2019 Giddy Up Tour - Day 12 Watkins Gorge

Today was what we call a real down day.  It started with finishing 3 days of blogging I wasn’t able to do while in the mountains.  Followed by laundry, because it has to be done and then by a hike through the Watkins Gorge.

We visited Watkins Glen in 2013 and always wanted to come back to experience it again.  I still want to come back and experience it again.  In a small town of 7,000 people they have so much to offer and do.  There is the track, a NASCAR track.  Apparently you can drive behind a pace car on the track.  There is another park nearby, there are museums and wineries....so much to do so little time.

We had a great dinner on the marina to finish off our time here.  Not much else other than I think the pictures say it all.

 

2019 Giddy Up Tour - Day 11 Watkins Glen

Last night we celebrated our anniversary with our friends up in the Adirondack Mountains.  Could not have been more perfect.  Today we head out to one of our most favourite stops on our past adventures...Watkins Glen.  We are taking two days here to explore the Gorge, which is full of waterfalls but also to get new tires for Mr. J’s bike.

We head out through the park with the hopes that we will manage to dodge the rain and thunderstorms which are predicted for our start, our stop and in between.  Not even 10 minutes on the road, it starts to sprinkle.  It is too hot to even worry about a little bit of water at this point.  We keep the clouds in our sights as we twist and turn our way out of the mountains and just as we think that we have avoided it all we get a full on downpour.  Now it is still a very hot morning...32 degrees to be exact so while navigating in the rain can have some challenges (like seeing the road lol), the beauty is the cooling affect that it has.  Needless to say there was no reason to stop and put on rain gear.  We could see that it was going to clear and it just felt darn good.  We figured we would be dry by the time we got to our destination...or in 20 minutes which actually turned out to be the case.

New York (the state) has some of the greatest roads and byways.  The same road can take you through 2 lane countryside to 4 lane divided highway without the feeling of being on the interstate.  This is the part I have always appreciated about NY.

We had a great day through the park with a stop at another diner for yet another fabulous meal...I had a $12 salad with a piece of salmon on it that would have cost me at least $20 back home.  The salmon was cooked to perfection and I mean absolute perfection.

We headed out having timed out our ride to Watkins Glen (found a shortcut as well) and the radar showing a major cell closing in around arrival time.  We managed to dodge it and arrived at our motel in Watkins Glen.  Just across the street from the Gorge and minutes walk from just about everything.  The motel is perfect, just renovated and hidden off the main road.  Newly renovated and the beds are amazingly comfortable.  As you watch the video you can see as we ride into Watkins Glen, the cell we are avoiding.

As we are gathering to head out for supper, that cell that we managed to dodge had found its’ way to Watkins Glen.  It poured, and poured.  We grabbed an Uber to Thai Elephant with the intention of going to the Marina for supper the next night when we could sit outside and enjoy a great meal, which was recommended by the innkeeper.

Here you bring your own drinks apparently, or at least to this restaurant.  We order our meals and the guys head around the corner for wine and whatever (like a quality rum maybe?).  We had a great supper, lots of laughs and a great walk back to the motel as the rain had finally stopped.

As the friendships grow, so does the appetite for adventure.  We are already talking about the routes we will take after our down day here....let the adventures continue.

2019 Giddy Up Tour - Day 10 Old Forge

Today we left early with the intention of stopping somewhere along the way for breakfast “on the road”.  Our destination for the night is Old Forge in the Adirondacks Mountains or ADK.  We have been through Old Forge twice....once by chance in our travels, and once with Con and Terri last year.  We always enjoy stopping here although we have never stayed here.  The village has tons of character.  The first time we stopped at a gas station as we were on our journey.  A gentleman insisted we needed to stop at the “hardware” store in Old Forge.  It was a store like no other....and it certainly is.  Books ✅ fishing supplies ✅ Christmas decor ✅ flags ✅ chimes ✅ pottery ✅ pretty clothes ✅ cooking utensils/cookie cutters/rolling pins/cast iron pots ✅✅✅✅.  Name it and you will most likely find it there.  The other thing we discovered about Old Forge was the store Life is Good...thanks to Terri, I am now in love with this store...and then there is a local food joint called the Front Door (restaurant)/Back Door (bar).

But I am getting ahead of the day.  As I mentioned we headed out on the road early in search of breakfast on the road.  We made our way through Burlington again (so many turns) headed to Grand Isle and Hero Islands..this is a series of three islands connected by bridges or causeways located on Lake Champlain.  You enter them in Vermont and exit in New York State.  We had a hard time finding a breakfast place but found Hero’s Welcome where we could pick up some pasteries and coffee and have a little break sitting next to the water.  They had a great little general store where people could also buy supplies.  They had breakfast sandwiches but were all sold out by 9:30 a.m. when we arrived.  By looking at the number of people in and out it is no surprise.

