Mr. and Mrs. Pants Canadian Adventure, Summer 2025

[fontanaman]

Dang, on this forum it seems I'm the negative example more often than the positive one. This sucks.

Oh contraire. My comment was about Texas's lack of public lands.

Now excuse me while I cash out at the restaurant I am at and continue riding my FJR before Texas heat moves in next week.

[gixxerjasen]

Exactly, you are using me for an example of how much the riding sucks here, so it's a negative example.

[blind squirrel]

Dang, on this forum it seems I'm the negative example more often than the positive one. This sucks.

FIFY.

[Hppants]

6/27/25

Today, our children came to visit. Our daughter, who lives in the same city as we do, flew to NYC earlier in the week to spend a few days with her brother. Today the both of them, along with our son's boyfriend and dog, came up to see us. They rented a car (10 hr drive) and picked it up a day early so that they could leave at 3 am and avoid all NYC traffic. They arrived safely about 2 pm and we were real excited to see them.

Tammy prepared one of her famous charcuterie boards.



After snacks, we walked to the dock and enjoyed the lake together.



Joe told me that he wanted to do a hike today, and so about 3:30, we took off for the National Park. Joe and Mario have been seeing each other for about 8 months now, but this is Tammy and I's first chance to meet him. He's a nice, intelligent, worldly man, and right off we knew what our son sees in him.

It's kind of quiet on this Friday afternoon.



Meeko is always up for a walk in the woods.



Nice views here.



Joe's 30th birthday isn't until July 26, but mom insisted we do something on this visit. She ordered a delicious almond/chocolate/macraroon cake at the local bakery.





I lit a small fire and we had a good time chit chatting in the evening.



6/28/25

I got up early as usual, but everyone else slept in, understandably. Today's forecast is rain, all day. So after late breakfast, we decided to drive into Quebec City and find something "inside" to do. Parking my full-sized pickup truck was challenging, but we did find some University campus parking 3 blocks from the heart of Old Town for $14 CAD - pretty good score there.

Tammy and I love the archetecture in the Old Town.





It's raining moderately, but we are making the best of it.



We ended up at this place:



This is a well done museum, with something for everyone to enjoy. Our daughter, the School teacher, enjoyed some of the high-tech displays on the dynamics of crowd control and mass communications. Personally, I tought the exhibit on the indigenous peoples of Quebec was awesome.



The workmanship on these 400 year old bowls is incredible.



An open water kayak skinned in seal hides.



I learned all about snow shoes - something I'll likely never need to know, but it was interesting.



This canoe was absolutely stunning.



Thankfully the placards were written in both French and English. But the oral presentations were only spoken in french. Joe and Mario have no trouble understanding the presenter.



There was an exhibit on the migration of a Bangladeshian refugee to Quebec, narrated by himself. That was interesting.



And finally, there was an extensive exhibit on the history, culture, and lifestyle of the Quebecois people. We learned a TON about this area we are living in for this summer.

Apparently, this is the predesessor to the snowmobile as we know it.



A rather elaborate hearst, if I don't say.



Now late in the afternoon, we walked a bit in the Old Town.





It reminds us a lot of Europe, France in particular.



I suppose it's 5 o'clock somewhere!



We drove back to the ABB and I cooked Shrimp Fajatias for dinner.

6/29/25

The weather moved on last night and today looks to be very nice. Again the kids asked us what we wanted to do and the reply was the same: whatever ya'll want is good with us. So they devised a plan and off we go.

First stop, Montmorency Falls! This was on Tammy and I's list for sure, and we were glad to be able to enjoy it with the kids. Joe, Mario, and I took the walk from the top down. The girls took the cable car instead.

This is a nice suspension bridge that goes over the falls.





From up here, we can see across the St. Lawrence River to the Isle D'Orleans.



Making memories!



Meeko doesn't like water much.



And this is a LOT of water!





We took our time walking down to the bottom.



I wanted to get close at the bottom to feel the rage of the fall. Don't let that jacket fool you - I got SOAKING wet!



The girls were waiting for us at the bottom.



We all walked along the river to catch another view.



Proud Mama and Papa here!



We've lost track of time. By the time we got back to the top, it was 3:00 - late lunch, I suppose.





Nobody's going hungry!



Next, we drove across the St. Lawrence River to the Il d'Orleans. First stop, winery!



I'm not a wine drinker, but our daughter LOVES wine, so this was her jam!





Cheers!



I will say - this Rose' was very pleasant.



What a great day!



Some things speak for themselves....



We get in the truck and run about 6 minutes to a U-pick it strawberry farm, and the fruit is in season!



