North and East to Labrador!

Deane and Norm are off to a new Motorcycle Touring Adventure.  Last year it was a trip to Alaska, as you all know, and that was as far North and West as we could go on the North American Continent.  So this year we're going as far North and East as we can on the North American Continent - to Labrador!

Starting on June 16th, Deane will ride from Albuquerque to Knoxville, Tennessee, to meet Norm as he rides from Vandalia, Ohio.  In Knoxville we'll attend the "Honda Hoot" motorcycle rally, followed by several days riding in the wonderful Smoky Mountains and the lower Appalachian Mountains.   Then we'll go down to Greenville, South Carolina for the "Wing Ding" motorcycle rally.  From there we'll go up the Blue Ridge Parkway and on up through Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.  We'll take the ferry from Bar Harbor, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and ride up the length of Nova Scotia.  From the northern tip of Nova Scotia, we'll take another ferry to New Foundland.  There we'll ride on the huge and scenic island of New Foundland for several days.  Then it's on to a third ferry to cross into Labrador!

Now, how does one get back from Labrador without retracing that route?  The answer is to go by French-Canadian ferry about 720 miles along the road-less southern shore of Quebec (Northern Shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence) until you can get to roads.  That will be at Rimouski, Quebec, and from there we will ride down through Montreal and Toronto.  From Toronto, we'll ride down through Detroit to Norm's home at Vandalia, Ohio.  Then Deane will ride on back to Albuquerque.  Sounds simple, doesn't it?

 How long to take such a trip?  About six weeks and more than 9,000 miles!

Deane was planning to ride alone for the first part of the trip, from Albuquerque to Knoxville to meet Norm.  Fortunately, however, a good friend of Deane's, Rick Pasekoff, offered to ride along so that he and his son Bob can have riding company while on their way to Pennsylvania to do some visiting.  I am delighted to have Rick and Bob join me.

Deane and Norm will be keeping a "journal" of their trip, and will make it available via the Internet to friends and relatives, much like we did last year.  However, so many people asked to be included, that this year we're going to try a different method.  That is, we now have this website working so we can post our "journal" entries and digital photos just once, and anybody who wants to see them can just access the website.  Then we will just e:mail a very simple note to let each of you know a new entry is there, and you can access it at your leisure.  The first entry will follow the first day's ride on June 16th. 

To design the website, Deane asked his Grandson, Matthew (age 14) to find a name and site, and do some customizing of the site.  Matthew did a good job of getting it started, but then he and Deane ran out of knowledge.  A good friend, Bill Bower, came to our rescue, and re-designed the site to be perfect for this application.  So, if you like the site, Bill deserves most of the credit.

Deane

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