Enjoyed our evening in Bathurst, but I will admit that I really don't like that town/city, layout??? Seems to be disjointed and scrambled all over. The room was nice and comfortable, providing a good sleep. I did get up after 6:15 but could have slept longer. We really can travel at our leisure, however, if we want to keep dry we have to follow the weather forecast and plan accordingly. The weather for Bathurst called for sunshine, increasing cloudiness and change of thundershowers as the morning progressed. Weather for Campbellton called for isolated thundershowers, all day, providing up to 25 mm of rain in the isolated areas. I figured we were heading right for the system. We had breakfast and packed up and were on the bikes and heading out of Bathurst at 8:10. We travelled through Beresford, Nigadoo and small communities all along that just seemed to run into each other. At about the 15 km mark we noticed the looming cloud so stopped at a bike shop to don our rain coats. The bike mechanic had just arrived so we had a nice chat with him. We headed off in the rain, but it didn't amount to much although was a steadyish rain for about 15 minutes. Then the sun came out so we stopped to take off rain jackets.....then continued to breeze along. Although I ate and do eat a good amount for breakfast by about 10:00 my stomach is rumbling and grumbling and I am hungry. We are travelling through vastness of nothing, although the view of the ocean (Bay of Chaleur?) is vast and we can see across to the Gaspe area....very magnificant and scenic. I notice a sign for "Pizza Hut" and race along hoping that it will appear out of the nothingness. Finally in Jacquet River we notice a restaurant that I think may have been the Pizza Hut at one time. It was newish and had the inside decor of Pizza Hut but it was a restaurant now. I ordered a western sandwich and Bob had the full breakfast deal. It hit the spot. From then it was a good pace into Charlo where we stopped at a roadside lookoff, and sat and enjoyed the ocean and the scenic views of Carleton Sur Mer across on the Gaspe. We could see the rolling large hills and the windmills off in the distance. At this stop we ran into a motorcyclist, hauling a little trailor. He and wife were from Ontario and had been touring the Maritimes. We had a lovely chat as they had been around the Cabot Trail and in Lunenburg, which they loved. I told them that my mom lived there. They also had their 9 year old minature poodle, Pam, with them. She lay tucked in his arms. She has her own spot on the motorcycle, with her own windshield!!! She is tethered in so can't fall out and appears to love the bike. As far as the long stretches of road with the beautiful vista the one thing that you don't see is GARBAGE by the side of the road due to the lack of "drive throughs" etc. It is nice to see nature and beauty unspoiled. We see many flickers and lots of finches today. There were several offspray nests too. From the look off in Charlo we head into Dalhousie, using #134. I was thinking that this is the route we used when we did the cross Canada tour in 2006, but nothing looks familiar. We must have traveled #11 then? Well the #134 into Dalhousie was a treat!! First a lovely area crossing Eel River, but then came the climb. A 13% grade up.....guess we should get familiar with this sort of thing for when we enter the Charlevoix area in Quebec. We get into Dalhousie only to have to descend down a very steep hill....following #134, only to cycle briefly through Main street and then have to climb another hill on the other side to get out!! One thing that NB is terrible for is the lack of road signs, telling where you are, or how far it is to any destination. Sucks!! We had planned on camping once in Campbellton, but as we arrive along the street we notice cloud banks off. The fair is in town, as it is Salmon Festival days. We picked a great weekend to arrive here. We stopped at the Visitor information centre to check out the weather for the night. 94% chance of thundershowers. That did it. We booked a room a the Super 8. Great location as a stone's throw to the down town. Next door is Sobeys. We had just checked in and I was famished. Bob went to the liquor store while I went to Sobeys. We both arrived back at the same time. I had macaroni and cheese which had just come out of the oven, some cherry tomatoes, some genoa salomi and crackers. He had the more necessary items, beer and wine (;-0 I was famished so we had our snack. Then donned bathing suits and hit the hot tub and the pool. We are relaxing and plan on heading down to take in some of the salmon festivities. It is pouring right now and I can hear the thunder booming. Nice to be indoors. We may hit Sobeys later for some frozen food which we can cook in the microwave. Tomorrow we head off to Amqui. I don't know how close I will be to internet access, so it may be a few days before I can blog again. Itinery is Amqui, then the next day to Le Bic and then on to Riveriere du Loup where we will cross the ferry to Saint Simeon and cycle the Charlevoix region to Quebec.
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