Avant CFR - the Stanley Boys & a Canunk head East

I told Don I would leave my place from the northern shores on Lake Ontario at Daybreak. Don sends me an e-mail at 6:30 wondering why my Spot Tracker doesn't show any movement. What Don doesn't understand that in my world daybreak is when I open my eyes and even then everything is still pretty foggy until I've been to Tim Horton's and had my morning coffee.

By 08:00 I was sort of functional and headed out to meet Don & Seth on the shores of Lake Champlain.

I had some distance to cover so I dropped my original plan to take a northern route up through cottage country and instead took the scenic route along the Lake Ontario shoreline trying to stay off the slab as much as possible.

When I got to Prince Edward County I ran into a slight delay at the Trent Canal System when a couple of sailboats passed through.



It was then on to Picton to catch a small ferry to get over to the continuation of Hwy 33 ...



I'm thinking it might have been her first ferry ride...



It's not much of a ferry and those things go but it was free...



The ride was going really well but the weather started looking more threatening the closer I got to the Adirondacks. At Old Forge it was time to don the rain gear which for me just meant adding the Gortex liner to my Rukka jacket. I had already installed the liner in the pants since I don't want to be flashing anyone on the side of the road unlike some folks on this forum that shall remain nameless.

I did manage to get a few breaks in the weather that allowed for a photo op...





I stopped for a quick bite near Lake Placid and played cellphone tag with Don. In between his almost useless service plan and my waterlogged iPhone we had touble but I finally rolled in Willsboro just before dark and shared some time with Seth, Seth's mom, Don and some of their relatives before calling it a night.

Here is where we meandered to on the first day...



More to come...

I always liked the Glenora ferry, Bill. Good route choice. I'm leaving here tomorrow a.m., picking up Peppermint Patty in Montreal, see ya Monday nite.

Don & I stayed at a B&B close to where Seth's mom was vacationing with Seth. The plan was for mom to bring Seth over to the B&B in the morning and we would then head down to the ferry.

Don & I were both up early and started getting the bikes ready...





Seth's aunt drove over in the morning but instead took Seth almost all the way over to the ferry before remembering that they were supposed to come to the B&B. ...





It wasn't a problem and we added all of Seth's gear and headed out. Seth was wearing a backpack that was a problem so when we got down to the ferry landing Don decided to repack the bike before the ferry arrived.

Just as the ferry was pulling in we looked on the bench and the backpack that was supposed to be packed away was still on the bench. Here is Don after we loaded onto the ferry reloading his bike for the third time...





It's tough being old and senile.

Here's the view sailing away from Essex NY...



Don had made arrangements to meet one of his relatives that was attending the Laconia rally for lunch. Ray had given me some of his favorite GPS routes for the area and I massaged them to get us to Plymouth to meet at the restaurant. Unfortunately I didn't realize until it was too late that this restaurant is one of a local chain and in the end we didn't meet up.

We did get to ride with a lot of pirates though...





There were pirates to the front of us.

There were pirates to the rear of us.

Fortunately the FJR's were too quick and nimble for them to board us as we sailed away to the east.

Don was thinking we were riding too many twisties and got out the map. I should have known this was going to be trouble but I agreed to the new route and off we set to the south and east. It brought us to the edge of Laconia. I think Don was in Hog heaven but I couldn't tell if my bike was running from the ground shaking and the racket of all those Harleys in one location. We went all the way across Hwy 25 and then turned up 95/295 to head for the planned destination of Bangor. We had to stop short when the skies got very dark and we were only a kilometer away from the motel when the skies opened up. We had to duck under cover at a gas bar when we started getting pelted with hail.

We made it safely to the hotel after waiting out the storm and will be arriving in Freddy Beach tomorrow.

That no good layabout Spot Tracker of mine forgot to turn itself on AGAIN.

Here is the complete Day 2 route as Mr Zumo saw it...



More to come...

This is a GREAT RR Yamafitter!

Keep it coming - I love to see mi amigo Senor BeemersDon living large!

So where are you three amigos tonight ?

And what time will you be here tomorrow ?!

:yahoo:

Good looking ride so far Bill! You two stay out of trouble and have fun.

--G

MEM said:

So where are you three amigos tonight ?

And what time will you be here tomorrow ?!

:yahoo:

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According to the map we are in Augusta, Maine.

