Mr. and Mrs. Pants Canadian Adventure, Summer 2025

[Hppants]

I was going to ask about you running the FJR. Surely in 3 passes it'd come back to you.

Probably. But the risk manager in me was running overtime.

What does my insurance (moto/health) say about this?
Can I read all of the fine print of the waiver in this darkness?
What exactly would I be signing?
Are there even any paramedics here (I didn't see any)?
etc etc.

Very quick down and dirty assessment - uh.... nope. Know when to fold 'em.

[Hppants]

September 13, 2025

Today is a special day. I know - I say that about EVERY day. That's the point, get it?

Anyhoo - I digress. Today is Tammy's birthday and I have to say - she looks damm fine for 35! I've never been blessed with the art of Present Giving, and after 40 years, for the most part, Tammy and I have played that scene out. We don't have to wait for our birthday to get something we want. I still enjoy surprising her when I can, but admittedly in our retirement, where we spend lots of time together - opportunities for that are few and far in between. Now - we prefer to give each other experiences.

None the less, weeks ago, I asked Tammy what she wanted for her birthday. Her response was: "Take me to Montreal". No problem.



The 90 minute drive was uneventful, although a particularly uniform road defect had me thinking I had a tire problem for a ittle while. In talking to others, I was told that parking in Montreal is a big issue, but we found a wide open lot right in the middle of everything. $35 for the day - but in the city, ya gotta pay to play.



Birthday girl in the big city. Oh boy!



First stop - Bascilica of Notre Dame.



Tammy said a prayer for my cousin, who is sick. Cancer sucks.



This pipe organ has over 7,700 pipes. Bet that puppy sounds nice on Christmas morning.



We walked to Old Town and Tammy's Shopping Spidey Senses started flaring up. She's like a Pointer in a grouse field! A cute one, no less.



it's a little early for lunch, but when Tammy saw this sign, that was it.



It's the little things....



Lobsta Roll for the Birthday Girl, breakfast lunch for Pants. My "pick the cheapest thing with meat on it" method for restaurants is still in effect. You don't come to Quebec for the food.



Bellies full - back to shopping!!!



The Old Town here is very nice. Impeccably clean. The buildings are not as old as Quebec City,, but the archetecture is still very nice.



City Hall is pretty elaborate.



So here was my "surprise". At the nature station a couple weeks ago, I spoke briefly with a very nice gentleman that was volunteering there. He was a retired professor from Montreal. I asked him for a suggestion of something "different" to do in Montreal. He suggested the Museum of Illusions. I thought it would be fun and it was only about 6 blocks from Old Town.

So we went.



Now - I firmly believe that in this world there are only 2 kinds of people:

1. Math and Science.
2. not Math and Science.

I am most assuredly #1. Tammy is #2. I was worried that this place might be a little too much #1 for her, but as it turns out, she LOVED it.



They did a wonderful job of providing exhibits that allowed the visitor to immerse themselves.



Things ain't always what they seem.











Goofy girl!!





That was fun and something "out of the box" for both of us.

We walked a different way back to Jacque Cartier Square to take in more of the city. Coincidence or not, MANY weddings were taking place today in the various city buildings - seemed unusual to us.



Why not sit for a minute and relax?





It's a lovely day. The temperature is RIGHT at Tammy's sweet spot (68-ish). I couldn't plan it better.



We walked to the old pier and heard the familiar "boom boom" of woofers being overdriven. As the sound got more intense (Bass is omnidirectional - lol), we realized that there was a free skateboarding exhibition going on. All of the performers were female.



These kids were good.



From there, we walked across the marina to the truck and headed home.

Happy Birthday, babe. May today and everyday be filled with happiness and peace. Together.



Stay thirsty, my friends.....

[0face]

Happy Birthday to Tammy!

[Hppants]

September 15, 2025

Tammy woke up with some congestion. No fever, so we are hopeful. She took some OTC meds, fingers crossed. She said she'd be fine chilling out at the ABB, so I started plotting. There are two (2) more national parcs within my reach from the ABB. I picked one of them and plotted a loop route that brought me more northeast to explore the paved roads in that direction.

I get on my way about 10:00 am, and as soon as I leave any semblance of Sherbrooke, it starts getting good.



It's about 64 degrees, the sun is shining, and ole Pants is quenching his thirst nicely.





A little more color peeping through in these parts.



There must be hundreds of lakes in southern Quebec. I guess they basically dammed just about every waterway there is. Here, if you say you live on a lake, it's not all that impressive.



