Plan B

Dear Michael O’Reilly and Ann Philips

Your request on May 28, 2020 for an exemption of the Special Measures Order (Travel Exemption Order) of May 5, 2020 to enter Newfoundland and Labrador has been reviewed based on the information you provided. Unfortunately, your request has been denied, meaning you are not permitted to enter Newfoundland and Labrador at this time.

So…

Yes indeed, our sailing season became a motorcycle season with kind, but very clear message from the government of Newfoundland. All “come from aways” have been told to stay away this year. So we decided to get our little motorcycles out of storage and hit the road. But that’s getting ahead of the story.

We whiled away our time in Ottawa, watching winter turn to Spring, and then slam headlong into Summer. The chill air spent two days at reasonable temperatures; not too hot, not too cold. After that it was HEAT WARNING after HEAT WARNING after HEAT WARNING.

Ottawa

But the company was great, and Kathy and Mom continued to put up with us, so we lingered through May and June. We walked the nearby creek trail , ate and drank well, watched lots of kitties both virtual , and real , and most especially enjoyed Wednesday Quarantini Salon where we plumb the depths of our collective souls, and Sunday Cacophony where we let our musical souls shine.

In between all the philosophizing and singing we also celebrated a few big days: Mother’s Day, Mom’s Birthday, and also mine. Mom got flowers, and a funny card. I got a yummy chocolate cheese cake!

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Finally, after nearly four months, it was time for us to move on. Sailing was no longer going to be possible this year, but when one door closes another opens up. We packed our little red car, said our goodbyes, and headed north to near Rossport. Our good friends Cathie and Joe live in their own Shangri-La on the north shore of Lake Superior. And they’ve generously been storing our little motorcycles for years. So north we went!

We drove to North Bay that first day, and no sooner did we settle into our little motel room and Ann started to feel a little unwell. A tinge of sore throat, and a sniffle led to a full blown case of Covid Concern! So Ann booked herself in for a Covid-19 test and we settled in for a five-day stay to get the results. The next few days were spent doing not much at all, but it was pretty in places.

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News finally came that Ann was plague-free, so we continued our journey north, hitting Sault Ste. Marie first , then stopping at Katherine Cove for lunch and a quick wade , finally arrived at Cathie and Joe and Maggie’s place.

We are blessed with such good friends and family. Cathie & Joe opened their home and their hearts to us once again, and the best part of this stop was that we had the time to linger for a while. Our work plans involved getting the motorcycles road-ready, but there was no rush, so rush we did not. Time was well spent talking and eating and drinking, with the occasional dog joust and even a bit of work thrown in just so we could earn our keep.

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Work progressed well on our bikes. Or rather I should say my bike started immediately and worked perfectly from the get-go. Ann’s prissy bike decided to throw a little tantrum 😉 , having spit all its coolant out, then demanding a new battery, and then later needing some work on a mystery fuel leak. Ann was practising Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance for a while. But after much ado, including a back-and-forth to Thunder Bay, we got both bikes running well.

We arrived in TB to the welcoming but appropriately physically distancing, embrace of friends Paul & Julie. They own both a big house and a wonderful camp on the shores of Lake Superior, not far from where our last land home used to stand.

We were given the keys to the camp-castle, and invited to stay as long as we wanted. This is a dangerous offer to make to homeless vagabonds, so what was planned to be only a few-day stay stretched into over a week 😉 .

Julie & Paul seem to have an open door policy for everyone they meet. They’d make good Newfoundlanders 😉 . While we were there other friends Tony & Maryanne moved both their 5th-wheel trailer and their boat to the camp. And then friends from Winnipeg came by to spend a wonderful night of good food, good conversation and excellent singing. It was glorious.

P&J have been doing a ton of work (many tons actually) on their land. They’ve built a large, and beautiful garage. They’ve completely rewired the place, and they plan to build a full home in the near future. All the landscaping convinced them to actually buy a good-sized backhoe. Julie is the main operator, and she even gave Ann a few lessons.

The days slipped by. We worked on the motorcycles, changing the oils and doing some general maintenance. I repaired a tarped shed while Ann focused on her fuel leak. With some help from Paul they managed to trace the gas tank vent and then blow through it to hopefully clear any blockage. It seemed to work. We then spent a couple of days downsizing our already downsized lives so they could fit into motorcycle saddle bags.

In between all the work and play at P&J’s we managed to connect with our other wonderful friends out past Kakabeka. Ben & Sherilyn have two incredibly sweet and equally cute daughters, Olivia and Molly. We connected with them and spent a grand afternoon just yackin’ and reconnecting. It’s always so much fun to spent time at their small farm.

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Good company, bike work and a series of nasty storms gave us reasons to stay, but eventually we were ready, and the weather cooperated, so we ran out of excuses to stay. We spent one last night in the luxury accommodations provided by Tony & Maryanne’s 5th wheel, and then we hopped on the bikes and headed west.

It took us another five days to reach Beauvais Lake, which is in south Alberta near Pincher Creek. The drive was unneventful, but mucho-funno! Even the Prairies are interesting when viewed from the seat of a motorcycle 😉 .

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With the Alberta winds howling under our helmets and nearly cutting my mileage in half we finally arrived at our destination. Donna and Sam were at the cabin, ready to greet us. It was a great drive and an even better greeting. So now we settle in to Alberta life for a while. We’ll be back and forth between Calgary and Beauvais. At some point we’ll have to figure out what we’re doing for the winter, but for now, life is good!