As we get ready to take off some are still looking for breakfast on the road.  Larry now has a full belly of donuts so his food finding skills are no longer honed.  After another 45 minutes we are now closer to lunch then breakfast.  Since he seems to have passed a handful of places in that time, I spot what looks like a diner on the road.  He is not sure whether it is open or we should stop however I am thinking of all the hungry folks behind us and just give him the pull over signal......which is “pull over, pull over” in desperation.  This place was AMAZING for a ton of reasons....great 60’s music is playing inside and out, they have a take out, a drive in and a diner.  They have cut-outs for picture taking, they have picnic tables and a canopy for shade and everything is PINK!  Had the best Rueben Sandwich ever!  We also had a great time exploring all the signs and the menu.  The servers were equally as amazing.  We left with full bellies, big smiles and a ton of pictures.

We finally arrived in Old Forge after a beautiful ride through the ADK.  We got checked into another lovely spot with a great view of the lake as well as a screened in porch.  We head to the Front Door/Back Door for supper and wandered around on our way back to the motel which was no more than 5 minutes away.

It is a beautiful evening, but after a long day we headed to bed.  Asleep by 9:30 pm.  Wifi is not great here and maybe it is by design.....it forces you to take som e time to enjoy your surroundings.

2019 Giddy Up Tour - Day 9 Headed to the Border

The anticipated departure from Quebec City was easy...we knew there would be some directional challenges but we were more concerned by traffic.  Church bells tolled as we left, which offered some good news with respect to traffic movement in a city where Sunday morning gatherings are highly regarded.

We made our way through the tangled city routes to find ourselves on beautiful country roads winding their way south.  Even in the countryside of Quebec, large churches can be found in communities that do not appear to have enough people to support them.  Each one of them is well kept, architecturally beautiful beacons to those who live in the communities and others who are drawn to them.

The day ride was going so well, we figured we might make Plattsburgh early enough as a launch off for the next leg of our trip.  We were going to be crossing into the States at one of several small crossings.  Four bikes, six people...generally not an issue.  In truth it really wasn’t for 5 of us.  I know, hard to guess who that “person” was right?.....not for anyone who knows Larry’s history, or in this case “luck” when it comes to entering into the US (again....queue Mary Anns’ gasp and my mothers chuckle - see previous blog for Arizona trip).  Larry, as it appears, is randomly selected for a search similar to what they would do at the airport.  As Larry goes in for the oral and written exam, I am left to provide access to his motorcycle to the rather nice looking young agent.  I am guessing I got the better end of that deal.  All in all, it took about 30 minutes and we were under way again.  

We stop on the other side in Richford, make reservations at a location in Burlington for the night, as it seems we will not make Plattsburgh.  Now, we figured that finding this spot in a little place like Burlington would be easy.....in fact there was more twists and turns to getting there then there was getting out of Quebec.  Thanks to Con and his GPS app we navigated right to the door.  This spot only cost us $69 a night.  Clean, comfortable, right next to a fabulous restaurant where we had the most delicious meal....unfortunately the mosquitos also enjoyed the most delicious meal on Larry, Con and Thy....but that’s another story.

 

2019 Giddy Up Tour - Day 8 Quebec City

Today was a down day...or up and down day depending on which direction you take when in Old Port/Vieux Quebec.

We did the right thing by walking there to get some exercise.  Problem is that we are all directionally challenged without first plotting it and jumping on our bikes...needless to say we were headed Ouest when we should have been setting Est.

We finally make it to Chateau Frontenac (by taxi) and just as we arrive it starts to rain...again.  This is beginning to be a recurring theme but so far we have been adventitiously missing the worst of it.  A quick tour of the Chateau, and then we all group together (2 taxis for 6 people) in the lobby to start exploring.

We head to the Parks Canada excavation site that we explored with the girls in 2005.  Apparently the excavation took 2 years, during which they retrieved over 500,000 artifacts.  The exhibit, which is below the promenade, is pretty amazing.

After our exit, we head for the funicular.  At the bottom we have a quick lunch and then head off in 3 directions to explore, meeting back at the funicular an hour later.  Larry and I head down to see the umbrellas hanging on the street with all the restaurants.  We have been here at Christmas and their displays are always beautiful...not much for shopping we decide to sit and share a Beavertail (SKOR) which is amazingly delicious.

From here we head on down to the dock and grab the next boat tour out.  We get to view the Plains of Abraham, Chateau Frontenac, l’isle de Orleans and of course Montmorency Falls which are absolutely beautiful...we also got to watch more of our favourite thing.....storm clouds.  Just as we are finishing up the tour by water, the wind and then the rain descended upon us.

Undaunted, we dashed from the boat to our favourite Vietnamese restaurant that we found during our Christmas visit, to enjoy a great supper with our friends.  A walk around the artisan market after supper, a tour of the old railway station, another juggling act with taxis and we arrive back to our hotel, 12 hours later....it was a full day.

Much needed rest will now be required as we head to the border tomorrow.

2019 Giddy Up Tour - Day 7 Quebec City

So far we have ridden two days to see a big rock, 400 kms to see a big dam, and 2 hours to see a big lake.....we like big things and we can not lie.....

