Around a very big lake

 Last Friday, June 28th, I rode from Sudbury, where the night before I stayed at my brother Jean-Yves’ home where he and I watched Biden’s train wreck Presidential Debate. Saturday it was on to Sault Ste. Marie where I crossed into Michigan to begin Retirement Ride II  riding around Lake Superior.  My first stop was at the Point Iroquois Light Station.

From there I drove along the shoreline for a while and headed inland to Newberry to find the Americas Best Value Inn, a task that for some unknown reason presented a challenge to Lucille (those of you who have been following this blog for some years will recognize Lucille as my GPS companion). Dinner that night at a small Grill and Bar next door to the hotel was a generous piece of amazingly good lightly battered deep fried perch with fries in a paper-lined red plastic baskets and a bottle of Sam Adams Lager. Except for the overcast skies and the on and off rain, the tour was starting off promisingly.

On Saturday June 29th I rode from Newberry to Baraga Michigan with much of the route on roads along the shore of the Great Lake.  I stopped along the way to look out over the water, including at Munising. The second picture shows a section of a very long beach at the point where the Salmon River enters Lake Superior.

I arrived at Carla’s Inn in Baraga, where the lady herself came to give me my key and show me how to connect to the wifi, though it was mostly me showing her what her network was and how to enter the password. Carla’s Inn is an oldish motel in the middle of nowhere accros the road from Keweenaw Bay,  whose restaurant which is still listed on the web burnt down (some time ago). The weather being nice and it being early and all, I decided I would take a ride up to Copper Harbour at the end of Route 41, get some dinner there and return to my motel with plenty of daylight to spare.  Well that’s before the rain started. I made it as far as Houghton, had a decent whitefish late lunch at Four Suns Fish and Chips and decided to backtrack to Carla’s. The next morning I awoke to this sunrise view of the lake outside my window.  

On Sunday I rode from Baraga to Duluth stopping for a good bacon, eggs, hash browns, toast and coffee breakfast at Antonio’s in Bergland. The road I followed goes through a section of the Ottawa National Forest

and through the part of Wisconsin along the shore of Lake Superior between Saxon Harbor and Superior, the city across the bridge from Duluth Minnesota.

Duluth is a city at the furthest southern tip of Lake Superior. A large section of its waterfront has been made into a pedestrian space with a boardwalk and parks and railway tracks on which the North Shore Scenic Railway passes.

I could easily walk from  my quaint five room hotel, the Edison Station Inn 

in a relocated railway station in the park, to the Fitgers building, Minnesota’s oldest brewery where I had a nice beer and later returned for an excellent steak dinner at the bar of the Boat Club Restaurant. Two of my bar mates were a very friendly elderly couple of Michiganders who said that, after what had happened in the past years and the previous week, they were worried speechless about what was happening in/to their country. I admitted that as a Canadian I was perplexed and preoccupied by what we were seeing in the country just to our south.

On Monday I rode north along the west shore of Lake Superior backup into Canada. I stopped to visit the Grand Portage National Monument Heritage Center from which I took this picture.

Grand Portage was the location of the Hudson Bay Company furthest west trading post for many years and as such was an important commercial hub. 

A little further up the road at a lookout by the lake a couple of tourists from Winnipeg offered to take the following picture me.

After crossing the border I headed to Nipigon on Highway 17 from where I would take Highway 11,  the furthest north west-east route to North Bay via Hearst, Kapuskasing,

Cochrane, Timmins and a number of small towns, including my favourite, Moonbeam.

Tonight I am in Kirkland Lake; tomorrow it’s on to North Bay, and then to the cottage on Lake of Bays where Jane will be joining me on Friday.

I wave to my brother Gilles

 On Saturday June 22, I arrived home from Granby, and then Jane and I drove to Sudbury in the Tesla.  My older brother Gilles was in intensive care where I and my younger brother Jean-Yves would see him the next morning. He was sedated and intubated. When he came to he opened his eyes and saw us; he squeezed my hand and with tears in his eyes gave us and the nurse a thumbs up. After a few moments he closed his eyes and fell back asleep. It was the last time I saw him alive.  

