Leroys73
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2022
- Messages
- 58
- Age
- 76
- Location
- Dallas area
- First Name
- Jerry
- My Ride
- Yamaha Royal Star Venture traded to Tiger 900 GT Pro
Sold Honda VTX1300R
- Riding Since
- 1965
Disclaimer: First off my pictures cannot compare to Qship's along the Cabot Trail.
Dallas to Quebec:
I attempted this trip in 2016. I made as far as Cape Smokey clockwise along the Cabot Trail, Nova Scotia, on August 13, 2016. Remember the date. I was all but stopped to take my last picture before returning to my hotel. I hit a pothole, my Honda VTX 1300R fell over, and I broke my leg. My motorcycle was not hurt. I had Med Jet so they shipped my motorcycle home.
It was a bad situation, but I can say it was a good experience. Good experience? Yes, I had great medical care, made a very good new friend, and met a lot of great people while recovering in a Sydney Hospital. Cute nurses helped.
Now to talk about this trip. I began planning to finish the aborted trip soon after the surgery to put a rod in my leg. I was not certain when this would happen, but my mind was working.
I wanted to finish it in 2019. However, The Wife and I had plans to be on the Normandy Beaches on June 6 for the 75th anniversary of D-Day (we did it). I also had a motorcycle trip to Alaska and the Dalton Highway planned. Newfoundland would have to wait.
Meanwhile my long-time good friend, Randy, said he wanted to go to Newfoundland with me. Also, we had both been reading about the Trans Labrador Highway. We wanted to do that. One problem, I did not have a motorcycle, in my opinion, capable of 400 to 600 miles of non-paved roads. I had my VTX and a Yamaha Royal Star Venture (full dresser touring).
I continued to just plan for Newfoundland with a short ferry trip (8 hours vs 16 hours) then to Labrador in 2020. Well, we know how that went, Covid. All things seem to work out.
The border was still closed in 2021 and questionable for 2022. I was not going to finish planning unless I knew there were not going to be hassles at the border.
By 2022 I had sold my VTX and at age 73 I realized my RSV was getting to be a bit of a beast for me. I was also tired of having to take the front of the fairing off just to replace a headlight bulb (another story). I decided to either sell or trade it. Plus, I wanted a dual sport if I was to continue riding. Wife approved.
In June 2022 I found a great deal in Las Vegas on a 403 mile, 2022 Triumph Tiger 900GT Pro equipped the way I wanted. The price was right. I rode from Dallas to Vegas to make the deal. The deal was right.
Randy and I started serious planning for the Trans Labrador. Since we originally began talking about the Trans Labrador (highway 500) the good people (or bad, depending) decided to pave all of it from Labrador City to 510 and 510 to the Quebec border south of Red Bay. It was great pavement by the way.
Quebec highway 389 from Manic 5 (second largest dam in the world) still had about 200 miles not paved with some short, paved sections. That was no problem for my Tiger or his BMW R1200 GSA.
I assumed almost all of the planning. One reason I had already researched a lot of the trip from my previous plans. I had also been reading a lot about the Trans Labrador Highway. Another reason Randy is self-employed so his time is much more valuable than my retired time.
We planned for a five-week trip of between 8,000 and 10,000 miles. Launch Date for me to leave Dallas was set for Friday July 21, 2023, for me to meet Randy at his place. We would leave Weatherford, Oklahoma, the next day. A Saturday was chosen so we could get through some big cities on the weekend. Reservations for ferries and some of the hotels were made by January 2023.
I am glad I made the 16-hour nighttime ferry from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia when I did. We got the last cabin available. We needed a place to sleep so might as well be in a cabin that night.
I am a long-distance rider, aka Iron Butt Association rider. I have ridden many 1000-mile days. Randy doesn’t mind doing long days if needed. Originally, we thought about three 800-mile days by way of interstate just to get to Canada as quick as possible.
