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I'm lik'en this a lot Hayden... Thanks for taking us along...

Well what do you know...I have internet In Prov.Town Cape Cod.

Well a short day but lets go to where I left off.

Saint Ann De Monts Quebec to Bathhurst NB. 411 miles

Well not a whole lot to say about today. I ride the full Gaspie with some very pretty ocean side riding. The wind is still howling but the rain holds off for most of the day, Doest mean anything dries out though. Just what I brought in for the night. Its a long haul and I see a big GS and a new KLR early in the morning as I stop for pics. They were a few mins behind me. I see the GS later in the week on Nova Scotia minus the KLR. Its cold most of the day and very windy but its fun riding. Most of the Hwys along here are really hammered. Rough with lost of construction going on and some new Hwy here and there. The South East side of the Gaspie is SLOW with losts of towns and a little traffic. Its 45 to 50 mph all day. I get almost to Bathhurst NB before dark. I find a campground along the water off the main haul road and set up home. Grab a beer at the gro store and a small pizza across the street and then head to bed. I want an early start in the morning.

Aug 18th 07

Bathhurst NB to Caverdish NP PEI. 255 miles

I wake to rain and its very early. I wait till it stops and decide to get up. Aaaa no.....its going to rain again. I fall asleep for a while and wake to no rain. OK now get up. Nope here it comes again. I play tag with the rain for an hr till it stops long enough for me to pack up. But just long enough. I rush the job of packing and head out fully geared an ready to do battle with the elements. I get about 10 miles down the road and notice that my left Tank Pannier is open. Damit!!. I rushed too much this morning to beat the rain. I stop and im minus one oil filter in a ziplock bag. Back I go all the way to the campground. Nothing!. I tear all the bags apart thinking that I may have packed it somewhere else. Not likely as everything at this point has its place and I know it was in the left tank bag. Again Nothing. I start back to the main hwy after asking a couple of Camp owners if they saw it. I find it on the on ramp to the haul road. Im a happy camper as I didnt want to look for a BMW dealer along the way. Very glad I brought the filter with as the only BMW dealer was in Moncton NB on the way out of the country a week later.
I head on to PEI. I get there with rain all the way and Im cold and wet. I get to the bridge and find the info center right before you cross. This seems to be a drying off place as it is pack with car people, bicycle people and Motorcycle people. Its funny as hell when I walk in as the bikers of both types are huddled to one side and the car people on the other. The car people are looking at the motorcycle people like we are Nuts to be out in this weather on a motorcycle and the motorcycle people are looking at the bicycle people like there absolutely loony for being out in this weather on a bike. I had to laugh at this for a while.
I take some maps and find out that all the PEI info is across the bridge. Ok on to the other side. Now Remember the wind. Yea its still blowing like hell and its bad on land. Wonder what its like on a 8 mile bridge 200 feet over the water. Not good let me tell you!!!
I go out to the bike and there is a big oil slick under the bike. OH S**T. thats not good. What the heck. I look around and there is oil all over the front of the bike. Hummmmmm. It seems to steem from a radiator hose on the right side. Crap. Im screwed!!!. Its all white and frothy and I start checkn things out. Well just the way a bike is built, the water is under more pressure than the oil so lets check oil first for water. Oil is ok. Big relief. Im going to check the radiator any way as I rebuilt the water pump right before I left. I take off the spare tires that I brought along, then the seat and the side pannel. Open the radiator and its clear. Well what the heck is that all over the front then, and the ground????
Light bulb comes on at this point and I remember a drain hose off the air box that runs down the right side of the cylinder. But it has a plug in it!. I search and sure enough it is the sorce of the oil mess. Plug is missing. Mid way through my tear down a guy comes in on a R1 and watches me do this whole thing. He wont leave till I give him the thumbs up but he cant speak a lick of english. Quebec I presume.