We had dinner at Jean-Yves and Candace’s home with Eva, Gilles wife of 54 years on Sunday and drove back to Orléans on Monday. Gilles passed away at around 5:40 pm on Tuesday, June 25, 2024; he was 79 years old. I miss him, but I have many memories to remind me of him; they make me smile.

Many friends and family members have reached out to express their condolences; I am grateful for their thoughtfulness. A very dear friend, Ken, and his wife Kathleen sent us this beautiful arrangement of flowers.

 

I was not sure if I would or could restart this year’s ride. I decided to do so but not along the route through New England. Instead I would do an in memoriam of Gilles ride around Lake Superior; me on my bike with thoughts of Gilles. In my next post I will share some details and pictures of this ride.

Take care!

Killington to Concord New Hampshire and to Granby (with an explanation)

 On Thursday I rode from Killington Vermont to Concord, a nice enough ride, particularly Vermont Route 100 to Wilmington. The view from the lookout at the Hogback Mountain Store, is spectacular.

Continuing my habit of visiting state capital buildings I did a self tour of the New Hampshire’s in Concord  this morning.  It is ‘’the nation’s oldest state house in which the legislature still occupies its original chamber’’. The three pictures show the front of the capital building with a replica of Liberty Bell, the Senate Chamber, and the state assembly.

And now for an explanation of why I am in Granby tonight. I received a call from Jane this morning informing me that my older brother Gilles who was hospitalized about a week ago, had taken a turn for the worse. He had been moved to the ICU and things were not looking well. I decided then and there, to cut my ride short and return to Orléans and from there drive to Sudbury with Jane. Hopefully we’ll make it there in time to see him. 

From Jay to Montpelier yesterday and to Killington today

 The ride from the Jay Village Inn to the Inn at Montpelier in the State Capital, 344 kilometres, was great, particularly the stretch of Vermont 108 that passes through Suggler’s Notch Pass.  From Wikipedia:’’The notch, at 2170 feet, separates Mount Mansfield, the highest peak of the Green Mountains, from Spruce Peak and the Sterling Range. Most of the notch is in Mount Mansfield State Forest.

Smugglers' Notch derives its name from activities precipitated by a request of President Thomas Jefferson to prevent American involvement in the Napoleonic Wars. The Embargo Act of 1807 forbade American trade with Great Britain and Canada. But proximity to Montreal made it a convenient trading partner, and the Act caused great hardship for Vermonters, many of whom continued the illegal trade with Canada, carrying goods and herding livestock through the Notch. Fugitive slaves also used the Notch as an escape route to Canada. The route was improved to accommodate automobile traffic in 1922 thus providing a route for liquor to be brought in from Canada during the Prohibition years.

At each end of the actual mountain section of the road the authorities have laid out a chicane with heavy ropes on the pavement and posted a warning that says something to the effect of ‘if you can’t make this, you won’t make the trip on the road’’ and that’s no hyperbole. The steep grades and the series of hairpin curves are daunting for even the best of drivers and riders.  The trail eventually takes you to Stowe, where I stopped for coffee and dropped into the Alchemist brewery on an errand.  

This is the resort where my two boys learned to ski, many years ago.

The last thirty miles or so into Montpelier on Vermont Road 2 were under construction with many sections reduced to alternating one lane traffic; not great  at the best of times and definitely no fun in 35 degree heat! I was able to fit in a visit to the State Capital Building in Montpelier. Dinner was at the bar in the italien restaurant Sarducci’s where I met two older bikers who do mostly off-road riding and have done so in many states. While the food and the watered down sangria were not great, the conversation was; nothing like bikers sharing tales, or maybe scuba divers.

Today’s adventure, 373 kilometres, took me from Montpelier to Killington via Burlington, Addison, Bristol and Waitsfield. Burlington, or at least what I saw of it was a disappointment. But I did enjoy the couple of hours I spent taking in some of the art and exhibits at the Shelburne Museum. The last bit of Vermont Route 17 from Bristol to Vermont Road 100 at Waitsfield goes through Appalachian Gap up to 2,536 feet, at one point passing higher than the top of one of the chairlifts before descending to the base of the Mad River Glen Ski area.

