FJRiders.com

Owning a Triumph is increasing my cultural bandwidth.

7/18/25

The weather has passed through - today and tomorrow, it's going to be really nice. Tammy and I decided to take my parents to the Ill d'Orleans (Orleans Island) and show them around. But first, we had coffee and walked around the garden in our yard. My dad loves to take pictures of flowers, and there is a whole big adventure right here at our ABB.



Seemingly every day, something new blooms.







We packed a simple picnic lunch and left mid morning for the 40 minute drive to the island. First stop - U-pick it berries!

The green onions at this farm are HUGE!!!



The raspberries are ready and the bushes are enormous - my mom doesn't even have to bend over.











The strawberries are still going strong, and we helped ourselves to those as well.



We knew my dad would LOVE this!







I paid for the berries, plus a generous tip to compensate for the shit ton we ate, and off we go.

It's a beautiful day on the St. Lawrence River.



My parents are devout Catholics, and they love seeing churches. Plenty of that here.





My wife likes chocolate - this stop was a must.



I think we bought one of each.... (sigh)



By now it's lunch time, and we thought a little grape with our picnic would be nice.





If you ate all your lunch, you got a treat.





Now heading along the south river shore, we continued on, stopping wherever the mood suited us.





This is more like my "sacred place"



Next stop was on Tammy's "Canadian Bucket List" - a field of lavender.





It's a little early, but the flowers are coming along nicely.



Every once in a while, ya gotta stop and smell the flowers.





If you ever wondered what unconditional love looks like when it's been shared for 61 years, this is it.



The bees are having a productive day.



Back in the truck for 5 minutes to the next stop.



Cheese is good. Tammy picked out some good ones!



One of the oldest buildings on the island (1727-ish) was next door, and there was an interpretive center. Why not?



The exterior walls of this house are at least 18" thick! I suppose that's one way to keep out the cold.



No metal straps, nails, screws, or the like here.





Now early evening and my parents are gassed. Frankly, I'm surprised they made it this far. I stopped at the Micro brewery for a happy hour.

Dry Hopped IPA for Pants.



Octoberfest for Papa Pants.



Tuity Fruity Sangria for Mrs. Pants.



And a lighter biere for Mimi Pants.



My dad asked me for a toast, and I offered the first thing that came to my mind:

"Here's to retirement. f@$k working. Stay thirsty, my friends."



After happy hour, the food looked pretty good, so .. why not?





Living big, ya'll.



We drove back to the ABB. I asked my dad if he wanted to join me in an evening snort.





During the day, I had many opportunities to be thankful for my numerous blessings, including most assuredly, my family.

Stay thirsty, my friends....

Calling @Tyler!

You are living the life Pants.

We did some self pick blue berries awhile back. They should have weighed us going in and out and charged us for the difference.

'Pants, one thing we noticed, but could never get an explanation of; most of the churches on the North shore of the St Lawrence had two steeples, while most on the South shore had only one steeple. Any ideas?

bigjohnsd wrote: ↑Mon Jul 21, 2025 12:44 pm 'Pants, one thing we noticed, but could never get an explanation of; most of the churches on the North shore of the St Lawrence had two steeples, while most on the South shore had only one steeple. Any ideas?

It's a bit more of a conundrum than that. On the north short WEST of Quebec City, I see one steeple. East of QC, usually 2.

Regardless, they all have the same archetecture (Romanesque Gothic), which was indicative of the early 20th century church construction (Catholic), which is when nearly all of them were built.

They all use this same glossy gray paints on the roofs and steeples.

A few days ago, Tammy and I spoke with a couple of religious curators at one of the churches downtown. I shared my observations on these things with them and asked if there was some reasoning. Both of them were dumbfounded at my question - they said in decades of doing this, no one has ever asked them this, and they had no idea why it was this way. They themselves hadn't noticed either.

Beats me....

My Google-fu comes up with a church shared by two denominations. They each have the own entry as well.

PPANTS, are the churches both Catholic churches? One or two steeples?

wheatonFJR wrote: ↑Mon Jul 21, 2025 4:49 pm PPANTS, are the churches both Catholic churches? One or two steeples?

All of them are catholic, which is far and away the predominent religion here. Other churches exist but they are much more modern and far less elaborate.

