End of the Road... For Now

North Rustico Beach

North Rustico Docks

North Rustico Bay

Lobster Traps

Charlottetown Hospital: I was in to see two orthopedic surgeons yesterday, and did not receive good news regarding my wing. The clavicle is broken in a bad spot, and a couple of ligaments have torn off, requiring surgery. The bad news is that the recovery time is 3 months, which puts our trip on hold, sending me back to Calgary for surgery and recovery.

I will be flying home in the next few days, and then dealing with the surgery there, hopefully getting in as soon as possible. Brent will return the car to Baie-Comeau, arrange for my bike to be shipped back, and then ride his bike back to Calgary by himself. Both of us are not looking forward to this scenario, but it is necessary.

Needless to say, we are terribly disappointed, but will try to make the best of my recovery by heading to our condo in Fernie and enjoying the mountain life. Maybe even do a trip out to the coast to see family. Things are really up in the air until we learn more about my surgery.

So, to those of you in Calgary, see you soon, and to friends and family from across Canada, I sign off on this blog until our new journey resumes.

Nance

Summerside to New Glasgow to North Rustico

More PEI scenery
Our camping cabin
Our 5th Wheel Accommodation
Charllotetown Harbour
Charlottetown Houses
One of the largest churches in Canada St. Dunstons
Charlottetown Harbour

We booked into a hotel for two nights in Summerside, and I decided to go to see a doctor again, as my shoulder was causing me considerable grief. After a couple of weeks of feeling pretty good, I guess the swelling had gone down, and the pain kicked in. I had the shoulder re-xrayed, and the doctor recommended that I book in to see an Orthopedic Surgeon, as my clavicle is broken in a spot that doesn't heal well and sometimes surgery is better. Not the news I was hoping for, and Brent had to console me on the way back from the visit, as the tears were flowing pretty heavily.
I promptly got on the web and discovered that only 10% of clavicle breaks require surgery, and mostly due to motorcycle accidents due to the higher speeds involved. Hmm. Sounds familiar...
I really want to go with the doctor's recommendations, so that I don't suffer down the road with this injury, and have it affect golf, skiing, tennis, swimming, running, and mostly, the rest of my motorcycle trip.
We moved on from Summerside and found a great place to "camp" using a camping cabin, with a bed that I can get in and out of, as my abdominal/rib area is still to sore to enable me to get up off the ground. The weather is fantastic, and we spent the day at the red sand beach, and I couldn't get up the nerve to swim, as only one arm would prove challenging, it was nice to be among the land of the living, with kids, dogs and bathing beauties to keep us amused.
After a couple of nights, we were told that the campground is sold out for the weekend, so we had to look for alternate accommodations.
I found a great spot, and talked the guy into renting us a place for $10 more than the camping cabin, so we have deemed this the accommodation deal of the trip so far. It's a 5th wheel trailer, with a double bed, a tv, microwave, oven, fridge and shower/washroom. And, it's 10 minutes from the beach! Very quiet, private and has a pool on the grounds! We may never leave. We are hunkered down here until next week, as my appointment with the Doc is Wednesday. Then, we will decide what to do after that.
We popped into Charlottown, and enjoyed a nice meal in there and walked around the historic downtown. We plan to go back there for a longer visit- it's quite beautiful there.

Monton, NB to Summerside, PEI

Confederation Bridge

North Cape

North Cape

Skinner's Beach

Bud the Spud

We stopped at the BMW Motorcycle shop in Moncton, where we will be back to get our bikes serviced for their 40,000 km. Nice big shop, and our main purpose was to shop for a new helmet for me. Sad to see the Arai go, as I liked the color and the fit, but after a knock like I received on the noggin, it's always prudent to replace the helmet. There was much discussion about the "worth" of my head, and it ranged from the $159 special to the $1,000 Beamer deluxe. Brent asked if I was planning on any more falls in the near future, so that maybe it would be a better idea to get the cheaper model, as it is easier for the budget to replace. Photo to follow of my new Beamer helmet...Sometimes a gal just has to put her foot down.