I get to Frontenec National Parc and pull into the visitor's center. This makes my seventh N/P to visit in Quebec. The parc ranger informed me that there are no paved roads in this parc, and the trail I want to walk is a 15 minute ride away. It appears to be smooth dirt, so I give it a shot.



Before I got the Dual Sport, I never would have tried this. But you learn to let the tires walk a little in the looser stuff and that skill applies with any bike. I took it easy and got there just fine.

I ate my lunch at the parking area, and then started walking the Grande Pins (Big Pines) trail. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.



This parc is not heavily used, as evident by the low wear on the trails.



The trail was aptly named - these are among the largest White Pine trees I've seen anywhere in Quebec. For whatever reason, when this region was clear cut, they must have left these trees.



Nice shade on the lake shore to sit and be thankful.







The parc brouchure mentioned a waterfall, but it's been so dry lately, there is no water to fall.



And so I continued on.



Now about 4 KM into the walk, the trail pops out of the forest at this lake.



There was a little kiosk at this point of view. It's got laminated identification cards of the birds found here, along with a pair of binoculars for anyone to use. I've never seen that anywhere before. What a great idea!



I identified a couple of common birds, and then moved on. These guys are warming up in the clear shallow water.



Quite a few of the maple trees here are giving it up.



The trail turns into a gravel bike path, which made the walk easy and more direct. If I come back here, I'll be with the mountain bicycle.



Say - what's that I hear rustling in those leaves?



You better run along little buddy and find a meal. It won't be long before you slip into a hole until Spring.



I get back to the FJR after about 6 KM of easy walking. I never saw one person the whole time. That was a peaceful walk and I'm glad I decided to come here.



I'm still holding hope for seeing another moose, but no luck yet.



It's now about 3 pm and my route says I've still got 200 KM to go, so I start riding more deliberate. The roads in this area are pretty straight.





Now I know why they call this area Thetford Mines.



I fully understand that we need to have raw materials to make things, but seeing the entire landscape destroyed from these practices gives me a bad feeling. Google A/I says that historically, aesbestos was mined here, but now they seek other minerals.



Soon enough, I pulled out of that area and it gets pretty again.



I took the last 100 KM in one chunk. About 10 km from home, I rounded a curve and spooked a deer grazing in the ditch. It seems they are coming out earlier now. By the time I got back to the ABB, my helmet was completely covered in bugs. Little gnats, it would seem. I guess thousands of them are imbedded in my jacket and pants - lol.

Yet another wonderful day in Quebec!!

Stay thirsty, my friends....

[raYzerman]

Thetford Mines was definitely an asbestos mining area, the road used to go right beside the huge tailing piles, I'd venture 150' high back in the day. Quite the sight.

[fontanaman]

Great stuff Pants. I am ripping a page from your book. On the ride with MediumJohn and Scott, as we road along the Washington Coast, I got the idea to take Linda to Seabrook Washington. She accepted and even found the rental home. We are leaving on Sunday to put a check mark next to one of our bucket list items.

[Hppants]

September 16, 2025

Tammy's congestion has cleared up - false alarm, right on.

I post a few pictures of my dual sport rides on my F/B page, and shared it with the DR650 groups that I am a member of. One gentleman that saw my posts sent me a message indicating that he lives in a nearby township and if I wanted to get together and ride, just let him know. I responded immediately with a resounding "yes" and today is the day. Yee ha, mo fos....

We agree to meet in the middle at 10 am and that means I need to be moving about 9 am at a chilly 53 degrees. I kept speeds down to 60 kph heading to the gas station, and down the short stretch of highway to the gravel. Of course, there's no point in slabbing it when there's good dirt between here and there



Some time ago, I found this unmaintained public road that is just wonderful. It's only a few kilometers long, but I take it every chance I get.



Another fantastic early fall day in southern Quebec. This weather is stupid good.



I got to the meeting spot and Daniel was already there. We exchanged pleasantries for a half hour of so while the sun rose above the hills a bit more. He's a very nice gentleman, recently retired. We have a lot in common.

I expected him to take the lead and show me new stuff, but that's not how it happened. As it turns out, he rides D/S more north of here at his cabin in the Laurentides Wilderness. He didn't know anything about the riding here, and asked me to take the lead.