Before heading out to Quebec City we decided we would ride around Lac St-Jean as far as Roberval. The weather forecast showed rain in the afternoon with possibility of thunderstorm in both Quebec City and around the lake so we had nothing to lose.  

First though was breakfast and a birthday celebration for Larry.  Thy walked up to a local shop and managed to find a birthday cake at 7:30 in the morning!  Love her determination and thoughtful gift.  We celebrated at breakfast with a chocolate cake and a dining room full of people singing happy birthday in both French and English.  Great way to start the day!

Getting out of some of these smaller centres is not always easy because signage is so small.  Not having a real problem with the language issue as much as we are trying to find the signage to provide us with proper direction or at least confirm direction we are going in.

We rode through some lovely farming areas which surprised us.  We did not expect for this area to be as flat as it was given that we rode into this area through the mountains and we would be leaving through them as well.  We eventually came upon Lac St-Jean in Chambord.  It appeared and you immediately got the impression that it was a large lake.  As we rode the next 15 kms to Roberval along the lake, there was a distinct impression that this lake may even be larger than originally thought.  A stop on a wharf for lunch, gave us a view of the lake that was equally as surprising....looking at the far shore of this lake would be akin to standing on the shores of Alma and looking towards Nova Scotia.....you can tell there is land there but you can’t really see anything except a blue/gray outline in the distance.

 We ate our lunch, which we had picked up in Saguenay before we left, sitting there in the sun until the first drop fell.  It looked like we may ride out of it so we cleaned up our stuff, packed it up, got our gear on quickly, jumped on the bikes and headed out for the 175 to take us to Quebec City....just after Chambord, down came a little rain which we did ride out of, however the next cloud formation looked a little more ominous, so we pulled over and suited up in our rain gear.  We were expecting it on our ride to Quebec anyway so it was easier to pull it on at a gas station then it was to do so on the side of the road in the middle of the storm.

We rode out and with every twist and turn we had a new weather forecast....looked like we may dodge it or looked like we may get it....as with every twist and turn, you eventually get a bit of both.  We turned one corner and the rain started, then came pouring down.  We rode through this heavy rain for about 20 minutes which all in all is pretty lucky.  We managed to dry a little by the time we got to the gas station (first one in many miles) but you could still see the dark ominous clouds in our mirrors.  No better place to find it. 

Before we gassed up we took a little bum break with some coffee and a little snack of course.  I wrote out the directions for everyone to our hotel since we would be riding into Quebec City around 4:30 pm on a Friday night.  We weren’t sure what the traffic conditions would be.  About 30 minutes later a young couple on bikes came in just as we were preparing to go get gassed up and hit the road. They, unfortunately got stuck in the rain for about an hour and a half.  They were completely soaked.

As we were getting gassed up we could see that dark sky and it did seem to get closer..as we finished gassing up, two great big booms of thunder confirmed we best be on our way and quickly...so quickly we did.

The rest of the ride into the city was fairly easy.  We got to our hotel easily, checked in, parked the horses and headed for the POOL!  Yes, this hotel has an indoor pool and boy were we happy to see it after todays’ ride.  We followed that up with a hot shower (best one so far) and headed out for a bit to eat.  Larry got a second piece of birthday cake and another restaurant full of people singing happy birthday.  He is such a special lad, mon Chou Chou!

Our next day is full of exploring Quebec City and a break from the saddle...This is the first visit to Quebec City for Thy and Jerry.  Lucky for them they have 4 great tour guides.

2019 Giddy Up Tour - Day 6 Sauguenay

So today we depart Baie Comeau....in the rain.

Have to say as luck would have it, BC has not been necessarily a lucky place for us.  Hoping this will change as we make our way west.

It was fairly cool along the way, dropping down to as low as 14 but keeping a steady 15-17 degrees as we coasted along the St. Lawrence Seaway.  Rain isn’t as bad as everyone may think when you are on a motorbike.....not what you would wish to start out, but way better than high heat and humidity.  It does have it’s perks as it gives a certain ambiance to the views you see along the way.  Like the beautiful cove and mountains with the mist and fog, that give you a peek at the view with the softness of a photograph, faded at the edges.

There was lots to see along the way for sure.

As we turned away from the St. Lawrence, heading to Sauguenay, we stopped in Sacre Coeur for lunch.  After leaving here we found our way through mountains, lakes and rivers with small waterfalls.  The vegetation in the mountains is quite different from New Brunswick having a real contrast in green colours.  The ride through here reminds us of New York State and New Hampshire.

We arrive in Sauguenay for the night at a quaint, albeit very large, motel.  It is a lovely spot overlooking the Sauguenay Fjord.  The sun set while we are enjoying a great meal with our friends, followed by lightning in the distance, make for a relaxing and peaceful end to our day.

Tomorrow is still undecided for certain but whatever it brings, will be a day filled with riding, views, stops and oh my god....so much eating!