Well after bidding our riding buddy Oliver, adieu. Terry and I loaded the machines on the Baie Comeau-Matane ferry and settled in for the 2 hour crossing. When we finally grabbed a seat and an 8 dollar beer in the lounge we looked up and saw a couple familiar faces. Dan and Cathy from Maine whom we had first met at the Churchill Falls ( the falls not the town) and kept seeing on our travels. Around every corner we would see the heavily laden Subaru and two smiling waving faces. Over the duration of the crossing these two adventure travel veterans beguiled us with tales of building rafts in South America and travelling down a tributary of the amazon, too flying a small Cessna up to Sagalek (former DEW line sight north of Nain on the Labrador coast) all the while not being sure the runway they intended to land on still existed. It was one adventure after another with out ever sounding like bravado, simply two folks who loved life and drank adventure down like we drink water. Dan was also somewhat of an inventor and had devised a device that allowed you to crimp PEX pipe with a gizmo that cost 10 bucks instead of 150. He told us he had them in every Home Depot in the USA. I did discover their collective kryptonite however. When Dan asked me what I did I explained the medical sales I do and how much I enjoy being in the O.R and watching surgeries. Well as I was regaling them with tales of small bowel perforations and carotid endarterectomies I failed to notice the two Amazonian whirl pool survivors turing green. Quickly Dan and Cathy stood up and stated they were going outside for some fresh air- it was 5 degrees, pissing rain and pitching on deck. I didn't now I had that effect on people.
When we docked we rode off the ferry and with in 200 meters we were in our hotel and hunkered down after a huge and slightly terrifying day of riding. Tomorrow we would be home.
The next morning Terry was a little uneasy about the clutch issue he was having so we popped into a bike dealership 1 km from the hotel. In our best English with a French accent we explained the problem. The mechanic quickly and efficiently dispatched the faulty part, cleaned it up and reinstalled for less than 35 bucks. I was amazed.
In a few hours we would be on roads I drove all the time. The journey was essentially over. I felt that once we were in New Brunswick we were not on an adventure, we were on a commute.
Stay tuned for the KLR 650 impressions and what gear we liked and what we hated.
Sent from my iPad
Sent from my iPad
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