We are roughly 400 km from Freddy Beach but Don needs to visit a Wallmart before crossing over into Arkansas New Brunswick. I'm thinking we should be rolling into the Silverwood somewhere around 14:00.

MEM said:

So where are you three amigos tonight ?

And what time will you be here tomorrow ?!

:yahoo:

Click to expand...

MEM: Good Morning Gorgeous, We spent last night at the Motel 6 in Augusta, Maine. That storm front we ran into yesterday evening was something else. I will call your cell phone after we are in Canada, so you will have an idea when we will arrive.

dcarver: Buenos Dias mi Compadre Donaldo, If I keep eating burritos at the same current rate, I will be getting even larger. Bill is a great ride leader and an excellent guide. Sunny and beautiful morning here in Maine at 0600 hours, 0830 departure.

"It's tough being old and senile." Actually, the more senile I become the easier being old is! Jorge mi Amigo, just ask Niehart!

yamafitter said:

Nice place... I don't feel so bad about having you sleep in the sheep shed now

Here is Don after we loaded onto the ferry reloading his bike for the third time...

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Sheyeah right.... You guys hada hoe down on the ferry din' ya? Stanley and his serious look at me face had the lady's droppin panties I'll bet :lol:

I'll tag on to this thread that the 'beams have an ETA of 6:00 local time @ Silverwood.

ionbeam said:

I'll tag on to this thread that the 'beams have an ETA of 6:00 local time @ Silverwood.

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'beams! You coming today, too ?! I thought you were coming with Freddy W tomorrow ?

Papa - we have TWO WalMarts here

Freaking thunderstorm watch on here until 5pm-ish. <sigh>

The Silverwood has my phone numbers so please do call when you arrive. IF you want to see my smiling little face today Perhaps we can all go out to forage for food later

No pics from the actual ride today but here is the route we rode...



The weather started out perfect but as we headed north the clouds started to form. We were riding Hwy 6 towards Vansboro when I decided to stop and suggested we put on rain gear.

When we reached the border, Canada Customs would not allow the fine weather we had in Maine across the border so it was a soggy ride into McAdams where we stopped to call MEM and took a quick look around the restored CPR Hotel & train station before deciding to push on into Freddy Beach.

We were the first to arrive but MEM was there to greet us and hand out the CFR swag. Here is Seth modelling the CFR vest...



Since it is Fathers' Day it is only fair if we let Don share a photo with his son Seth...



MEM then took us for a quick tour of metropolis of Freddy Beach and we stopped in at a pub downtown for a great feed of blacken haddock and some of the local beers and then a stop over at MEM's home for some homemade rhubarb pie before heading back to CFR Headquarters. Unfortunately we forgot the obligatory food porn shots (I left the Nikon in the car).

When we got back to the motel Ionbeam and Mrs Ionbeam had just arrived so it was time to open the bottle of Crown Royal and have a few welcoming libations while we looked over Ionbeam's ride...



Tomorrow we head down to the border to repel Fred W and the rest of his Yankee hoard as they attempt to invade the Great White North. No one has told Fred W yet that Bruin fans have been banned from Canada.

yamafitter said:

...Tomorrow we head down to the border to repel Fred W and the rest of his Yankee hoard as they attempt to invade the Great White North. No one has told Fred W yet that Bruin fans have been banned from Canada.

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Kick some ass, 'fitter!

....friggin' Yankee sonsofbitches. I heard they were parading the bloody Cup around Fenway today!

And...

yamafitter said:

... we looked over Ionbeam's ride...

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I'll never understand New Englanders.

Old Michael said:

yamafitter said:

... we looked over Ionbeam's ride..

Click to expand...

I'll never understand New Englanders.

Click to expand...

That is just a bit of afterglow after an extended trip at supersonic speeds. Even from a distance it is clear from the patina on my FJR that it is NOT a ghey bike.

yamafitter supplied most excellent post ride libations :yahoo: which we enjoyed with MEM and Ross when they stopped by.

'Bout damn time someone posted up some CFR pictures.

Keep it coming, Bill!

Good ride report Bill.

Keep it coming as it is good to see the north east.

Joe

Since we now officially at CFR I have started a new topic to cover this part of the ride.

By the Bay, Boy

Thanks for the report - great to see what others are up to.

Cheers!