Day 13 - August 19 - Fred & Shirley...

We can't say enough about our hosts, Fred and Shirley, F&S.   They graciuosly opened their home to us and lifted our spirits during our long journey.

You may recall that on Day 8 we struck up a conversation with Fred and Shirley in a MacDonalds parking lot.  Before we parted ways they asked us to stay with them and their daughter, Stacey, at their rural home near Annapolis Royal.

The following pictures testify to a GREAT time of kinship...

 But first Jeanie with Cocao - resident at our previous hotel.

 Then lunch at a winery on the way to Fred and Shirley's place.

Dinner is served complete with edible flowers.

 Eating the flowers.

Look off near F&S.

Admiring the horses

 Shirley feeing her chickens and rooster.

 Stacey greeting the horses at the door.

 Tide is out.

 Shriley preparing a wonderful meal,

Fred is tending

the BBQ.

Edible flowers - who knew?

We were too busy yesterday to enter this blog.  We hope to catch up tomorrow.

BCINGU

Day 12 - August 18 - Peggy's Cove...

We decided to stay another day in Halifax because we wanted to spend the day in Peggy's Cove (which is only a 35 minute bike ride away from our Hotel..

Peggy's Cove is small - no doubt about that - but so beautiful you that yoiu would want to live there - not just spend the day.

The following photos will give you just a taste of life in this peaceful town...

 This is the only real restaurant in town where we enjoyed a late lunch....

Butternut squash soup, lobster roll, seafood cakes and

topped it off with the best Ice Cafe Mocha!!!

 Jack Sparrow decided to make an appearance - kind of looks familiar.

This memorial was cut out of a solid rock in the village

of Peggy's Cove. The left half is showing the helmsman

and wheel and then a guardian angel looking over the men at sea.

The remainder shows fishermen in their activities at sea. The central part shows the lobster men, of course, and a long line of fishermen hauling in the huge nets from the ocean.

By the way - only 35 people live in Peggy's Cove!

We will be on our way tomorrow to stay with some aquaintences near Digby.  The next morning (early) we will be taking the ferry over to St. John and then move on to our Hotel for that day.  It will probably be a very long day for us so we may not do a blog that night .  If so look for a double-blog Saturday night.  However if there is free internet on the ferry we may do the Friday blog then.

Thanks for following our blog,

BCINGU... Bill and Jeanie

Day 11 - August 17 - Halifax...

 As you can tell by the title we decided to ride on down to Halifax.  Beautiful city!

Not too much to see on the way from Pictou so we didn't haul out the camera much, just enjoyed the ride.

On a scary note...  It was extremely windy on the highway today (Trans-Canada) and an oncoming tractor-trailer strayed into our lane.  Fortunately I had my eye on the big rig in the distance watching it move almost head on so I moved to the far side of my lane and prepared to ride the shoulder.  Fortunately he was able to move mostly back into his lane - but still a little too close for comfort.  Never a dull moment on this trip!

We offer the following photos as highlights of the day's events...

 Bill and Jeanie having breakfast at the Braeside before heading out to Halifax.

 Jeanie and Bill "clowning around" at the Braeside.

Here's Bill proudly sporting his 

"Ride The Trail" T-shirt.

 Sara at our Hotel reception recommended the above pub called

"The Hart & Thistle" - great choice.

Great view right on the docks and great beer!!!

DJ - it was also a micro-brew - I had

"Garrison Brown" (very much like Beamish).

Jeanie had something like a Wheat beer that had

a touch of ginger - delicious!

 

 A commuter boat from Halifax to Dartmouth.

This is what you see from The Hart & Thistle when the sun goes down!

Well that's all for now - we're off to Peggy's Cove tomorrow...

BCINGU

Day 10 - August 16 - Cabot Trail - 2nd Half...

We have to say that today's ride along the Cabot Trail from Pleasant Bay to Middle River (where we started) was fantastic.  Unfortunately it was pouring rain along the entire trail.  Not only was it treacherous driving but we couldn't pull the camera out even for one picture (no shelter on a motorcycle).  But (you have to trust us on this one) even with such inclement weather we can say with certainty that we have NEVER seen such spectacular views.  Some so majestic that it MUST be seen.  No picture could ever do it justice because you need to have your eyes and brain to process it in real time - and even then you may not believe what you see.

