Matane to Gaspe' Bay

Started this morning with 45 degrees temps!Not a happy camper at this point. Thinking what in the heck are we doing! But we were so happy we took the route we did. The scenery was amazing starting with the villages along the way! The awesome Lighthouse was amazing and the waterfall WOW! We soon forgot how cold it was because everything was so beautiful.

This is where we ended our day! We were cold, tired and hungry and the wait staff was amazingly accommodating! We were surprised that one girl spoke English quit fluently, much to our relief and comfort. She knew exactly what we needed and what a wonderful room and meal we had tonight.

Montmagny to Matane

We started this morning off with a fabulous breakfast at the B&B in Montmagny. I had poached eggs and toast and Pat had cheese filled crapes. Both were garnished with a melon salsa. The presentation was like something from the Food Channel.

The road around the edge of the Gaspe' Peninsula was breath taking. We noticed that each small beach community had the most beautiful church's. The catholic faith is very strong here. The peninsula also has acres and acres of farm land. As you can see we had beautiful weather again today.

We ended the day in a great hotel with an all you can eat lobster dinner, soup and salad. We also found another great Canadian beer. Pat ate till he was stuffed.

Main to Quebec City to Montmagny Canada

Well today was awesome, it started out a bit cold as we crossed the Canadian border, maybe 45 degrees at 7:00 this morning but we pressed on and we're glad we did. The pictures above are what greeted us as we crossed the border.

After a couple hours of chilly riding we hit a small town (for some hot tea) called Thetford Mine on Hwy 112 (about half way to Quebec) and as luck would have it we found a car show. Rebecca & Ben the VW bus is for you, Rich the 62 Nova, and Wayne Fabozzi the truck is for you.

The pictures above are of Quebec City, what a beautiful place. According to the experts it's the only completely walled city in the western hemisphere and you would believe you were in Europe somewhere. Annette and I found a small bistro and had a fabulous dinner, I had a meat pie with mashed potatos and veggies and Nett had French onion soup (surprise, surprise).

Well we ended out wonderful day at the coolest B&B in Montmagny Ca. What a beautiful old place. Thank goodness this is the only moose we saw today. The French Canadian folks have been awesome. As "stupid Americans" that don't know a word of French, most of them do speak some English (that goodness). Another great day. Annette and I are so blessed. happy fathers day to all you dads.

Derby Vt to Statton Maine

OK folks get your map out cause we have changed our route significantly. After meeting a group of riders from Canada and some from the US we decided to head north to Quebec and then ride the perimeter of the Gasp Peninsula and then onto Prince Edward Island.
We left Derby today late because of rain but did get our laundry done. The roads today were some of the roughest we have encountered so far, beautiful countryside with a bunch of Moose Warning signs. We did see a small black bear today but he was running for the woods (thank you Jesus). Staying in another small Mom/Pop motel but really nice, great people and the bar has live music that so far is really good. Love to all. We miss you all very much!!!  Sorry no Pix today.

Saranac Lake to Derby Vt.

This morning we got a little later start then usual but the extra couple hours sleep were much needed. We headed out of Saranac and within a half hour we were in Lake Placid where we ate brunch. Olympic village was a flurry of activity as everyone here rides bicycles and backpacks thru the mountain trails. The lake is beautiful and some of the lodges were amazing. We headed east and found ourselves having to cross Lake Champlain by ferry. What a cool ride across the lake and again we met some other motorcycle riders, this time from Canada. They were headed to the bike rally in Laconia NH. Unfortunately that was too far south for us so we headed north on Hwy 2 which took us right down the middle of Lake Champlain and then east on Hwy 105 to Derby Vt. We headed straight to the Cow Palace restaurant where Annette had her first taste of elk (perfectly cooked medium rare) and a twice baked potato.  For my three Wild Hog friends Terry, Jerry and Dave, the elk was just as good as it was the first time:) During dinner a gentleman asked if the Harley with the American and POW/MIA flags parked out front was mine. He asked to shake my hand and introduced himself as US Senator Dave Bloomfield from Nebraska. He is a Vietnam Vet and wanted to thank me for flying the flags, he also told us he has a son deployed to Iraq. Kinda made the night extra special. Annette snapped the picture of this 38 Ford truck while I pumped gas in the bike. We have seen quite a few rare old trucks up here. Annette and I found lodging in Derby and are done for another day. Thank you all for your prayers as we continue this journey. Again God is good and worthy of praise

Thousand Islands to Saranac Lake NY

For those following along we left Fort Drum Army Base and headed to Alexandria Bay were we took a tour of the St. Lawrence waterway. There are actually 1900 islands between America and Canada. As you can see some of the places were phenomenal. Actually called Millionaires row. We also visited Bolts Castle. For lunch I had steamed clams (for the first time) and loved them. From there we headed east on highway 3 thru the Adirondack Mts to spend the nite at Saranac Lake NY. It was so beautiful there. We stayed in a little Mom and Pop Motel right on the lake and ate at amazing Italian Restaurant. We had to take pics for those that appreciate an authentic antipasto and cheese covered garlic bread (AMAZING). While dining we met a very nice woman that owned a local antique store which we visited the next morning. That would be the picture of the little house. We then visited the quaint village of Saranac and met a very interesting gentleman that was a Professor of Art at the local college. He gave us a very interesting history lesson of Saranac folk history, music and hippie population. That would be him with Pat in the picture. We have met some really amazing people and sharing our adventure with them as well as their life stories. Because we take the rural roads and try to avoid the Interstates as much as possible, the economic decline across the country has been evident. A lot of Mom and Pop places such as stores, gift shops, motels and much more sit empty. It is another reminder to Pat and I how blessed we are and reminds us to pray for those less fortunate than us.