We're in the final countdown to St. John's, and now that we are in the Maritimes in New Brunswick, it is hitting us that we are very close to the end.
At our campsite last night and this morning, we waged a serious battle with the local blackflies. They were by far the worst we've had to date, just swarming every part of our body, worst when we were standing still trying to actually do something. They definitely won the fight, and we got out of there as quickly as possible this morning to avoid them.
There was little between Sainte-Florence and Matapedia, so we made it through in solid time. The ride was absolutely beautiful, following several of the regions rivers through the valley, surrounded by pine forest. We weren't quite ready for lunch when we arrived, so we pushed on across the border to Campbellton. It was quite a feeling to be in the Maritimes, and thankfully they had a great sign for us to get a picture with!
There's not much along the East coast of NB, and we went a long distance without seeing any grocery stores or restaurants. Worse, we had lost an hour coming into the province, so it was getting late to find something. Signs to one campsite were completely false, but regardless we didn't have any food, and after 120km of riding, all we knew about was Pizza Delight in tiny Jacquet River 10km away, which somehow came up in searches. We figured we had no choice but to go there, so we ordered 4 of their biggest pizzas for takeout, and figured we'd find somewhere to camp once we got there.
We lucked out big time. Not only was the pizza delicious, but there was a campground right next to it. It was right on a beach, and with clear skies the sunset was amazing. We took the pizza with some beers down to the water, had a swim with LOADS of jellyfish (Jon got stung), and had rock skipping, rock throwing, and caber toss competions. The caber toss was the most exciting, and everyone was able to get the first, lighter log to 12 o'clock. The second log, taller and heavier, posed a greater challenge. Contestant after contestant tried and failed, until Jon stepped up to the plate for his third attempt, throwing it up in Herculean fashion to get it to land at the 12 o'clock position. We even had a crowd, as a couple had just ridden over along the sand in their ATV. With the competition settled, we headed back up to set up camp, with two full pizzas left for tomorrow. They were huge, so we'll definitely have enough for breakfast, possibly even lunch!
With the trip nearing an end, I've decided to run the battery on our GPS locator down, and have it tracking us all the time through the day. If you click on the "current location" link on the homepage, you can see where we are throughout the day, and follow us all the way to the finish line until August 5th. It is a cool extra feature for you who follow us along.
Moreover, we sit about $11,000 short of our fundraising goal to date. Please help us out be telling anyone you haven't already about the ride to help us make it before we're done! Every little bit helps.
With that out of the way, the countdown is on to St. John's.
Ten...
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
4 comments:
Really feel that we are with you every inch of the way with the spot checks. Nine more sleeps! xxxx's and oh so proud of you sll.
Wow! You're actually going to make it. Not that there was ever any doubt.
Ne lâchez pas.
M
I have enjoyed reading of your progress since I became aware of your ride when you were passing through Winnipeg.
Not far to go --
Enjoy the LOBSTER !!
Arthur (Father of Mark -- Uncle of George)
Hey, Im Alecia, i work at the Annapolis Royal visitor infortmation center. Your mom stopped in :) I just wanted to say im so proud to see that you guys are doing all this work to help your friend. not very many ppl will do something so challanging just for a friend. Good work guys :) stop in and say hi lol. have fun on the rest of your ride. good luck.
xoxo
Post a Comment