So we will just have our memories of the second half of the Cabot Trail.

We ended the Cabot Trail in Middle River, stopped for a chat with the guys at MacKenzie Motorsports where we got our new tires (they performed magnificently) and also where we started the trail yesterday.  While we were there some more bikers rolled in (one bike limping in).  The offending part of the bike being rear wheel bearings - the guys at MacKenzie's started right to work to get them on their way!  We then headed off for Pictou.  As you may recall, if you read our itinerary, we were going to go from here to PEI, but we had to change our plans.  Since we have already been through New Brunswick during a previous vacation, we want to spend our time, this time, here in Nova Scotia.

The following pictures are from the immediate area here in Pictou.  There is no place on earth more Scottish than here - except Scotland, of course.

 Ladies pipe band (I just love the pipes!)

Boats in the harbour resting on "glass".

 Jeanie took this picture of the replica of the Scottish ship "The Hector"!

Worth framing don't you think?

 Clan Henderson - they're everywhere!

 Warrior from clan Henderson (circa 1100 AD).
How can you tell???

The Braeside Inn.

Time for bed now - blog you tomorrow from...???

BCINGU

Day 9 - August 15 - Cabot Trail - 1st Half...

You will recall that Bill was concerned about the condition of our front tire.  He wanted an expert opinion since we have at least a couple of thousand kms to go including the occassionally treacherous Cabot Trail.  So we polled a number of bikers that we met as well as local residents and the same name kept coming up as a life-saver... Jim MacKenzie of MacKenzie Motorsports.  So Bill called Jim and wouldn't you know it he was just a 15 minute drive from our hotel, right on the Cabot Trail.... 

We arrived at 8:30 AM this morning.

Darren - Jim MacKenzie - Bill

 Jim looked at the tires and said,

"Well I'd like to sell you a tire or two but I think

 you've got about 2,000+ kms left on these tires and I think

you would make it home.  However your first order

of business would be to get new tires."

Now I'm not the kind of person to wait until

the last minute so I had Jim put on a set of new tires

and we were on our tour of the Cabot Trail

in about 1 and a half hours.  In fact the first

inch of road these tires touched was

The Cabot Trail!!!

Thanks Jim!  Those new tires gave me extra confidence when

make those super tight turns on Cape Smokey.

 At the Alexander Graham Bell Museum.

"I couldn't agree more, Mr. Bell", Bill F.

 Finally we begin - doing one half of the trail today.

 A great group of Sister and Brother bikers just back

from Newfoundland and now traveling

The Cabot Trail.

Thanks for your encouragement, Cheers!!!

The following is just a small selection of what we saw today...

ENJOY!!!

Finishing up the Cabot Trail early in the AM.

We have changed our itinerary quite a bit for the trip back to T.O.   Looks like we are going to "wing it" after tomorrow and may not be a day or 2 late getting home.

BCINGU

PS - if you are having trouble posting comments to our blog perhaps the following from successful "commentors" will help.  Thanks to Dave and Chris for their advice...

1.  I had trouble posting at first. The only way that I was able to post a comment was by using my gmail address. I was not able to use any other email address.
So here is how I do it now:
Write a comment in the "Post a Comment" box.
When you are finished, in the box next to "Comment As"', you have to select a "Profile" from a drop down menu, select "Google Account".
You will have to type in your email address and your password for your gmail account.
Then click on "Post Comment".
After that, a password will be shown that you have to copy into a dialogue box.
Copy the secret word and press enter. That should do it!
If anyone has found a way to do it without having a gmail account, let us know!
Dave

2. ...btw for comments im using my hotmail email via my google account..interestingly its only allowing me to comment this way when using my mac and safari browser..no luck from my pc at work earlier today..hmm..i see above that dave j is only able to use a gmail acc to comment so im not sure if its a google or internet explorer issue or what (i didnt have time to start up a gmail acc to test today)..whatever the issue, i hope everyone gets it figured out to their satisfaction so they can take part as you continue to unfold your epic journey... CHRIS