HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!!

If any of you need some rain, let me know, we got loads of it here in beautiful (now slightly muddy) Brittany, France :-)

Thanks so much for reading my blog this year. It really encouraged and excited me to see how many people were interested in our adventure these past few months. We wish you all the very very best for this coming new year, the best of health and success in all areas of life. 

A special THANK YOU for all those kind people who made us feel so welcome along our trip! According to my autograph book, there was more than a hundred of you who supported us in some way, either by purchasing our photo cards at farmers markets and fairs, giving us a free place to camp, feeding us, welcoming us two strangers in to your house and making us feel like we were part of the family etc. Your generosity and kindness has been very humbling and inspiring for us as well as many other people who have followed the many stories of our trip on this blog.

Thanks for all your support and friendship! 

much love,

Linda and James

Bonjour Everybody,

much has happened since the last post and lots of photos were taken; which I hope to load up soon.

After Halifax, we made our way to Boston from where we had a flight to catch on Dec. 7th. We met many great people along the way and enjoyed almost a full week at an MIT fraternity house in Boston with 22 super cool students and two amusing cats.

Getting the bikes flight ready and finally getting them to the airport was a bit of an adventure in itself. After a short layover in Iceland, we arrived in Paris safe and sound, except for a small, hopefully insignificant, dent in James bike. After a night in a nook in Terminal 2 we hit the road and arrived at James parents house in Brittany, France, six days later. Such a gorgeous ride it was powered by baguettes, wine and French cheese!!!

Already, gotta go now. Off to a local harbour to visit some friends and see an old sail boat, which I have heard so much about.

More details and photos coming soon. Love you all and thinking of you always!!

Linda

I (WE) MADE IT!!!!!

Even though I had touched the Atlantic ocean several times already during the last few days, we finally found a picturesque, bike friendly beach for the long awaited photo:

Grosi, das Bild hani fuer dich gmacht. Leider hesch du nid choene personlich debii sii aber ich han fescht a dich denk won ich mis Velo ueber d'Stei grollt und denn s'Vorderrad is Wasser gstellt ha. Isch es super Gfuehl xi!

(Grandma, this photo is dedicated to you!)

WHAT AN AWESOME FEELING!!!!!! 

I had first dreamed of doing this 13 years ago and this year I had what I consider to be a huge privilege to go on this awesome trip and fulfill my Ride Across Canada Dream. 

Best of all though is that, totally against my expectations, I did not finish on my own!

God has lead my path to cross with that of a wonderful man who I have come to love very much. James it has been a huge privilege riding these ~11,700 km with you this summer! 

And hopefully many more.......

Nov. 17 Peggys Cove and Area

Two large lobsters hanging out at a lobster themed playground.

Scenery along Nova Scotia's highway 333

Yup that was a STEEEEP hill.

Peggy's Cove in the distance on the right

The famous Peggy's Cove light house. 

Peggy's Cove

Nov.15- 16 Lunenburg and Area

Not much to say here other than enjoy the photos. Lunenburg is a gorgeous, UNESCO heritage town with a rich history and picturesque architecture.

View from under the pier

This evening we stayed with Gloria, who we met at Oakley Stables a few days ago. She, her husband and their cute dog live in a very cozy house in Chester. We greatly enjoyed our time there. 

James and I with Gloria. 

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE INVITATION TO YOUR BEAUTIFUL HOME. WE REALLY APPRECIATED YOUR KIND HOSPITALITY. TAKE CARE.

Nov. 10 - 14 Nova Scotia South Shore- Mahone Bay, Riverport and LaHave

Finally we succeeded to leave wonderful Wolfville and head to the south shore of Nova Scotia. In the late afternoon, just as we started getting tired of riding we came past a horse stable where we decided to ask if we could camp in their barn. The owners not just allowed us to camp but offered us the space of the tack room which had a nice wood stove to keep us warm. 

Next morning one of the riders arrived early in the morning while we were packing our bags in the tack room. Poor Gloria had no idea we were in there so she was caught by a very unexpected surprise as she came around the corner. After the initial shock we had a good laugh together and joked about how  she "spooked" like a horse. Gloria was very cool and before we left Oakley Stables, she gave us her contact info so we could come stay at her place if we happened to be near her town a few days down the road.
Before riding off, we stopped to say hello to the curious horses beside the driveway. I leaned my bike against the fence so that I could take a picture of the horses but one of them immediately spotted the flowers I had tied to my handlebars, walked over and bit one of. And it was the last pink flower I had left. It did not look like it tasted good because the horse stood there for quite a while chewing the plastic flower. The person cleaning that horses box tomorrow will be in for a colourful surprise. 

A few kilometers after Oakley Stables, we came over a hill and this spectacular view of the Atlantic ocean greeted us. The photo does not really do it justice but it was amazing. 

Soon the fog cleared and we got to enjoy a gorgeous, sunny day. 

Near Gold River. 