We began to rethink the three long days. We were going to share a room most nights. We would be tired and maybe grouchy. Also, I started thinking, we just might “burn” ourselves out in the beginning and not enjoy the trip as much.
We decided on 600-mile days for the first three days with a possible two-nights in Plattsburgh New York to do a little laundry and plan the details of our next week. I made reservations for the first three nights.
We were on the road at 0600 as planned. Interstate 40 to Oklahoma City, interstate 44 to St. Louis with an overnight in Collinsville at a Comfort in I’ve stayed at several times. Nothing exciting except other drivers. Second Day was I-70 to Indianapolis where we picked up what I thought was a lot of traffic for a Sunday. We had traffic all the way to Cleveland, Ohio. Just east of there we stayed in Ashtabula, Ohio, at Holiday Inn Express. It was near the interstate.
Eire, PA, on day three before Buffalo and the New York Thruway. The first time I was on the Thruway was in 1955 or 1956, I was 6 or 7. I remember the high fences to keep the deer from entering the highway. I did not notice them this time.
My aunt and uncle lived in Rome, NY. I blame that trip for my addiction to travel. I recall the Thruway as being very expensive then. Now it doesn’t seem any more expensive than any other state turnpikes.
We exited it near Rome. As soon as we were exiting, a terrible rainstorm hit us. We had difficulty seeing. The rain was going sideways, tree limbs were breaking, and we got hail. We found a service station. A lady moved her car so I could park under the awning. There are nice people everywhere. Randy was already parked. Being from tornado country we were worried to put it mildly. Fortunately, it ended in about 20 minutes.
We planned to ride the Adirondacks. We debated for a few minutes. We decided to go with our plan. It turned out to be a good plan. The sun came out. It was a great ride with only a little rain. We found several places we wanted to stay for a couple of days, but our goal was the Trans Labrador Highway and Newfoundland. Plus, we had reservations in Plattsburgh at a Quality Inn.
In Plattsburgh we found a Texas Roadhouse. It was great. Our waitress was awesome, not to mention attractive. We liked it so much we ate there again the next night after we did some laundry. We requested the same waitress. She was awesome again. We rewarded her with a good tip.
The next day we would cross the border and make our way to Quebec City for two nights. Our border crossing went well, a few questions is all. I had detailed routing in my GPS. I also had the routes written down. We still had trouble. I wanted to only skirt Montreal but travel along the St. Lawrence River to Quebec on the northwest side.
Montreal got us. Somehow, we got turned around, missed turns, crossed one bridge twice, another once, and a tunnel under the river that smelled like vomit. At one point my GPS took us on a complete 30-minute circle through the city, some parts were questionable.
We realized we needed to reverse directions on the expressway, but the traffic was stopped. Coming from the Dallas area I knew we did not want to be in that mess. We took the next exit onto a side street. We had no idea where it was taking us, but we were moving and not stopped in traffic.
It was the more industrial part of old Montreal. Randy put Quebec City in his GPS. We somehow got out of the city. We made it to Quebec City but not in the more scenic way I had planned but by expressway. At this point we did not care.
We had reservations at the Hilton Delta Hotel for two nights. It was minutes from Old Quebec City. We both wanted to spend some time in the historic city.
There was construction in front of the Hotel with no place to safely park a motorcycle to check in. Quebec is all hills, steep hills. We went around a couple of blocks. I found a place to pull over in a construction zone at the opposite end of the hotel. I was able to park but Randy did not have a good place to put his side stand down. He stayed with the motorcycles.
Since the reservation was in my name, I walked the block through the construction zone to the entrance which was not clearly marked. I had to go to the third floor to check in. There was a line, hence a wait. I finally got checked in.
I asked about parking a motorcycle. With difficulty I understood how to get to the parking garage entrance, under the hotel. The people in Quebec speak mostly Quebec French (everyone in Quebec were nice to us except one couple).