So off I go into the forest. I know the area well now and basically zigged and zagged in and out trying to stay off the pavement as much as possible. We had a good time. Stopped for lunch at the municipal parc in Racine - we both packed sandwiches and snacks. And then I ran a few roads to the northwest of there. It was a very nice day to ride.



We found this unmaintained 2-track that was slow, but fun. Standing up and shifting weight got me heated, and I had to stop and shed a layer.





Daniel actually voted to run a few kilometers of pavement into Bethune for ice cream - needless to say we got along great!



Nothing earth shattering, just a couple of Bush Pigs snorting around here and there.



As luck would have it, about 4 pm, I wound up at the exact spot we met at this morning. We went a long way to get nowhere.



We shook hands and we will try to get together again before I go home. Maybe I'll go further toward his neck of the woods and follow him.

I backtracked the same dirt route back to the ABB, stopping for a few minutes to watch these gobblers doing what they do.



While watching the first group, to my surprise, a second group crossed the road right in front of me and joined the others.



I pulled into the ABB after right at 300 km of good riding, 90% of it on unpaved roads. The D/S riding here is easy, but it's scenic and as soon as you leave the towns, you are by yourself.

Except for your new buddy.

Stay thirsty, my friends...

[Hppants]

September 17, 2025

I woke up early with a little bit of focus. I've got to get some things done today and I do my best work in the mornings. I move coffee along a little quicker and by 8:30, I'm in the truck heading to Sherbrooke. First stop - haircut. The gal spoke very little English, but I signed my way through the request and let's be honest: she couldn't screw up this mop if she tried. 15 minutes and I'm on my way - perfect.

Next stop - seamstress. Yesterday while standing on the Bush Pig in the morning, I felt an unusual draft from the rear nether region. At the next stop, the cause revealed itself - Pants has a split in his pants! I checked a couple of online gear outlets and 2 issues became apparent. First, shipping to Canada ain't cheap - as much as $50.00 in some cases! And second, the shipping is very slow - about 2 weeks is the norm. We only have 3 weeks left here - that ain't gonna work. I get to the seamstress that the neighbor suggested with a good feeling. This is her house and she works out of the back room. At first, she wants a week to do it, but I ask her politely to move me up and she agrees to do it by tomorrow. $20.00 CAD - perfect.

I stop at the grocery on the way home and get back about 10:30 am. Tammy is feeling good and so I propose a picnic lunch on the lake.



The wind is calm and the lake is quiet this morning. Tammy is spotting some birds on the shore of that island.



We ease our way to the other side of the island, where the shore is less steep.



Table for two - proverbially speaking....





This small island is uninhabited, except for these cute little creatures. Yes - we gave them a few treats.



Pretty hard to beat this.



We took a nap on the blanket and then paddled a little around the lake.



It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.







I worked out in my basement gym and then grabbed the mountain bicycle for a spin. I rode to the local municipal park where they have a pump track that I wanted to try. But there were a lot of kids playing there after school, and I didn't want to interupt them. I'll try that another time.

So I just pedeled a few gravel roads in the area, enjoying the splashes of color wherever I found them.





This morning, I bought a nice looking ribeye at the grocery and I threw that on the grill for Tammy and I to share with some sweet corn. That went down like an aspirin tablet. The meat here is delicious. We watched an old movie that we didn't previously see (Cadence, Charlie Sheen, meh).

Tomorrow is another day.

Stay thirsty, my friends....

[Hppants]

September 18, 2025

Beautiful stong sunshine this morning penetrating the patio glass door and I'm itching to get out and enjoy it. Today is no different than any other day. I have coffee with some light reading, and then I pick a toy and go play. I've already ridden the FJR once this week, but there is no law against twice, and so the fast bike's number gets called.

I wiggle my way around Sherbrooke heading east, and while waiting on a pilot vehicle at a road construction site, I was greeted with this little gem.



The fall colors continue to emerge and the landscape is changing daily.



I found this nice little ribbon of smooth pavement just outside of my destination.



Today, I will visit Mont Megantic National Parc. This will be my 8th N/P I see in Quebec, and all of them have been terrific. The parc infrastructure is top notch and well maintained. The parc brouchures are offered in English and do a wonderful job of laying out the land. I stopped at the Franceville Secteur and learned that all of the stuff I want to do is on the other side of the parc. To get there requires a 15 min ride on smooth dirt - no problem.



This is a beautiful area - it's just me and my horse out here today!



I checked in at the Mont St. Joseph Secteur and received a QR code to get into the gate for the mountain road. The grade is steep, but the FJR views it as childs play.