Hppants wrote: ↑Mon Jul 21, 2025 6:00 pm

wheatonFJR wrote: ↑Mon Jul 21, 2025 4:49 pm PPANTS, are the churches both Catholic churches? One or two steeples?

All of them are catholic, which is far and away the predominent religion here. Other churches exist but they are much more modern and far less elaborate.

Leave it to the Catholics to suck the most money out of their congregations. Before y'all freak out, I grew up Catholic, and have an intimate knowledge of their shtick. They could rival an HVAC vacuum pump!

7/19/25

My parents slept in a little - they had a long day yesterday. We took our time with coffee and breakfast. The weather is holding nicely, so for today, we drove over to the national park to look around.

I picked an easy trail for us to walk, and things started out pretty good.



But soon, the rocks and the roots appeared and I started to get concerned. My dad has fallen twice already since they got here. His legs are not what they used to be. I got nervous and we turned around back to the truck to try something else.

I moved to a walkway that is basically the entryway to another trail. It follows the river and is lined with packed gravel.

This is more like it.





After an hour or so of that, we just took the truck through the park, and stopped here and there.



Tammy wants to come back here and paddle - fine with me!



I get back to the ABB mid afternoon intentionally. My mom slept in the truck all the way back - they are tired. While they took a nap, Tammy and I jumped in the kayaks and cruised the lake.



After some happy hour, I grilled some shrimp (with "fixings") and we had nice meal on the patio.



Stay thirsty, my friends....

7/20/25

Today is Sunday. My parents are devout Catholics and Tammy and I felt like they would enjoy going to church at the Saint Anne de Baupre' Basilica. I made the coffee strong and we got them there for 11 am mass.





As luck would have it, the Parish Bishop presided over the service and even though they don't know French, they followed along just fine.



Just up the road was a microbrewery that I picked for lunch. They brew New England style IPAs there - this one was very tasty.



The food was also good there. I had the brisket street tacos and they were delicious - I think Tammy and I will be back to this place - good vibe, good beer, good food.

Next up, I wanted my dad to see the big waterfall and photograph it, so we drove to the bottom parking lot and paid the fee. We walked the perfectly level boardwalk toward the base of the fall.



In the previous photo, my dad took it upon himself to walk down those 4 concrete steps, presumably to get a closer view and photo op. And that's when it happened. I turned around and was just about to run down and help him when he falls from the 3rd step. His rght leg was tucked under him, and for a minute I thought he broke it. I get him rolled over on his rear end, and pull his leg out just a bit to triage. His lower pants leg is full of blood. He cut himself on the conrete step. Crap.

I pull up his jean leg and the cut is wide and deep. I grabbed some clean paper towel I had in my back pack, packed it under pressure, and then pulled his eleastic compression knee brace over the towel to hold pressure on it. I told everyone to just hang tight, and I ran back to the waterfall office to seek help. No help to be found, but I did see a wheel chair in the corner with the waterfall name on it. So I grabbed it and wheeled back to the family. With the help of a bystander, we got him in the chair.

In his usual optimistic self, while I was gone, he shot some pictures of the fall - said he got some good ones. Go figure.



I wheeled him back to the administrative building and into the restroom. I need to clean the wound and get a better look at it. I did so, and I didn't like what I saw. The wound was very deep - I told Dad that I think we need to run him in and get some stitches. He said Ok. We got the name of a hospital 10 minutes away - load him up and off we go.

They triaged him quickly and the nurse said that the doctor will indeed stitch it. Before doing so, we had to pay for the service (to be reimbursed by personal insurance later) and then we waited our turn. About 90 minutes later, the doctor gave him a tetnus shot and 3 stiches, plus a little "wound glue" in the area that was unstitchable.

We leave the hospital about 9:00 pm and by the time we got home, everybody was gassed. My parents are supposed to fly home tomorrow - first leg of the flight leaves Quebec City at 6:00 am. We'd have to leave the ABB at 4:15 am.

Not a chance.

We called the airline and changed their ticket to Tuesday at 12:45 pm. Much better.

7/21/25

Even I slept in a bit this morning - it was a late night.

We took it easy at the ABB all morning. My parents took a nap after lunch, and I went to the MTB park to blow off some steam.

This place is incredible for trail riding.







