I arrived in Fredericton New Brunswick around 7PM Friday evening. I had quite an interesting ride there. It took me about 7 hours to get to Fredericton from Halifax, which is normally a 4 hour drive.
While I was riding, it struck me that I haven’t checked my oil level. I thought it would be okay because I’ve never had to add oil to the bike before, so I thought it wouldn’t be burning oil. But when I pulled into a gas station, I noticed it was very low. I bought some oil and filled it up. I hoped there wasn’t any damage to the engine. I rode another 400kms after filling up the oil, and I hadn’t noticed any problems yet. My bike has been great and she has treated me very well. But I deprived her from her oil, and I feel very badly about it 😉 It’s like starving your kid for 3 days.
Anyway, when I wanted to check my oil, I pulled into a Shell gas station. It looked like a legitimate gas station, but I didn’t notice a cashier booth or anything. As I was taking off my helmet and gloves and grabbing the gas pump, I noticed a few young guys staring at me out the window of an A&W restaurant. I am used to young people looking at my bike, it tends to cater to teenage guy’s tastes. So I continue to grab the pump to fill up my bike. Then I notice that the gas pump wasn’t turned on, so I look around, and first I see the 3 guys laughing hysterically, then I looked over to the side of the building and I saw a sign that says “Shell Gas Station Opening Soon”. I swear these 3 guys in the A&W might as well have been lying on the ground slapping the ground in a rage of laughter: they loved. I had a little laugh myself, got back on my bike, gave the guys a thumbs up and continued on my way. It makes me feel good to know that I made someone’s day. These guys will be telling their buddies this story for at least a week.
A few hundred kilometers later, I was on the Trans Canada Highway in New Brunswick. I knew I was getting close to running out of gas again, but I knew a gas station was coming up. So as I’m driving by an exit, I notice the gas station. I missed the exit. I didn’t know what to do, I couldn’t turn around, and I suspected there weren’t any exits coming up anytime soon. About 20 minutes after I missed the exit, it was game over. I was empty. Luckily, I was only 3 kilometers from an exit. So I left all my gear on, helmet and all, and pushed the bike along the Trans Canada highway. It was very sunny and hot, so I was sweating intensely. Nobody pulled over to help, although a couple people did honk their horns. I did appreciate the honk. Thanks for nothing fellows. After arriving at the exit, it became apparent that there was no gas station at this exit. So I left my bike on the overpass and started walking while deciding what I was going to do next. Not 5 minutes later, a guy pulls up in an older Ford Escort. He suspects I’m out of gas, so he opens the door for me to get inside. The nearest gas station was a 20-minute drive, so this friendly lad offers to take me there. His name was Chris and he was in school for Forestry. It was amazing how helpful people can be to someone that they don’t even know. In general I find that people are a lot friendlier in the Maritimes provinces than any other place that I’ve seen. So Chris also offered to drive out of his way to take me back to my bike. I offered him $20, but he would only accept $10. So I gave him the $10. I purchased a Jerry Can, filled it up, and from that point forward, I decided I was always going to carry the Jerry Can with me in case this happens again.
So I got to Fredericton and I ended up getting 5 star accommodations for free. My good friend Marijana 😉 was nice enough to offer me her parent’s couch for the night, and the hospitality was great and very much appreciated. Marijana (the J is silent) is in the process of applying to get into Dental school for another 4 years of schooling on top of her undergrad. Crazy! We got together with 2 of her friends; Steve and Kim for a night out in Fredericton. First of all, Steve is an extremely funny character. I suggested to him that night that he’s a mix between Homer Simpson, George Costanza and Chris Farley. He concurred. Very funny guy. Throughout the night, there was at least 1 funny quote from each of those characters. The funny remark Steve made that sticks in my mind is whenever Marijana spoke of her friends, Steve would say “Ooh, I like where this is going”. Just picture Homer Simpson saying that, that’s what he sounded like. Very funny to me. Steve was also wearing one of several Hooters restaurant shirts. He was recently on a road trip from Alberta to Fredericton and visited every Hooters restaurant in between. Fine family dining ;).
Anyway, we had a good night out in Fredericton at a Patio bar. Everybody knew everybody, but I only knew 2 people. But I did have a guy come up to me that mistakenly thought I was Australian. I was talking in my bad Australian accent (That I picked up in Halifax while hanging out with the Aussies) to Kim and she was convinced that it was a bad Australian accent, and a mix between British and Australian. She said to me “You do not sound Australian”, and shortly thereafter, this guy came up to me and asked where from Australia I was, because he had a bunch of Australian friends that he met while traveling in BC. (He definitely didn’t hear the conversation preceding the events noted above).
In the morning I packed everything again to prepare to drive to Quebec City.