Hey All, I’m going to make this short and sweet as I am pressed for time, but I am in Moncton, New Brunswick right now with my uncle’s sister (which usually means your mom, unless not blood related- which is the case here) and her husband (Trudy + Gary Steeves)… I am within a day’s ride of the bridge that crosses over to PEI!

In my last post I estimated that I’d finish my trip on September 30th, well that still might be the case, but I’m leaning towards October 1st…

Anyways, here’s what’s happened:

Day 78: Saint-Leonard to Woodstock: Woke up. Ate breakfast. Used kettle provided by motel instead of my camp stove. Oatmeal was, well, oatmeal, but added some milk provided by motel. Ate muffin provided by motel. Drank coffee provided by motel. Motel was cheap but good and kind. Left in the cold of a new cloudy day. Put on new gloves bought a few days before. Hands warm. Laughed at weiner dog chasing me. Sun comes out. Gloves no longer needed, after an hour. Haven’t put them back on since. Good investment. Take back road to Grand Falls. Pass by farm with one, no two, oh crap, three large dogs who decide to chase me. They nip at my heels and try to run me off the road. I yell at them to go home and show no fear. They listen. I pass through Grand Falls and cross over giant bridge to get to another back road. Ate lunch which included chocolate covered almonds. Got back on road and enjoyed a beautiful ride by the river with the multi-colored autumn trees. Made it to Woodstock. In New Brunswick, not the concert in 1969. Set up tent. Talked with french lady. Ate supper. Called mom. Forgot flashlight. Searched for tent. Found tent. Went to sleep.

Day 79: Woodstock to Fredericton: Woke up super early. Got packed up. Skipped breakfast… because I saw a Smitty’s on my way through the night before. Ate french toast and bacon. A luxury. Got out of town early. Took the main highway (which is new and awesome) and climbed hills. Giant hills. No relief in the middle. Straight climb. Didn’t stop. Surprised myself. Many kilometers up hill. Determination was the key. And the prospect of eating more chocolate covered almonds. No incidents to speak of. Made it to campground in Fredericton. Met two older ladies on bikes, one of which was from Whitehorse and knew Malkolm (the 17 year old I rode with in Ontario). The other lady graciously offered me dinner at her place. I accepted. We rode to her house. I ate and drank to my heart’s content. I had apple crisp. And then more apple crisp. Good conversation. Said thanks and left before it was too dark. Rode back to tent. Had shower. Had sleep.

Day 80: Fredericton to Gagetown: Woke up and ate. Got packed up and left. Rode through downtown and finished errands. Took pictures and ate lunch by the river. Left town and took the back roads. Back roads were busy and narrow. Weather was cloudy and windy. I was unhappy and frustrated. Should have taken main highway and gotten further sooner. Made it to campground outside Gagetown and set up tent. Ate dinner and met a nice couple. They offered me pork and peas with rice. I showered and planned to use the pay phone. The payphone was a deathtrap and surrounded by at least ten large spiders. A picture would not have done it justice and all I can say is that I decided not to use the phone, after staring in awe for five minutes. I went to bed thinking about the phone of death and then the rain woke me. I just used the word “and” in every sentence in this paragraph and I don’t know why.

Day 81: Gagetown to Moncton: I woke up just as the rain was subsiding. I didn’t get much sleep because I was tossing and turning. Apparently (I say apparently but really I knew and was too lazy to do anything) I set up on uneven ground and kept rolling off my sleeping mat. Well I sucked it up and got out to make breakfast. I packed upand got out in decent time. I dressed in my rain gear and not too far down the road I changed out of my rain gear. Then it rained. I put on half my rain gear. It stopped raining. I kept on half my rain gear and got hot and started to sweat. I took off the remaining rain gear and the sun dipped behind the clouds. Then I found something to distract me from the weather.

It was the trees. Up until this point I had only caught glimpses of the vibrant colors of autumn. Today I passed such deep reds and oranges and golden yellows they took my breath away. I admired the beauty and felt better about my day. I rode far and fast. I cruised my way to within 30 km of Moncton and stopped at a gas station where I met a member of the skinhead gang in Calgary who was hitchhiking. I gained some perspective on the troubles Calgary has with gang wars in a place almost as far as I can be from Calgary on this trip.

I continued onwards and made it to Trudy and Gary’s place. They welcomed me with arms wide open and fed me too much good food. I showered in the most awesome high-pressure shower ever and did my laundry. I put on my Quebec Nordiques t-shirt and got comfortable and talked sports with Gary. As the evening got late I went to bed and watched sports centre briefly on the TV in my room. As my eyes began to close I turned off the TV and reached for the lamp. That’s the last thing I remembered, until I woke up 6 hours later in the same position, covers and sheets still neatly placed and my bare feet hanging off the end of the bed. Apparently I was tired. Well I got under the covers and got more comfortable. Naturally, at this point, I found it hard to sleep. Sigh.

Day 82: In Moncton: Today is a miserable, rainy, windy and cold day and I have some important financial business to take care of so Trudy and Gary offered their place for another night. Gladly accepted over a large breakfast of champions. Tomorrow is the trek to the bridge… to PEI…