I ran all of the green trails (easiest) a couple of times, and I was looking at my phone app to consider trying one blue trail with the little bit of gas I had left, when 3 young men pulled up next to me. We talked for a bit, and they invited me to follow them to a "good blue trail for you, Mr. Pants". Ok - I'll give it a shot.

Of the 4 of us, I'm running sweep, sort-o-speak. We get 500 meters from the trail head, and in my view, one by one, each of them disappears, calling "woo hoo" as they do so. Pants sees what's about to happen and grabs 2 hands of brakes. It's about a 10 foot drop off from a HUGE granite rock.

(Pants) "What's the french word for bones"?

(Young Dude #1) "L' os"

(Pants) "Pants L'Os is.... brittle"

(Y/D) "You go back?"

(Pants) "I got back - Au revoir"

It was a good workout.



I grilled us some ribeyes for dinner, and we called it an early night.

7/22/25'

My parents were up early. They had plenty of time to finish packing before we left for the airport, but they wanted to make sure everything was in order. I got them checked in, and mid morning, we got them to the airport. I strongly encouraged my dad to use the assistance services at the terminal, so as not to stress his leg. But he refused. This is concerning - but that will have to be a discussion for another time when I get home. His leg strength (both legs) is not good - he needs to consider a mobility device. I need to talk to my sister about it - she always knows what to say in these situations.

Anyway - slight medical issue not withstanding, it was a fantastic week. Tammy and I enjoyed entertaining my parents. Who knows how many more chances we will get to do that?

Stay thirsty, my friends....

PPANTS, you did good taking care of your folks. Good on ya!

"Do not go gentle into that good night."

Your Dad is awesome.

It was hard to like Pants' last two post.

I am concerned for his father's wellness yet to help is like taking away the keys to my motorcycles.

7/23/25

My parents got home safely late last night. I'll leave them alone to rest for the day and give them a call this evening.

Sunny and low 70s today - I'm not gonna sit inside for that. I feel like taking a walk.



"The Wolf Trail" is an "out and back", considered the most difficult day hike in the National Parc. All trails tells me that it's over 10 KM and 550 meters of elevation change. I've got all day - one step at a time.



This is an interesting moss growing on these rocks - it feels like a medium pile carpet.



I climb steadily for about 3 KM and get to the first overlook - the visibility today is very good.





Continuing on, for a while, the trail levels off a bit.



This mushroom was radiant, seemingly glowing in the broken sunlight.



When the rocks start getting bigger, you know you are getting closer to the top.

(Over millenia, rolling down the mountain causes them to break into smaller rocks)



Still 1 km or so to the end, but I get a sneak peek of it in route, and it motivates me to continue.



During a walk in the woods, one never knows what he might find. This fungus (mushroom?) growing on a rotting tree kind of looks like a sconce.



I make it to the top, and to the victor goes the spoils.





Even on this Wednesday, the trail is crowded, but there's plenty of room for everyone.



I start heading back down. I prefer loop trails, whereby you are always seeing new land. But I've learned that on an out and back hike, the return always looks different - either you miss stuff, or at different angles and light, it just looks different.



What a great day in Quebec!





This picture is so telling to me. This tree is a worthy example. It finds itself growing on the edge, facing assured peril, with inpenetrable objects all around. It needs support, and innately knows where to get it. Without adapting heavily to its surroundings and circumstances, it has no chance. It knows that success will take time, and it invests that time wisely, efficiently, and perhaps most importantly, quietly, all the while ignoring the noise of doubters, bystanders, and most assuredly, the oblivious.

I'm a self admitted tree hugger, but not soley for the reasons you may think.



Taking time to enjoy nature.



The downhill goes as expected: easier on the lungs, harder on the legs. My right big toe has something going on with it for a week or so now, so I'm favoring it a little, watching my steps carefully. I get back to the Bush Pig a little sweaty, but not overly exhausted. I get dressed and continue up the parc gravel road looking for something very specific.

Ahhhh - this will do.



Mother Nature's NSAID.



.

The bugs aren't even bad today. It's been a few days since we've had rain.



Now that my outside has been refreshed, let me see if I can find some inside refreshment.



There's a cool N/P T-shirt that I've had my eye on, but the gift shop didn't have my size in stock. I talked with the clerk and she said a shipment is due in the next week or so. I'll hold out - fingers crossed.

