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
Sorry for so long posting more of my trip. I've been way too busy for a retired guy.
The next morning it would be a ride north to L’Anse aux Meadows National Historical Site. It is a reconstructed Viking settlement dating to the 11th Century. This site was first discovered in 1960. L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site
From L’Anse Aux Meadows we were going to explore as many side roads and towns as time allowed. Cooke’s Harbour, Ship Cove, St. Anthony, and then take loop 432 through Main Brooke back to our cabin. We did go to Cooke’s Harbour and St. Anthony.
The road to Cooke’s harbour lead us to Decker’s Supermarket. The lady is the third-generation owner. She was born and raised in North Boat Harbour. We were very glad we took this “side” trip. It is these kinds of things that become a lasting, happy memory.
This nice lady told us of a lighthouse on a “good” road not far from our planned route back to our cabin. We found the road but not the lighthouse. One reason for missing it was that the road was dirt and gravel with rocks and ruts. Our dual sport motorcycles were made for this kind of riding, so we enjoyed the ride.
After about 30 minutes we ended up at the little settlement of North Boat Harbour. We took a couple of minutes to ride around the settlement.
We did see the lighthouse on our way back to the main highway. It was a very rough road to get to but well worth the view. We saw the same icebergs we saw in Labrador.
By the time we finished our non-planned (but well worth it) adventure we decided it was best to take the direct route (same way we came) back to our cabin. This would give us time to eat and plan the next several days.
We traveled mostly along the coast to Gros Morne National Park and Deer Lake. This was a very pretty and relaxing ride. We made a few stops. We decided not to go to Corner Brook. The main reason we were having trouble reserving a hotel. Holiday Inn Express at Deer Lake wasn’t inexpensive, but they had one room left. We reserved it. It was a good stay.
We had been warned about the abundance of moose on Newfoundland. We were told they were very dense around Deer Lake. We saw just one moose on the entire trip and that was dead on the road. We did not see any on Newfoundland.
Since we were more or less ahead of schedule, we toyed with the idea of riding south 163 miles to the little town of Burgeo. It just looked like an interesting town and an interesting ride there. Plus, how many people do we know that have been there or even heard of it. Because of the uncertainty of the weather and the fact we still had two ferry reservations we could not be late for, we opted to go to Gander to spend two nights and do laundry.
The next morning was wet. It rained off and on all the way to Gander, otherwise it was a good noneventful ride. We visited a small museum in Gander. Gander was a major stop for trans-Atlantic flights. The museum has artifacts that tell of the history and the importance the airport has played through out aviation history.
We finished our laundry the next morning. We decided to ride around the town and pick up some supplies. It was rainy most of the day. Almost nothing was open. It was a weekday. Finally, we asked why nothing was open aside from fast food and gas stations. It was Gander Day. It is a day to celebrate civic pride, aviation, and whatever else they throw in.
Remember when 9/11 happened and all the airplanes were grounded. Gander was one of the major places for the emergency landings. The people opened their doors, literally, to all the passengers who could not find a room. The citizens fed them and gave them a place to stay until the flights resumed. Great people.
We did find a gift shop open. Yes, we bought T-shirts and gifts for the wives. The lady was an excellent salesperson. She got me to pay too much for a necklace commemorating the hospitality of the Gander citizens after 9/11 happened. It was hand made by a local. The Wife liked it. So, it was worth the price.
We found an A&W for our main meal of the day. We topped off the fuel tanks before retreating to the Quality Inn. We once again met the two motorcyclist from Argentina we ran into at Manic 5 and at least two other times. This was the last time we’d see them as they were catching the ferry to Nova Scotia the next day. We still had some time on The Rock.
Our next stop would be two nights in Fortune. We had reservations for two rooms for two nights at Hotel Fortune. From there we would take a ferry to the French Island of St. Pierre.
We left out around 0800 for fortune. It rained off and on all the way to Fortune. Usually not very hard, just annoying.
When I made the reservations for Hotel Fortune in January, I was a little skeptical. I wasn’t even sure they were secured although I did give my credit card number. The reviews were few but good. It seemed to be about the only place to reserve. I finally called in April to reassure myself that the reservations were a fact. Yes, they were.
Well, when we got there, we were shocked. It was not only good, but it was the best place we would stay on the entire trip. It was awesome. The rooms were large, and the bed was very comfortable. There were plenty of towels and they were the best towels I have ever had in any hotel. This includes the very high dollar ones. There was a deck with chairs to observe the beautiful sunset.
We saw a fox near the deck. It was the second fox we had seen on the trip. No two-legged foxes
The next morning, The 3 ½ hour ferry to St. Pierre was to leave at 0900. Of course, we had to report about an hour early. The cost was $70 CAD round trip each. We did not take our motorcycles, $100 CAD each. They just recently allowed tourist vehicles to go to the island. The idea of spending the night there was considered. Coordinating the return ferry did not meet our schedule. A day there seemed like an interesting side trip.