Joe, Mario, and I each picked 2 quarts of strawberries. The plants are beautiful!



I really enjoyed this.



As a bonus, at the farm store, they sell homemade .... well..... IYKYK....



How freaking good is my life right now? I can't even describe it.....



Tammy and I really like the vibe on this island. We will be back frequently.

We drove back to the ABB for a little rest before one last activity tonight.



The Wendake people, a sub-tribe of the Huron people, have a reserve (Canadian for Reservation) right outside of Quebec City. On their land, they offer a unique experience.



It's a walk through the woods (about 1.5 km) with interactive and interpretive stations that utilize light, laser, video, and other technology to tell you the story of their people.



You use a phone app to read information about each station and go at your own pace. It was so cool!



This must be the future of museum tourism.



We all really enjoyed this.



6/30/25

Another good weather day in the forecast. It's gonna be hard to beat yesterday, but we'll give it a shot.



Mom and Taylor want to go shopping today. So me and the boys will go back to the park and take another walk.



No objection from Meeko.



It's a great day to be alive!





I sure do love my grand pup! That's my buddy right there!





It warmed up today to about 82 degrees, so when we got back to the ABB, everyone wanted to cool off!



Except Meeko - he doesn't like the water, so Paw Paw sat in the kayak instead.



Priceless.





I grilled some shrimp and fixings for the crew!



Love my peeps!



The kids wanted to make smores, and so who was I to argue? I'll take my treat in liquid form, thank you.



What an absolutely terrific 4 days! Tomorrow, the boys will drive Taylor to the Montreal airport for her to catch a flight home. Then they are going to stay in Montreal and play a couple days. Meeko stays with us (yeah!!!).

Life sure is good.

Stay thirsty, my friends......

[FJRoss]

^^^ - Great report!
Looks like it's a pretty good place, even when it rains.
I have to say that Eastern Canada's weather has been somewhat cooler and wetter than usual this season, although lots of time for it to turn around.

[Hppants]

We are loving the climate this summer. It rains a good bit, but usually it's not all day. And the temperatures are just wonderful

[fontanaman]

Quebec City looks just like Paris France. My son has lived in Paris and worked there for Amazon since 2018. He is working on obtaining EU citizenship. I don't expect he will return the the US as he like it in Paris and Europe. In his job he get to travel quite a bit.

Nice your family could join you to share the adventure.

[Hppants]

7/2/25

The forecast today was too good to stay home. I picked the FJR today and didn't make much plans. I packed a lunch and decided to run East a bit along the St. Lawrence River to see what I could see.

From St. Brigette de Lavel, I turned left at the river and ran the old highway a while. It's about 70 degrees and dry - feels like air conditioning.



I've been studying the archetecture here, particularly of the homes. It's varied, but quite a few of the older homes have this roof line on them. I imagine this gives the homeowner usuable "2nd story space", as opposed to just attic space, and that curve on the bottom surely must be for the snow to run off?



This place looks haunted. At any rate, the sun is not as strong here. Back home, that green roof would last about 2 years before fading into some kind of faint ugliness.



The different styles seems to be mixed together and there doesn't seem to be any common archetectural theme within the neighborhoods. This is different than at home. There might be a flat roofed, brick sided house right next to a gable-roofed, wood sided house.







I get to Saint Anne-de Beaupre' and stop to admire the magnificent church there. I shall have to return here with Tammy.



They use a wide pallette of color here, very similar to places we've seen in Europe.



I took a left (away from the river) and ran north a bit, stopping whenever it suited me. The mural work on this church is impressive.



I'm not sure, but I think this is called the Saint John River.



There's a nice waterfall here, but the hike to see it is about 8 miles, each way. Not today.

This surface road is KILLING my back with it's frost heaves and potholes. So when I get back to the main highway, I jumped on it and headed east. Plenty of "watch for moose" signs around here, but I haven't seen one yet.



I'm running 8-10 kph over here, and it's pretty slow.



And then this guy passes me (ST1100, I think) running about 30 over and so I followed the rabbit a while.



We get to Baie Saint Paul, and the rabbit moves on. I went through the city, and then took the coastal highway (hwy 362) along the river.

This is really nice.





I guess the "Sacred Heart" lock thing from Paris is everywhere.



This road is smooth and somewhat curvy, but it's BEST feature is that often, you get a beautiful view of the river.



I see a sign for a ferry crossing and the "Isle-aux Coudres", and I couldn't resist a ride down to check it out.



I get to the ferry station and this will do quite nicely.