So with that out of the way I head across a very windy bridge and come to the other side. I head into the info center to grab more maps and find a campground. Still raining like hell out. I get in there and about 10 min pass. Here comes a guy all smiles and says, " you the guy on the Dakar?"
Yep.
We talk for about 30 mins and here comes the wife and family. I meet them and out the door they go. We say out goodbys and I head over to a gift shop across the street. I get done and head to the bike. Ear plugs in, I study a map to find a camping spot.I hear a honk. I dont look up. I hear another......ok thats for me I guess. Here is Ken and family. Where you going he says? No Idea dude. Come with us. We are going to Caverdish NP on the north end. We will stop and get dinner on the way. Well........look at Ken go. He has my whole evening planned out already. I follow them to a bar and get food for the kids and we converse about bikes, work, and where were from.
After dinner we head up to Caverdish and he says to hang back. He wants to see if he can shoe horn me in on there camping spot. Mins pass and I get a Thumbs up. Bikes are not considered a vehical so your good to go. I camp with them for the night right on the beach. The wind is Howling still and I put the tent behind the pop up camper he brought so to be out of the crazyness. They crash as soon as the camper is set and I head off to the showers. Its 9:30. Rain has let up but its cold. Maybe tomorrow will be better. Big rollers crash on the beach and put me to sleep. Man what a day!

Well the Cape is fogged in big time so lets do some more updates. Maybe the sun will come out and burn off the fog.

Aug 19 North PEI to South PEI. 232 miles.

I wake to a soft drizzle and the wind is still playing with the waves on the beach making losts of noise. I get up and start to break down the tent then decide I have to go check out the waves. I head down to the beach and walk for a while. Make a loop and back at the tent. I continue with the packing and here comes Ken out of the camper. He rounds the corner with a big smile and asks if I do coffee? Dam right I do!! Well he has to head to town for some breakfast stuff the wife requires and he was going to Hit a Tim Hortons. Man I will just go with ya if you dont mind. Ok sounds good and the Boys load up in the car for town. We get everything + coffee and Isaac who is 3 has to have a hot cocco to be like the big guys with thier coffee.
We get back to the camper and Maria has a stack of pancakes for everyone ready along with bananna bread and fruit. Man what a spread. I wasnt expecting this. We eat then the girls clean up. We sit there till noon and talk. Man its so crazy who you meet out on a tour like this. It was fabulous talking to them and making new friends.
They have thier own buisness which is Environmental testing. Interesting to say the least to hear them talk about the work. Maria is from the farm and Ken the City boy. I dont have to say but Maria is just dam hot and very sweet. She has really taken me in and before I leave, Im adopted and on the christmas card list. I have to promise to call when I get home to let them know I made it back ok. A hug from Maria and hand shakes all around from the rest its time to move on. We take pictures and Im on the road. Its after 12 now.
I head down the coast in off and on again rain. I hit East Point light house in sunny weather but its not going to last. I look around for a bit and take pics. On we go. The riding is very nice with lots of lobster/fishing villages, farms, and boats everywhere. There is big lobster boats sitting on lawns all along the way. Some very old, some in various states of repair and some all brand new looking and ready for the sea again.
I head to Charlottetown. The Big city as it may be for the Island. I decide to only do the East side of the Island. The west point from what I have been told is uninteresting. I have been told this by many so far and take the hint. I end up camping right outside the 8 mile bridge I came over on. Still raining and I have a pond in my Joe Rocket boots. I squish as I walk. Well the boots prove to hold the water in a WHOLE lot better than keeping it out.
I set up camp and head for the showers. I meet a guy from Scotland and have a very interesting conversation with him. Its amazing who you meet.

I just go told to leave the cafe. Its starting to get busy. More later.

Thanks for the update, you have a future as a author... I was confused about you meeting a man from scotland on your way to the shower, could you clarify Is there anyway you could post some pictures and did you change that tire yet?

Perry.

Dude Im not set up for pics yet. I will do that when I get home and go through the few hundred I have. Then go back and edit the posts and throw in pics.

OK Back to the scotland guy and the rest of the update from the post above. I got kicked out of the breakfast cafe I was at this morning.