Our motorcycles are fully loaded. We backed away with difficulty from the construction zone. We slowly rode down the very steep hill. The parking entrance is on the right with a sloping sidewalk entrance. With more difficulty I am able to get my ticket for the garage and the door opened. I ride in.
The door closed. I hear Randy outside saying some select words. He said he dropped his motorcycle. I told him to wait, and I’d help him. I could not get out of the garage. I went down 3 floors before realizing I started on the street level. I went back up to search for a way out. None was found. The door opened and Randy rides in.
What had happened was two pedestrians (the couple) walked in front of him as he was approaching the ticket machine/door. Well, we know what happens when a motorcyclist has his feet going down for a stop, and surprise, grab the front brake, and down you go.
Pedestrians have the right of way but that doesn’t make it OK not to use some sense. He said they did not even stop. They just kept on walking. To his embarrassment a fellow wearing a Harley shirt stopped and helped him get the motorcycle up. The slope of the street and sidewalk was such that he could not have managed to pick it up by himself.
We enjoyed the city with its architecture and history. We agreed that the food was the best we had for most of the time in Canada.
Breakfast
We took a one-hour bus tour of Quebec City the second day we were there. That was long enough. After spending most of the day enjoying the sights and food we retired to our room.
Early the next morning, we were hoping we could exit the city without any problems. I turned on my GPS in hopes it would get us out of the city the easiest way.
We exited the parking garage together without any problems. However, now we had to negotiate a steep hill with a traffic light at the top. Yes, we could deal with it, but we did not know if we should turn left or right and we did not want to stop. Thankfully, the light turned green, and at the last minute my GPS showed a left turn was needed and no traffic, fantastic.
Once up on the street in front of the hotel I was behind a bus. Randy was behind me. I could not see the street signs and my GPS was “thinking”. We had to turn left or right. I went left and Randy followed. We ended up on an expressway with no idea if we were heading the correct way. Fortunately we quickly saw a sign for 440 and 138. My GPS agreed. Wow, it is about time it awakened.
Highway 138 would follow close to the St. Lawrence River. There were some awesome views but limited places to stop for pictures. There was a short ferry ride across Fjord du Saguenay just past Baie-Sainte-Catherine. It was free.
St. Lawrence River
With one fuel stop for me, Quebec Highway 138 would take us to Baie-Comeau. We allowed for a night here if the weather was bad or we got delayed. We had good weather. We were ahead of schedule. I would fuel up and push on.
From Baie-Comeau we were to take a left turn on Quebec highway 389. My GPS stopped working. We figured how difficult could it be to find 389 in a land where there were few roads? Well, you guessed it, we missed it. There was a little construction, so I’ll blame it on that. Fortunately, we only lost about five miles and a few minutes before were back on course.
So far all of our roads have been paved. Most of them were good pavement. Quebec 389 starts out paved. Some of the pavement is good and some not so. We made good time while never exceeding the speed limit by more than 5 mph. Our stop for tonight would be Manic 5 about 140 miles from Baie-Comeau with intermittent light rain.
It is just a place to sleep with limited supplies. There is gasoline but only 87 octane. I am not sure it is even that. My motorcycle calls for 87 but Randy’s likes at least 89. I did not get the mileage I should have out of that fill. More on that later. Our next fuel was 240 miles over a desolate unpaved road.
Manic 5 is the second largest dam in the world. The place we stayed was very basic but clean. The accommodations are much better than Cold Foot along the Dalton Highway in Alaska. I can’t say the food was any better though.
We originally thought we would take a tour of the dam. This would have required a two-night stay. We would have had to schedule the English version of the tour since we do not speak Quebec French. Those tours were limited. Additionally, we did not want to spend two nights there.
This was another stop we sort of allowed for extra time if the weather did not cooperate. We slept well but we were glad one night was all we needed. I would say we had rain off and on since we started riding 389. Nothing heavy, just annoying.
