I first biked in Canada in 2015 when Happy and I rolled in from Maine on our East Coast tour. We actually entered Canada twice on that tour, two days in a row!

The first crossing was the day we biked out to Campobello, expecting to take the Deer Island ferry to the Canadian mainland. Unfortunately, we were too early in the season, and the ferry was not running. Something we learned after arriving at Roosevelt's getaway. So we had to backtrack into Maine and enter Canada a second time the following day through Calais.

From there we moved on into New Brunswick along the coast, eventually reaching St John (which is more correctly known as Saint John). That led to Nova Scotia and Halifax, our original destination. BUT we decided it would be fun to continue to Yarmouth and take the ferry back to Portsmouth, Maine. And yes, THAT ferry was running.

But I digress! The real impetus of this tour initiated out of a conversation with one of my former co-workers who, after I "retired," took an opportunity in Ottawa to work on the light rail project being developed for the city. He's still with my old company, just working with a different department. Long story short, he invited me to come visit and said, "Bring your bike. There's great biking up here."

Well, I wasn't going to schlep my bike to Ottawa for a weekend, that's for sure! And I've always wanted to visit Québec City. And then there's the Saint Lawrence River/Seaway . . . and Montréal! And from Montréal, there's the P’tit Train du Nord Rail Trail out to Mont Laurier. From there it should be an easy ride to Ottawa. Then where? Well, I've also thought about biking the Erie Canal. So to do that, head west for Toronto, do a U-turn at the end of Lake Ontario, and head for Niagara Falls. From there, the Erie Canal is not far.

And since that ends in Albany, at the upper reaches of the Hudson River Valley, another scenic getaway that I need to see, why not turn south and head for New York City? I have friends in both locales, so I won't be wanting for company.

From there, we'll see, either train home or follow the Jersey Shore Line to Cape May, reversing the course we followed when coming up the East Coast. That would be in late August and perfect beach weather. And with friends in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, it would be worth the detour.

But it's not a detour, it's an adventure!