Motorcycle Ride of a Lifetime!!

Back in Puerto Vallarta last week after my extensive motorcycle ride of +10,000 miles!  I had originally planned to find an older BMW motorcycle here in Puerto Vallarta, but my friend in Denver had the exact one that I wanted.   He reminded me of his planned ride this summer to New Foundland and it would be great to have me tag along before I went back to Mexico with the bike.  It only took about 30 seconds to decide that I really needed to do this ride.  It was going to be a "once in a lifetime" opportunity and as I always say you have to live life to its fullest and do not have regrets about what you should have or could  have done!
After a little airline ticket change investigation, confirmation with the folks back in Denver, and a review of finances I was on board!  Things just seemed to fall into place and it seemed that the stars were aligned for me to make this biggest ride of my life!  This was no short ride and I would probably not be back in Puerto Vallarta until the first week of September. Flying back to Denver, Colorado on July 21st for a week to collect my things, visit with friends and relatives, pickup the 1988 BMW R100 GS (nicknamed the Bumble Bee), it was certainly a busy week.  I managed to even take afternoon ride with my best riding buddy into the Colorado mountains.
Departure date was set for Saturday, July 28th and I was off at 6am to hit the road on this grand adventure that would take me from Denver, Colorado to the northeastern and northwestern tip of Newfoundland and finally back to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  My calculations had put the ride at around 10,000 miles and I knew it would probably end up being a few more as little side roads and places along the road would need to be seen.  The group of riders was an eclectic group from all walks of life, but all retired and were fortunate to enjoy that life, while I was the youngest and still trying to make money for my eventual retirement.  3 bikes came from Denver, Colorado, 1 from Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1 from Omaha, Nebraska, 1 from New York state, and 1 from New Brunswick, Canada; so the grouped was loosely assembled along the way.  I do not mind riding a long day of 600-700 miles, so I would be leaving that Saturday, whilst several already had left the day before on Friday.  Most of group then met for the 1st overnight in Omaha, Nebraska.
Our 2nd night would also be along the interstate into Portage, Indiana.  Finally the 3rd night would be in Canada at our first real tourist stop, Toronto, Canada.  Arriving about midday we had the opportunity to ride the train into downtown Toronto and experience the city center including the top of the CN Tower.
A short ride up to Ottawa put us into the Capital City of Canada my early afternoon again, so we had the rest of the day to enjoy the sights and dinner in the Byward Market area.  The next day would be even shorted and we arrived mid morning at the hotel near the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Canada.  Only about a 10 minute walk to the subway we were in the center of town in about 20 minutes.  I decided to rent a bicycle and ride around the downtown area including the canals and locks that surround Montreal including a visit to the Atwater Market for some fantastic homemade ice cream.
We headed off early again to be in Quebec City by lunch time and once again were able to take the public transportation into the Old City parts of Quebec City were a local festival was recreating the way of life in those earlier days.
Now the ride was heading into our leader Roy's backyard as he was born in Moncton, New Brunswick.  The longer ride that next day put us into Fredericton, New Brunswick where we met our rider, leader, and host for the ride into these Provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia.  Too keep these blogs from getting too long, I will divide them up.