So I meet this guy from Scotland. He is Ex Navy and about 80 years old. He is a retired school teacher on NS. Very interesting to talk to. Gives me some history and so forth. I want more info but he has to be on his way. It is late and almost dark at this point.
Well I head on to the showers and do what I need to do to clean up. I get done and head out. Its raining again and when I set up camp I had put up a rain fly over the tent and bike. Im in a wooded area and works great. So I take off running, trying not to get soaked. Now in the back of my mind I think.....this is a bad Idea. Running in a dark campground I dont know. I run for the rain fly and right before I get to it I kick the fire ring with my left knee. WACK!!! Its about 2 feet tall and about half the diameter of a 55 gal barrel. Here comes the other foot. I kick it again and then do a.........well a barrel roll over the barrel. My head hits the aluminum saddle bag on the bike and there I lay in the mud. I hear laughing from inside the dark tent next to me. I give the campground an WHAT THE F!!!! And throw a God damit in for good measure. I now hear more laughing from the other side of my camping spot. Jesus Trace, what the heck are you doing.
I crawl into the tent all dirty and at this point dont care. The knee is a pain for the next couple of days. I tell myself Im having fun and go to sleep. I think I need a free stay tonight to make up for that big ass fire ring dam near killing me.

Hayden wrote:So I take off running, trying not to get soaked. Now in the back of my mind I think.....this is a bad Idea. Running in a dark campground I dont know. I run for the rain fly and right before I get to it I kick the fire ring with my left knee. WACK!!! Its about 2 feet tall and about half the diameter of a 55 gal barrel. Here comes the other foot. I kick it again and then do a.........

So I guess my next gift should be a headlamp ... or body armor?

I know it wasn't very funny at the time, but the way you told the story about tripping over the fire ring had me laughing out loud!! This is good stuff T.

Keep the stories coming, keep safe, and come home in one piece,
KC

Remember T all of the gear all the time! Keep it coming I feel like I'm there with you.

Aug 20th. PEI to South Harbor NS 386 miles

So Im up early again and oh ya the knee is a hurtn. OK order of the day......dont injure myself any more from here on out. I break down the rain fly and pack up. Its 6:30 am. Cool but dry and the fog is here and there in the valleys. No one is sturring and I bet there is a few Million dollars worth of Camper busses lined up in the campground. Looks like they stay the whole season. I head to the office to see whats up about paying for the tent site. I was a little late coming in last night and no one wanted to deal with me as there was live music going on in the mess hall.
No one around. It doest open up till 9. Okey dokey. Im out of here.
Im off across the 8 mile bridge agian after paying my $16 fee to leave the Island. The wind has proven not to let up across the bridge and its still a challenge to keep the bike in my lane. I remember that the Infor center on the NB side stayed open 24hrs a day as they have a shuttle. I remember also that there was a girl on the internet in the lobby when I was there last. Hummmmm Maybe an undate is in order for the boys on RIdeforum. I get to the center and check it out. Computer is off. I fire it up since there is no one around. Hummm seems to need a password to get things going. I try a couple of things obvious. Ok seems I need to wip out the old hacker skills to do this one. Try a couple of more things. Hummm maybe I will try the insanely obvious. Maybe they used the username as the pass word. Waaaalllaaaa Im in. Ok how come the mouse doesnt work????? Damit...... they took the ball out of the mouse. Geeeeshhhh what a way to keep someone from hacking into there computer. There is 5 other computers in the room. All have the ball remove. Im out of here!!!
So Im down there road a bit and its cold, feet are wet and I need food and coffee. Get that all out of the way and head on into NS. Cape Brenton and the Cabit Trail here I come. Its a Beautiful ride all day. The cabit Trail has proven worthy of my visit. Its twisty, hilly and the views of ocean and mountains are something not to miss. Reminds me of Hwy 1 in California.
I run up the west side all the way to the National Park on the North end. Its late now and I grab a camping spot in Hideaway camping, South Harbor. First food and a beer though. I go back out to the main road and find a sea food place. Its Seafood Pasta with Mussels and a Keiths Beer. 2 Russian girls sit behind me. HI! Hummmm I get nothing back. Ok Not talkative.
Back at the campground I set up and check the place out. I have 5 noisy girls playing drinking games to my left. No one to the right. NOW where is that dam fire ring. I search for that and move it clear into the woods so its not to jump out and kill me in the dark. The girls are good and drunk by 11 and they head off to pass out in the tent. They all want to be up by 8 with showers done as they have some sort of meeting to attend. Im up and packed at 8:30. No sign of the girls next door. All are still tucked away with hangovers I assume. I think about waking them but leave them be.