The threat of rain seemed to be always present. The ferry ride to St. Pierre was smooth. We were on the deck most of the time. Once we were off the ferry the wind picked up and light rain took place off and on.
We stopped in an ice cream/pastry shop for a snack. They took our Canadian money. We walked around the town for a while before going into a gift shop. The lady was extremely nice and helpful. She stayed open just for us (more on that later). She accepted Euro, Canadian, and US money. She told us of a place to eat nearby.
The gift shop lady was the only friendly person we encountered while on the island. The waitress at the restaurant was just about rude. They only took Euros or credit cards. Of course, they only spoke French which was OK. The food was not the best.
From the restaurant we wandered around town some more. We decided to return to the same ice cream place as earlier. This time they would not take our Canadian nor credit card and very rude. By now we were more than ready to return to the friendly people of Newfoundland. We were glad we were not spending the night in St. Pierre.
My opinion of St. Pierre is that it was about 12 hours and $70 wasted. I can understand the people not speaking English as I have traveled to many countries. Except for the gift shop lady everyone else was rude. They drive crazy. It wasn’t just our opinion or experience but other people we talked to on the return ferry had the same opinion.
We have manners. We understand how cultures are different from ours. We are polite. Our mothers raised us right.
A person is supposed to have reservations to eat at any restaurant. Restaurants are only open for two hours. All other shops are closed during those two hours. These unwritten rules we found out later.
They only accept Euros or credit cards. You would think since most visitors arrive from Newfoundland; they would take Canadian money. Since tourism is one of the largest industries (maybe the largest) that they presently have, a person would think they would be more friendly. I did read where France subsidizes them.
My advice is if you want to say you went to France, save your money and go to Paris. The people there are much nicer.
The vehicles use French license plates. I took a picture of one but for some reason it did not turn out. Except for the rudeness it is an interesting place but not enough for a visit.
We enjoyed the evening back at the Hotel Fortune. We wish we had reserved for another night just to enjoy the place.
Our next destination was St. John’s for two nights. We wanted to go to the eastern most point in North America, except for Greenland, which is considered North America. I need to go there.
We wanted to take a different and more scenic route, 220, back to 210 and 1 from Fortune. It was raining so we decided to take the same more direct route, 210, back to highway 1.
We had a little extra time. We took a detour to the town of Dildo. We just could not resist it. It is named after an old sea captain. It used to be a sleepy little town but now it is a tourist town.
We ate at the restaurant. The food was good. There is of course a gift shop in the restaurant.
We made reservations for two nights near St. John’s. St. John’s hotels were expensive. We stayed in Paradise at a hotel by the name of Crossroads. It was a very nice place to stay and less expensive. The people were very friendly. They provided free laundry and detergent. Our room had an entrance from the hall and one to the parking lot. The second floor has balconies. This made things very easy when we were unloading and loading. We did laundry here.
The next day we rode to Cape Spare. There is a historical lighthouse there plus a newer one. It is the Eastern most point in North America. Yes, by the technical definition of longitude, Alaska has an island technically in the eastern hemisphere. Cape Spare is the northern end of the Appalachian Trail.
It was a long uphill hike from the parking lot to the light house but well worth it. During World War II there were gun emplacements with bunkers. We walked through some of the bunkers. We did not take a tour of the lighthouse. The views were awesome.
The ride there was great. We were so glad we took the time to go there.
St. John’s has a lot of things to do. I understand there is a good night life scene. We are not city guys. Our nightlife days are far behind us. We did not spend much time in St. John’s.
The next day we had a date with the 16-hour ferry from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia. It leaves from Argentia and lands at North Sydney, Nova Scotia. We wanted to take the long way to Argentia but were afraid we’d get delayed. We did take a more scenic route there.
I made the reservations with a cabin in January. I am glad I did. The day after I made our reservations there were no cabins left.
It cost $176.75 CAD for the cabin. We split it since it had two berths with a bathroom. We needed to sleep somewhere. Sleeping on the deck or in the lounge did not sound like a good night of sleep. The cost to transport the motorcycles was $103.45 CAD each and $99.80 CAD per person. Total with tax was $319.84 CAD each.
The ferry left at 5:00 PM sharp. We had to arrive at 3:00. We were there early since we did not want to take a chance of missing it.
By arriving early we had time to visit with some other riders. Motorcycles loaded first and departed almost first. A couple of vehicles had to depart so we could. We tied down our motorcycles like we did on the ferry from Labrador to Newfoundland.
The ship was large and held something like 400 vehicles. There were 18 wheelers also on board.
