Goose Bay Goodness

I know we just posted, but our stay in Goose Bay was worth another one! We met a guy on the ferry over the Labrador that let us use his SAT phone and told us to call him when we got to Goose Bay. We did, and he really took care of us! We were given a bed, showers, laundry, and even old MRE meals to take on the road! He also took us up in one of the helicopters he works with to see where our friends were (they were riding about a day behind us). It was pretty exciting, we didnt expect to get to see Labrador from a tiny helicopter! Oh, and we interviewed with the local paper about our ride, we will update that when it comes out, and we have an appointment with the TV station as well. we're FAMOUS! hahah. Thanks Wilf and Brenda!

Keith and Michaela are the tiny dot on the road. Click on the picture and you can see it bigger :)

SO excited to be in here! its my first time!

Wilf took us up in a helicopter (he works for the heli place here) to look for  out biking buddies. Pretty cool!

We got to cook our own steaks at the steakhouse where Brenda works- turns out we are  pretty good cooks!

Wilf and Brenda, our amazing hosts in Goose Bay. We call him the unofficial mayor of Goose Bay

Brad playing with Narwhal Tusks! Turns out they ARE real animals.

this is US in that helicopter! pretty cool!

A long way from no where

We just finished the first 500 KM of the labrador dirt road section... ouch! who's idea was this anyway? :) Our bums are sore and our brains are boggled, and we are suffering from shaken baby syndrome. Luckily we only have about 1200 KM left of the dirt... We are having lots of crazy times- great weather, saw a black bear (that ran away when we sang- are we that bad?) and lots of beautiful and uninhabited wilderness. Plus we get lots of respectful looks from all the motorcycle tourists :) WE LOVE LABRADOR!

thats four days of biking for us... 12 miles per granola bar= a lot of snacks packed.

yep, a long way from anything, riding on rocks.

reaching a stretch of pavement coming into Goose Bay. The first pavement we've seen in over a week- you'd kiss it too.

perfect road bike conditions...

bottled at the source :)

bears dont mess with boys who wear capes!

New Foundland, New foundfriends



New Foundland was instantly a favorite for us.  The landscape is totally epic, Huge mountains, amazing coast, pristine ponds, raging whitewater, grueling granite cliffs, and best of all the people are made of actual Gold.  We met so many people that went so far out of there way for us it was creepy.  But a huge thanks to everyone that gave us a meal, Sunday devotional, boat ride, satellite phone, car rides to the viking village, a place to sleep , bike maintenance or even 40 bucks to buy breakfast.  One of my favorite parts of this trip is the people we are meeting.  I am amazed of how warmly we are welcomed into random homes and treated like family.  Even as I write this we are being prepared a moose stew for dinner by a couple who passed us on the highway yesterday.  We are still just at the tip of the iceberg (which we have seen several of) of this trip, and already I don't think there can be a better way to travel and really get to know the people in the area. 

     The knee is all better thanks to the many remedies I have been applying, and Mary taking the trailer away from me (she won't give it back ). We still get sore and tired but faster and tanner.  The one thing that people have warned us about the most in Labrador (black flies) haven't even begun yet this season, hopefully we are past when they do decide to take flight.  Our bellies are full and our arms are numb thanks to the not smooth dirt highway.  All in all things on the bikes are doing dandy.

Lonnie, Daughter of the Ocean Spray B&B that we didn't stay at but decided to treat us like guests anyways, by taking us out for a lovely afternoon to Kipple island.

"I'm the king of the world"

These days Mary gets tired of walking so I have to help her out here and there, don't worry we are getting her on a strict biking all the time exercise program as soon as we get home.

The whole gang on Kipple island. Larsens, Pateys, Hoggs, Burton
Did I mention Ocean Spray B&B in Port Saunders, NL will treat you like family

Do you know what the difference is between Mary and Brad?
Mary makes bike touring look GOOD.

Is this what heaven is like?

Another fine host for the night, possibly the only owners of a bike stand in Labrador.

Inukshuk, these guys rock

Marys Harbor,  86Km of dirt road just for this picture

Life on the road

We have been biking up the west coast of Newfoundland- a land of trees, rocks, mountains and hills! its been great so far, i think this may be canada's Alaska :)


eating steamed mussels in butter.. yumm....

mary about to get epic

made it to newfoundland!





suns out, bugs out!



out on the open road!



fiddleheads- a common food up here- we found some growing wild and steamed em up! YUM!

we ran into a local in the rain who let us stay in his partially finished cabin for the night! not a bad location to camp!

got the knee checked out! and the verdict is... tendonitis! looks like he wont lose the leg after all! stretching and ice are in place!

 

our campsite in corner brook, overlooking the town and bay- gorgeous!



a wooded trail through town that made us miss mountain biking.... :)


 

Oh the places you'll go!



Dale, our P.E.I host cracking open oysters for us to try (live!)

The barn we enjoyed for a few days with our friend Dale.

We had a couple days of sunshine finally, but we were too busy actually riding to take any photos, however, we have sunburns to prove it :) the days are still fun of adventure and everything unexpected. Lately, B-rad has been battling some intense knee pain, so in an effort to save it, we have been experiencing Canada by hitchhiking instead of riding as much. We are hanging out in New Glasgow, headed to Sydney to catch a ferry to Newfoundland later this week. We have been incredibly fortunate to meet so many nice people who go out of their way to help us. Canada- thank you- youre awesome.



there are some awesome coastlines!!!



Found this nice hat in honor of Anne, in Prince Edward Island (thought Dirk might like it)

Its been a lot of this lately.

We jimmy rigged the tandem to be able to pull B-rad for a few miles to save the knee :)



Too bad there werent any mounties around to give brad a ticket for this no hands crime....



Made it to Nova Scotia! and SUPRISE! its raining!



From Maine to Prince Edward

 Loading up our bikes on the fishing boat.  Thanks Harvey and Scott for the ride to deer island

 Unloading our gear onto the pier. That rhymes, totally unintentional. 

 Captain Christopher Keith Pendelton, giving us a lesson on how to drive his 103ft ferry from deer island

The 8 mile bridge from New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island

 Home sweet home, just off the highway hidden from all the passersby

 Making dinner, drying out and warming up in Dales Barn on P.E.I

Loads of stories going on. We got a ride from a couple fishermen across some pretty bouncy ocean.  Was told a poem about Newfoundland by some random walker by.  Met the bassist of Jericho road, she was our camp host.  Had lunch in an old RV with some Hoggs from Vancouver.  And now we are sleeping in a barn of a oyster fisherman in Prince Edward.  This trip is bringing us countless experiences that I never could have imagined.  I am keeping a very detailed journal and hoping to be able to retell so many of these tales for years to come.  We are meeting so many genuinely nice people that are sharing their lives with us.  We are being very blessed and taken care of, and loving almost every minute of it (as long as we can keep Marys feet warm).

some pics from our travels

 Well, it seems like we have a weeks worth of adventures every day, which is why i want to post every day! We rode to Lubec in some crazy wind and rain and got stuck here for a number of reasons, but its nice, we found a cute little Inn on the water and have finally found a boat to take us to the canadian island we have been shooting for. Lubec is the easternmost town in the U.S and its the most windy/rainy coast we have been to yet!

 At the inn, they let us buy lobsters right there, live ones! we went to this basement warehouse place under the inn and we picked out our own lobster. The guy gave us a pot and told us how to cook them. Which we did, and they were delicious!

we are SO CLOSE!