June 3
June 3rd, 2007
Last night after dinner, I had another luxury presented to me… a shower. The truck stop had showers and the staff offered me a key even though I wasn’t a trucker. It was a nice feeling not having to sleep in my own sweat.
It was almost 9:30 by the time I started skating today. I was still a bit tired from my 100 kilometers yesterday. Nevertheless, I headed down the road towards Grand Falls. The conditions weren’t ideal, but I couldn’t complain. Just as I got past Perth-Andover, the highway became four lanes and smooth again. I’d been skating for less than a couple hours when my walkie-talkie buzzed to life.
“Rich, you just hit 2000 kilometers!”
Wow! Another 1000 done. It feels like it was only yesterday I hit the 1000 milestone. I guess it’s like becoming a millionaire (not that I would know anything about that)…. They say the first million is the hardest to make. Well, the first 1000 km was definitely the hardest. It’s hard to imagine a harder thousand kilometers than that of Newfoundland. We pulled over for a quick photo, but I wasn’t far from Grand Falls, so I wanted to keep moving.
I surprised myself when I rolled into the city some 53 km after starting this morning. We drove down the main street and pulled into the Atlantic Superstore where we parked for lunch. Just as I was about to start eating, I heard a couple faint voices.
“Hello? Remember us?”
I looked out the window to see Denis and Nicole who had stopped the day before near Hartland to take a picture with me! Both of them work at the Superstore and out of sheer coincidence, we stopped here for lunch. We welcomed Denis and Nicole into the RV where they selflessly offered a donation. These are kids who are saving and preparing for University in the Fall, and yet they managed to find a little extra money to help my cause. An unbelievable gesture that I hope the rest of the country will copy. If we all pitch in, it won’t take very much to reach my goal.
After lunch and a nap we took a few extra minutes to check out the waterfall that we had heard about. Apparently, these Falls produce 90% of the volume of Niagara Falls. The Falls were far smaller than Niagara, but the amount of water pouring over the jagged rocks was astounding.
We only stuck around for a few pictures because I wanted to take advantage of the sunny day. The wind had now shifted and was slightly at my back. I tore through the afternoon heat like tissue paper. There were several downhill slopes that I was able to reach speeds of nearly 60 km/hr again. Before I knew it, I had entered the Edmundston City Limits. Physically, I felt great. By the time I left the highway, I had reached over 110 kilometers on the day. That’s what I call ‘Back-to-back Jacks’. Two days in a row of over 100 kilometers. Now that I’m about to enter Quebec, I don’t know when the next time will be that I’ll have an opportunity to skate over 100 km in a day.
So we’re right in the heart of Edmundston now, and only 20 km from the Quebec border. I’ll likely hit rain tomorrow, but the weather and road conditions of New Brunswick were amazing.
NEW PHOTOS ARE UP
Posted in Daily Journal | 2 Comments »
June 3rd, 2007 at 6:14 pm
hey, I dont know if you remember me, I was with Nicole and Denis when we stop at the side of the road, they guy in the white shirt, I forgot to give you a donate I felt bad after, but anyways i just wanted to say that you’re and awesome guy for doing this for your friends and I wish you the best of luck during your journy. Paul, Nicole, Denis and I, just wanted to say We HOPE YOU REACH YOUR GOAL
June 3rd, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Hi Rich … just catching up with your journals … into Quebec and that’s number 5 … I suppose that means almost halfway! Best wishes as you all continue your incredible journey. 🙂