We met two fellows on rented motorcycles from Argentina. They spoke enough English for us to have a conversation. We continued to run into them for the next couple of weeks. Of course, up there with only a few roads and few places to stay, what do you expect.
I'll try to post more in a few days.
Dallas to Quebec:
I attempted this trip in 2016. I made as far as Cape Smokey clockwise along the Cabot Trail, Nova Scotia, on August 13, 2016. Remember the date. I was all but stopped to take my last picture before returning to my hotel. I hit a pothole, my Honda VTX 1300R fell over, and I broke my leg. My motorcycle was not hurt. I had Med Jet so they shipped my motorcycle home.
It was a bad situation, but I can say it was a good experience. Good experience? Yes, I had great medical care, made a very good new friend, and met a lot of great people while recovering in a Sydney Hospital. Cute nurses helped.
Now to talk about this trip. I began planning to finish the aborted trip soon after the surgery to put a rod in my leg. I was not certain when this would happen, but my mind was working.
I wanted to finish it in 2019. However, The Wife and I had plans to be on the Normandy Beaches on June 6 for the 75th anniversary of D-Day (we did it). I also had a motorcycle trip to Alaska and the Dalton Highway planned. Newfoundland would have to wait.
Meanwhile my long-time good friend, Randy, said he wanted to go to Newfoundland with me. Also, we had both been reading about the Trans Labrador Highway. We wanted to do that. One problem, I did not have a motorcycle, in my opinion, capable of 400 to 600 miles of non-paved roads. I had my VTX and a Yamaha Royal Star Venture (full dresser touring).
I continued to just plan for Newfoundland with a short ferry trip (8 hours vs 16 hours) then to Labrador in 2020. Well, we know how that went, Covid. All things seem to work out.
The border was still closed in 2021 and questionable for 2022. I was not going to finish planning unless I knew there were not going to be hassles at the border.
By 2022 I had sold my VTX and at age 73 I realized my RSV was getting to be a bit of a beast for me. I was also tired of having to take the front of the fairing off just to replace a headlight bulb (another story). I decided to either sell or trade it. Plus, I wanted a dual sport if I was to continue riding. Wife approved.
In June 2022 I found a great deal in Las Vegas on a 403 mile, 2022 Triumph Tiger 900GT Pro equipped the way I wanted. The price was right. I rode from Dallas to Vegas to make the deal. The deal was right.
Randy and I started serious planning for the Trans Labrador. Since we originally began talking about the Trans Labrador (highway 500) the good people (or bad, depending) decided to pave all of it from Labrador City to 510 and 510 to the Quebec border south of Red Bay. It was great pavement by the way.
Quebec highway 389 from Manic 5 (second largest dam in the world) still had about 200 miles not paved with some short, paved sections. That was no problem for my Tiger or his BMW R1200 GSA.
I assumed almost all of the planning. One reason I had already researched a lot of the trip from my previous plans. I had also been reading a lot about the Trans Labrador Highway. Another reason Randy is self-employed so his time is much more valuable than my retired time.
We planned for a five-week trip of between 8,000 and 10,000 miles. Launch Date for me to leave Dallas was set for Friday July 21, 2023, for me to meet Randy at his place. We would leave Weatherford, Oklahoma, the next day. A Saturday was chosen so we could get through some big cities on the weekend. Reservations for ferries and some of the hotels were made by January 2023.
I am glad I made the 16-hour nighttime ferry from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia when I did. We got the last cabin available. We needed a place to sleep so might as well be in a cabin that night.
I am a long-distance rider, aka Iron Butt Association rider. I have ridden many 1000-mile days. Randy doesn’t mind doing long days if needed. Originally, we thought about three 800-mile days by way of interstate just to get to Canada as quick as possible.
We began to rethink the three long days. We were going to share a room most nights. We would be tired and maybe grouchy. Also, I started thinking, we just might “burn” ourselves out in the beginning and not enjoy the trip as much.
