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Nova Scotia I suspect if you look at most biker's "bucket list" of rides, Nova Scotia will be somewhere in the top ten. It's one of the few places that I have not been in North America and I am looking forward to putting it on my "been there, done that" list. Once again, I am riding with the mountain man, Dan Harvey, who is leading a group of intrepid travelers from the www.CountryRoads.org club. I understand Dan is fluent in Canadian and has no outstanding arrest warrants in Nova Scotia. Day 1 - Clayton, NC to Denver, PA: 471 miles The Country Roads group is not leaving until Friday and are taking the super slabs to Bangor. I wanted to take the back roads and visit a friend in NH so I left this morning at 7:00 a.m. The riding conditions were perfect – 60 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. The morning sun gave everything a golden glow, particularly with the polarized sunglasses. I created a route via Garmin's MapSource and downloaded to my new StreetPilot 2820. Then it was just a matter of following the GPS directions. The ride through NC, VA,, and MD was pretty but uneventful. Traffic was not too bad but I saw enough growth to recognize that it will not be too long before you will have to pass at least a 100 miles west of the major cities on the coast to avoid their sprawl. I checked into the Hickory Run campground around 6:00 p.m. and then had dinner at the Silk City Diner.
Day 2 - Denver, PA to Albany, NY: 287 miles The first 100 miles out of Denver was not particularly scenic. It was mainly new housing developments, large manufacturing facilities, and farms. You would see these old farm houses, possibly Amish, completely surrounded by new homes. There was even smog in the air. It became painfully obvious that the State of PA is not spending its fuel tax dollars on their roads. I nearly lost a couple of fillings today. Once I entered the Pocono mountains, the ride got much better - very scenic and not much traffic. Here are some photos of the waterfalls I visited...
At Bushkill Falls their trails consist of wooden walkways along the river and falls. It's a unique experience but tough hiking for an old, fat guy...
Around 5:00 p.m. I ran into rain so I checked into a Red Roof Inn. Favorite sign of the day: "Old Faceful" (on the water fountain at the Falls) Day 3 - Albany, NY to Center Sandwich, NH: 196 miles Today was a great ride through the rolling hills and green mountains of VT and NH. It was sunny, the temperature in the seventies with low humidity and most of the time I had the road to myself. The small towns that I passed through were a "flower sniffers" paradise consisting of quaint shops, B&B's, old general stores, and non-franchised restaurants. Unique to the towns in NH, they actually have signs directing you to the liquor stores - must be the long, cold winters. I arrived at Jim and Susie's around 3:00 p.m. and as always was made to feel right at home immediately. We spent a few hours getting caught up and then I was treated to a home cooked dinner at their neighbor's.
Favorite business name of the day: "Noise R Us" (fireworks stand) Day 4 - Center Sandwich, NH: 0 miles Breakfast was homemade waffles and farm fresh bacon - what a great way to start the day! Then we were off to tour the Sandwich area. The morning was spent on dirt roads viewing the countryside. One of the more exciting moments was having a black bear cross the road in front of us. Unfortunately, I was too slow to get a picture. The afternoon was spent on Squam Lake viewing the wildlife and beautiful lake front homes. Squam Lake is where "On Golden Pond" was filmed. Center Sandwich reminded me of growing up in NC
For dinner we were invited to join some of Susie's friends for food and fireworks. Once again, the food was home-cooked and was either out of someone's garden or had been slaughtered locally. The highlight of the evening was the fireworks. I was expecting a few sparklers and some fire crackers - what I got was a full blown commercial-like fireworks display along with synchronized music. I've been to county fairs that did not do this well. It was a good 30 minutes of amazing pyrotechnics. I asked if it was legal and they said "no, but there is only one sheriff in Sandwich and he will not get re-elected if he shuts us down". In NC they would have called in the state police, national guard, homeland security, ATF, FBI, and the Boy Scouts. Day 5 - Center Sandwich, NH to Bangor, ME: 187 miles Pleasant ride to Bangor via back roads - lots of small towns, lakes, motorcyclists, and one dead porcupine. Met Dan, Janet, and Ron at the motel and then we all had dinner together. Day 6 - Bangor, ME to Shelbourne, NS (via Cat ferry): 173 miles We left Bangor and spent most of the day in light to medium fog. It did not hinder our riding but it did hinder our view and photo opportunities. What should have been a very scenic ride on the ferry was simply a boat ride in the fog - you had no sense of speed or direction. As fate would have it, my bike was the one Canadian customs picked out of the group to inspect. I thought I was doing real well with the officer until she asked me who I was riding with and I pointed to Dan. That's when I was directed to the inspection area. Fortunately, everything went well and I was able to return to the group without further incident. The temperature was in the low 60's but felt much colder. By mid-afternoon everyone was adding additional clothing.
