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Left Montreal this morning with Oldgoat on his Bergman leading the way down Aut- 20. The
plan was he was going to guide me through the maze of Montreal then send me on my way to
Maine. We were only on the road several minutes when I saw him point to a white car
just ahead of him... the car had a Florida license plate! What a grand site! I think
it's an omen! Actually, when I walked in to his garage this morning and passed by the
Strom I'm almost sure I heard a whisper of “I need some Key Lime pie.”
I felt well rested and ready to get back in the saddle after taking a full day off the bike
yesterday. I can't really remember the last time a day passed and I didn't go riding;
I think it was back in TN when I was visiting the Matriarch. In case you are wondering,
yes, I do own a car.
We passed by an old church and in the parking lot this Sunday morning was a MSF class in
progress. It was neat seeing them and I wished I could have cheered them on. Who
doesn't recall what it was like to learn to ride?! About 45 minutes after we started
today Oldgoat made an unexpected detour to the shoulder of the road. His Burgman had
lost all power: 
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I thought I was going to need to whip out the digital multimeter that I carry but being a very
sharp Oldgoat he was able to determine it was a blown fuse relating to the fuel pump (oh geez,
maybe the fuel pump thing is contagious?). He is holding the culprit here:
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He changed the fuse and insisted that I go on my way to Maine, which I did, though I hated
leaving him knowing that the real problem was not yet known and the likelihood of a
reoccurring blown fuse seemed high to me. Nonetheless, we bid ado and off I went.
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I found the road signs in Canada to be rather odd for one reason or another. The
animals, particularly the deer, that were pictured on the signs looked, well, goofy. Here's
the “wheelie deer” I saw on signs mostly west of Montreal:
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When I first passed this sign at a distance I thought it was a Tennessee Walking horse or
something. Geez, they must have some high-steppin' elk running around here:
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The deer on the east side and for the remainder of my travels on Aut-20 looked like a deer
that was kinda spastic looking:
In all my travels in the US I've never seen a deer or deer sign that looked quite like that!
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Here's a few signs that I passed frequently that I initially really wasn't quite sure what
they were trying to communicate: 
Canada seems to prefer to have an image on a sign rather than words. I could go with that
given the multi-languages spoken there but some pictures were just downright confusing. For
example, one particular sign showed a large face puffed up over a road with arrows coming out
it's mouth. At first I didn't see the face, I only saw the enormous arrows. After
passing another exact sign I figured out it was supposed to communicate (I think) that it was
a windy area. I'm not sure why putting “WINDY” in English & French wouldn't be easier
(and more understood). Wish I could have snapped a pic of the sign but they were never
located in an area that provided conducive conditions for pulling over.
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If you have plans to travel in Canada let me say that a word you will both quickly learn and
quickly come to despise seeing on roadside signs is the word “TRAVAUX” ...it means
“construction.” Here's “travaux” which is marked by Canada's orange and black cones:
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I thought the colors black and orange were a strange color combination choice to mark
construction cones. Would seem to me that any choice of color other than black
would be more visible. Nonetheless, whenever I saw these cones the only word
that came to my mind was “Hamburgerler!”
After countless miles and endless on-off-on-off routines, the velcro closure at the
end of my jacket's left sleeve gave up the ghost somewhere in Wisconsin. When I
got to Oldgoat's I mentioned this was irritating me (even with gauntlet gloves) and he
ended up taking my jacket on Sat morning to a seamstress nearby. Within no time
he returned with a dandy repair!
 I greatly
enjoyed riding today with it being fixed (thanks again, Oldgoat!). It never ceases
to amaze me how little things make such a difference.
The entire ride today I passed lots and lots of motorcycles. (By the way, I did notice
that waving to other motorcyclists doesn't seem to be a Canadian characteristic). I
assumed they were enjoying one of the last of their riding weekends. Oldgoat said within
a month it will be bitter cold. I feel sorry for those who have to look at their bike(s)
sitting very sad in the corner of the garage during the winter months.
I forgot to mention that after I crossed the border in Sault Ste Marie, ON that I did not
see a sign stating that radar detectors were prohibited. I actually didn't see a single
sign stating such until I was in Montreal.
Once you get near Quebec everything is in French. Much like my last visit,
the dominating thought is “I wonder what that sign just said.” At one point I stopped
at a “Gas Bar” (what they call a gas station—makes since, bike gets tanked up, right?) for
petrol and discovered the sole attendant there spoke only French. They allow you to
pump your gas first then pay which is what I had done. When I went inside to pay I
handed her my credit card. She didn't take the card and started speaking French, of
which, the only word I really understood was “No” so I assumed either the card processing
lines were down or she had something against Visa since it was a Shell station.
