Small Trip Delay

We were supposed to head out on May 23rd for this trip but we ended up having to deal with some unforeseen circumstances. Consequently, we've had to delay for a week but we will be leaving this coming Thursday, May 30. We've had to modify our itinerary slightly, to accommodate the loss of time but, overall, we're still following what I outlined in the last post.
Stay tuned!
:)

2019 Basic Itinerary

We're not big on planning but on this trip, we have a few key targets we need to hit which require us to create a bit of an itinerary. We're trying to connect with friends in Quebec and Nova Scotia as well as making it back to Nelson, BC in time for my father's 80th birthday party on July 20.

Consequently, we've created this basic route that follows with some approximate timelines although our caveat always remains that, on a trip like this, you NEVER know what might happen along the way. Case in point, at various times, we've been held up by prairie storms with hail the size of golf balls, flash flooding, snow and prohibitively cold weather, the need for motorcycle maintenance, cancelled ferries, wildfires, massive flooding, etc.

Below is a map of Canada. The blue route is the route we did in 2012. The red route is the route we'll follow this year. There is a bit of overlap but, for the most part, we are trying to catch places we didn't the first time. (PS: I couldn't help but use an old Dominion of Canada map I found in public domain. Circa 1922! Love it!)

We will depart Riske Creek, BC on May 23 and will head through Little Fort and up into Jasper. We will follow Highway 16 through Edmonton, Saskatoon and down into Winnipeg. We'll hook up with the Trans Canada and continue to Thunder Bay, along Lake Superior, through Sault Ste. Marie and over to Espanola. From here, we'll head south on Highway 6 to Manitoulin Island. We'll catch the ferry to Tobermory and make our way along the southern end of Georgian Bay to Waubaushene. From here, we'll make our way over to Ottawa and meet up with friends in La Chute, Quebec. We've allowed 11-12 days for this first leg of the trip.

From La Chute, we will spend several days in the Eastern Townships of Quebec and then head down into the state of Maine to Bar Harbor. We'll follow the coast of Maine into New Brunswick and make our way through St. John to Hopewell Rocks on the Bay of Fundy. From Hopewell, we'll head over to Nova Scotia and do the southern coastal route through Truro, Wolfville, Annapolis Royal, Digby, Yarmouth and up to Lunenburg, Mahone Bay, Peggy's Cove and into Halifax. We'll connect with friends in Halifax, stay a few days and get our motorcycles serviced. On this second leg of the trip, we are allocating 14-15 days.

Leaving Halifax, we'll head up the coastal route to Sherbrooke and Antigonish as we make our way to Sydney to catch the overnight ferry to Argentia, Newfoundland. In Newfoundland, we will immediately make our way to Fortune to catch the ferry over to the islands of St. Pierrre and Miquelon which are owned by France. We hear there is fantastic cheese to be had there! We'll spend a day or two and then head back to Fortune and up the Bonavista Penninsula to Trinity, Bonavista and to see all the amazing puffins in Elliston again. From there, we will swing over to Twillingate and then on to Gros Morne National Park for a bit of hiking and for the boat tour up the fjord on Western Brook Pond. We'll head south through Cornerbrook and down to Port Aux Basques where we will catch the ferry back to Sydney, Nova Scotia. This leg of the trip should take us about 10-11 days.

From Sydney, we'll do the Cabot Trail again because you can never get enough of the Cabot Trail. We hope to see friends there as well if things time out right. We'll swing over to Prince Edward Island and head to Souris. From Souris, we will catch a 5 hour ferry over to Isles de la Madeleine which is where some of my Acadian family came from. Back into PEI, we will hit the New Glasgow Lobster Supper once again because it was life changing the first time, we'll catch a show in Charlottetown and head over the Confederation Bridge and into New Brunswick again. We'll spend a day in Kings Landing before heading up to Quebec City where we will stay for a few days. We've allocated 9-10 days for this leg of the trip.

After Quebec City, we'll drop back down into the United States, into Vermont, because we want to skip the traffic mess of the Montreal and Toronto areas. We'll carry on through New York State and come out at Niagra Falls. After a visit to the Falls, we'll head into Michigan and go along the coast of Lake Huron and along the north end of Lake Michigan. We'll carry on and do most of the southern shore of Lake Superior and into Minnesota. We'll head through Grand Rapids and hit Grand Forks, North Dakota. This leg of the trip should take us about 8 days.

From Grand Forks, we'll cruise along Route 2 through the northern US, through North Dakota and into Montana. We'll hit the 'Going to the Sun' highway through Glacier National Park because it's one of the most spectacular motorcycle routes we've been on and try to do it whenever we get the chance. We'll hang out in Whitefish Montana and then head through Bonner's Ferry and into Canada south of Creston, BC. We'll take the Kootenay Lake road up to Crawford Bay, BC (which is rated one of the top motorcycle routes in Canada), catch the ferry over to Balfour and head into Nelson. This leg should take us about 5 days.

So - that's the basic 60 day itinerary. We don't plan where we'll stop or stay. We're camping so we typically just wing it and stop when we feel like it. I am still doing some research on things we want to specifically see or do along the way. More on that later! Stay tuned!