So, our first few days in the Appalachian Mountains are already 'under our belt' as they say out here . The scenery is spectacular, long sweeping roads with viewing points at regular intervals of parallel ridges of tree clad hills and sweeping vistas of the Shenandoah valley spreading out for miles in a shimmering blue haze. We have on our first day already seen a black bear and its cub foraging on the verge within 6 feet of us, the same with deer and turkeys (we had close encounters with the latter two, which is why the speed limits are set at 35 and 45 in Shenandoah and the Blue Blue Ridge). Here in contrast to the other roads the authorities maintain an almost impeccable environment. The road surfaces themselves are mostly without damage, and sweep ... read more

Having collected our Honda Goldwing bike just outside Montréal on Monday 27th July - 4 days after arriving in Canada (3 hour delay whilst we wait for the dealer to adapt the wiring so we can fit GPS navigator), we head out of the region to east Québec and we stay overnight in the area of Lake Mégantic. We have booked all of our first days in Québec in advance so we don't need to worry about finding somewhere or have to deal with the language barrier. In the end we rarely had problems - eveyone is bilingual (except for us!). The hotel is a little odd as the restaurant seems to be run as a separate entity, and the staff aren't too welcoming, plus they don't have a license for drink. So we venture into ... read more

Hey, flying' not so bad when they upgrade you to Club Class - you're ensconced in a blue cubicle of your own and you just have to pretend it's somewhere else, other than a 'plane. I must have watched every film going! Any way we left the UK late after heavy rain and decided to get a taxi to on arrival rather than struggle with our stuff on two buses and a metro - no actual metro link to the airport yet so a bit if a haul. 50 dollars later we arrived at the b&b of our hostess Joanne - a really lively and considerate woman from North Quebec, produces appetising and creative breakfasts by day and the odd glass of wine in the evening. Bits of the City are worth a look. The Plateau ... read more

The journey began on the 24th July 2009. We flew to Montreal as the start of ourmotorcycle tour of the Appalachians Our ultimate aim was to tour the Appalachians/Smokies/Blue Ridge Parkway/Pisgah/ending with the Dragons Tail, then head East to Savannah and up the East coast back up to Canada The Plan: Our plan was to use Montreal as our base where we spent two days acclimatising and looking around the town, and ultimately would return there to fly back out after visiting family We spent our first 3 nights in B&B at ready to then collect a hire bike from St Therése just north of Montreal. We had two options 1. Head North to see our cousins in the Laurentian Mountains for 2 days or 2. Head down South into the States to Lowell MA ... read more