Hayden wrote:Ok how come the mouse doesnt work????? Damit...... they took the ball out of the mouse. Geeeeshhhh what a way to keep someone from hacking into there computer. There is 5 other computers in the room. All have the ball remove. Im out of here!!!

It's not for security, it's to keep those mice from breeding. If you don't castrate them, they spread...well...like mice.

You probably know this, but you can do everything on the computer without a mouse if you know a few keyboard tricks.

I'm really enjoying this epic, T!

Aug 21st Cape Brenton to Sherbrook NS 323 miles

I leave the girls next door and weave my way south along the east side of the Cabit Trail now. Its slow, hilly and just as beautiful as the west side. I get all the way down to the bottom of Cape Brenton and cross the rock bridge onto Nova Scotia. I get gas and check the rear tire. Man its time for a change. Im starting to see cords. I look around for an air hose as this seems to be the stopping place for the big trucks. I find one and I start the teardown.
Now when you do this sort of thing often at home, its no big deal. But in a parking lot.......it seems to attract all the attention of others. I head off on lookers with the assurence that I have done this before and Im ok. I have an oldman in a car across from me that is totally inthralled with my process. I got crap strung over 2 parking stalls and going to town on the tire. I use the IRC Trail winner tires for touring. The GP110 is easy to work with and I get good milage out of them. 6K + to cords. SOOOOO im doing ok and workn to get the tire off. Im about there and the tire is hot and a bit sticky to get off. Im pulling prying etc. Im getting jiggy with it and the very last bit is giving me fits. I pull hard on the rim and the tire lets go. WACK!!! Ooookkkkk I taste blood. Cussing at this point is an understatement. Everyword I can think up comes to mind and I say it without hesitation. I look in the mirror of the bike. I have blood in my hand. Geeeshshhh Trace can ya F up anything else while were at it. The old man thought I was a freak taking pictures of what I was doing........now whats he think???
Well the mirror tells the truth. One bloody lip that is getting big, a small cut on my chin that is red and thats about it. I also have one broken off tooth. Not my front tooth but the one to the left of it about half way up. Well pickin up chicks Just go a whole lot harder on this trip now. No one wants a snaggled tooth stinky traveler.
I spit blood for a while and finish the job. Just about the time Im done here comes a guy on a very old KLR loaded down to the hilt. Its Dave Parks from Maine. He just got back from Newfoundland on his 1989 KLR. We talk for an hr and tell the tails of travels. Look at mine Dave, I just busted a tooth off. Top that I dare ya?
He cant. All he has for me is Bad weather and rain the whole time in NF. Muddy roads and a couple of Moose car colisions that were something to see from what he says. He also talked about a guy on a GS wiping out and broke his ankle. He is air lifted out with his bike sitting on the side of the road. No one knows what to do with it. Its ridable but no one to ride it.
Dave heads out and I finish up. Should it really take 3 hrs to change a tire. Man I got to move.
At this point I start the Marine route of NS. It runs down to Halifax. It lives up to the name with lots of Lobster villages, Boats, coves, and everything else you can think of. Boat rebuilding is where its at and there is tons of it going on. Lobster boats sitting eveywhere on the road side being repaired, restored or left to rot.
I end up in the historic town of Sherbrook. Seems to be one of the first towns in NS and they have restored it back to original look. 3 old ladies still live there that are in their 90s. A National Historic site with people to boot. The Old lumber mill working off the river flow to run the saw is still in use. I check it out before camping. I need pics of that in the morning!!
I find a private campground next to a lake and set up. Do laudry and head to bed with a sore lip and broken tooth. What the heck else can happen??? Well at least the bike is running good.
Halifax tomorrow for an oil change I think.......boy, wonder if thats going to be an event??