As I'm leaving the parc for the day, I detoured to look at some of the chalets they rent - just to check them out. In doing so, I found this wonderful 2-track road that is shown on the GPS. I didn't see any signage, so I proceeded cautiously.

This is really nice.







It parralells the river heading down stream from the Parc boundry. Every once in a while, there's a break in the shore trees.



I ran this about 5 miles and then started seeing what looks like fishing cabins with "Rue Privee" signs. The signs were posted in such a position that I couldn't tell if they were for the land adjacent to the road, or the road itself. It's now getting later in the afternoon, so I decided to just turn around and go back.



If you look closely at the right fork leg of the bush pig, you may see the tell taled "black dirt" near the bottom of the fork gaiter. Yep - you guessed it, I've got a fork seal leaking. It's not too bad - no oil getting much below the gaiter. I'll look into that when I get back to the ABB.

I rode back home directly and arrived safely after about 130 KM of Bush Pig fun, almost 11 km of hiking fun, and countless good memories.

Stay thirsty, my friends......

I prefer loop trails, whereby you are always seeing new land. But I've learned that on an out and back hike, the return always looks different - either you miss stuff, or at different angles and light, it just looks different.

Kinda like the axiom "You haven't ridden a road until you've ridden it both ways" isn't it?

bigjohnsd wrote: ↑Fri Jul 25, 2025 12:09 pm

I prefer loop trails, whereby you are always seeing new land. But I've learned that on an out and back hike, the return always looks different - either you miss stuff, or at different angles and light, it just looks different.

Kinda like the axiom "You haven't ridden a road until you've ridden it both ways" isn't it?

Indeed.

7/24/25

We've been here almost 6 weeks - that unimaginable. Time is flying, and yet there are some subtile indications that the relatively short summer here is waning on. When we got here, the sun rose about 30 minutes earlier, setting 30 minutes later than it does now - just like that, an hour of daylight is gone. With only 4 weeks to go (at this location), there is no time to waste.

After coffee and breakfast, we loaded up the truck and headed down river for some adventure. I stopped at the Suzuki dealership to inquire about my fork seal options for my DR650. They ordered the parts for me, and set an appt for 8/11 to change the seals. I'll bring the fork tubes to them, and they can change the seals while I wait. Their quote for the job was reasonable. I probably could have done it in the garage, but I don't have all of my tools, and I just don't want to deal with it. This is part of the adventure - if you stay home and do nothing, then nothing will happen.

That settled, we continued down river. A few weeks ago, I discovered the Isle Aux-Coudres wandering on the FJR. I stopped at the mainland ferry and decided to wait and take Tammy to the island. Today is the day for that.

We get to the (free) ferry terminal and the tide is way out right now.



A quick check on my tide app reveals that this location will experience TWO enormous tides (by my experience) - one at almost 18 feet and another at 13 feet. That is insane to me. At home, the highest tides of the year will barely exceed 2 feet!



The wait for the boat was short - maybe 15 minutes, and soon, we are away. It's cloudy and the river water is cold here (much closer to the Atlantic coast). Seemingly from this point forward, we will need to have jackets in the truck at all times. Again - that's so unfamiliar.



It's windy today and we are steaming up current and up wind. I could care less - the view was fantastic.



We roll onto the island and drive 3 minutes to a local Micro-brewery for lunch. Good eats here.



The island is fairly small (about 100 square kilometers). We really didn't plan anything - just drive around the island and see what we can see.



The sun came out and warmed the wind nicely. It's Thursday, and we are enjoying the relative solitude today.



It bears repeating: they have flowers in Quebec. The world looks better in color.



Although this island was first settled in the 17th century, it wasn't really developed until electricity got here. Thus, the archetecture here is more modern. I thought the "mother in law" roof dormer on this house was cute.



Whale hunting was popular here 100 years ago. We stopped at this antique store, and while Tammy browsed inside, I enjoyed the yard art.



Different place, same church style.



The way the wind blew this grass in waves was mezmerizing. We enjoyed watching it.