I climbed straight to the top, where there is an Observatory that is unfortunately closed to visitors for maintenance.



At the top, the view is quite nice.







I ate my lunch at the overlook and then moved over to Mont. St. Joseph. The colors here are getting more vibrant - as they are higher in elevation, and a bit earlier in progression than where we are staying.



Tell me the riding is good today without telling me....



At Mont St. Joseph, there is a nice network of hiking trails with varying degrees of length and difficulty. I told the Parc Ranger down at the station that I wanted about 6-8 kilometers, or maybe 2 hours. He suggested the Victoria Sud out and back. Fair enough.



Mostly conifers along the trail. Smells like Christmas to me.



The trail runs along the ridge of the mountain top, and the hiker is offered many points of view.



The cell phone tends to wash out the colors - it looks a lot more vibrant than this. I'd estimate it at about 35% now.



A few Canada Jays popped in to say hello.







I'd accuse him of giving me the side eye, but now that I think about it, that's kind of how his vision works.



What a glorious day for a walk. 65 degrees, sunshine, and the whole world is mine.





A long time ago, I wrote this and I still feel strongly about it every time I walk to an overlook:

"Seeing the world this way humbles a man. It makes him realize that in the grand scheme of things, we are all extremely tiny pieces of dust. Insignificant pebbles in a vast dessert of mountains, canyons, valleys, and cliffs. In the clock of life, we are here but a second. In that short time there is much to see and do, lest we miss out. We must make the very best of our second, wasting not even a fraction of it on stupid and trivial matters. We must take assessment of what is really important, and dismiss the rest as the nuisance it really is."



I'm just along for the ride, man....







Now backtracking to the trailhead, and the walk back is no less entertaining. I saw this display and studied it for a bit.



The parc has recorded the highest annual snowfall for the area. At times, it must get pretty deep here.



I found this "place of refuge", which I suppose is a way for users to get out of the cold storm. It's quite nice with a bed area, wood burning stove, and a table/chairs.



Eight kilometers later, I get back to the bike about 3:00 and start heading down. The air running through my mesh jacket is delightful.



I hesitate to pick favorites - every parc I've visited has been special. But this one is a top 3 for sure. I'll be back here before we go home.



But for now, let's ride places....



.... and eat things.



That's the parc in the distance.



Rte 257 is fairly straight, thankfully. It's hard to watch the road with distractions like this!



Par for the course, my planned route found a goat trail near Bury, QC. This one was paved, but it was so broken up, I couldn't take it. So I back tracked a little and then just punched the easy button - "home".

I got back to the ABB about 5:30 pm, 225 km for the day. Again - I spooked a deer taxing the neighborhood. I need to shorten my day trips and get home sooner - I'm pushing my luck a bit too much.

I threw some hamburgers on the grill for Tammy and I to enjoy on the patio. I'm done thinking that it "can't get any better than this". Every day, I seemingly prove myself wrong.

Stay thirsty, my friends.....

[bigjohnsd]

"Seeing the world this way humbles a man. It makes him realize that in the grand scheme of things, we are all extremely tiny pieces of dust. Insignificant pebbles in a vast dessert of mountains, canyons, valleys, and cliffs. In the clock of life, we are here but a second. In that short time there is much to see and do, lest we miss out. We must make the very best of our second, wasting not even a fraction of it on stupid and trivial matters. We must take assessment of what is really important, and dismiss the rest as the nuisance it really is."

Wise words

[Hppants]

September 19, 2025

The temperature dropped considerably overnight. The forecast high today is only about 62, but sunny. Great day for a picnic and a walk.



Tammy and I get to Mont Orford N/P (our "local" parc) about 10:30 and I picked an easy trail that I know has excellent picnic opportunities.



Tammy enjoys reading the informative signs practicing her french. She speaks very well and that has been a really fun part of this summer for her.



I heard something up this tree and it was a downy woodpecker working on its nest inside. There's a hole in the shadow where the dead branch meets the truck We stood there and lisened to it peck out some rotted wood inside, and then watched it use its beak to evacuate the tailings out of the hole. It was cute. I guess at this point, that little fella has no time to waste. It should be nice and warm in that tree.



The sunlight is enhancing the onset of fall.



We get to the picnic spot and as luck would have it, there's no one at the best table.



Bon Appetite!



Looking good in the hood!



After lunch, we get back on the trail.



