Day 7-North Shore July 17 2017

Good Bye St Lin

Up early to dark threatening skies......Tim's for breakfast....after downing our coffee, we put on our rain pants in the parking lot...semi prepared for what might lie ahead........should have put the jacket on too. WE HEADED FOR Route 50, an express type hwy between Montreal and Ottawa though mostly 2 lane ( on coming shared ) it bypasses the towns and villages offering a speedier passage. We would need to pull over and put our Rain Jackets on soon after as we encountered torrential and windy conditions......unable to get the camera out so this is a picture less blog......Stopped in Gatineau to warm up and drain a little water from our boots and gloves before continuing ob towards Shawville and the Border back into Ontario. Again heavy and gusty winds...so strong that on a short stretch of 4 lane...Don and I both experienced hydroplaning and floating into the opposite lane before recovering control of the bikes....Ken was spared this scare as I believe the panniers on our bikes allowed the wind to lift the bikes up......A short stop for fuel and a snack at Cobden and then on to Wilno for lunch........from there it was a light rain until Huntsville, here it became heavier and both Don and I slowed down letting Ken pass as he was in a hurry to get home and more confident in his riding than we were......HOME at 3:30pm and a happy trip behind us.....and we are still talking and amigos...lol


The next major trip begins November 27 2017....solo motobike excursion through Peru/Ecuador maybe Columbia.....pick up my new bike in Huanuco at http://www.aroundtheblockmotoadventures.com/

Day 6- North Shore July 16 2017

Up before 6;30am and packed by 7 with breakfast eaten at the motel, we hit the road about 7;45. Sunny weather and not as cool as it had been..........great scenery along the way....though we were travelling on 172 which runs next to the Fjord......we did not see this body of water until we reached Seguenay. Mountainous terrain separated us from it.

The traffic at this early hour was sparse and I took a number of pictures along the way....at least in the early part.

While the amigos continued on, I did a little off roading.... 

They eventually noticed me missing and pulled over....

Found this tranquil spot while off roading

The first site of the water and city of Seguenay.

After Seguenay, the traffic picked up/ it was Sunday and many people likely heading home from a week end in the lake region........saw many boaters out on the water ways we passed. We started looking for a place to stay around 4 pm with a Motel in Rawdon about 45k ride. Unfortunately it had closed weeks before....so another 30  plus k and we arrived in Sainte- Lin and a sketchy house conversion to a motel. It was actually quite nice in the room.......

Day 5-North Shore July 22 2017

Awoke early to an overcast morning. We had paid for breakfast and waited until 7 for someone to show up to feed us........guess we should have asked what time was breaky....so it was across the street to the small smoky diner,,,French Only Spoken but with finger pointing we had a full breakfast .....

pICS ALONG OUR ROUTE

Miles of RVs' and Atvs' near Sept-Iles

Outside Baie-Comeau

Outside Baie-Comeau

I think this was the spot Don found that Geo Cache for Ken

Twisty was concerned as I took this pic standing on a cliff of rocks.......

We turned off 138 and up 172 stopping outside the village of  Sacre-Coeur. Here, I was able to get a real bed as we were in a dormitory room with 4 beds....actually a Conference room without a washroom which was down the hall at the far end. I believe we where the only occupants on that floor. Tomorrow will be a long day........

Day 4-North Shore July 21 2017

We awoke to an overcast morning.......having had an uncomfortable sleep as my mattress deflated through the night, I was up early and headed for the local Tim's for a coffee....leaving the 2 sleeping amigos snoring away.......oh did I mention that may have contributed to sleep deprivation ...lol .

Breakfast was at a small dinner near the entrance back onto hwy 138.

We ran out of pavement the last 44k to Kegashka with rain in our faces and mud and wet sand on our bikes.......as both Don and I have had accidents riding gravel, we were riding slower than Ken......though I would have an off road experience while looking for a Geo Cache with Ken......

You can see the foggy conditions of this mornings ride...I believe this pic is at BP- Anguanish

Ken was here with Carol and his friend Gary and wife a few years back.....they had boarded a ferry which did weekly trips stopping at all the major villages up to Blanc-Sablon which is only accessible by boat and is across from Newfoundland. A Ferry service here between Quebec and Nfdl is popular with Adventure bikers riding the Labrador Hwy which Don and I did in 2014......It was here at Natashquan that Ken and Gary's bikes were off loaded and they road back....I believe this was the end of the road at that time....it has since been extended to Kegashka. Ken said it was raining then as well.....so fitting it should be today.  

Pics towards Kegashka

Kegashka

though the pic does not show the bump and slope I misjudged, l lost my path and found myself flying off the bike into the deep ditch....thankfully the bike stayed topside and only damage was my pride and a bent forward foot peg.......I could hear Ken yelling are you ok...lol....he may have captured this event on his dash cam. Don did not attempt to follow us on this trek which was a wise decision.

The location of a Geo-Cache

Ken eventually finds the treasure after he crawls under this shack which appears about to fall down.....

Fishing baskets likely to hold crab when caught

The end of 138 and our furthest ride East on this adventure

We stop for the night on our return at Riviere-au-Tonnerre. We have difficulty finding an open motel....only 2 in the village and one is closed...a place Ken's crew had stayed at a few years back......we manage to get directions in sign language...actually hand waiving from a gentleman who happen to walk bye, the confused gringos, that led us down to the water's edge and a booking agency who then sold us a 2 bed room in a motel that has no one at the location...da...how many potential clients go on....thinking, as we did, not open for business. Well, the two amigos get to spend a cozy night together sharing the 2 bed which in turn is a 1 bed while I am on the floor with a mattress that deflates again and I am out at my bike at 2 am pumping air back into it 

I believe a selfy exists showing the spread rolled up and placed between the 2.......da...what's that all about......

Day 3-North Shore-July 20 2017

Awoke to a bright morning.......breakfast not included but the motel had a Restaurant which served us dinner last night and where we would have Bacon and eggs....Ken must have full breaky every morning or he gets Twisty/Antsy .....maybe that's how he got his nickname Twisty.......

So pristine

A rest stop for Don and I while Ken is Geo Caching........I think he has this radar thingy on his bike that sounds an alarm if he is within 100 feet of a hidden cache....which amounts to usually a piece of paper inside a sometimes tiny capsule the size of a figure thimble,,,,,I get a kick out of watching him unroll a piece of paper stuffed into a small space....on which he signs his name and date he finds with an equally small stub of a pencil....   

Can you see it...no....lol

Sometimes the geo cache stops give Don and I time to service our bikes....that is if we are not helping Twisty locate the treasure....yes we were first to fine a couple of times even though we had a hard time getting the clues out of Ken.....jeez he is super competitive....once while he was keeping these facts to himself and having spent the best part of a half hour looking....Don picks this little capsule up of the side of the hwy and says to Ken, is this the thingy and it was....go figure 

I slowed the group down

  today  as I stopped frequently to capture a shot.....though many opportunities were missed

Our dwelling for tonight...after a rather expensive dinner 25.00 plus each....we walked some of the potential weight gains off by walking to the wharf.....you guessed it Twisty had a clue to a cache....

My bed is the floor as the other two are softies and I refuse to sleep with either........