We decided on 600-mile days for the first three days with a possible two-nights in Plattsburgh New York to do a little laundry and plan the details of our next week. I made reservations for the first three nights.
We were on the road at 0600 as planned. Interstate 40 to Oklahoma City, interstate 44 to St. Louis with an overnight in Collinsville at a Comfort in I’ve stayed at several times. Nothing exciting except other drivers. Second Day was I-70 to Indianapolis where we picked up what I thought was a lot of traffic for a Sunday. We had traffic all the way to Cleveland, Ohio. Just east of there we stayed in Ashtabula, Ohio, at Holiday Inn Express. It was near the interstate.
Eire, PA, on day three before Buffalo and the New York Thruway. The first time I was on the Thruway was in 1955 or 1956, I was 6 or 7. I remember the high fences to keep the deer from entering the highway. I did not notice them this time.
My aunt and uncle lived in Rome, NY. I blame that trip for my addiction to travel. I recall the Thruway as being very expensive then. Now it doesn’t seem any more expensive than any other state turnpikes.
We exited it near Rome. As soon as we were exiting, a terrible rainstorm hit us. We had difficulty seeing. The rain was going sideways, tree limbs were breaking, and we got hail. We found a service station. A lady moved her car so I could park under the awning. There are nice people everywhere. Randy was already parked. Being from tornado country we were worried to put it mildly. Fortunately, it ended in about 20 minutes.
We planned to ride the Adirondacks. We debated for a few minutes. We decided to go with our plan. It turned out to be a good plan. The sun came out. It was a great ride with only a little rain. We found several places we wanted to stay for a couple of days, but our goal was the Trans Labrador Highway and Newfoundland. Plus, we had reservations in Plattsburgh at a Quality Inn.
In Plattsburgh we found a Texas Roadhouse. It was great. Our waitress was awesome, not to mention attractive. We liked it so much we ate there again the next night after we did some laundry. We requested the same waitress. She was awesome again. We rewarded her with a good tip.
The next day we would cross the border and make our way to Quebec City for two nights. Our border crossing went well, a few questions is all. I had detailed routing in my GPS. I also had the routes written down. We still had trouble. I wanted to only skirt Montreal but travel along the St. Lawrence River to Quebec on the northwest side.
Montreal got us. Somehow, we got turned around, missed turns, crossed one bridge twice, another once, and a tunnel under the river that smelled like vomit. At one point my GPS took us on a complete 30-minute circle through the city, some parts were questionable.
We realized we needed to reverse directions on the expressway, but the traffic was stopped. Coming from the Dallas area I knew we did not want to be in that mess. We took the next exit onto a side street. We had no idea where it was taking us, but we were moving and not stopped in traffic.
It was the more industrial part of old Montreal. Randy put Quebec City in his GPS. We somehow got out of the city. We made it to Quebec City but not in the more scenic way I had planned but by expressway. At this point we did not care.
We had reservations at the Hilton Delta Hotel for two nights. It was minutes from Old Quebec City. We both wanted to spend some time in the historic city.
There was construction in front of the Hotel with no place to safely park a motorcycle to check in. Quebec is all hills, steep hills. We went around a couple of blocks. I found a place to pull over in a construction zone at the opposite end of the hotel. I was able to park but Randy did not have a good place to put his side stand down. He stayed with the motorcycles.
Since the reservation was in my name, I walked the block through the construction zone to the entrance which was not clearly marked. I had to go to the third floor to check in. There was a line, hence a wait. I finally got checked in.
I asked about parking a motorcycle. With difficulty I understood how to get to the parking garage entrance, under the hotel. The people in Quebec speak mostly Quebec French (everyone in Quebec were nice to us except one couple).
Our motorcycles are fully loaded. We backed away with difficulty from the construction zone. We slowly rode down the very steep hill. The parking entrance is on the right with a sloping sidewalk entrance. With more difficulty I am able to get my ticket for the garage and the door opened. I ride in.
