Halifax - Chester - Peggy's Cove

Spent the last couple days in Halifax with Kristin. Got caught up with a little work, and Kristin & Tracy did some home cooking, which was a nice change from eating on the road.
Today we rented a car (so we could include Kristin) and headed down the coast to Chester on the 103. Returned on the Lighthouse Trail via Peggy's Cove.

The road from Peggy's Cove to the outskirts of Halifax is very twisty...ideal for motorcycles.

Cabot Trail

We had booked two nights at a Sydney hotel. But decided to move out of Sydney Sunday night and stayed at a B&B in North Sydney Annfield Manor. It was a little bit closer to the Cabot Trail, and was nicer than the over priced Days Inn. 

Off to the Cabot Trail. I was really looking forward to this ride, and it was even better than I expected. Started at the Englishtown ferry, and road counter clockwise.... cause I like danger ;-)

Smile cause it's the best weather they've had there in months!

This is the best twisty bike ride I've ever done. 

Finished the trail, and headed to the east coast Marine Trail. Didn't have reservations, and not a lot of places to stay. But found an out of the way Inn (kind of a Canadian version of Xcalak), right on the Atlantic, that was very nice.

Cape Breton - Football - Kristin

Left Pitou, NS Saturday AM, and headed to Cape Breton. We arrived in Sydney just in time to catch the first of two football matches that Kristin was playing in on the weekend. Kristin plays for Halifax City, in the women's premier league.

Lunch with Joe

Friday morning and off to PEI. We get to the Confederation Bridge just before noon.

Takes about 10 mins to cross. Then off to Charlottetown. Joe & Cathy were in Charlottetown for Cathy's ball hockey tournament, so we gave Joe a call and arranged a meetup for lunch. Keyed in his address to the "trusty" GPS, parked the bike and headed downtown for some seafood & a beer or two.

Off to the Wood Island ferry. Missed the previous ferry by 5 mins (or 1 beer), so we hung out for an hour and loaded first. It holds 240 cars, but I don't believe there was any more than 50 that drove on this time. Tourism is slow.

Met a guy on a Harley that had solo riden across the country from Edmonton. He said "Ontario took forever", but he was having a good time. The ferry took about an hour to cross, and in a few mins we arrived at a small Inn in Pictou, NS

Pictou is a small tourist town, but seemed like a ghost town, 9PM on a friday night, and we were the only ones looking to battle

Back to Canada

Headed East to Bangor, Maine. On average the gas costs $5 less per fillup. I suspect the distance to Nova Scotia is less through the US (vs. Trans Canada Hwy) and the scenery is much better, however, it takes a little more time. We hit one of the worst roads ever (even worst than the snowmobile trail Doug took us on). Half the lane was dropping into the ditch, and while we had about 4ft of OK lane, the other half of the lane was at least 1 ft lower than the path we travelled.

We burst up through the border and into New Brunswick. No cars at the border, as it seems like no Americans are travelling. Low dollar, high price of gas??? No jobs, country on verge of bankruptcy???? Border guard was ultra nice, much more pleasant than returning on a flight to YYZ and facing the grumpy Toronto airport bunch.

About 15 mins into Canada, and someone turns on the AC. The fog starts rolling in and the temperatures dropped close to 15c.

We pushed towards Saint John, NB. Not far, but while most of you where baking in Ontario, we were starting to get cold, really cold. It's 16c, but with the "fog chill" , the weather chick on the TV says it feels like 12c! We didn't have reservations, but barely made out a couple exit numbers off the billboards through the fog. Pulled into a the new Chateau Saint John, and the manager gave us free parking in the unused under ground parking lot, just as the rain started.

Breakfast the next morning and off PEI.

From hot to cold

Crossed Wed. morning at Gananoque. Down 81 for a short bit, then back roaded it across NY, Vt, NH and Maine. In the USA, but very close to the CDN border all the way. Wednesday was hot, stayed in Island Pond, VT that night. The next day was warm, but we were in the mountains, so lots of trees and shade.

Shockingly there was very little traffic, at times we seemed to be the only ones on the road. I expect the interstates were much busier though.