our homes it was a boring grind for the most part. We did take some secondary roads through Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Once we got on I-81 it was interstate all the way. I-81 to I-40 and for me I-30 to US 82 to US 75.
It was a great trip. 9,000 miles and 34 days. There were not any major issues and very few minor ones. We are still friends. We got along great. No fights. LOL
Our next trip, we are working on it. Randy is hot for the Dempster Highway all the way to the Arctic Ocean. I have wanted to travel it by truck or motorcycle since I read about it in the 70s. That was when it first opened.
We are looking at the summer of 2025. This will be his 65th birthday present. I’ll only be 76 then. Hey, why not. Grab the gusto and enjoy all the days a person has left.
I was looking forward to riding my Tiger up the Dempster and camping with a picture of us at the Arctic Ocean in 2025. I have swam in the Arctic Ocean at Prudhoe Bay but we couldn't take our motorcycles. However, little did I know on October 16. 2023 on a routine trip to San Antonio from north of Dallas I would total my Tiger 900 22,000 mile on it. I had some bruises, sore, and my pride was hurt. ATGATT paid off. I liked the motorcycle.
I had decided when I traded for the Tiger in 2022, if I got rid of it and still wanted to ride at my age, I'd either buy a sidecar rig or a Spyder RT. When the insurance company paid me very well for it (including my add on farkles) I added $1000 to buy a used 2022 Spyder Limited with 1,400 miles on February 14, 2024.
I now have 3,000 miles on it and feel comfortable. I still miss two wheels on some roads. I do not miss the threat of it falling over or putting my feet down in heavy traffic or finding a good place to put down the side stand.
Now I plan to drive my RAM 2500 4X4 pick up (I don't believe the Spyder could handle the Dempster) as a chase vehicle for Randy on his GSA.
This forum has been great.
Thanks to all of you for reading.
The cabins as expected were small. We only took our toiletries and a change of clothes. It was good we only took the minimum. The storage space was very limited. Of course, we had our riding gear on when we left our motorcycles. The bath was like a “wet” bath in an RV. It was larger than I expected. We did have a window. The beds were comfortable. I slept OK. The room was way nicer than the room at Cold Foot on the Dalton Highway in Alaska. It was about the same size.
We were warned that the seas were going to be rough. However, the size of the ship and its stabilizing system smoothed things out. There was some “rolling” from time to time, but it was never bad. We did spend some time on deck.
There was food available and some gift shopping. We ate at the buffet which was very good and reasonable. We ate breakfast there also. The gift shop was reasonably priced also.
I had read about the stone, Labradorite. It is only found in Labrador. It is supposed to have mystic powers. I thought I’d like to buy a piece of jewelry with the stone in it for my wife. I figured it would be too expensive. A pair of fair-sized earrings caught my fancy for maybe $50 CAD. All of their things were very reasonable.
Our motorcycles tied down. Randy walking back from his 1200 GSA
Although we did not see any marine life or icebergs, I did drink an Iceberg beer. Not cheap and not the best.
We landed at North Sydney on time, 9:00 AM.
Back in 2016 I was to have gone to Newfoundland from here on the short ferry then return on this ferry. However, the day before I was to board the ferry I stopped at a scenic overlook. There was a pothole that I hit. My VTX fell over and broke my leg. So much for that trip.
A local, George, took care of my unhurt motorcycle until Med Jet shipped it home. He also drove the 2 hours back to my hotel to pick up my luggage and ship it to my home. Awesome guy. We have been friends since then.
Today, August 13, I had a date to meet him at the exact same location where the accident happened. The overlook is paved now. After I got home, I realized that not only is this the exact spot, Cape Smokey, on the Cabot Trail, but it was exactly 7 years to the day (August 13, 2016) of the accident. I could have never planned that.
The Cabot Trail is very pretty. George, Randy, and I rode together for a couple of hours. We ate lunch at The Cowder House up there somewhere. My lobster roll was good. After leaving George we rode to Meat Cove.
Meat Cove is the northernmost point in Nova Scotia. I was there on my VTX 1300 in 2016. Back then the road up there was not paved and very rough with some very tight turns. This time I was on the right motorcycle for that type of road. It is paved now, although full of potholes. The view there is well worth the trip.
Meat Cove
By spending the extra time with George, we were running later than we wished. Although the time spent with George was well spent. I probably will not get back up there to see him again. I am so glad I got to see him. He did so much for me while I was in the hospital.
This night we had reservations at a little place on the edge of Cheticamp. I believe the place was Cheticamp Outfitters Inn on the Cabot Trail. It was very nice. The lady who owns it was very friendly. The room was large with a kitchenette.
Cheticamp Outfitters was another place we wished we would have spent two nights. However, by now, we had been on the road 3+ weeks with a loop around Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island still on our list. I had time since I’m retired but Randy is self employed so every day away from work costs him income.
We thought we had made reservations on the edge of Halifax so we could avoid the traffic. The city did not interest us. The hotel was in the very downtown part.
The ride to Halifax for the most part was good. It was interesting country. We had some rain.
Halifax was not a good experience. The hotel staff were very nice. They tried to communicate with me but either they were not speaking English, or I could not understand the accent. It was not their fault.
The parking garage was up a long steep hill and a few blocks away. It was not a motorcycle friendly parking garage plus expensive.
