I'm continuing to enjoy the trip! Your pics are great. My family is wondering why I keep going into the garage. Thankfully, they haven't yet caught me doing the same as your young friend - sitting on the bike and grapping the handful of throttle while watching the snow fly.

Keep the story and the pics coming.

Thanks,
Bob

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2006 Suzuki DL650
2009 Triumph Bonneville SE

Great ride report! Loved the pic's too. Nova Scotia has always been on my short list of places to visit, even more now. Thanks for taking us along for the ride.

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Gorge Rider

I told myself and I think the readers of this RR that I wasn't going to post anymore fort pics, but I can't help it. Besides it helps me wrap up the events for that day before I post the next ride route and a whole new series of pics.

The fort had a authentic working tavern on site that had limited hours. Just imagine walking in on a chilly foggy evening, stoking fire under the glow of candles and lanterns, warming you up to have a hearty meal and pint of ale!



A few more pics showing the level of detail, here's the magazine for the fort.







Enough of the fort we have to do laundry!

I made a reservation at this place, and yes we did get the "special" It is literally 3 minutes away from the fort. In fact in some of the pics you can see the fort in the background!





This place earned me some serious touring credentials with the wife!



What the hell we're on vacation!





This where I left the bike parked at overnight. No big deal except we had some serious fog roll in that evening, so much we had to close the windows on the porch! I would say the bulk of the corrosion that the small vulnerable parts on the bike received was from this stay, because we had problems with our helmet communications after that, and it took me awhile to fix it.



Besides the plush accommodations we treated ourselves to, the place had a small laundromat and a restaurant. The food wasn't very good but it was very convenient and sometimes when you ride all day and then afterward walk around a big fort, makes all the difference.

Here are a few pics around the Point of View Suites.

OK enough of the luxury accommodations time to hit the road and see what's next.



From our room at the Point of View Suites we could just barely make out a light house out on a point on the other side of the bay. So of course we have to investigate. As the pictures show once again the morning starts out with dark and brooding skies. We find a narrow gravel road on the other side and make our way up to the lighthouse.





Here's the same look from the other direction





Why didn't I park closer?



A closer look of the shore line where the bike was parked



We make our way from the lighthouse for some asphalt.









Things open up a bit, time to roll that power on!



A short ferry crossing and we land on the Cabot Trail



So this is the Cabot Trail? The bad thing about that last ferry crossing is we were nearly the last ones to get off. And it just happened that ALL the vehicles that unloaded in front of us were going onto the Cabot Trail as well.

We were traveling at speeds of 10 to 15 mph lower than my comfort zone and 50 mph slower than my enthusiasm. But I reined it in and told myself to relax and enjoy the view.







We make it to the park entrance to pay our fees and to pic up our copy of Parc National Du Canada Des Hautes-Terres-Du-Cap-Breton guide et carte du parc!



Our next stop was Igonish for Whale watching! The tour company was a two person operation located in a sheltered harbor. So you have a hoosier with a camera taking more pictures of boats!



Besides Jacques-Yves Cousteau would you have your guide look anything other than this?



One of the other passengers as we make our way out to sea. It was a little choppy, if the winds were any stronger that day the whale watching would have been canceled!



There aren't any pictures of whales. I did get some but none of them were the dramatic leaping out of the water type. I was really trying to capture what we were seeing during the whale watching but the pics weren't turning out at all and I became tired of looking at the whales via the camera monitor and decided to view them with my OWN eyes!

It was really great to finally get out on the water and look at the coast line from the ocean point of view since up to then all the ocean viewing had been from the road, parking area, or our motel room. I wish we had spent some more time on the water, at least another excursion or two of some kind.

After what little we saw of the Fin whale species we cruised around the shore lines on the way back and spotted some bald eagles and some puffins.







As we leave our whale watching trip the clouds roll in and it looks like rain.



We spot a sign for Chutes Mary Ann falls. After following relatively long, winding, and step gravel road we are rewarded with a couple pics. Look at the BIG ferns!





We finally stop at the first campground we come to. It was getting late, the rain would come in kind brief squall and them subside to a gentle drizzle.

Oysters and WI-FI what more does a post-modern adventure touring couple need!









The end of another day. The winds blew pretty strong overnight and the temp dropped to the high 40's. We slept good.

Still diggin this report. Keep up the good work!

-GW

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GrayWolf
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"I wouldn't take a million dollars for the experience, but I sure wouldn't give a red cent to go through it again" -Chester Russell
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2005 DL650 "Maelstrom"
2003 KLR650 "Lou"
1978 Triumph Bonneville 750 "Boomer"
Stromtrooper Offroad Club Member #3
Blue Wee-Strom Club #69

Thanks for the support GW. It's hard to tell when the interest wanes and the threads peter out. As you know, these post do take some time and a little effort so any amount of encouragement goes a long way.

Just look at the "views" count, does that encourage you?

Keep them coming... I suspect lots of people are enjoying your report, and are trying to keep the comments between updates to a minimum.

Very nice report... so far.

I think the views are open to interpretation!

Thanks for the comments.

But I probably did come across as a whine ass!

Thank you for taking the time to post such a great report. Looks like a great time and fantastic pics. I hope to do something similar but not sure my spouse would enjoy it as much as yours. I might have to go solo or hook up with a few others.

Please keep the posts coming. I can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip, and there was something in an early post about your choice of tires...Can't wait to hear about that.

Also, your review of the side cases is great info. I don't have my strom yet, but I'd been eyeing those cases.

Please keep it coming!

Yeah gbw, you have to be careful when considering those cases. I haven't dug too deep to see if there are any complaints similar to mine.

The tire dilemma will come up in a few days.