To be continued.
The next morning it would be a ride north to L’Anse aux Meadows National Historical Site. It is a reconstructed Viking settlement dating to the 11th Century. This site was first discovered in 1960. L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site
From L’Anse Aux Meadows we were going to explore as many side roads and towns as time allowed. Cooke’s Harbour, Ship Cove, St. Anthony, and then take loop 432 through Main Brooke back to our cabin. We did go to Cooke’s Harbour and St. Anthony.
The road to Cooke’s harbour lead us to Decker’s Supermarket. The lady is the third-generation owner. She was born and raised in North Boat Harbour. We were very glad we took this “side” trip. It is these kinds of things that become a lasting, happy memory.
This nice lady told us of a lighthouse on a “good” road not far from our planned route back to our cabin. We found the road but not the lighthouse. One reason for missing it was that the road was dirt and gravel with rocks and ruts. Our dual sport motorcycles were made for this kind of riding, so we enjoyed the ride.
After about 30 minutes we ended up at the little settlement of North Boat Harbour. We took a couple of minutes to ride around the settlement.
We did see the lighthouse on our way back to the main highway. It was a very rough road to get to but well worth the view. We saw the same icebergs we saw in Labrador.
By the time we finished our non-planned (but well worth it) adventure we decided it was best to take the direct route (same way we came) back to our cabin. This would give us time to eat and plan the next several days.
We traveled mostly along the coast to Gros Morne National Park and Deer Lake. This was a very pretty and relaxing ride. We made a few stops. We decided not to go to Corner Brook. The main reason we were having trouble reserving a hotel. Holiday Inn Express at Deer Lake wasn’t inexpensive, but they had one room left. We reserved it. It was a good stay.
We had been warned about the abundance of moose on Newfoundland. We were told they were very dense around Deer Lake. We saw just one moose on the entire trip and that was dead on the road. We did not see any on Newfoundland.
Since we were more or less ahead of schedule, we toyed with the idea of riding south 163 miles to the little town of Burgeo. It just looked like an interesting town and an interesting ride there. Plus, how many people do we know that have been there or even heard of it. Because of the uncertainty of the weather and the fact we still had two ferry reservations we could not be late for, we opted to go to Gander to spend two nights and do laundry.
The next morning was wet. It rained off and on all the way to Gander, otherwise it was a good noneventful ride. We visited a small museum in Gander. Gander was a major stop for trans-Atlantic flights. The museum has artifacts that tell of the history and the importance the airport has played through out aviation history.
We finished our laundry the next morning. We decided to ride around the town and pick up some supplies. It was rainy most of the day. Almost nothing was open. It was a weekday. Finally, we asked why nothing was open aside from fast food and gas stations. It was Gander Day. It is a day to celebrate civic pride, aviation, and whatever else they throw in.
Remember when 9/11 happened and all the airplanes were grounded. Gander was one of the major places for the emergency landings. The people opened their doors, literally, to all the passengers who could not find a room. The citizens fed them and gave them a place to stay until the flights resumed. Great people.
We did find a gift shop open. Yes, we bought T-shirts and gifts for the wives. The lady was an excellent salesperson. She got me to pay too much for a necklace commemorating the hospitality of the Gander citizens after 9/11 happened. It was hand made by a local. The Wife liked it. So, it was worth the price.
We found an A&W for our main meal of the day. We topped off the fuel tanks before retreating to the Quality Inn. We once again met the two motorcyclist from Argentina we ran into at Manic 5 and at least two other times. This was the last time we’d see them as they were catching the ferry to Nova Scotia the next day. We still had some time on The Rock.
Our next stop would be two nights in Fortune. We had reservations for two rooms for two nights at Hotel Fortune. From there we would take a ferry to the French Island of St. Pierre.
We left out around 0800 for fortune. It rained off and on all the way to Fortune. Usually not very hard, just annoying.
When I made the reservations for Hotel Fortune in January, I was a little skeptical. I wasn’t even sure they were secured although I did give my credit card number. The reviews were few but good. It seemed to be about the only place to reserve. I finally called in April to reassure myself that the reservations were a fact. Yes, they were.
Well, when we got there, we were shocked. It was not only good, but it was the best place we would stay on the entire trip. It was awesome. The rooms were large, and the bed was very comfortable. There were plenty of towels and they were the best towels I have ever had in any hotel. This includes the very high dollar ones. There was a deck with chairs to observe the beautiful sunset.
We saw a fox near the deck. It was the second fox we had seen on the trip. No two-legged foxes
The next morning, The 3 ½ hour ferry to St. Pierre was to leave at 0900. Of course, we had to report about an hour early. The cost was $70 CAD round trip each. We did not take our motorcycles, $100 CAD each. They just recently allowed tourist vehicles to go to the island. The idea of spending the night there was considered. Coordinating the return ferry did not meet our schedule. A day there seemed like an interesting side trip.
