Tuesday Sep. 9, 2008
After packing up my camp from behind a building in a quiet historical town outside Washington I rode to New York city. I attached my video camera's bullet lens to my helmet because I knew it was going to be impossible to stop and take pictures of landmarks in this huge, busy city. I intended to ride right through the heart of NY to see the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan and then leave.
While going through a toll booth on the way out of town the attendant (who looked more like a cop) asked me what was on my helmet. When I told him it was a video camera he became abrupt with me and said I had to pull over and wait. After waiting in the hot sun with all my gear on for about 20 minutes, his supervisor come out and told me I had to show him the footage on my camera because it was illegal to film bridges, tunnels and about a hundred other things in NY state. This was all completely new to me, and of course I had filmed dozens of short videos through the city that day, of probably just about everything he listed. But I didn't have a choice, so I opened the camera and the display showed only one video thumbnail on its little screen for some reason. So I showed it to him and he saw that it was simply a video of the traffic along a freeway and let me go. But as I drove away I couldn't figure out why there was only one video thumbnail on the screen when I had filmed several videos that day. So a little ways up the road I stopped and opened it up again. I don't think I've ever watched a video on the camera itself so I really didn't know how that functionality worked, but once again I only saw the one video. Then I pressed a couple of buttons which flipped through screens full of thumbnails. OK, that was lucky.
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Even though I was stuck in traffic for hours - dreaming about how efficient it was for motos in South America to bypass all that, and why North Americans were so against it - I finally made it to my friend Christian Burrow's place in Boston late that night.
Chris and I met several times throughout my trip after I first left a note on his BMW in Antigua, Guatemala. Next I saw his moto again in Granada, Nicaragua and when I entered a nearby business we met in person. Unfortunately, Chris is a huge Red Sox fan and they were playing the next day, so he wouldn't ride south to Costa Rica with me in fear that he would miss the game. The next time we met was at the BWW dealer in Medellin, Colombia and we ended up staying at the same hostal for over two months where we shared plenty of great memories and rides. After having left Medellin separately, sadly we missed each other by mere blocks in Ushuaia, Argentina at Christmas 2007. Soon after that he rode up to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, flew to Miami and then rode back home to Boston.
It was great seeing Chris again, someone who could really relate to life on the road by moto. We had a good visit and stayed busy for the four nights I was there. One day he gave me a personal tour of his beautiful and very historical city with so much history. And Chris seemed to know all about it. The next couple of days he put me to work helping him with his moving company at the busiest time of year in a college town, which in turn helped me financially. After having just bought a new moto and all new gear it was appreciated.
I valued having camping gear for North America more than any other place I visited. That's because hostels were hard to find and the cost of a hotel here was ridiculous. Even campgrounds seemed unrealistically expensive, but then I wasn't really camping anyway. All I wanted to do was throw down the tent down, go to sleep and then leave early in the morning or 'drop-camping' as I like to call it.
I realized I was getting closer to Canada and further away from the populous when I saw a bear hunting sign.
One evening I stopped for gas and was having a bite to eat beside Buzz II in a small town. An older couple on a large touring moto pulled in and we started talking. They told me they lived in that town and had just returned from a trip in Canada where they had a great time and found the people very friendly. But when I asked them if they knew anywhere nearby where I could drop-camp for the night, they scratched their heads and mumbled a few things but just couldn't think of anywhere. It's sad when people are so scared of everything and everyone.
The next day as I crossed out of the US and into Canada I realized that it had been nearly two-years since I set foot in my native country, and it felt good to be back. It's hard to explain, but there were simple yet tangible differences between these two countries that I could actually sense, and it was obvious the minute I crossed the border. The US officials were stiff and unfriendly, but the Canadian officials were courteous and helpful.
Some things I've noticed about the US:
- There are allot of cameras on roadways
- Everyone seems to have a GPS in their vehicle
- A large number of people seem to be overweight
- The majority of the population appears to be seniors (I'm accustomed to seeing a great deal of children in South America)
- Everyone seems to drive fast
- It is sad that US Americans feel unsafe and are often un-welcomed in many of the countries I've visited because of the US government's policies. The reality is that they are one of - if no THE - only country which has reached out and helped many foreign countries with their problems when nobody else would. They have stood up for human rights injustices for those without the strength to do it for themselves and I have met more people from the US volunteering in 3rd world countries than any others.
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Bob MacKay is a friend from the Black Gold Beemers motorcycle club in Edmonton who's recently retired back to his home in New Brunswick. Bob, his wife Veronica and their daughter Melissa gave me a warm family welcome into their lovely home when I first entered Canada and again when I passed through after visiting Cabot Trail. Bob is another die-hard motorcycle enthusiast who has many years experience riding all kinds of machines. It was fun visiting Bob because just about everywhere you look there's something moto related. Their home is located on a beautiful acreage just outside of a small city where the quiet, friendly lifestyle of the area could easily convince anyone to move there.
Even Bob's neighbor Kevin Burry showed me how nice people are there. Interrupting his busy day he kindly modified the centerstand stop and even fabricated a very nice sidestand plate for Buzz II so that parking on soft terrain is possible without the moto tipping over.
Before I turned west and headed for home, I wanted to visit the east coast of Canada and ride the famous Cabot Trail. On the way I rode from New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island (PEI) over the 12.9 km (8 mi) long Confederation Bridge without paying a cent. That's because it only costs money to leave the island. And there were two choices: Ferry or bridge. Since I took the bridge on, I decided to take the ferry off the island to Nova Scotia. This would allow me to ride through Charlottetown and some of the beautiful countryside first.
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After drop-camping again the next day in Nova Scotia I finally got to experience riding the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island. I'd heard that it was only fog and rain free a few days of the year so I was expecting the worst, but thankfully it was OK for me that day. The trail follows almost the entire perimeter of the island, and even though the road surface is not always in great condition, it still offers a beautiful view of the island and the Atlantic ocean. This was to be the furthest east I would ride in Canada, and roughly the same longitude as Manaus, Brazil in the Amazon Rainforest.
For the first time in two years I now turned west towards my home and started the ride across Canada. By the time I got off Cape Breton Island and back to Nova Scotia, the weather forecast was warning of heavy rains and winds from tropical storm Hanna. It seemed like I was pursued by heavy rains almost the entire east coast of the Americas starting from northern Brazil.
Riding through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick I saw some beautiful sights that I just had to stop for pictures of, even if it was raining pretty hard. Sure glad the cameras are waterproof.
On my way back across New Brunswick I appreciated being able to stop at Bob's again for a night with his family. The next day I continued to Quebec where I camped on the St. Lawrence river at a campground owned by a huge sanctuary in the city of Trois-Rivieres. Interestingly, Quebec's main highway speed limits are 100 kph (62 mph) and I saw signs threatening fines of $895 if you were caught doing 160 kph (99 mph).
When I reached Ottawa, the capital of Canada, I park illegally on the sidewalk on the street in front of Parliament Hill (the equivalent to the White House in the US) for a few pictures. There were no security guards or hidden cameras here concerned that I would commit a criminal act.
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