The river is HUGE here - several miles across, I'm sure.



Lunch!



The ferry is free and it looks like during the week, the wait won't be more than 10 minutes. There's lots to do on that island - I"ll save that for another day with Tammy.

For now, back up the hill and on for more adventure.



What a day!!



Still heading generally east (down river), whenever the mood suits me, I stop. Do you blame me?



At one point, I side tracked on a small road going down to the coast and found this interesting house/yard. The resident there builds models of the local archetecture, and displays them in the yard for anyone to check out.



His workmanship is quite detailed.



The resemblance is very good.



I get back on the coastal highway and I'm just enjoying the ride.





This area is gorgeous - I can't wait to bring Tammy here to explore more.

.

IYKYK



The public beach looks good.



At La Malbale, it's getting to be about 2:30 and I'm 120 KM from home. Part of me wants to keep going, but the more sensible part knows that I'd better not. So I turn left and take Hwy 138 in the direction of home.



I climbed as high as 800 meters, and the temperature dropped at least 7 degrees. This is nice.



Still about 60 km from Quebec, I saw a sign that caught my eye. It's only 8 KM each way, so why not?

I had to ride 300 meters of smooth gravel, but it was worth it.



This is not a really old covered bridge (1926), but it's in great shape.





So - it's almost 4:00. I really should be moving on because I don't want to get caught up in the drive home workday Quebec traffic. But that water just looked too good to pass up.

Aw Fxck it - I'll deal with the traffic.



Refreshed (feet chilled wonderfully), I jump back on the highway and almost immediately, I found another rabbit to chase. You don't see these very often.



Another thing that happens here is that motorcyclists seem to find each other and ride together. In that last run to Quebec, two other bikers caught up to me and we all rode together for 40 Km or so. One was riding a Suzuki Boulevard and the other a KTM adventure bike of some sort. Both very good riders and I was comfortable with them.

I did deal with a little bit of Quebec traffic, but it wasn't too bad. I got home at about 5:30 pm. It was a great ride.





Meeko was glad to see me.



Another day in our 2025 Summer Paradise!

Stay thirsty, my friends.....

[bigjohnsd]

'Pants, you are "Living Large", and dealing with all the "First World Problems" remarkably well!

[fontanaman]

Most excellent Joey. Keep on trucking. Enjoying the reports very much.

Yesterday I changed the Triumph's front tire. Today my shakedown ride got extended. Darn.

[bungie4]

Good job Forrest.

[Hppants]

July 4, 2025

Happy Independence Day! Canadians obviously don't celebrate our holiday, but they do celebrate their own national day, which was Tuesday (July 1). Many people take this week off, presumably because they can get a 9 day vacation (including 2 weeends) for only 4 work days off.

Joe and Mario returned last night, but got to the ABB past my bedtime, so I didn't see them until this morning. After coffee and breakfast, while the rain moved past the region, we lounged around and talked a bit. I waited for Joe to tell me what we were going to do today. My son has a gift for finding the good stuff. Years ago, I resolved to just let him decide. We mostly like the same things, and so why not let the kid do his thing? He found a waterfall hike that was within 45 minutes drive, and with the recent rains, I thought this might be nice.

I was right.



The "Chute Jean LaRose" trail is a 4 mile loop trek and starts at the base of Mont Saint Anne, and goes down to the bottom of the fall. Somebody went through a LOT of effort and money to provide a nice stairway for us.



The farther we go, the better it gets!










In totality, this must be about 200 feet. It is quite impressive.





I found a dry rock to have lunch.



That water was a bit chilly for me, but Joe waded none the less.



I imagine that in my lifetime, I've seen 300 waterfalls. This was easily a top 10 all time waterfall for me.





Everywhere I go in Quebec, there are lots of wildflowers of all sizes, colors, shapes, etc. At home, it's too hot for this.



We hung around the base of the falls for a while, and then continued on the trail, which followed the creek a bit.



Soon we started climbing through the trees toward the parking lot. The uphill was gradual and very easy to walk.



We get back to the car about 3:30 and drive back to the ABB for a short rest. Then Joe and Mario wanted to go back to the Il d'Orleans to explore that some more. The weather was perfect, so mom and Meeko climbed in and off we go.

There is one brewery on the island, but they don't allow dogs. So we shifted gears and moved to an Apple Cidery. This will work.



I don't have much experience with Ciders, so I picked the flight to try them all.



All of them were good. I likened these more to an after dinner drink, but what do I know? My favorite was Maple Whiskey infused cider (5th from the left in the above photo). Joe and Mario each got their own flight and for round two, we all got a glass of our favorite.