The threat of rain seemed to be always present. The ferry ride to St. Pierre was smooth. We were on the deck most of the time. Once we were off the ferry the wind picked up and light rain took place off and on.
We stopped in an ice cream/pastry shop for a snack. They took our Canadian money. We walked around the town for a while before going into a gift shop. The lady was extremely nice and helpful. She stayed open just for us (more on that later). She accepted Euro, Canadian, and US money. She told us of a place to eat nearby.
The gift shop lady was the only friendly person we encountered while on the island. The waitress at the restaurant was just about rude. They only took Euros or credit cards. Of course, they only spoke French which was OK. The food was not the best.
From the restaurant we wandered around town some more. We decided to return to the same ice cream place as earlier. This time they would not take our Canadian nor credit card and very rude. By now we were more than ready to return to the friendly people of Newfoundland. We were glad we were not spending the night in St. Pierre.
My opinion of St. Pierre is that it was about 12 hours and $70 wasted. I can understand the people not speaking English as I have traveled to many countries. Except for the gift shop lady everyone else was rude. They drive crazy. It wasn’t just our opinion or experience but other people we talked to on the return ferry had the same opinion.
We have manners. We understand how cultures are different from ours. We are polite. Our mothers raised us right.
A person is supposed to have reservations to eat at any restaurant. Restaurants are only open for two hours. All other shops are closed during those two hours. These unwritten rules we found out later.
They only accept Euros or credit cards. You would think since most visitors arrive from Newfoundland; they would take Canadian money. Since tourism is one of the largest industries (maybe the largest) that they presently have, a person would think they would be more friendly. I did read where France subsidizes them.
My advice is if you want to say you went to France, save your money and go to Paris. The people there are much nicer.
The vehicles use French license plates. I took a picture of one but for some reason it did not turn out. Except for the rudeness it is an interesting place but not enough for a visit.
We enjoyed the evening back at the Hotel Fortune. We wish we had reserved for another night just to enjoy the place.
Our next destination was St. John’s for two nights. We wanted to go to the eastern most point in North America, except for Greenland, which is considered North America. I need to go there.
We wanted to take a different and more scenic route, 220, back to 210 and 1 from Fortune. It was raining so we decided to take the same more direct route, 210, back to highway 1.
We had a little extra time. We took a detour to the town of Dildo. We just could not resist it. It is named after an old sea captain. It used to be a sleepy little town but now it is a tourist town.
We ate at the restaurant. The food was good. There is of course a gift shop in the restaurant.
We made reservations for two nights near St. John’s. St. John’s hotels were expensive. We stayed in Paradise at a hotel by the name of Crossroads. It was a very nice place to stay and less expensive. The people were very friendly. They provided free laundry and detergent. Our room had an entrance from the hall and one to the parking lot. The second floor has balconies. This made things very easy when we were unloading and loading. We did laundry here.
The next day we rode to Cape Spare. There is a historical lighthouse there plus a newer one. It is the Eastern most point in North America. Yes, by the technical definition of longitude, Alaska has an island technically in the eastern hemisphere. Cape Spare is the northern end of the Appalachian Trail.
It was a long uphill hike from the parking lot to the light house but well worth it. During World War II there were gun emplacements with bunkers. We walked through some of the bunkers. We did not take a tour of the lighthouse. The views were awesome.
The ride there was great. We were so glad we took the time to go there.
St. John’s has a lot of things to do. I understand there is a good night life scene. We are not city guys. Our nightlife days are far behind us. We did not spend much time in St. John’s.
The next day we had a date with the 16-hour ferry from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia. It leaves from Argentia and lands at North Sydney, Nova Scotia. We wanted to take the long way to Argentia but were afraid we’d get delayed. We did take a more scenic route there.
I made the reservations with a cabin in January. I am glad I did. The day after I made our reservations there were no cabins left.
It cost $176.75 CAD for the cabin. We split it since it had two berths with a bathroom. We needed to sleep somewhere. Sleeping on the deck or in the lounge did not sound like a good night of sleep. The cost to transport the motorcycles was $103.45 CAD each and $99.80 CAD per person. Total with tax was $319.84 CAD each.
The ferry left at 5:00 PM sharp. We had to arrive at 3:00. We were there early since we did not want to take a chance of missing it.
By arriving early we had time to visit with some other riders. Motorcycles loaded first and departed almost first. A couple of vehicles had to depart so we could. We tied down our motorcycles like we did on the ferry from Labrador to Newfoundland.
The ship was large and held something like 400 vehicles. There were 18 wheelers also on board.
To be continued.