Our friend Scott from Wolfville had put us in touch with another cyclist, Tammy, in Riverport. We ended up staying with Tammy for three nights because it was just so nice there. Below is a picture of Riverport just down the road from Tammy's house. 

Near Riverport you can take a little cable ferry over to Lahave. Some one had mentioned to us a while ago that there is a fantastic bakery in Lahave and that it would be worth a stop no matter what. The closer I got to Lahave, almost everybody I ran into (which was a handful of people) asked me if I was planning on going to the bakery or they asked whether I had made the "mandatory bakery stop yet". 

Bicyclette on the ferry.  Her best friend Bike stayed home because he was feeling a bit tired on that day.

Yes, I did stop at the bakery and the black bean brownie square was absolutely delicious! Below is a funny sign I saw on the wall near where I sat when I ate the brownie. Mouse trap button, ouch!!!! 

Inside the bakery

Lahave Bakery

At the little park just down the road from the bakery. So Maritime!

Heading back to Tammy's. That's her house on the left. Ocean on the right. I think my favorite part about Tammy's house was her upstairs bathroom. I am not sure what the technical term for this architectural feature is but the outside wall was built so that it bulged out, allowing for a beautiful 180 degree view of the ocean front. In the morning, I loved to just sit on the edge of the bathtub with a book, read, enjoy the view and soak up some early morning rays. 

James, I and Tammy. 

THANKS TAMMY FOR HAVING US. IT WAS SUPER COOL TO MEET YOU. BEST OF LUCK AND SUCCESS WITH YOUR FITNESS BUSINESS!!!!

Nov. 4 - 9 Wolfville Continued

Mike and Jocelyn had warned us that this town tends to suck people in. People come for a visit and stay for way longer than initially planned or never leave at all. The former came true for us. The vibe and hospitality were just amazing. 

The Blomidon Inn in Wolfville. Beautiful and historic.

The Irving Center at the local Acadia University.

Our third night in Wolfville, we spent with a cyclist family whose contact we found on the Warmshowers.org hospitality service site. We arrived at their house with no notice but Danielle immediately invited us in, made sure we could safely store the bikes in their basement and then she cooked us the most amazing dinner. The "most amazing" part about this meal is that the rice was grown in Nova Scotia, not far from where we sat when we ate this meal. I did not know that you can grow rice in Nova Scotia!!! How cool!!!

THANKS DANIELLE, IT WAS GREAT STAYING WITH YOU AND THE KIDS!

Next day we really weren't sure what to do. We had had plans to do some apple picking just for the fun of it but it started raining again so we ended up sitting in the Tim Hortons for most of the morning, switching tables a few times so the staff would not become suspicious. It looked like we would have to stay in Wolfville another night because the weather was not very travel friendly. We contacted another guy from the Warmshowers site and he said we could stay as long as we wanted. He lived a few kilometers north of Wolfville so in the evening we rode out to his place. Scott gave us a warm welcome, insisted we just make ourselves at home, eat and drink whatever we can find in the kitchen and stay as long as we want. 

Scott works for the Air Force and he happened to get called into work the same night we arrived so we ended up having the entire place to ourselves. We made a nice dinner and clearly had too much fun eating steamed green beans.

We ended up staying at Scott's for five nights. On the first day I spent most of the time working on this blog but on the following day we got some fresh air again. Scott had left us the spare key for his car and insisted we take it for a nice drive to where ever we wanted to go. So, we drove out towards Cape Split. Below is the view of the Annapolis Valley from the north mountain.

On the other side of the north mountain we took a little detour down to the beach. It was beautiful but cold and really windy. The photo below shows interesting grass formations with the water of the Bay of Fundy in the distance.

The churning Bay of Fundy.

Maritime impressions

Unfortunately it was too late in the day for us to hike the 8 km out to the tip of Cape Split but we still got a good 45 min walk in along the wooded path.

Bay of Fundy

Next day was work day for us. There was a mid-week farmers market in Kentville that morning so we rode over to try selling some of our photo cards. The market was held indoors at this time of the year and there was no room inside so we ended up standing outside for 4 hours. We took turns wearing James' furry Russian hat, which he had bought in China, and regular wrestling matches and fist fights kept us warm while no customers were nearby.

After a quick lunch break at Scott's house, we were off to Wolfville for the evening market. There we were given a space indoors as well as wall space to put up a map. It was such a great evening. The people in this town are just so amazing. People were constantly coming and going, sharing their own travel stories and wanting to hear ours. Business was also very successful.

This kind man, whose name I have forgotten, is the one who took the above picture of us. I could not help but ask whether I could take his picture because this is truly the longest beard I have ever seen. It is about 40 years old.

Scott's favourite place to eat is a local Crepe shop. He and his friend Claudia invited us there for dinner. Mmmm delicious!

 On our last evening in Wolfville, Claudia and Scott invited several of their cycling friends over for a little party. Claudia mixed colourful drinks for everybody and it was an overall fun time.

SCOTT AND CLAUDIA, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING US. YOUR TRUST AND HOSPITALITY ARE TRULY INSPIRING!