The great northern peninsula does not have many towns, making for slim pickings for eating out and even buying food. The 23rd was my birthday and of course, I wanted all things I am used to having when it's my birthday; And living in a 1st world country pretty much means I can have anything I want. That is such a crazy thought. Simply because it is my birthday, I can justify spending the day how I choose and living where I live more or less enables this. I guess I never realized how odd that truly is until I was in a situation where everything life has to offer is not at my fingertips.
I now have celebrated three birthday's on the road. I know I make mention of this often, but I cannot get over how fast time is going. I spent one birthday riding from Austria into Italy, the second birthday in Ohio and now the third riding along the Newfoundland coast. I feel so fortunate and often stop to pinch myself as it does not seem real. I love life and hope to maintain this feeling of appreciation. Another day of riding with the wind at our backs but spending more time under random shelters or simply just riding through the spitting rain. Dodging rain and pleading with the weather gods to put off any bad weather until we got closer to our destination to put our tent up, we eventually made it 10k outside of St. Barbe, the town to catch the Labrador ferry. We rode a bit late this particular evening because we stopped at a restaurant for a birthday dinner of sauteed scallops, bay shrimp and haddock with a chocolate volcano cake for dessert. Yum. A storm was rolling in, only emphasizing the darkness and for some reason there were not any gravel pits to be found. Riding until close to 9 with the sun already set, we found an abandoned home with a fallen-in roof. A perfect place to call home for the night.
Just missing the early morning storm, we quickly packed up relatively dry gear and rode into the wind that changed on us overnight. The clouds overhead were ominous and we were lucky to duck into the ferry terminal, just missing the first ferry over to Quebec/Labrador. Might as well have breakfast. We made a true loop through St. Barbe which consisted of maybe 30 homes before realizing the ferry terminal/hotel/restaurant was the only one in town. Well that sure makes it easy to choose a breakfast spot. Ryan and I are both type B people and seem to have a very difficult time making any decision. This is fairly typical and probably a reason why we still get along so well after such close quarters for 2 years: "What do you want to do for breakfast?" "I don't care. What do you want to do?" or "Where do you want to head? South or west?" "I don't care. What about you?" This often ends with asking a local if the stop is worth the food or what direction they would go if they were on bikes. Definitely helpful.
We caught the afternoon ferry and rode up the hill to at least step foot in Labrador. Tempted to ride the Labrador highway that was only constructed in 2010, we thankfully decided against that idea and stuck with the ferry. We met motorcyclists who just crossed the highway and said the black flies were plentiful and the dust was intense. Another plus to the ferry was that we found out that we could get off earlier, costing less money. Dropping from $640 to $320, we will instead be dropped at Natashquan where the road begins in Quebec, 700k from Remouski (another option to take the ferry). We will ride through an extremely wildernessy area, 150k and 220k between towns. Right up our alley.
I now have celebrated three birthday's on the road. I know I make mention of this often, but I cannot get over how fast time is going. I spent one birthday riding from Austria into Italy, the second birthday in Ohio and now the third riding along the Newfoundland coast. I feel so fortunate and often stop to pinch myself as it does not seem real. I love life and hope to maintain this feeling of appreciation. Another day of riding with the wind at our backs but spending more time under random shelters or simply just riding through the spitting rain. Dodging rain and pleading with the weather gods to put off any bad weather until we got closer to our destination to put our tent up, we eventually made it 10k outside of St. Barbe, the town to catch the Labrador ferry. We rode a bit late this particular evening because we stopped at a restaurant for a birthday dinner of sauteed scallops, bay shrimp and haddock with a chocolate volcano cake for dessert. Yum. A storm was rolling in, only emphasizing the darkness and for some reason there were not any gravel pits to be found. Riding until close to 9 with the sun already set, we found an abandoned home with a fallen-in roof. A perfect place to call home for the night.
Just missing the early morning storm, we quickly packed up relatively dry gear and rode into the wind that changed on us overnight. The clouds overhead were ominous and we were lucky to duck into the ferry terminal, just missing the first ferry over to Quebec/Labrador. Might as well have breakfast. We made a true loop through St. Barbe which consisted of maybe 30 homes before realizing the ferry terminal/hotel/restaurant was the only one in town. Well that sure makes it easy to choose a breakfast spot. Ryan and I are both type B people and seem to have a very difficult time making any decision. This is fairly typical and probably a reason why we still get along so well after such close quarters for 2 years: "What do you want to do for breakfast?" "I don't care. What do you want to do?" or "Where do you want to head? South or west?" "I don't care. What about you?" This often ends with asking a local if the stop is worth the food or what direction they would go if they were on bikes. Definitely helpful.
We caught the afternoon ferry and rode up the hill to at least step foot in Labrador. Tempted to ride the Labrador highway that was only constructed in 2010, we thankfully decided against that idea and stuck with the ferry. We met motorcyclists who just crossed the highway and said the black flies were plentiful and the dust was intense. Another plus to the ferry was that we found out that we could get off earlier, costing less money. Dropping from $640 to $320, we will instead be dropped at Natashquan where the road begins in Quebec, 700k from Remouski (another option to take the ferry). We will ride through an extremely wildernessy area, 150k and 220k between towns. Right up our alley.
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