Tonight I am staying at Mountain Sports Inn in Killington and am planning tomorrow’s itinerary…let’s see….

Retirement Rides - 2024 Edition

 

Another adventure has begun. 

I was waved off by Jane this morning at 8:45  on my way to Jay Village in Vermont.  Except for overshooting the exit off the 30 to the 10 on the South Shore, the ride was uneventful and the traffic was light. I stopped for lunch at the Knowlton Pub, an average club sandwich with fries, in a nice quiet town.

Then I crossed the border into Vermont.  I drove to the base of Jay Peaks and took a few pictures 

before heading to the Jay Village Inn, a very nice establishment where I have a small but very clean room, and where there is a wonderful restaurant where I had a perfectly cooked 14 ounce medium-rare blackened New York strip steak with baked potato, asparagus, a side salad and fresh bread, and an excellent local Switchback beer. At least two other tables, a dad with his son and a not-so-young couple discussing plans for their upcoming wedding, ordered the $100 humongous tomahawk steak dinners which they each shared as a main coarse after their individual appetizers. 

Not a bad first day, 386 kilometres, good roads, no construction delays, and not drop of rain. Let’s hope it holds up for the rest of the trip.

Last Post for this trip

 Well, I have been back home for over a week and have had time to reflect on this year’s very interesting trip. I think that one way to appreciate the scope of this trip is to examine the following picture (the details are somewhat easier to see when it is expanded).

The Postits indicate the places where I stayed overnight. 

Here is some summary information:

Days away: from June 3 to July 3, 31 days

Total kilometres travelled: 9,357 (the 6th longest Retirement Ride since the first such ride in 2010

Longest day’s ride: 562 km on June 9th from Sioux Falls SD to Valentine NE

18 States, or portions thereof, visited during the trip

Gas: 451.6 Litres; 4.83L/100 Km

Accommodations: 22 hotels/Inn/motels, 2 private residences. 

Best: Patterson Inn, Denver; second best: Pueblo Bonito, Santa Fe; third: Cotton Court, Lubbock

Worst: St James Hotel, Selma

Best breakfasts: Patterson Inn, Denver

Best breakfast buffet spread: Holiday Inn Express and Suites, Webster NY

Great Meals:  Denver, Santa Fe, Birmingham

Best attractions and sights: Rocky Mountain Park, CO; Puye Cliff Dwellings, NM; everything in Denver and Santa Fe; White Sands National Park, NM;  Contemporary Art Museum, Roswell NM; National Military Park, Vicksburg, MS; and the River Festival in Charleston, WV.

Interesting encounters/events:  a guy sitting at a table with his buddies with a holstered gun at breakfast in a small dinner in Gordon NE; the amusing incident of the young boy and the pancake conveyor machine in Roswell NM; my free ´paid forward’ lunch in Lubbock TX, and my free gas fill-up in Knoxville TN

And finally the weather, WET, sometimes very, in the North;  and quite, record breaking even, HOT in the South.

So, I leave you with a picture that Jane took from the chase car as we headed south to Santa Fe; just this guy on a retirement ride.

Hopefully we can do this again next year! Take care!

“Welcome home.” - “Thank you, it’s nice to be back!”

 My exchange with the nice CBSA agent yesterday at the Thousand Islands Bridge border crossing pretty much sums up my emotions. It is always great to be able to go on my Retirement Rides and discover parts of America, that immense continent that we are so fortunate to live on. But its even a greater joy to be able to return to “Canada our home and native land”. 

Once I have had the time to compile some of the statistics I will post a last entry in this year’s blog. But for now here are a few quick facts. I was away from home for 31 days and covered 9,357 kilometres. I stayed in 23 different hotels/motels and two private residences. I don’t know why but I saw far fewer motorcycles on the road than during previous trips, some days none. Weather-wise there were only a few really nice riding days; otherwise it was either WET, sometimes quite so, or HOT, often blazing heat-warnings hot. 

I have memories a plenty, including particularly wonderful ones when Jane was able to join me in Colorado and New Mexico, and I look forward to sharing some with friends and family members in the days and months ahead.