Ottawa to Fredericton - Day 10

Sunday, September 16 - Rivere-Verte, NB - 102 km

It poured rain until the early hours of the morning, at which point it cleared right up and the stars came out. I waited until it got somewhat light out before getting up. I ended up reading for about an hour, as these woods are fairly confusing, and I figured I would have trouble navigating to retrieve the food bag without light. About 06:00 I got out of the tent and started the morning routine. It was very cold, and everything soaking wet meant my fingers were frozen stiff until I go the stove going with breakfast. I ate scrambled eggs and sausages. I thought I had some potatoes, but I guess I am out of those, so I ate an apple instead. Finally got on the road, soaking wet and cold, into the glorious sunshine. I slowly began to dry out as I rode. My feet felt like ice cubes, and never did fully dry during the day. My knee started hurting right at the beginning. I still pushed on and later the pain subsided, only to re-appear again later in the day. After about 2 hours, I reached the New Brunswick border. I took pictures of the sign, and did a little mini celebration dance. Luckily I was alone, and hopefully no one saw from the nearby town. I was getting hungry so I stopped in Lac Baker at a Jesus memorial. There was a scale model of the town church which was also visible. This area of New Brunswick is still very French, although I am now seeing a few signs in both official languages, and even a couple in English only. I biked on. Around Edmonston I was getting hungry again. I figured I felt like sitting down in a restaurant so biked through town. Saw nothing but an industrial wasteland, a couple of drive through feeding troughs, and a big ugly mall, so I simply ate a granola bar and continued on. A little while later I came across a gas station and atached restaurant, so went in and had the old vegetarian standby; grill cheese with fries. I also had a slice of "home made" strawberry pie, but it tasted pretty much like it came straight out of a can. I biked on down the 144 which parallels the trans Canada. It seems like this was the main road at one point, because it is very wide, and old hulks of businesses long closed appear sporatically along the side. Without the tourist traffic, they simply cannot survive. I started looking for a place to stay. The prospect for camping did not look good. Too many houses stretched out along the highway. In fact I was having trouble simply finding a place to pee. I came across a motel, fronted by an abandoned restaurant and decommisioned gas station. The hotel was still open so I checked in. The place is very run down. There is nothing else in the vicinity, and it appears that I am the only guest tonight. It shall have to do. I guess I will be cooking my meals in the parking lot.

Sweet, sweet sunshine!