The old Moulin (windmill) site can be toured for a modest price, and I couldn't resist. The interpretive exhibit in the museum offered me some glimpses of the history and culture of this place. Of note is that they have a "mid-lent" celebration that kind of resembles the traditional Mardi Gras we have at home right before lent. It's not the "parades" type of celebration - more of a dress up and go door to door type of event. That was cool to learn about.

The Windmill was cool too!



Back then, the Millwright had to be carpenter, repairman, blacksmith, and other things.



A watermill also existed on this site.





We continued on the island road and the next stop was delicious.



The north side of the island is less developed. The road runs along the shore - it's beautiful.



We found a secluded section of the shore and stopped.



As a self-proclaimed perfectionists, I suppose in some context, it can get better than this. Admittedly, I'm at a complete loss as to how. This is pretty freaking good, man.



The river is salty here, and it's very wide across - the other shore is almost out of view. Honestly, it kind of feels like the ocean coast.



Tammy's having so much fun.





The rising tide ran us (and our chairs) backward twice in a short time. Only once in Alaska have I seen tides this fast. Very impressive.



About 4:30 pm, we packed up the chairs and continued around the island. We stopped at a Ciderie owned by a family that has grown the fruit (primarily apples) for the cider on island land for over 100 years. There was a tour bus full of people in there for a tasting. We crashed it and got freebies.



Pretty cool old tractor.



We bought a bottle of our favorite (Apple/Blueberry) and walked across the street to check out the orchard. The apples are set, but have a ways to go.



What a wonderful day with my bride!



From the cidery, it was only 2 minutes to the ferry terminal for the ride back to the mainland.




.
About halfway home, I stopped at this micro-brewery in Beaupre that I knew about. We weren't that hungry, so a plate of nachos (and a biere for Pants) will have to do as supper.



We got home well before dark and retired relatively early, having had a full day.

(Mrs. Pants) "Thanks for taking me today. That was fun."

(Pants) "To be continued, Mama. Goodnight"

Stay thirsty, my friends.....

7/26/25

After that exciting day trip to Isle Coudres, yesterday, we just hung out at the ABB. A Prairie Wildfire to our West is bringing some smoke to our area - it's not too bad, but noticable. I worked out with my home gym, made a repair to my trailer (spare tire mount), and cooked some burgers for dinner.

This morning, the smoke is still present, but I checked the weather and skies appear to be much clearer to the northeast (smoke is blowing south and southesast). So I packed the FJR (bring everything is my motto) and rode about 150 Km (2 hrs) to this place.



This is my 5th National Parc to see in Quebec. I'm getting good use out of my annual pass.

At about 25 over, the road leading to the parc office was fun!

(Bad Pants)



Everyone must park at the main visitor's center. There's a shuttle that takes people into the parc - it goes about halfway into the gorge.



This place is absolutely stunning! The gorge must be at least 500 meters high in places. It's been cut by the Malbaie River.



I walked a short trail up one side of the gorge to get a better view and have lunch.



There is a 7 km gravel path only accessible by foot or bicycle that goes further into the gorge. At the end of the path are more hiking trails. I rented a bicycle and head that way.







it's a tough job, really. But.... you know.



72 degrees, give or take - beautiful day.





I get to the hiking area at the end of the gravel path, pick a trail, and start walking. This is a different mushroom than I've seen in the region.



As I climb, the water noise gets a bit louder.



Here's why - I give you: La Chute du Ruisseau Blanc

(The White Stream Waterfall)



Falling almost 50 meters from top to bottom, it's fantastic. Now - let me paint the picture just a bit. It's Saturday, the weather is gorgeous, and I've got this place entirely to myself! I found a few large rocks that formed a very comfy natural "lazy boy" facing the show, took my shoes off, sat down, and just did ..... nothing.





Continuing on the trail - the walk through the woods back down to the bicycle was very peaceful.





I wandered the back end of the parc on the rented bicycle. This is a beautiful place.





The return ride back was no less impressive.











I returned the bicycle and popped into the visitor's center for my afternoon crutch.



This place surprised me - I found it on Google Maps and said WTH, I'll figure it out when I get there.



The wait for the shuttle was only 5 minutes. I got back to the motorcycle about 5 pm and with a 2 hour ride ahead of me, I didn't waste much time. I texted my wife to make sure she didn't worry, and fired up the horse.

So long des-Haute Gorges - thanks for the memories.



Stay thirsty, my friends...