Mom and I are having a BALL this summer.



We get back in the truck looking for a place to eat dinner, but we had no luck. On this Friday evening, every food place closes at or before 7 pm. Unusual, to say the least. Since we were close to the east side of the island, I brought us to the Observation Tower for some nice views.

This side is much more rural.



There's a small floodplain on and near the shore of the St. Lawrence River, but it climbs quickly from there. And then it levels about 25 feet up and this is where we find the orchards and fields of crops growing. I believe this is wheat that is just getting going.





Now back in the truck and we are getting hungry. As I double back toward the only bridge off the island, I came upon this opening with the sun setting over the mountains in the distance. Unanimously, we voted to endure growling stomachs a bit longer to enjoy the ending of a fantastic day.

Even Meeko voted yes!





249 years ago, some great men and women stood on a matter of principle. They wanted better for themselves and all that came after them, and they risked everything for it.

I'm living pretty big, my friends.



We drove to a familar restaurant in Lac Beauport for a late dinner. What a great day!

[Hppants]

7/5/25

Clear skies this morning and low 50s. My coffee was real good. Everyone else sleeps in, but I'm an early person, and the solitude is very nice. Last night, this plant bloomed one beautiful flower. I have no idea what it is.



Mid-morning, the boys got going, and they decided to give this a try.



This is on Tammy and I's list for the summer. It's a birding sanctuary. You can either walk it or kayak it.



We brought Meeko and right away out of the parking lot, I liked it.



Most of the trails are very level with gravel - a very easy walk. They have done a great job of providing us with observation stations everywhere.







We are seeing some birds, but not as many as I hoped. It is mid day on a Saturday.







I'm really glad my son and his boyfriend took some of their precious vacation time to come see Tammy and I.



I'll come back with Tammy and the kayaks for sure.



We got back to the ABB mid afternoon, grabbed a beer (or two) and went down to the lake to hang out. The boys paddled around a bit while Mom, Meeko, and I chilled out on the dock.

Earlier today, Mom went to a local bakery we like and picked up dinner. Quiche - one veggie, and one Ham/Cheese.



For dessert, we drove 5 minutes to Lac Beauport to try the local Cremerie. Their specialty is softserve with a coating. Raspberry ice cream covered in milk chocolate. Very good. I could have done without the cone, though.



The boys finished packing and we hit the sack relatively early. In the morning, they have a 9 hour drive back to NYC, assuming no traffic or other delays. It was a real pleasure meeting Mario. Tammy and I think this might be the one for Joe. We'll see.

Stay thirsty, my friends.....

[gixxerjasen]

I'll come back with Tammy and the kayaks for sure.

Hell yes you better!

[Hppants]

July 8, 2025

It's been raining off and on for a couple days now. The weather pattern here now is interesting. You get 1-2 days of nice, followed by 2-ish days of more widespread rain. The locals tell us that it's wetter this summer so far, but that it should be drying out more as the summer continues. Regardless, when I get a good day, I don't waste it. Today, the FJR gets the nod.

I haven't ventured out much to the west of Quebec City. So I plotted an ambitious loop in My Route, and packed up. Anyone that rides with Pants to parts unknown knows that my advice is usually the same: PACK EVERYTHING! I don't know what I might find, so when I find it, I want to be ready. Well - as it turns out, I forgot one thing. I'll get into that later.

When heading anywhere except north, one must deal with some part of the greater Quebec City metropolis. I took surface streets again and I think I'm done with that. They are laden with speed tables, stop signs, signal lights intentionally programmed for freqent stops. It's tedious and I think I'd make better time just running one of the freeways until I get out of the area.

None the less, I get to Saint Raymond and stopped to admire it.



All of the small towns in this region have a large Catholic church, constructed around 1900 in the same Roman-like Revieval Archecture. Some have one steeple, some two, but ALL of the steeples are painted in this glossy gray color.

I went to the administration office there for the ZEC - the public forestry organization. There, I found out about a large area to ride the dirt bike. That will be maybe 75 miles from our ABB - we'll see.

I get back on my route and west of Saint Raymond, it gets very rural and very isolated.





I didn't fill up this morning, but I've still got 1/3 of a tank and I'm not really worried about it. Looking back, that was a bit shortsighted. Fuel is not plentiful in this region - better to just fill up first thing and not worry about it.

I get to Riverre-Nelson (a one-horse town) and stay on Rte 367. This is a good road.



It parrallels the River Pierre and just winds in the canyon formed by the river.



