GOOD RIDE, SHORT STORY

Mostly a riding day today, so not a whole bunch to tell a story about. Honda One in St. John’s had taken very good care of Fury and she was ready to go by about 10:30 a.m. I packed up all my stuff and called a cab to go and get her. Loading up, we headed out of St. John’s around noon. Even thought I was feeling a bit hungry by then, I wanted to get some road behind us, so got out of the city.

The landscape here is beautiful. It often reminds me of the tundra in Nunavut, with its low-lying vegetation, frequent expanses of water and rocky topography. Stark and rugged and peaceful.

The riding temperature was quite nice and we sailed along for a bit more than an hour before my tummy started to complain about its lack of attention. We took the exit for Dildo, NL because…..well, why wouldn’t you?! It’s a pretty happening community and I chose to stop at the Dildo Brewing Co. and Museum for lunch and a tour. Struck out on both counts as there was a 1-hour wait for lunch and the Museum part was closed. Continuing a bit further down the road, I pulled into the Dildo Dory Grill. And they are closed on Mondays. Bordering on cranky, a local guy told me that the Boathouse across the other side of the water was good. So I rode back the way I came and sure enough, the Boathouse was open. Upon recommendation of the waitress, I had the hot turkey sandwich for lunch and it was blissful! At the table next to me were 4 women having a grand time visiting. They were all related and, from their conversation, have all done a good bit of travelling. I took a couple of pictures for them and we chatted a bit about my trip too.

Getting back on the road, we rode for another hour and a half to Clarenville. Fuelled up and pulled out of the gridlock of traffic to a parking spot. I figured there was still plenty of time in the day, so I searched accommodations and called ahead to Meems Elliston Bed and Breakfast. Then fired up Fury and made for Elliston. We only made one detour along the way, which was to follow a side road to Trinity, NL. A very picturesque little village, they have restored, rebuilt or kept their buildings in historical presentation. The cemetery beside St. Paul’s Anglican Church was my favourite though. What interesting tombstones! I couldn’t make out dates on any of them, but clearly they have been there a long time.

Arriving in Elliston about 6:30 p.m. I was greeted by my B&B hosts Rashid and Maila. Maila is a Canadian that went over to India and ended up staying 20 years! While there, she met and married Rasheed and they have recently returned to Canada for a quieter lifestyle. I’m not sure a B & B meets that goal in the summer as they have been booked steady since June. They invited me to have a bite with them as they were just sitting down to supper. I accepted the invitation and we had a good visit over moose soup. 😊 After that, we walked down to the local store where I was able to return the favour by buying the ice cream. Maila told me there are some beautiful sunsets down at Cape Bonavista and how to get there, so when we got back, I jumped back on the bike to see if I could ride down the sunset. It was falling fast, so I stopped along the road to take a quick picture in case I didn’t make the destination in time. It was a good thing because a fog bank was rolling in too and by the time I got down to the park, there wasn’t much of a sunset. There was some stunning, rugged coastline to drink in though, and I thoroughly enjoyed the little junket. As I returned, the fog was beginning to roll steadily over Elliston, cloaking the streets in mystery. That was my cue to get back to the house to my lovely colourful room. I can say without hesitation that it is the most colourful room I have slept in so far and, being a colour girl, I love it!

Stay tuned for more stories tomorrow. In the meantime, don’t forget to read the Trivia Bits for your Newfoundland history lesson!