Nova Scotia and back to Portland, OR
George Cameron

After a red-eye to Boston I picked up my bagger Saturday morning from the Boston HD dealership.  Packed the bike and headed north through parts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine to the Canadian border at Woodstock, New Brunswick.  Rode South through New Brunswick to Sackville and headed East to the coast and the incredible Confederation Bridge, connecting the mainland to Prince Edward Island (PEI).  Rode to the HD dealership at Comwall and then on to the main town of Charlottetown.  After cruising the town I headed back across the Confederation Bridge and again headed south for the Nova Scotia border.  Stopped at Truro, Nova Scotia which is approximately half-way from the ends of the Province.  Rode east into the mountains to Sydney, which is the eastern end of Nova Scotia, and had lunch at Red’s Warehouse on the waterfront.  Headed back to Truro and down to Halifax where I spent some time on the oceanfront (very trendy and upscale).  I headed north across the Annapolis Valley to the Bay of Fundy then turned west along the coast stopping at Digby for a late breakfast.  You can buy lobster directly from the fisherman for $4.50C/lb., according to some diners.  Continued riding west to Yarmouth at the western end of Nova Scotia.  Leaving Yarmouth, the bike developed a load clanking sound from the rear sprocket at speeds above 60 mph.  Rode the bike to the HD dealership in Tusket and they fixed whatever the problem was, including readjusting the tension on the secondary drive belt.  With the problem fixed I rode up the south coast of Nova Scotia stopping at Liverpool for the evening.  The next day I rode along the coast back to Halifax, turned north through Truro and back into New Brunswick.  At Moncton I headed for the east coast and rode that past Miramichi to Bathurst.   I was a little taken back by the amount of French being spoken in this region of New Brunswick.

 
Crossed a mountain range (in the rain) to the St Lawrence Seaway of Quebec and rode west to Rimouski, which has a great waterfront.  Continued west down the Seaway to Quebec City and had to struggle with the very steep roads and loads of tourists walking and driving.  Although it is a beautiful city, I was glad to get out of there.  Continued west along the Seaway to Montreal and turned north towards Ottawa City, Ontario, then west through North Bay, Sudbury to Sault Ste. Marie on Lake Superior.  Turned north again and rode in the cold, rain and gusting winds off Lake Superior, stopping at Wawa.  The scenery is terrific, but the ride was hard.  Rounded Lake Superior, passed through Thunder Bay, stopping at Kenora on the Manitoba border.  Crossing Ontario was much longer than anticipated.  Headed for Winnipeg in the rain and crossed Manitoba without any problems.  The terrain has become flat and populated with farms and ranches, but you do need to look out for cattle on the road.  After crossing into Saskatchewan, I headed for Regina, passed through Moose Jaw, Swift Current and into Alberta.  The rain continues and heated gear was needed.  The landscape is still flat and rather boring to ride.  Crossing into Alberta, I stopped at the HD dealership in Medicine Hat for an oil change and headed for Lethbridge.

 
The next day I crossed the Canadian Rockies, which were not as impressive as those through Jasper and Baniff.  Past Fernie I headed south across the US border through Whitefish and Kalispell Montana.  Rode around Flathead Lake back to Kalispell.  From Kalispell, I headed through Libby to Bonners Ferry, Idaho.  This ride has great twisties  through the mountains, but as usual, it was raining.  Headed south for Sandpoint and Priest Lake where I have family.   From Priest Lake it was an easy ride home and a familiar environment.
The ride was approximately 2 weeks and about 6200 miles.  The bike ran great with a minor bike problem in Nova Scotia.  The scenery in Atlantic Provinces of New Brunswick, PEI, and Nova Scotia was great.  There are lots of Harley riders riding those Provinces and the HOG chapters appear to be very active. The humidity was higher than I would have liked but a great ride if you have that much time available.  For information about riding in Nova Scotia visit www.novascotia.com/ride.