Tuesday August 4th
We woke to a grey day. This was our view from our hotel room door. Today was our first full day of riding in Nova Scotia and we were exited to get moving.
But!, before we could get on the road we had to take care of a few things. First a stop at the visitor center for some more maps.
Peter and Jimmy are confused about the route, and Jeff is content to look at the pretty pictures in the brochure.
Second and third order of business was to fuel the bikes and the riders. The gas station people recomended that we go to the Cinders for breakfast.
So we did.
At the Cinders we had the best waitress of the trip so far. Her name was Kristie with a K. She kept the coffee mugs full and the food was delicious.
We met a gentleman named Wayne who gave us a bit of local knowledge regarding the route to the Canso Causeway. Wayne is from Cape Breton and had started motorcycle riding about a year ago. You do meet the nicest people in Nova Scotia and Wayne proved the rule.
We had some great conversation and posed for a picture. I kept the camera handy in case the Amherst police stopped us on the way out of town. I figured that showing them the picture would be better then trying to talk our way out of a ticket.
Here is a better shot of the mural that is painted on the side of a building just down the street from the Cinders.
And here is a shot of the Cinders restaurant. They painted it red so you will be able to find it easy when you are in town. Make sure you stop and say Hi to Kristie for us.
We took the Sunrise Highway headed East twoard Cape Breton.
This is the sign advising that we were entering Pugwash. Just our luck that we left all our dirty pugs at home.
More Road Shots.
We stopped for a bit at this place and I am not quite sure of where it is.. but it is somewhere between Pugwash and Cape George. We had ice cream and rested a bit. The coast was beautiful.
This was not really a lighthouse, but a replica of the lighthouse that once was. Inside was the ice cream store.
Shortly after stopping we heard thunder in the distance and saw the rain clouds coming up fast. Rather than put our rain gear on, we decided to run for it. We were headed up to the Cape George Light house and enjoyed a nice run with no rain at all.
This is Cape George Light House and some other pictures we took there.
Jeff grew a moustace made from tree fungus. None of us got too close to Jeff for a few days.
After we got settled inside I didn't stay dry for long.
This was our route on Day 4.
And then we all went to sleep and didn't get up until the next morning when.........
We woke to a grey day. This was our view from our hotel room door. Today was our first full day of riding in Nova Scotia and we were exited to get moving.
But!, before we could get on the road we had to take care of a few things. First a stop at the visitor center for some more maps.
Peter and Jimmy are confused about the route, and Jeff is content to look at the pretty pictures in the brochure.
Second and third order of business was to fuel the bikes and the riders. The gas station people recomended that we go to the Cinders for breakfast.
So we did.
At the Cinders we had the best waitress of the trip so far. Her name was Kristie with a K. She kept the coffee mugs full and the food was delicious.
Steak and Eggs for the start of the day.
We met a gentleman named Wayne who gave us a bit of local knowledge regarding the route to the Canso Causeway. Wayne is from Cape Breton and had started motorcycle riding about a year ago. You do meet the nicest people in Nova Scotia and Wayne proved the rule.
Wayne and Kristie introduced us to Jerry Hallee and his lovely lady Brenda. Jerry is the mayor of Amherst. They presented us with the key to the city... well not really.. but they gave us wonderfull pins of the town of Amherst to wear on our leathers. Brenda searched through her purse until she was sure that there were four pins so that each of us would have one.
We had some great conversation and posed for a picture. I kept the camera handy in case the Amherst police stopped us on the way out of town. I figured that showing them the picture would be better then trying to talk our way out of a ticket.
Here is a better shot of the mural that is painted on the side of a building just down the street from the Cinders.
And here is a shot of the Cinders restaurant. They painted it red so you will be able to find it easy when you are in town. Make sure you stop and say Hi to Kristie for us.
We took the Sunrise Highway headed East twoard Cape Breton.
This is the sign advising that we were entering Pugwash. Just our luck that we left all our dirty pugs at home.
More Road Shots.
We stopped for a bit at this place and I am not quite sure of where it is.. but it is somewhere between Pugwash and Cape George. We had ice cream and rested a bit. The coast was beautiful.
This was not really a lighthouse, but a replica of the lighthouse that once was. Inside was the ice cream store.
Shortly after stopping we heard thunder in the distance and saw the rain clouds coming up fast. Rather than put our rain gear on, we decided to run for it. We were headed up to the Cape George Light house and enjoyed a nice run with no rain at all.
This is Cape George Light House and some other pictures we took there.
Jeff grew a moustace made from tree fungus. None of us got too close to Jeff for a few days.
We heard the thunder and saw the clouds a headin our way again and this time wisely decided to suit up. At this point I realized that Peter had shed his lucky rain suit some time ago, and even though he was putting it back on now, its magic seemed to have worn off.
We left Cape George and headed South twoard Antigonish and Route 104. Shortly after getting our wheels spinning the heavans opened up a wet can of whoop ass on us. I don't think I ever rode in worse rain. We took it slow and safe but it wasn't a lot of fun.
We stopped at the Irving gas station just before the Causeway to fill up and had some hot chocolate and a snack while the rain finished up its business.
After that we made a quick stop in Mulgrave to pick up some essentials. Beer because we were in Canada and you can't get beer that good in the states and Crown Royal because that is what our cousin in law Quincy likes to drink and we figured it would conjure up some of his mojo to give us clear skies in the morning.
We arrived at the Paul Bunyon Cabins in Troy just over the causeway on Cape Breton. Stockings were hung by the chimney with care... no wait.. that's Christmas. We hung the wet cloths on the porch to dry. At least some of us did. It seems that your humble corespondent was the only one that stayed dry under his rain gear. Imagine that?
After we got settled inside I didn't stay dry for long.
This was our route on Day 4.
And then we all went to sleep and didn't get up until the next morning when.........
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