 Thankfully
I had Canadian money on me and was able to pay (special kudos to Lynnette in AZ for the
CDN pocket change!). After getting gas I ate a banana (yes, Mrs. Oldgoat, I ate the
banana!) and listened to yet another couple argue in French while they looked at a map.
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The St. Lawrence River (or “Fleuve St Laurent”) runs beside Aut-20 coming into Quebec. I
decided to take a quick detour and go over the bridge. I found a road that led under it
and despite being in the land of orange cones (construction, er, TRAVAUX) I was able to find
a place to take a pic:
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Aut-20 is also called the “Jean-Lesage Autoroute” once you pass thru Quebec (I guess I can
add that to my list of byways ridden). The posted speed limit was 100km which is about
65mph. It was very, very easy to pickup a rabbit today doing 80+mph (120kph for you
Canucks) since not only were the squids out in full force romping on their race bikes but
passenger cars were running lickity split as well. Aside from the city limits of
Montreal & Quebec the road is just meandering countryside so I have no idea why the speed
limit is, um, low.
Arrived Riviere-du-loup and hit Aut-85 SUD (south), which put me 70 miles from the US,
Madawaska, and my third corner. 
As soon as I was on 85 I started seeing moose warning signs very frequently. I'm
on mega alert anyway since this is the beginning of rutting (breeding) season for deer, moose,
and other large critters. It's also the reason I'm trying to be off the road before dusk.
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Another day, another time change. Lost another hour when I crossed from Quebec into
New Brunswick (which is on Atlantic Daylight time) but the change only lasted about 15
miles until I entered the US again. Here's my exit sign for Madawaska:
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The bridge crossing back into the US at Madawaska was absolutely nothing like the bridge in Sault Ste Marie:
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As far as crossing the border goes, I pulled up and the first thing the US Customs agent
said was “I bet you're running the Four Corners, huh?”
 He
asked me where I was from and then guessed this was my third corner. Surmised that I was
doing it alone, he said “Wow, I'm impressed, you are brave.” I really don't get this whole
brave thing even though it is something that I do hear quite often. He looked at my DL
(the license, not the bike) and then wished me well to Key West. That shack looking thing
in the pic is the border crossing station:
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Once across the border, my first sign being in the US again:
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I immediately headed for my “official” picture site, which I chose as the Madawaska Middle School:
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I whipped out the gargantuan Polaroid camera for the third time and took the picture.... except
it failed. Twice. 
Yes, the camera spewed out 2 garbage pictures that I couldn't use. In case you are wondering,
I purchased the Polaroid new from Target for less than $40 before leaving Phoenix. I too was
unaware that they still made Polaroid cameras. It comes with the ability to take 10 photos
then you have to buy another pack of film at some crazy price. I thought since I only needed
4 photos that I'd be fine with just the ten. I have one corner and 4 pics left on this thing
and I might just see how many times I can skip it across the Atlantic waters after mailing the last
envelope in Key West! Maybe I'll donate it to the locals for target practice.
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After taking my official photo I went to get a gas receipt to be included in the official
envelope I'd mail back to the SCMA folks. I was greeted by a gas station attendant
while filling up who said “You're doing the Four Corner Tour, right?” He disappeared
then returned in a few minutes and handed me this:
I asked to take a picture before he officially filled it out.
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Wow, this town must REALLY get excited about being one of the official Four Corners of
this SCMA Tour because not only did he give me the “award” but look what was at the
bottom of the actual gas receipt:
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I went over to the Post Office to put the official envelope with all my paperwork & the photo in the box:
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While at the Post Office 4 or 5 cars and 1 bike passing by me were honking and waving! Geez,
so much for making an unassuming entrance! Check this out... are these folks damn proud to
be in one of the four most extreme corners of the US or what?!....
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I checked into the local motel (there's not much in Madawaska!) and the owner (who I had
talked to on the phone) welcomed me then reiterated the risk of moose for several minutes
and highly advised against me leaving early tomorrow morning. This will not be a
problem since I'm planning on a very casual ride tomorrow to Acadia National Park (in
Bar Harbor, ME) and hope to hit Cadillac Mountain as well.
I just returned from a walk to the corner gas station. At current it is drizzling and
upper 40's here in Madawaska but I heard at the gas station that the forecast is for clear
weather tomorrow. I also met "Sam” and asked him to tell me about the moose here in
Maine. The very first thing he said was - I'm not making this up - “if you see one
that's just been hit you're allowed by law to take the meat home.”
Oh, ok, so just hoist dead Mr Bullwinkle up on my Givi bag and cart it off down the road?
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