The bridge crossing (Confederation Bridge) was amazing. It is hard to imagine the engineers looking across the water and thinking, yeah, we could build a bridge that long. It is free to go into PEI, and you pay about $50 to come back off the island.

We stopped in Summerside and got a hotel room for a couple of nights, with intentions to explore the northern part of the island. We drove as far north as you can in the afternoon, and really enjoyed the drive, going from small town to small town, with beautiful farmhouses, and coastal views. We even stopped at Stompin Tom's hometown, Skinners Pond, and took a photo of the oldest schoolhouse in PEI, where he attended school in 1940.

Weird thing to note, but very appealing: If you are a lover of lawn mowing, you want to buy property in PEI. The yards are huge and have huge lawns! We must have counted 30 people mowing their lawns by the riding mowers, and about another 5 with the push mowers. Would be quite a workout! I'll try to get some photos of this later!

New Brunswick St. John & Bay of Fundy

Flower Pot Point. Bay of Fundy Hike

St. John Harbour

Brent trying to pick up a new biker babe.

Photo by wildlife photographer T. Brent

Reversing Falls: St. John

Bay of Fundy Hike

Covered brige

Graveyard for Sea Captains: Bay of Fundy Park

The drive through New Brunswick to St. John was very pretty. We took the "River Route" which wove in and out, through the countryside, along the St. John River; a perfect motorcycle route. We did see several bikers going the opposite way. I had to stop letting my lower lip down, as I was afraid that it would stay that way.

We really enjoyed touring around St. John, Canada's oldest city. Brent took me on a Heritage Walking tour, which showcased some of the older, beautiful homes in the area, as well as buildings, town squares, statues. He did a great job, and we spent about 2 hours walking through the city. We also did two, 2 hour hikes along the Bay of Fundy, known for it's huge tidal changes. The vistas were great, and the beaches looked tempting. The photo of the boat in the rapids is taken at a narrowing of St. John river, where the tide actually changes the flow direction of the river twice a day. Quite the site.

We are currently staying in Moncton, heading to PEI tomorrow.

Bye Bye Baie

Finally, some nice views!

For the Monroe Boys (nice shirt!)

As they say in Calgary, YAHOO! or is the YEEHA! Either way, we are back on the road! My bike is going to be repaired in Baie Comeau, and I want to thank the dealership there for their help. They are the Harley Dealership, Hamilton & Bourassa, and have been great about storing Brent's bike and all of our riding gear while they fix my bike. Also, even though we feel we overstayed our welcome, Le Grand Hotel is a nice spot to stay in the city.

Warning- if you go east of Quebec city, there are only so many spots that you can take a ferry from to go south and cross the St. Lawrence. Not only that, but they take reservations 30 days in advance, and we started to realise that we might not get to leave, unless we drove all the way back to Quebec City, 4 hours away. We checked several ports, and finally found on that we could cross at, and made our way there.

The crossing was short 1 1/2 hours, and we saw some Orcas, and some dolphins on the way. A short drive took us just into New Brunswick.

Things we like about the car:

We can listen to music

We have air conditioning

We have less luggage

I can sleep
We can talk to each other (although, Brent may call this a negative)

We can carry more food, and eat while we go

We can drink coffee and drive!

We are trying to be positive about the change of trusty steed from cool BMW's to Pontiac G5.

Tic Toc Tic Toc

Our Hotel Room
Owie 1
Owie 2: the color of green
Owie 3 along with bump in shoulder

Hi all!

Thanks again for all of the emails, and kind words of support. Yes, we are still in Baie Comeau, waiting for the assessment on my bike. The good news is that it looks like they will be fixing it here, as it is cosmetic stuff that needs replacing. Once we sign off on the numbers, we will be hitting the road in a car, and heading to New Brunswick. I really hope it is in the next day or so...
By the way, if one more person suggests that I get a sidecar for Brent's bike, I will personally ban you from the blog site! (okay, I'm a bit cranky today)
I thought I would entertain you while you wait for something actually interesting posted on this blog with photos of my bruises!
Enjoy.