Still a ways from "peak", but there are splashes of color everywhere now.







Back at the truck, we walked to the lake to check it out.





OTW way home, we stopped at the Patisserie in Eastman to buy a treat for later.



Another Tubi movie (Southpaw, decent) to round out the day.

Stay thirsty, my friends....

[Hppants]

September 20, 2025

33 degrees this morning. I haven't felt that temperature since February. The wind is calm on the patio, but I'll take my coffee inside, thank you. Warming to about 62 this afternoon and the sun will shine all day. Time to check off some of Tammy's list. Today, we will take care of two items.

First stop - Chocolate Museum in Bromont, a quaint town about 45 KM to our west.



I don't know how she finds this stuff for her list, but I gotta admit, a 50 kilogram sculpture made out of chocolate is something you just don't see every day.



The museum is free and I'm sure it does a great job of explaining the history of chocolate. Unfortunately, it's all written in french, so I'm not able to read it.





The Museum is curated by a local chocolatier, and we bought some of their confections to try later. I was glad that I bought the ice chest with a couple of frozen freezer blocks to keep the chocolate from melting today.

Item #2 on the Eastern Townships list for today is the Grandby Zoo.



Tammy and I love to go to zoos. It's been a few years since we've visited one, and again, I don't know how she finds this stuff. We got there about 12 noon and after a quick picnic lunch, we got started.



Goofy girl!



The zoo is laid out like a clover leaf. The food and concessions and gathering areas are in the middle, and there are four exhibits that loop outward in seperate directions. We started with the African Exhibit.

I've never seen a White Rhino before - this zoo has 3 of them (2 females, 1 male). This is a magnificent animal.



Each exhibit is self-guided and they do a terrific job of using landscaping and other measures to make you feel like you are walking in nature.





Nothing keeping these nocturnal critters in confinement - we found them right over our heads!





Each animal enclosure is very spacious and incorporates the use of enrichment activiites for the animals to enjoy. These 2 giraffes, along with all of the animals we observed, looked quite healthy.



3 lions - again, 2 females and 1 male. At each observation station, there is a sign (French/english) that describes the animal's habitat, diet, range, etc, and also says something about the individual specimens on exhibit. For example, this male lion (Congo) is 11 years old and was born at the Ontario Zoo. He weighs 200 KG and his younger sister (Ceilia) likes to stay close to him during the day.



We watched the gorillas a few minutes - the dexterity in their hands is impressive.



Only 1 hippo that we could find today.



Goofy girl!!



Next up - South America.









Then we walked the Asia exhibit.

Another informative thing this zoo does is bring awareness to the level of threat to extinction each animal has, and some efforts to revert that All of the animals we observed were born in zoos, nearly all of them had parents that were also born in zoos. I don't think zoos are going out in the wild to capture animals any more. The Grandby Zoo partners with Quebec Universities for Vetinary, Zoology, and Animal Husbandry education initiatives, and like all Zoos, there's a significant underwriting Foundation that provides resources for world wide animal preservation. Taken at face value, while the concept of a zoo (placing wild animals in a cage) can have negative connotations, in realilty, these specific animals aren't really "wild", and their exhibition provides resources for the bigger picture. This is how Tammy and I rationalize it.

The Grandby Zoo has 4 (FOUR!!) snow leapords.



This Red Panda was one of my favorites. She is so pretty and seemed to enjoy running around her enclosure, climbing the trees, playing in the grass.



After Asia - we took a break.



Finally, we walked the Oceania Exhibit, which inludes a sizeable aquarium representing South Pacific fish/animals.



This is called a Guitar Fish - I've never seen one of those.



There is an Austrailian enclosure of Kangaroos that we got to walk in - there is no "barrier" between us and the animals. One small Kangaroo hopped right beside us - that was neat. This big male Roo was more interested in sun bathing than us.



Each within this group of females had a Joey in it's pouch, pardon the pun. We've never seen that before.



These Australian parrots were quite noisy.



There's a monorail that runs throughout the park, and we bought tickets to take the ride.





We believe this might have been the best zoo we've ever seen. All of the exhibits are so well done - the enclosures are spacious with good viewing, and all of the animals seemed very healthy. Well worth the $35.00 USD admission - highly reccomend.



Back at the ranch, after a hot tub soak and a left over hamburger, I played some cards on the laptop and called it good enough. We are set to facetime call our kids tomorrow - looking forward to that - we miss them.

Stay thirsty, my friends....