Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Chains, Whips, Traps and Name calling.

Day 18, Tuesday July 24th.
My Nephew's birthday today.  Happy Bday Jeremy!

The sandwich from the night before just didn't fill the hole in my stomach.  I needed more food.  After calling around for a chain for the bike (ok, I called one place and they had a chain) I went down to the hotel lobby to get some free breakfast.  It's essentially a continental breakfast but every little hotel (even of the same chain) offers something different.
I took a bowl of fruit loops, two hot boiled eggs and a mango yogurt. They had cold boiled eggs as well but figured warm ones would taste more like scrambled eggs if I mashed it in a paper bowl.  It didn't.  It tasted like hot mashed boiled eggs.
You know when you have milk left in the bowl and you drink it by putting the bowl to your lips?  The feeling of a semi-wet paper bowl on the lips is akin to Nails on a chalkboard for me.  Nasty stuff.

At least I'll have energy for the wait at the shop.  Not sure how long the wait would be, if they found other problems, etc.

I headed over to the shop which was about 2 minutes away.  This is Truro.  Everything is 2 minutes away.
They had a chain in stock and was able to work on it right away!  success!
The mechanic looked at the chain and agreed that the chain was finished.  Guess I got it changed just in time.

I'm going to need some heavy duty fibre to get that horseshoe unstuck at some point.

I took my tank bag and went out to the front lawn so I could use my jacket and tank bag as a makeshift pillow while the shop (Fundy Powersports) worked on Beast.

This is me napping.

This is what I would see when I opened my eyes.

Not much to look at in the Industrial section of town except a ton of heavy machinery.  I just dozed off for a bit enjoying the good weather (while it lasted)

In shorter time than I thought, the chain was replaced and the bike was ready to go.

So go I went, in search of more food.  Hard to believe I was hungry, but I was a bit.  I stopped in at a Smitty's restaurant.  I went many times in my childhood out west and always liked it, so why not.  Not much else around actually.

I ordered the big farmer breakfast or whatever it was called.  I wanted a little bit of everything so I got everything.
3 eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, back bacon homefries and toast.
Not a fan of ham, but meh. (I like Spiral hams though, those are good)
sidenote: server at Smitty's was awesome. (not just because he's a man ;) )  The dude liked his job and ran the place liked he owned it.  A real pro.  Gave him a nice tip. no, not that kind.


Ate everything but the ham and off on my merry way I went. I was supposed to meet trapper for the next day and thought I could putter around visiting the coastline and tour around until the next day.  I so underestimate the east coast and how close everything is around here.

I started off on the Trans-Canada highway and the wind today didn't like me.  not at all.  The wind hated me so much it brought out it's buddy Rain.  Rain and wind are just not fun to ride at 110kph with transports flying by you.  To add to the mix, my tires are really starting to go baldini on me.
I did get a few shots off before the rain though.


Boring for you? Imagine how it was for me.  yay.

I got off the Trans-Can, trying to hug the coastline where the wind wouldn't kill me.  I wasn't wrong, but the wind still tried.  Soggy feet, wet face and hands and blowing winds made the highway 2 not much fun.  I did see a bit of the coastline, but unfortunately when it rains this hard, the camera is kept tucked away to save it from drowning.

More rain... more wind, but at least the speeds I was going at weren't as fast and I'd have a higher survivability rate in a crash.
Then the next thing I know, I'm right outside Moncton.  WTF.  I was only supposed to be here the next day!  Hope Trapper isn't too annoyed that I'm going to drop by early.

Drop by I did and it was nice to finally meet him after all these years.  I feel bad I hadn't stopped in on my last east coast trip in 2008.  I checked out his shop Wag and Wash which is really neat! You can wash your own dog in their tubs, get your pet groomed and get them some food.  If you're in the Moncton area, you should go there for your pet needs.

Trapper invited me over to his place to get my wet gear off and dry up a little.  It had stopped raining by this time of course. heh.

Hung out with Trap for a while, met his family, dried out and had a delicious bowl of his hearty stew.  Not to many beans, like I like it.

Trap offered a place to stay for the night, but with the weather looking beautiful out, the road was calling my name.  Odd how the road pulls at me.  With the restlessness of ants in my pants, I declined Traps generous offer (Thanks a million bud!) and headed out to a spot Trap said I might like in Fundy National park.
Off I went in the glorious sun, much drier than before, fed and watered so to speak and off to get a camp spot for the night.
Then it started to get dark due to rain clouds.  Then it got dark due to the time of day!  I grossly miscalculated the time it was that I left Trap's place.

As I got near Alma, NB, the rains stopped.  It seems to always be the case that whenever I go to stop for the night, the rain stops.  My luck I guess... At least this is the worst of my luck for the trip. Since I'm not made of sugar, I'd rather be a bit wet than down in some ditch.

sidenote: you catch more flies with vinegar than honey.

I got to Wolf Point near 9pm... sunset.  I secured a spot for the night and some firewood.

I set up the tent and essentially sat in front of my fire until midnight. It rained a little but nothing much.


Pink Floyd's 'Time' rings true for today... for many reasons.

and no, it's not better on vinyl.

If you don't know the song, you should flog yourself with a wet noodle. Then listen to it.  Then flog yourself again for not knowing this song.


If you do know the song, listen to it again. you know you want to.


So I had myself a nice little song in my head playing while watching this... for a few hours.
life is good.

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