As advertised, today was a soaker! The remains of tropical storm Andrea, conveniently timed for the first storm of the 2013 season to come ashore in Canada at the exact place and time when we were coming through. Note to fellow Fukawi - let's not do our Maritime ride next year in the Spring, the Fall may be a lot kinder! But enough whining, the next few days are forecast to be quite a bit better.
We deliberately started late and rode down the Trans Canada to our first stop of the day, Grand Falls. Now, it's not quite Niagara but in the Spring and coupled with today's rainfall it was falling pretty good.
And we discovered one of the good things about sightseeing by motorcycle in the rain. Yes, there are advantages! We just keep all the gear on while we walk to the attraction, helmets included, and while car bound tourists huddle in their vehicles we boldly go wherever we want, impervious to the deluge and chatting away on our headsets. You can zip line across the falls if you want but it was shut and we weren't tempted anyway!
On down the road another 45 minutes or so was our next sight to see - the longest covered bridge IN THE WORLD! at Hartland. We even rode over (through?) it. You just wait your turn making sure no one is coming the other way.
At Hartland we become an object of some curiosity to the locals who may never have seen British Columbians before, and certainly not on a motorcycle. We were very excited to engage with English speaking people again having found that our manner of speaking French was unintelligible in Quebec and Northern New Brunswick. Imagine then our disappointment when it became apparent that we couldn't understand people speaking English here either! Their leader, a man closely resembling Jaba the Hut, was obviously making witty observations about the fun of riding in the rain but sadly they were lost on us and so we just smiled, nodded in what we hoped was an appropriate manner, and munched on our Tim Horton's donuts.
They waved enthusiastically at us as we departed for the final leg to Fredericton. One more hour on the highway and we would be there - but we reckoned without the truck from hell! A car transporter barreling down the straights and downhills, but with a serious lack of horsepower for the climbs. This bastard (and that is the kindest word we can think to use for him) overtook us in a shower of spray and wind blast, pulled in ahead and the slowed down so much on the next hill that we had to pass again. Come the next long downhill and he did it again, this time overtaking us just before the uphill despite my best efforts to stay in front. This time he tried to pass a camper on the hill so that the whole road was reduced to a crawl before he gave up and moved over again. The cat and mouse game continued for about 20 minutes before he finally turned off. Almost no lights in front, a huge grille and bumper, this was like one of those horror movies about the Devil's truck.
Anyway, we're tucked up safe and sound now in our hotel and marveling about how far we have come. Here is today's hotel room picture the Saint John River in full flood. Pretty impressive.
There may be another post later if there are adventures in town, if not, see you tomorrow.
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