Day 9 - The Extra at the End

Fredericton, NB to Quebec City, Quebec

383 Miles

We couldn't have asked for a better ride the previous day through Nova Scotia, and we expected today's ride to be uneventful as we made our way to Quebec City.

It was raining lightly again, but not enough to keep us off the road as we headed west.

Occasionally, during our trips, we've encountered other motorcyclist making long journey on their bikes. You can always tell by the pack on the back of their bike, and quite frankly, just the look on their face. We rarely interact with them, except to offer a biker's greeting, and share the road with them for a while, wondering who they are and where they have been and are going.

Today, we met Greg. At first, we were just behind him on the highway. He was driving at the same pace we were and had all the telltale signs of a long-distance traveler. He acknowledged us. We acknowledge him and stayed behind and to the right of him for a couple hours.

Then the sky grew darker and we knew it was time for a break to fill up the gas tank and get some coffee while the clouds passed.

Just as we decided to pull off the road, ahead of us, Greg signaled that he was also taking that exit and pointed to the large Tim Horton's sign at the top of the ramp.

We pulled into the gas station right behind him, filled up and introduced ourselves as we headed into the diner.

Over the next hour, we learned that Greg had been a fighter pilot in the Canadian Royal Air Force, among many, many other things. He told us stories of working with the US Air Force, starting out in the infantry, and how he eventually became a fighter pilot.

"One morning I jumped out of a plane. The sun was just rising and it was a little foggy...and I thought to myself, 'People make good money doing other things besides jumping out of airplanes at 6 am'."

So Greg went to flight school. His military career took him on many different paths, as a fighter pilot, squadron leader and flight instructor. he eventually left the service and now he was settling in Quebec and to work in the financial world. He was taking a few months off to travel, see friends and spend time with his sons before starting his own business.

We had such a great time talking to Greg, and once the clouds cleared, we followed him toward Quebec City, via the back roads and down the St Lawrence Rive, to see some of Canada we would not have seen otherwise.

We parted ways just outside of Quebec City, happy to have made a new acquaintance, and marveling how he road his motorcycle with a guitar strapped to the side.

We headed to our hotel after we left Greg and set out to see the sites of Old Quebec City. The first thing we noticed was that there were a lot of Americans (sorry, United Staters) visiting over the long holiday weekend. We also noticed that unlike Old Montreal, Quebec City was very modernized, while still keeping its historical feel.

We wandered the streets and checked out some of the shops and bars, bought a couple souvenirs and stopped for a last drink before heading back for the night.

One more thing that became very apparent to us very quickly was that while those in the service industry here could speak English very well, they really preferred not to. So things like striking up a conversation with the bartender or waitress wasn't as easy as it had been in other places in the province.

We did, however, come across this guy,

whose name was Yannick. He grew up in Quebec province and had just moved into town. He told us that he didn't get to use his English very often, so he liked to hang out with the tourists and practice. Actually, his English was fine. He knew and used many words that you would never hear coming out of our mouths. Still, he was a fun guy and fellow biker so we were able to talk about the differences between riding in Canada and the United States.