Day Thirteen, Fredericton, NB to Halifax, NS - 355 Miles

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Greetings Friends,

Got a bit of a start this morning when my bike wouldn't start. For some reason my alarm disabled the starter. Bob had the same problem. After trying both alarm key fobs and switching the ignition on and off a few times it finally came to life and worked just fine the remainder of the day. Guess it just wasn't as anxious to leave as I was. I'm sorry to say that it was a pleasure to leave the Province of Quebec, where nothing is in English; and frankly, the people don't go out of their way to make an English speaking person feel welcome, and get into New Brunswick where at least everything is printed in both languages and most people speak English. It seems that the Province of Quebec is still clinging to their French occupation history while the rest of the country is still struggling to establish their own identity. Not unlike our own country where some people are still fighting the civil war between the north and south, it appears that the French are still at war with the English in Canada. It's unfortunate because it's a great country.

The highlight of our day today was cresting a hill and seeing the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic Ocean after twelve days on the road. We had finally traversed the entire North American continent, west to east. We entered the Fundy National Park, stopped at the visitor center, and drove six miles to the dead end at Wolfe Point, where we walked out into the receding tidal plain. The Bay of Fundy is noted for its extreme tidal flow every six hours, sometimes as much as 32 feet from low tide to high tide. We had lunch in Alma, adjacent to the park headquarters where we enjoyed and nice seafood chowder with Haddock, shrimp, scallops, clams and lobster in a light broth, delicious.

We crossed the border between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia about sixty miles from our final destination and stopped for a few pictures. We then rolled into Halifax about 7:00 PM, now some 4,400 miles from home, kind of amazing feat really, although it did take us thirty minutes to find our hotel, even with two GPS'. Everyone we talk to can't believe we rode our motorcycles to Halifax from Los Angeles. We're proud of our accomplishment, but to us it didn't really seem that difficult, and it has been very enjoyable. We're really starting to function like a team together watching out for one another.

Lane, Bill and Steve and I went out to a late supper at Montana's restaurant tonight. Jack and Bob stayed in. Going to cut short tonight and limit the photos because it's late and I'm dead tired. But, before we say goodnight, the Wild Hogs and tired dogs want to wish Bob's daughter, Melissa a very happy birthday!

Until tomorrow, I remain your faithful reporter.

JVH