Why Nova Scotia?

Why not Nova Scotia might be the better question. It's one of those exotic sounding places that I've never been to and that's reason enough for me. I plan on leaving around the 8th of May and spending several weeks on the ride. Along the way I'll be camping out, visiting unsuspecting friends , and maybe getting to ride along with them for awhile. Let me know if you're up to either!

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Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Jun 09 – Riding the southern shoreline to Port Hawksbury





























Bright sunshine graced the Sun Valley Motel in Kentville this morning and I was actually hot while loading the bike. As a result Big Red was packed away on the back rack and I dressed in light leather jacket and jeans, all warm weather items. Breakfast was also a light affair of toast, jam, & coffee, all spiced with lively conversations with owners Larry & Carol Smith and several other guests. We covered politics as today is election day in Nova Scotia; then moved on to fishing boats, golf, and where to get the best lobster dinners. Saying goodbye to Larry & Carol was bittersweet, they’re both really nice folks and my stay in their motel was great. On the off-chance any of you pass by their way they have a website you can refer to: http://www.svmotel.com/ I heartily recommend them but maybe you should demand a hearty breakfast as Carol just doesn’t have enough to do.
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Per usual it was a struggle for me to get on the road before 9:30 so I’ve just resigned myself to that and moved along. Yesterday’s meandering ride had ended with my being further south than I figured so I would have to backtrack northeastward if I were to continue on my course. I set today’s goal as Port Hawkesbury on the southern end of Cape Breton Island, something on the order of 300 miles away.
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To start the day out I opted for a short ride to the south, still meandering to see a few more places before turning back east. I soon found myself in South Berwick, a town of neatly kept houses with a core area of small businesses. The South Berwick General Store caught my eye as they’re front window boasted sales of an item seldom seen these days. At least not by that particular name, eh? After taking a photo of it I moved on to a small café for breakfast #2, this time with bacon, eggs, spuds, the real stuff large girths are made of. They sported a huge chalkboard menu of delectable items and I wish I’d had time to hang around and try them all but had I done so Big Red wouldn’t be big enough!
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Before leaving South Berwick I programmed the GPS for a route that would take me along the southeast-northeast coast on small roads rather than the big slab. This would take longer but my goal was to see as much of the coastal area as possible and to that end it was a success. The weather co-operated albeit the temperature began to drop the further north I rode. It finally got nippy enough that I decided it was time to break out the heated vest and winter gloves. I needed a place to do a quick change and selected a vacant looking parking lot next to a members-only fuel station. I’m getting fairly adept at this and in just a couple of minutes the vest was on and heating up as were the gloves. It’s amazing how much more enjoyable a ride is when you’re warm and toasty.
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As is my practice I stopped for photo ops whenever I saw something of interest and could get the bike parked out of harm’s way. Lobster for Sale signs were frequent with $4.99 a pound being the common asking price, then I happened upon the Folk Art for Sale house where I took several shots and was so impressed I deposited a few coins in their donation box. After that I stopped for awhile at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church located somewhere around the Sheet Harbor area. The entire coast line is dotted with one small community after another, all welcoming visitors with signs but nearly all devoid of commercial activities. Whenever you see people walking along chances are they’ll wave to you which is a very nice thing indeed.
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Eventually the route I’d programmed led me back to the main Trans-Canada slab and it was just as well, I’d been keeping an eye out for a place to spend the night and none were forthcoming. The temperature continued dropping and the sky had begun to blacken, threatening to rain a day earlier than expected. I was still wearing the light leather/jeans outfit and if it was going to rain I’d need to get into Big Red before that happened. Almost as soon as I’d decided that was the case the sun peeked its welcome face out of the clouds and although still very cold the threat of immediate rain vanished.
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By then the time had advanced to 6:30pm which is usually when I’m having dinner, not still riding down the gusty freeway looking for a friendly off-ramp loaded with Howard Johnson Motels. After crossing the extremely gusty bridge into Port Hastings I continued on into Port Hawkesbury where I located the only motel with available rooms left, The Skye Lodge. There’s usually a reason or two why the only remaining motel with available rooms is that, eh? I can’t complain though, I was really getting chilled and a warm room in a less than first class motel was welcome. Fortunately they also operate a dining room where I enjoyed a steaming hot bowl of their homemade seafood chowder followed by a desert of cheese cake, also made in-house. The service was good – there were only 2 other diners – and so was the food. I was glad I didn’t have to ride any more just to get dinner.
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Back in my room for the evening, the wall heater is going full blast, the Beefeaters man has vanished and I’m about ready to call it a day. And tomorrow? Tomorrow is another day, eh?
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Happy Election Day Nova Scotia….

7 comments:

  1. Did you get the 10% senior discount?

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  2. Welcome to Cape Breton.

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  3. Hi David,
    Of course I got it, no one questions my senior status these days, it's too damn obvious. Hey, tell Noah I've resisted all donuts since my one and only splurge.
    LL

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  4. Thanks Anonymous, It's good to be here. Please tell whoever is in charge of the rain to please hold off for a few more days, eh?
    Best,
    LL

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  5. My longer distance riding time is mostly in the winter months. Unfortunately I'm one of those bums that has a job. We have a little spot in AZ. so we get our longer rides in down there. Have never ridden any further east than the Black Hills of S.D. Maybe I'll get to retire before I croak and can ride to the east. Doug S.

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  6. Hi Larry,

    I am really enjoying your trip account. So much so that I am planning a tour of NS on my Monster later this month. Noticed that it still gets cool up there. What kind of suit is "Big Red"?

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  7. Hey Doug,
    Retirement will come soon enough, not to worry. Now that I'm this far into this ride I'm kind of glad I didn't take the hack, it would have been a challenge. Mac and I are thinking about doing the Dempster next year so that will probably be the right ride for it.
    LL

    Hi John,
    Big Red is one of Aerostich's one-piece Roadcrafter suits. I lusted after one of them for a long time before biting the bullet as they're pretty spendy. They do what they're supposed to do though, keep you dry and protected. Add an electric vest and you've got the whole enchilada. I've worn it on most days when it wasn't too hot and if I had to choose just a single outfit to take with me it would be the one. I wish I'd taken it to Alaska with me last year, I'd have never bought the rain suit that's home in my closet today.
    Best,
    LL

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