geomack

We’re back in Maine. A great trip but 5 weeks was too short. The last few days were over wooded hills with of course a headwind but at least now being off the Trans Can highway there was much less traffic. Our last campsite was on a grassy hill overlooking the ferry terminal in Argentia. The ferry crossing is 16 hours long and leaves at 5 in the evening. I tried to book a cabin but they had all been sold out in the spring and I was too late to get on a wait list. Sooo a long night. After a good dinner we found live entertainment in the lounge, a good mixture of country and Newfoundland songs. Eventually though we had to try to get some sleep. We went to our reclining chairs and ... read more

After 6 challenging days we‘re back in Newfoundland. Labrador is amazing, “the Big Land”. Beautiful country, Salmon rivers, big climbs and LOTS of black flies. The first night in the tent we thought it was raining, but no it was all the black flies caught between the tent and the rain fly as they banged against the rain fly. We used a lot of deet, but on the long steep climbs they had their way with us. We did see a whale including a dead one that had grounded on the rocks. We rode up to Red Bay to see the site of a 16th century Basque whaling station. Amazingly we had good weather, no rain, though windy and cold with temps in the 50’s. Warmer here in Newfoundland and though there are more mosquitoes there ... read more

Great riding with Boreal forest on our right and the Gulf of St. Lawrence on our left. Cool riding, mid 50’s, with the wind off the sea and mixed clouds and sun. Pulled into a campground on a beautiful lake. Heard a loon calling and we’ve also heard a number Screech owls and of course the ubiquitous Ravens. A short rain shower in the early hours but then cleared. We stopped in at the camp office on our way out for coffee and had a wonderful conversation with the owners. He’s a deep rock miner and currently is working at a gold mine in northern British Columbia. He spends 6 months at the mine and then the company flies him home and he can help take care of the campground for 6 months with his wife ... read more

So good to be back in Canada! A long drive from Northeast Harbor Maine to North Sydney Nova Scotia. A very windy morning waiting for the ferry to Port-aux-Basque but we met a couple on a BMW motorcycle and talked of travel of course. A 7 hour ride on the MV Highlander. In spite of the wind and lumpy sea, not a bad passage and we got a chance to watch some of the World Cup! The next morning the wind had dropped some, but can you believe it, it was at our back all the way to our first campsite. And of course about 20 miles into the ride we saw that iconic northern animal. A large cow moose stood at the edge of the forest watching us. We were hesitant pulling into the Wishing ... read more

Well the good weather couldn't last, we're back into rain and showers most every day. We continue primarily on the E45, but we're always looking for bike paths or other less traveled alternatives. We rode into the small town of Munkfors for supplies and stumbled on a fantastic rail trail, the klaralvsbanan.se/ne. Unfortunately we missed the beginning of the trail, but we had 2 great days before we had to leave it. Off the trail we wandered around trying to find a campground that night. We pulled into one place but it seemed to be deserted. We left and were getting ready to wild camp when we thought we would try one more time. The 'camp' is a local industry history museum with a number of cabins for rent. Turns out all were rented out for ... read more