Well, hello everyone; another year and another motorcycle adventure begins today. It's nice to be on the road again.
I had hoped to leave early enough and get out of Ottawa before the forecast rain started, but saying goodby to Jane at 6:45 wasn't early enough. As I rode out in the ever increasing rain, I could see clearer skies north of the Ottawa river and I hoped that I might catch up to a blue patch in the distance.Sure enough at some point on Highway 5 just past Gatineau (Hull for most of us) the rain let up and, while the sky remained overcast for the rest of the days ride, the raindrops ended and the road was dry.
Roadwork continues again this summer and soon Highway 5 will be four lanes all the way to Wakefield.
I'm pretty sure that the guy in boxing shorts that I saw jogging along the road before I stopped for breakfast in Maniwaki was not a certain senator whose principal residence is nearby. Anyway fortified by bacon, eggs, toast and coffee I rode north to Grand Remous, the intersection of Highways 105 and 117. Had I turned right I could have, in about as much time as it took me to get there, been at the condo in Tremblant; instead I turned left, filled my bike with gas, and continued northwest to Val d'Or.
Though there's a lot of there there, it's not much more than trees, rivers and lakes, logging roads and black flies; the two former are interesting enough, the latter two, not so much. La réserve faunique Lavérendrie is a bit like Algonquin Park, except that it's about three times wider and there aren't as many hills; a lot of muskeg and sandy soil.
Val-d'Or is a (the name is a clue) mining town where you can visit the deepest (300 feet) gold mine in Canada accessible to tourists. Kinda makes you want to google 'gold mines in Canada accessible to tourists', doesn't it? Don't you think that the chamber of commerce of any other small town with a gold mine nearby woould want to wrest the title away from from them? Anyway, je digress.
I had lunch, a turkey breast with honey mustard panini and a green bean salad - "it's our best" - at a very nice, and quite busy bakery on the main street of Val-d'Or. The panini was huge and delicious, the green been salad, well let's just describe it as colourful and very al dente.
The Quality Inn and Suites where I'm staying tonight is new and comfortable. I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep. I'll talk to you all later.
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