Parking in front of the hotel to unload was very limited and not good for motorcycle parking. We managed to get the side stands down without either one falling over (sloping the wrong way). After unloading we took our motorcycles to the parking garage. We then had to walk down the long hill in our motorcycle gear back to the hotel. Checking out was not any better.
The good part of this stay was our room was very nice. However, the restaurant was closed for whatever reason.
When we started getting sort of organized for the evening Randy could not find his phone. We both knew he had it when we were walking down from the garage. We looked everywhere in the room and the lobby. He has all of his customers’ contact information on it. It is backed up but he needed some of them now. He was going crazy. He ran all the way back up the hill to the garage and back, no phone, he is 63. He was beside himself.
For some reason I moved his helmet. There was his phone under his helmet (Now we laugh about it). By now he was exhausted, and it was getting late. We had not even showered yet. We decided to order pizza.
As I said checking out was not any better as far as loading our motorcycles. After leaving the parking garage we realized where we turned left to end up in front of the hotel was illegal. Too bad, we did it again anyway. We were about ready to park on the sidewalk since a car was in the parking spot. The car moved. We parked in the same spot we unloaded at.
I had hoped the weather would be nice riding around Nova Scotia. The next day was raining all day, at times heavy. We were planning to ride on several coastal roads and avoid the main highway. I had hoped to make it a casual day stopping at parks along the coast. Because of the rain we stuck to the main highway all the way to Digby.
We had some options to catch a ferry from Yarmouth to Bar Harbor, Maine, or a ferry from Digby to Saint John, New Brunswick. We were tired of ferries. We wanted to go to Prince Edward Island. We opted to stay in Digby for two nights. We have found on other trips staying in one place for two or more nights keeps us from getting “burned out”. I have done trips where each night is in a different place. Each day was long for two or more weeks. It gets old.
The stay at Digby, The Admiral, was good. The parking lot was on a hill so finding a good place to park took a little effort. The room was larger than most. It was a short, enjoyable ride to the downtown.
After cleaning up we went to town to eat. The food was just OK. We enjoyed walking around town. At one place we just sat and watched the tide in the Bay of Fundy. It has the largest change in tide levels in the world. In places the difference between low and high tide is 50 feet.
We mapped out our ride to Prince Edward Island. We wanted to stay off the major highways as much as we could. Our route was not the most direct. Randy needed to get back to work, so we decided to travel to Moncton, New Brunswick, for the night and then decide if we wanted to go to PEI.
There is ferry service to PEI that lands at Wood Islands. Back in 1975 that was the only way to PEI. My buddy and I took it then. But now there is the Confederation Bridge that is 8 miles long. It is free to get to the island, but you pay to leave it. The cost was $20 CAD for motorcycles and $50 for cars. I rode across it in 2016. It is worth the experience.
The ride from Moncton to PEI was not all that far. The next morning, we headed back to Nova Scotia. We took the bridge from Nova Scotia to PEI. We did not spend much time there. After a good lunch we headed back to Moncton. Time became a limiting factor.
We met some extremely friendly ladies at the hotel. No, they weren’t hookers. We are both married to some very good women. We were only friendly with those ladies. We also visited with some motorcyclists from Quebec. They were having a little trouble with one motorcycle, so we helped them out. They were very nice riders.
Our next night would be in the good ol’ USA, Bangor, Maine. We spent two nights there, ate steak at Texas Roadhouse, excellent food and service. We knew it was going to be a long, hard, hot push home.
From Bangor to our homes it was a boring grind for the most part. We did take some secondary roads through Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Once we got on I-81 it was interstate all the way. I-81 to I-40 and for me I-30 to US 82 to US 75.
It was a great trip. 9,000 miles and 34 days. There were not any major issues and very few minor ones. We are still friends. We got along great. No fights. LOL
Our next trip, we are working on it. Randy is hot for the Dempster Highway all the way to the Arctic Ocean. I have wanted to travel it by truck or motorcycle since I read about it in the 70s. That was when it first opened.
We are looking at the summer of 2025. This will be his 65th birthday present. I’ll only be 76 then. Hey, why not. Grab the gusto and enjoy all the days a person has left.
I was looking forward to riding my Tiger up the Dempster and camping with a picture of us at the Arctic Ocean in 2025. I have swam in the Arctic Ocean at Prudhoe Bay but we couldn't take our motorcycles. However, little did I know on October 16. 2023 on a routine trip to San Antonio from north of Dallas I would total my Tiger 900 22,000 mile on it. I had some bruises, sore, and my pride was hurt. ATGATT paid off. I liked the motorcycle.
I had decided when I traded for the Tiger in 2022, if I got rid of it and still wanted to ride at my age, I'd either buy a sidecar rig or a Spyder RT. When the insurance company paid me very well for it (including my add on farkles) I added $1000 to buy a used 2022 Spyder Limited with 1,400 miles on February 14, 2024.
I now have 3,000 miles on it and feel comfortable. I still miss two wheels on some roads. I do not miss the threat of it falling over or putting my feet down in heavy traffic or finding a good place to put down the side stand.
Now I plan to drive my RAM 2500 4X4 pick up (I don't believe the Spyder could handle the Dempster) as a chase vehicle for Randy on his GSA.
This forum has been great.
Thanks to all of you for reading.
