The Final Post

Day 60 - July 28th Grand Falls to Woodstock

The time change kicked us in the butt. We had the alarm set for 4:30 but, we hit the snooze button till 5:30. Adam received a phone call in the night so we wasn’t going anywhere too early which was no worries for us. We broke camp and hit the road by 7am. After biking about 40km we came across the Trans-Canada trail that followed the North side of the Grand River. The trail wasn’t as smooth as the Quebec trails because they were used by the 4 wheelers. It was still enjoyable to be off the hot pavement even though we weren’t traveling as fast. We met up with Adam in Hartland (the home of the longest covered bridge in the world) for lunch, and continued on the path ‘til Woodstock. After grocery shopping we made our way to the Cozy Cabins and campsite where we met up with a local reporter Angela for a few pics and an interview. She mentioned that a group was doing a gig at the local pub that night and the singer also happened to be cycling across Canada while here partner drove support vehicle with all the music instruments. We watched them perform ‘til 10:30 and Jordie could hardly keep her eyes open so we called it a night.


Day 61 - July 29th Woodstock to Fredericton

We woke up pretty foggy headed from the night before and we were on the road by 7am. Biking was sluggish for the first part but we picked up the pace as the day went on. We stayed on the main 4-lane highway for the first 70km. Then we took some secondary roads that proved to be a really good shortcut. Thanks to Adam, we shaved 30km between Woodstock and St. John. We biked 100km to Tracy and called it a day. We packed up and headed to see Michelle (a friend of Jordie’s) in Fredericton. We showered up and headed out to watch Michelle’s soccer game. Her girls’ team ended up tying the guys team with quite and exciting finish. After the game, we treated her to a home cooked pork chop dinner (Dan’s specialty), and we went to a house that she was house sitting to spend the night.


Day 62 July 30th Fredericton to St. John

We crawled out of bed around 6:30, and Dan started cooking breakfast while Jordie was busy making a Ferry reservation. We drove south to Tracy and were on the bikes by 10. We peddled 40km where Adam met us for a snack. We finished the last 40km in St. John and had lunch close to the fairy terminal. There was some time before our departure so we went to check out the market square. Dan and Adam weren’t too keen on shopping so they went to the Loose Moose patio for a frosty while Jordie checked out the local venders. We boarded the Princess Acadia around 5pm and to arrived in Digby Nova Scotia around 8.


Day 63 - July 31st Digby to Kentville

We were all a bit sluggish to roll out of bed. We started riding at 9:30 and the first 20km of riding was steady climbing from sea level to the valley. We met Adam for a snack at km 40. He stopped at the grocery store and picked up some cinnamon buns which were super tasty. The terrain wasn’t much different from what we’ve experienced, rolling hills and farming. We will be following the highway 101 for all of Nova Scotia since it is the main road. The hills are much less steeper and less windy than the secondary roads. We reached Kentville at 4pm and found a campground not far from the highway. We ate tacos for dinner and reminisced about the trip. It’s hard to get our heads around the fact that we will be done our journey tomorrow in Halifax, but there is a certain feeling of accomplishment that can’t be overlooked.


Day 64 - August 1st Kentville to Halifax

After tossing and turning all night in anticipation of the arrival, we pack up our camping gear and headed on the road. The weather couldn’t have been any better. We had smiles on or faces from ear to ear the entire day. We arrived in downtown Halifax at 1pm, after peddling 100km. We stuck our feet in the ocean as we congratulated one another. We took lots of pics before sitting down for lunch at a waterfront pub. We enjoyed some lobster rolls and some beers on the patio. We checked into the Hostel and made our way to the Alexander Keith’s Brewery for a tour and some sampling of their finest Ales. We went to the room and showered up, and made our way down to the waterfront to treat ourselves to a lobster and seafood feast… And a fine feast it was. After dinner we had some celebratory drinks and checked out the night in downtown Halifax.

Seeing how this will be our final journal entry in our blog, we would like to thank everyone that followed our trip and we really enjoyed all the comments that we’ve received throughout the trip. We would also like to thank everyone that donated to the Rick Hansen Foundation as well as all of the personal contributions that went towards offsetting the costs of our trip. We couldn’t have done this journey without the support that we received from friends, family, and the RHF. In case we aren’t able to thank you personally, we would like to thank everyone for their tremendous support.

Oh and in case anyone is wondering, we aren’t biking home, we are piling in Adam’s truck and heading back to Waltham to spend some more time with Jordan’s family. We hope to see you at our arrival party Aug. 10. Just let us know if you want tickets. It’s going to be a good one…