The door closed. I hear Randy outside saying some select words. He said he dropped his motorcycle. I told him to wait, and I’d help him. I could not get out of the garage. I went down 3 floors before realizing I started on the street level. I went back up to search for a way out. None was found. The door opened and Randy rides in.
What had happened was two pedestrians (the couple) walked in front of him as he was approaching the ticket machine/door. Well, we know what happens when a motorcyclist has his feet going down for a stop, and surprise, grab the front brake, and down you go.
Pedestrians have the right of way but that doesn’t make it OK not to use some sense. He said they did not even stop. They just kept on walking. To his embarrassment a fellow wearing a Harley shirt stopped and helped him get the motorcycle up. The slope of the street and sidewalk was such that he could not have managed to pick it up by himself.
We enjoyed the city with its architecture and history. We agreed that the food was the best we had for most of the time in Canada.
Breakfast
We took a one-hour bus tour of Quebec City the second day we were there. That was long enough. After spending most of the day enjoying the sights and food we retired to our room.
Early the next morning, we were hoping we could exit the city without any problems. I turned on my GPS in hopes it would get us out of the city the easiest way.
We exited the parking garage together without any problems. However, now we had to negotiate a steep hill with a traffic light at the top. Yes, we could deal with it, but we did not know if we should turn left or right and we did not want to stop. Thankfully, the light turned green, and at the last minute my GPS showed a left turn was needed and no traffic, fantastic.
Once up on the street in front of the hotel I was behind a bus. Randy was behind me. I could not see the street signs and my GPS was “thinking”. We had to turn left or right. I went left and Randy followed. We ended up on an expressway with no idea if we were heading the correct way. Fortunately we quickly saw a sign for 440 and 138. My GPS agreed. Wow, it is about time it awakened.
Highway 138 would follow close to the St. Lawrence River. There were some awesome views but limited places to stop for pictures. There was a short ferry ride across Fjord du Saguenay just past Baie-Sainte-Catherine. It was free.
St. Lawrence River
With one fuel stop for me, Quebec Highway 138 would take us to Baie-Comeau. We allowed for a night here if the weather was bad or we got delayed. We had good weather. We were ahead of schedule. I would fuel up and push on.
From Baie-Comeau we were to take a left turn on Quebec highway 389. My GPS stopped working. We figured how difficult could it be to find 389 in a land where there were few roads? Well, you guessed it, we missed it. There was a little construction, so I’ll blame it on that. Fortunately, we only lost about five miles and a few minutes before were back on course.
So far all of our roads have been paved. Most of them were good pavement. Quebec 389 starts out paved. Some of the pavement is good and some not so. We made good time while never exceeding the speed limit by more than 5 mph. Our stop for tonight would be Manic 5 about 140 miles from Baie-Comeau with intermittent light rain.
It is just a place to sleep with limited supplies. There is gasoline but only 87 octane. I am not sure it is even that. My motorcycle calls for 87 but Randy’s likes at least 89. I did not get the mileage I should have out of that fill. More on that later. Our next fuel was 240 miles over a desolate unpaved road.
Manic 5 is the second largest dam in the world. The place we stayed was very basic but clean. The accommodations are much better than Cold Foot along the Dalton Highway in Alaska. I can’t say the food was any better though.
We originally thought we would take a tour of the dam. This would have required a two-night stay. We would have had to schedule the English version of the tour since we do not speak Quebec French. Those tours were limited. Additionally, we did not want to spend two nights there.
This was another stop we sort of allowed for extra time if the weather did not cooperate. We slept well but we were glad one night was all we needed. I would say we had rain off and on since we started riding 389. Nothing heavy, just annoying.
We met two fellows on rented motorcycles from Argentina. They spoke enough English for us to have a conversation. We continued to run into them for the next couple of weeks. Of course, up there with only a few roads and few places to stay, what do you expect.
I'll try to post more in a few days.