I ignore the 70 kph speed limit blatantly. I figure if I'm going to go to jail, this is a good reason to do it. Every once in a while, I stop for just a second to take in the view. This is beautiful country.



I get to this little bitty village and as I cross the Batiscan River, something caught my eye.



Wow! It doesn't look this big on the computer map. OK - detour time. I gotta run up this a little ways and see where this water is coming from. Only a mile upstream, I find this.



I can hear the river roaring just beyond the trees, so I didn't even put my walking shoes on. 5 minutes later ... I get to it.





There are a couple of rock islands in the river, and they cleverly built an elevated walkway. It's like you are hovering over the raging waterfall!



I can feel the power of that water!



Well - there ain't gonna be any "soaking my feet" in this water, so I walked back to the bike and continued on my route to my next destination.



I was excited to show my Parks Pass that I bought to let me in free, but the clerk informed me that for this park, EVERYONE gets in for free until early September. Oh well.

There is a main road the squggles through the park. My first order of business was to find a picnic table. This looks promising.



All the tables were taken, so I just walked into the woods and found my own rock table.



The water is running everywhere today.



I get back on the FJR and continue through the park, stopping at whatever suits me. It's warmed up to about 75 by now, but the humidity is low and it really feels nice.



A nice day to just lounge around and warm your blood.







If someone asked me to share a picture of what southern Quebec looks like to me, this one might just be the one. Maybe.



The road climbs maybe 400 meters and there is one overlook at the top. There is a resistive layer of rock throughout this region that usually exposes itself at about 350-450 meters elevation.



Now early afternoon and I rode to my next destination. I checked All Trails early this morning - I can't go to a national park and not walk at least one trail. I picked the Les Cascades trail becuase it was listed as easy to get to and easy to walk. I didn't want to over exert myself today.

I get to the trail head and I like it already.





The cascading waterfall is magnificient! 250 meters into the woods, and the trail runs right along the water.



It's crowded, but there is plenty of room for everyone.



Here's where I realized what I forgot to bring: my swimsuit.



The water temp is perfect - I'm standing in it but there's no where to sit down without getting wet. If it wasn't so crowded, I'd just strip down to my riding shorts and fake it. Oh well - next time.



I put my shoes back on and continued on the trail. Every once in a while, I pop back out to the cascade to get another peek. This is amazing.



i get to the top of the falls and the trail continues upstream. They do such a great job everywhere on trail maintenance in Quebec.



At the top of the loop, the trail crosses the creek and you get just a peek into the window further upstream.



Then the trail winds through the woods down hill on the other side of the stream, no less spectacular.



Back at the trail head, there is a vendor selling concessions. This is vanilla sorbet - very good.



I geared back up and left the park back on my route. I'm trying to find the words to describe it, but THIS is what motorcycling is for me now. Just wander uncharted land looking for everything and nothing all at the same time.



Look for the brown signs. Laser focus on the brown signs....



I love the bridges here.







I texted Tammy about 4:30 pm. I'm still at least 2 hours away and I'm not interested in cutting it short.



Who could blame me?



The region on my return leg was very rural. The roads were actually decent, albeit straight and relatively flat.



Way out in the distance is the St. Lawrence River.



To my utter surprise, they grow corn here! The plants are only about 1 foot tall. They also have a lot of soybeans.



I also found wheat, sugar beets, and even some rice!



Finally, my route brought me to Rte 40, a 4-lane highway that runs East/West. I pointed the horse West toward Quebec City, and set the cruise at 110 kph (10 over). Not long thereafter, a rabbit appeared in the form of a Lexas SUV and 135 kph (83 mph) was quite enjoyable.

Once I got into the cty, I abandoned my route and just took the freeways to the ABB, arriving about 6:30 safe and sound. I noticed that the temp was about 78 in the city, but by the time I got to the ABB, it had dropped to about 71. Another 15 minutes, and I would have had to stop and throw on a layer. It's early July - let that sink in a second.

All told, it was about 500 km. From purely a riding perspective, the riding here is not worldly. It's not technical, nor sporty. But the scenery is really good and the still newness of this entices me to just enjoy it for what it is - wonderful.

Stay thirsty, my friends...

[bungie4]

Maurice (ph: mor-ee-see) is a great ride if high speed sweepers are your thang.

That layer of rock you are seeing is part of the Canadian shield.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Shield

Also, there is no shortage of water in Quebec (or Ontario for that matter). It's used to generate hydro electricity to power much of the East Coast of the continent.

[Hppants]

I knew how to pronounce it - we have a village near home of the same name. In fact, we have a LOT of things at home of the same name as things here.