I finally convinced Jan to go with me on a snowmobile trip for the first time this winter. She's been working a lot at her job as a substitute teacher, so the schedules weren't meshing to do it before this week. Of course my schedule is open to doing it any time. I've made quite a few trips this winter even though it's been an unusually low snow winter. We arrived Sunday around 3:00 PM at the Gateway Lodge in Land O' Lakes, WI right on the border of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. After unpacking and unloading the snowmobiles, we went to dinner at the Red Man Supper Club. We've been coming up here for over 20 years. We used to bring the whole family up when the kids were younger and have many great ... read more

(Photos courtesy of Michael Weinstein and John Carson: Many thanks) I sure wish I had been able to keep up better with this blog during the trip. It's so much easier to remember things that happened within a day or two rather than a week later. But our days were so long and I was so exhausted by the end of the day that I couldn't get to it. I would need all the sleep I could get before tackling another day on the trail. During dinner the night before, we all talked about getting an earlier start riding since we had somewhere near 200 miles to get back to Riviere du Loup from Matane. For a change, we had no mechanical issues to deal with and the trails should be well groomed. We started out ... read more

(Contributing Photographer-Michael Weinstein: Many thanks) When we were stuck out in the field yesterday, we had another problem I didn't mention. Gary's sled wouldn't start. It has electric start and wouldn't do anything. Skidoo had a better idea and when you buy a new sled from them with electric start, they don't give you a pull starter like every other snowmobile on the planet. We tried to jump start it from John's battery and nothing happened. Gary then had to pull out the emergency rope and finally got it started by pulling it on the clutch. When we got back to the hotel and parked in front, I tried to start mine and had the exact same problem. What else could happen???? The next morning Gary called the Skidoo dealer and they sent a couple guys ... read more

(Contributing Photographer-Michael Weinstein: Many thanks) Did I mention it was blowing harder and snowing harder? The next morning we awoke to the Mother of all Blizzards. Being right on the mouth of the St. Lawrence Seaway, it was ferocious blowing off the sea. It's always hard to determine how much snow fell, but we were told the next day it was over 40 cm (16"). When we got to Matane, Gary realized that something was wrong with his rear suspension. There are several sled dealers in town and he called the Skidoo dealer and was told to bring his sled in and they would look at it. When Charlie got up and tried to ride from the motel portion of the Riotel to the restaurant for breakfast, he found that his sled would not start. The ... read more

I arrived here in Riviere du Loup around 1:30 PM. It was about a 3-1/2 hour drive from Saint-Raymond, mainly because it was snowing the whole way. We're staying at a very nice hotel called the Hotel Universel. Really nice inside. Accommodations are very roomy and nice. The tour guide, Gary Pruitt, hasn't arrived yet. This place is really set up big time for motoneiges (snowmobiles). They have a fenced in lot for your truck and trailer and garages for your snowmachines. The truck and trailer will stay here for the 6 days we'll be touring the Gaspesie. I talked with 3 guys from the Toronto area and they just finished touring the Gaspe Peninsula and said it was fantastic. They said the scenery is unbelievable, better than their home province of Ontario!! I'm all settled ... read more