Day 7 - Shelbourne, NS to Digby, NS: 226 miles On the ride across the island and especially out to Digby Neck, the temperature kept going back and forth between the low 60's and the high 80's. One moment you were in bright sunshine and the next moment you were in dense fog. Sometimes the change would occur within minutes.
Day 8 - Digby, NS to Halifax, NS: 198 miles Good ride across the island. Although the sky was overcast, the fog was gone and the back roads had just enough curves to keep it interesting. Our first stop was a little town with a river flowing through it. I'll let the photos do the talking...
A "must visit" in Nova Scotia is Peggy's Cove. It is the quintessential fishing village.
Day 9 - Halifax, NS to Port Hawkesbury, NS: 225 miles Today's ride was up the east coast. Unfortunately, the fog returned and visibility was limited. The highlight of the day was a "live" porcupine sighting!
Day 10 - Port Hawkesbury, NS to Cheticamp, NS: 239 miles We finally got a great weather day - sunny and pleasant. The Cabot Trail through Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Highlands is another "must visit". It reminds me of the Pacific Coast Highway. The western portion of the Cabot Trail is the more spectacular section so plan your trip accordingly. As we exited the restaurant where we had dinner, the lady, who lived across the street, indicated that she had just chased a moose out of her yard with a newspaper (brave folk those Nova Scotians). At the risk of life and limb and to provide this website's visitors with only the finest wildlife photos, I used my special ops training in camouflage and concealment to sneak up on the highly dangerous and illusive creature. The end result is the "Chocolate moose" photo below. The ride from the restaurant to the motel was too late in the day for photos but the sun setting on the water was worth it.
Day 11 - Cheticamp, NS to Summerside, PEI: 269 miles Another great weather day. We continued our ride down the west coast of Cape Breton stopping to view pods of pilot whales. Then we took the ferry to Prince Edward Island. It's free to enter the island either by boat or bridge but they charge you to get out. PEI is pretty but I would not make a special trip to see it, particularly, with their 17.5% sales tax - ouch!
Day 12 - Summerside, PEI to Skowhegan, ME : 481 miles We left Summerside, PEI headed to Skowhegan, ME via an 8 mile long bridge (PEI to New Brunswick) with a stop at Hartland, NB to see the world's longest covered bridge (1,282 feet). Don and Denise left us part way to get back to NJ.
I took no chances at the border crossing this time.
I told the customs official that I was traveling alone and did not know anyone
by the name of Dan Harvey. I was granted immediate passage into the U.S. and no
further questions were asked. I can only hope that others will benefit from my
experience.
Day 13 - Skowhegan, ME to Twin Mountain, NH: 196 miles Today's ride took us through a number small towns in ME and NH. It was like stepping back in time. A lot of the old homes are attached to the barn (which has generally been converted to a garage or workshop). The main attraction was the
COG railroad at Mount Washington, NH.
Day 14-15 - Twin Mountain, NH to Clayton, NC: 1056 miles Safe and uneventful ride home.
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