Oh Canada 🎶🇨🇦, eh. Part cinq

Our third and final day on the P'tit Train du Nord. What a ride!! Never thought these words would come out, --- for the most part, the gravel was in better shape than the paved portion of the trail. Who knew?!?!?   The north half is paved, the southern half is gravel. 

Three days of involving all 5 senses.  The smell of the junipers just like what is manufactured for Christmas time but real. The touch through the handle bars of the vibrations from the texture of the trail below the tires. The sound of the water rushing down stream, cascading over boulders that ran along much of the trail. The sight at every moment of plush dense forests, mostly gray and sometimes blue skies contrasting against the green flora of the forests and gray of the trail surface. The taste of the scrumptious gourmet cuisine at our B&B's and cafes along the trail. Truly a complete sensory experience. 

Today we reached milepost 0.0 to which we promptly celebrated with a couple of pitchers of local lager.  We successfully rode nearly 200k of this amazing trail. Many, if not all, of the original depots still exist and are thriving businesses. We tried to patronize as many as we could. 

Some pics from today:

Loaded up and drove part way to Quebec City. Tomorrow the balance of the way to our 7th hotel in 7 days. Whew. Please do keep reading.  Much more adventure to come.  

Oh Canada 🎶🇨🇦, eh part quatre

Our first night in a bed and breakfast in Nomininque, it was exquisite.  The food absolutely gourmet. The couple running this inn made you feel like you were long time friends and quite at home. It was hard to leave. One of the best parts was our first day of this journey that we were able to sleep past 6 a.m.  Nice! 

Wouldn't ya know, Quebec has been experiencing a dry spell ... Until we arrived. The days have been perfect temps for riding. The skies have been completely cloud cover.  By mid afternoon, yup, the moisture started pouring out. Just a spritzing sprinkle excallating to a gentle soaking rain. After yesterday and today's rides, we have our stuff hanging up all over our rooms to dry. 

Parc lineaire Le P'tit du Nord is a multi-use recreational rail trail located in Quebec. It is 200 kilometers in length. We will have ridden nearly all of the trail, about 170 kilometers of it. Yesterday did an out and back due to our concerns over the weather. Got a little wet anyway. Today rode close to 80 kilometers. Tomorrow, about 75 to the southern end of the trail. It really is a beautiful trail. Despite the rain. 

Tonight, our second bed and breakfast inn. It is much different than last night. Still pretty nice. 

Look see of some of today's adventure :

The photo of the day!  Our camera shy Alice.

Our home for tonight. 

More adventure to finish out the trail tomorrow!

Oh Canada 🎶🇨🇦, eh. Part trois

Day 4, on to our fourth hotel. It was a bit of a flurry, this morning, to make the shuttle. Loading up gear bikes and people was successful.  We had a bit of delay getting out of Ottawa the night before. Did not get to St Jerome until 11 p.m.  Night cap was at midnight. Alarm sounded at 6 a.m. Short night. 

We napped through our 2 hour shuttle up to Nomininque, Quebec. Such a really quaint cool little Burrough. Prime time to brush up on what little French we have in our repertoire. For some reason, trying to say thank you or such, gracias or danka or something equally wrong comes out. Talk about confused looks...

We began our exploring of the Petit Train du Nord. A 200 kilometer rail to trail. Quite a beautiful trail!!

Have a look see...

J'aime la Gete!

Keep reading!

Oh Canada 🎶🇨🇦, eh. Part deux

Ottawa !!  The capital city of Canada. Beautiful bike trail system all through this fair city. We explored about 35 miles of this expansive system of trails. Our trip leader led us literally all over the place. Was so special that she managed to find a little hill, comparable to the climb out of hidden falls, from the beginning of the Rideaux historic locks built in the 1830's up to the House of Parliament just in time for the changing of the guard. About half way through the pomp and circumstance, our legs started to recover. It was really cool to be there for this. Reminded me from a few days ago when we were on the observation deck at the Sault Ste Marie locks, kinda like watching paint dry, but still interesting. 

There are a number of UNESCO world heritage sites. We litterally flew by a few of them... Asked my bike mates, did you see the Royal mint? Some did, some not. We wove between urban areas and riverside forests. Very cool!  

Our esteemed leader expertly moved around the city avoiding the pockets of rain showers. But not a flat tire on our way through the experimental farm. It was just a matter of time....

If the flat was not enough, We did manage to stay dry until our day really took a bad turn. Only a half mile to go, crossing a wet wood floored bridge, one of our group went down. 911, ambulance, e/r and admittance.  Our little group started out originally to be 10, 9 when we left the Twin Cities, we are now 8.  ....and then there was 8.  We send sincere best wishes to our fallen comrade and hopes for a full recovery. 

Tomorrow, we launch our 3 day ride on the Petit Train du Nord.  Yeah!!

Here are some look see of Ottawa. 

It takes a village to change a flat....

Turn in for the next episode!!

Oh Canada, 🎶🇨🇦, Eh...

There is nothing more certain of a test for true compatability then to put 4 adults, all their gear and necessary accessories in a crew cab pick up truck for nearly 23 hours of driving,...into a foreign country ,,,, :)  One could not ask for a better group of travel companions. We are having a great time. Especially when Alice sprung alter ego, a hand puppet of sorts. Cannot decide if it is Kermit or Lambchop....   Not many people can boast on the accomplishment of taking 11 hours to make a 9 hour drive.... Twice

Our adventure to date is experiencing Wisconsin and Ontario from the windows of the truck. Boy, have we seen a lot of country side. Oh, yeah, scouting out a few bar and grills when the need struck. Arby's scored a wave as we flew by.  The truck rebels did not stick to the itinerary. 

Sault Ste Marie is a pretty interesting town. Stood on the observation deck to see the huge cargo ships pass through the docks. Kinda like watching paint dry... No, really, it was interesting. 

Tonight we are in Ottawa, the capital of Canada. Our hope is to be able to tour the city by bike tomorrow and it's numerous UNESCO sites. Beautiful weather we have had to date, but not tomorrow. Drat. Peggy, our uber amazing planner will come up with something.   

Here are some visuals to pique you curiosity.  

Make and Alice

Our ride, next time...

Laurie ne Nina

Mark rode his bike across this bridge!! Eeeeek

The reason we were an hour late for dinner reservation ...

Be sure to check back for more adventure!

Wild Wild West Adventure. Episode 7

Ahhhh, a day to sleep in a bit, cook breakfast (as opposed to yogurt and cereal) then off for today's adventure. 

Exploring and experience the faces of Mount Rushmore was first on the agenda. Satisfied to have bagged at least 500 photos of the guys in granite, we walked the presidential trail which yielded some pretty interesting angles. The sun peaked out much to our joy to give some really nice light. Here is some pics to enjoy. 

Next stop, Deadwood.  The timing was perfect, met up with the rest of the gang in time for lunch, libations, and a bit of shopping. It is an interesting town for sure. The architecture of some of the surviving buildings from the 1890's was pretty cool. 

Tomorrow, our last day in the hills. Relaxing and packing in prep for the arduous drive back east to the Twin Cities. 

Hope you have enjoyed this journey.  

Ride and walk on!