T

Ok Im about half way through Delaware right now, just to let you know where Im at. I have to move on. More updates later.

T

Hayden wrote:WACK!!! Ooookkkkk I taste blood. Cussing at this point is an understatement.

Well the mirror tells the truth. One bloody lip that is getting big, a small cut on my chin that is red and thats about it. I also have one broken off tooth. Not my front tooth but the one to the left of it about half way up. Well pickin up chicks Just go a whole lot harder on this trip now. No one wants a snaggled tooth stinky traveler.

T

ATGATT ... Next time, keep that helmet on! Doh.

As an encore, why don't you come up to KC some weekend in September and we will go waterkiing and tubing ... remember us trying to kill each other tubing a few years back? Well, I have a much better (more deadly) tube now. It actually catches air and flies.

Let me recover a bit first. Ummmm is there helmets for waterskiing???

Mite stop by on my way home mike. Not sure yet of the route from east coast and time. Im winging it at this point.

Hayden wrote:Let me recover a bit first. Ummmm is there helmets for waterskiing???

Mite stop by on my way home mike. Not sure yet of the route from east coast and time. Im winging it at this point.

You have a place at casa mike anytime.

Where are you now and what date do you have to be back in Wichita?

Trace it sounds like you are going to need a make over when you get back. Maybe we should send your name into one of those reality shows????? Keep the reports coming you are making my dull life some what tolerable with your reports! Good luck with the oil change.

T,
If you don't want to take the chance of hurting yourself or the bike, you can always do a half oil change. Remember that the F650 is a dry sump design, which means most of the oil is in that tank on the left side above the engine.

Just drain that oil. (Or use a siphon hose.) Don't even need to remove the tank or plastic as BMW instructs.

Change the filter if you want to.

Leave the drain plug (and engine guard) alone.

Hey thats funny you mentioned that mike. Thats exactly what I did with the oil change.


Aug 22 Sherbrook NS to Rissers Beach Park 188 miles

Halifax was a short ride and made it in there before noon. I was going to look for a BMW shop but glad I didnt. There wasnt one. As soon as I came into Dartmouth I saw a Sea Doo place right on the main street. Woooo betsy.....lets turn around and do it there. I remember a conversation at work with someone who has a sea doo. They have to suck the oil out of the tanks on those things. That would work for me too as I wouldnt have to remove bodywork to get to the oil tank. Deed is done within 30 mins and Im on my way. They hook me up with some cool places to see and inform me that the Cool Harley dealer is just down the road. I need shirts for folks back home so head that way.
I get to the Harley dealer and find out Im about to get more than I expected. Its a mom and pop place that has been here for 30 years. The guy is famous in these parts for building twin engine hogs. One in the shop is a stretched harley with one motor sitting behind another. The one that put him on the map and in the Mags is a side by side job with the left motor running forward and the right one running backward. I find out the guy died this year of cancer and the wife and son are making a go with the shop. Wife finds out where Im from and takes me through the whole place. I get a history lesson and shown that mags hes in and the TV shows hes been on in NS. WOW, Look what I walked into. An hr later I walk out with 4 Tshirts and some pics. Very cool.
I work my way out of Halifax and down to Peggys Cove. One of the hot spots for tourists and bikers alike. Its an old fishing village est in 1811. Im about to get a big history lesson here.
I leave peggys Cove after about an hr and half and go to the next stop. A memorial of some kind. Well its a memorial for the Flight of Swissair 111. An Atlantic flight that crashed Sept 2 1998. All 229 died. Peggys Cove was essential for the search and recovery of the flight etc. I start to learn more about it from locals visiting and seems there was smoke in the cockpit. I need to Google it yet to find out the details etc.
I spend most of the day in this area and it turns out to be a short travel day. 188 miles. I end up at Rissers Beach Prov Park for the evening. Right on the beach in a little wooded area. I listen to the waves crash in for most of the evening planning the next days route and taking a few sips off the Graves Scotch that I bought. I hit the hay with the waves pretty much becoming a white noise in the back ground. Seems there getting bigger and louder as the night goes on. Hummmmm hope something isnt blowing in and bring bad weather.