Woke up and we were out by 8:03 am and it was very brisk at 44°F. We had 430 miles to go. I didn’t put on my heated gear but I had on my base layer ,T-shirt and sweater with my medium cold gloves and the grip heaters on high. Off we went. Back through those big granite mountains with the sun shining in our faces. Back past all those inlets and bays. No wind though! 60 or so miles later we were on hwy 1 again. By now I was thinking that maybe I should have put on my heated gear. Didn’t want to stop the group so on we went. After a while I noticed that the mountains were gone. I mentioned that and Darryl goes… wow, you’re right! Still it was pine and birch forest to the horizon and giving way to lowland swampy areas.
This whole island is perfect Moose habitat. We were always seeing big signs… watch for Moose, Moose crossing, Moose Fencing next so many miles, End of Moose fencing.
The only wildlife I have seen besides birds was a Fox running across the road this morning with breakfast in its jaws. As it reached the other side of the road it dropped the breakfast rodent but I knew once we were gone it would come back and get it.
After a bit hills and ridges started coming back in sight. From then on they didn’t seem to go away. Not big ones like before but more like the Appalachian mountains.
Now Mike and I had eaten leftover pizza for breakfast but Darryl and Scott were asking about food by 10 am as they didn’teat breakfast of any kind. I said we were going to eat in Grand Falls after 12 as we had talked about stopping in Grand Falls to stop by Grant’s and Keith’s place. We rolled in around noon. They had told us that Grant sold safety shoes and other PPE. He has a whole store selling shoes and some sports equipment too. Keith has set up a separate business in the back doing embroidery on hats, and whatever other garment you want embroidered. Grant is second generation with the store. I had messaged them that we were 93 KM out and may stop by. They had coffee, biscuits and a zucchini (?) Bread layed out for us.
I saw they had Sketcher Slip ons and I needed to replace mine but I never did it before the trip. I have a new pair now! I saw Mike shopping on the other side of the store. He bought a pair of nice soft leather gloves that were insulated. I tried them on and wanted a pair. Nope, Mike had bought the last XL pair in the store. They even checked in the back. None left. Scott tried on a large size and he bought those. 3 hrs down the road Scott said that was the best purchase this trip and maybe a while before. It’s been 50 to 55 as a high so far and he just had gloves for Waco TX kind of cold. Now his hands are warm and he was smiling!
Keith showed me his embroidery space. I was amazed at the machines and what they could do. He said he was so busy that he had to hire someone part time. Interesting how he got into it and why. Hope his business continues to grow.
We asked them where to eat lunch. Both said the Badger Diner. I had Fish and Chips. Wow, the fish and the breading were so good! Fries were not golden and not quite crispy but they were fine with ketchup. Most others in the place probably didn’t care as they had Poutine on the fries. (A kind of brown gravy). The tartar sauce was yellow??? Huh? Didn’t taste like I was used to but it was good. We all left full and back on the road again. Speed limit is 100 kph and we were doing 113. Wind kicked up and was against us. Clouds moved in around noon.
Trees, trees, and more trees along with low mountains with the sea popping in view as there were many inlets coming inland a good ways. We weren’t supposed to hit any rain during the day. Gassed up with 120 miles to go and bam! Rain popped up out of nowhere. It looked heavy the way we were going but the road turned at just the right moment and we escaped the heavy stuff and only had light rain and then in 15 to 20 miles it was gone! We all thought we had 120 km of rain ahead of us but it went away and we were very happy.
It was still around 60°F but two gas stops ago I put my upper heated gear on. All good now.
Probably the last 80 to 100 km the mountains got bigger again but more open space. Between the mountains were ponds and small lakes with swampy areas and I really want to video the change in the land… but I had put my GoPro away just as the rain started. The clouds were low and around the mountain tops with the sun lighting up the tops while the bottoms were dark.
So much water I exclaimed… No wonder we are seeing so many warnings about Moose. This whole island is perfect Moose habitat!
We came down into St John’s and were taking a route to the Sheraton hotel along the water front. Big ships and bigger fishing vessels too. Busy harbor.
We had to make a turn up this street and it was a very steep incline and we had to stop at a stop sign. Scott had never seen anything like that before and had a very hard time of it… as in he wasn’t doing it. We thought he was going to dump the bike or put a lot of wear on his clutch. Of course it was a busy street and cars were waiting behind us to add to the pressure he was under. About 10′ behind us was an underground hotel garage outlet. I think he backed into that and it was flat. Started going from there and made it up and out. 100 yards later we pulled into our hotel. That incline was intimidating and not many people have to deal with something like that unless they live in San Francisco or in some towns in PA.
Tomorrow is supposed to be low 40’s and never get out of the 40’s. Heading to the goal of this trip tomorrow. Going out to the most Eastern point of North America!
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