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For some reason, I really enjoy visiting the Shelburne waterfront.

I’m not sure what it is that is so appealing to me. Maybe it’s because the historic area is so well preserved. Maybe it’s because the scenery there is so beautiful. Maybe it’s because the times when we’ve visited there have been other people milling around, but it’s never been overly crowded. Maybe it’s because we always seem to stop there in beautiful weather, when the sun is shining and there’s a light breeze blowing off the water. Probably it’s all of those things.

I also have to be honest that part of the attraction is The Bean Dock. It’s this tiny little restaurant/coffee shop right there overlooking the water. We’ve eaten there twice now and both times it’s been a great experience, not just the food but the whole experience.

Steve and I discovered The Bean Dock two summers ago. We were spending the night in Shelburne and happened upon it while walking along the waterfront. It was perfect. We ordered food and brought it outside to eat at a picnic table. Because we travel with Jake, we eat at a lot of picnic tables, but more often than not they’re the ones sitting on concrete in the sun outside fast food restaurants. The Bean Dock was a welcome change with its cheerful surroundings, green grass and great views of the waterfront and harbour.

We stopped there again last summer, this time for a late lunch. It was idyllic — well almost. Jake wasn’t completely thrilled when Steve brought out two steaming cups of coffee and no Timbit, but was happier when I produced a dog treat from my pocket. A few minutes later, a waitress appeared with two delicious grilled sandwiches. We made a couple of trips back inside to choose some munchies from their fabulous selection of sweets and I was careful to choose one without chocolate so I could share with our beloved, begging four-legged friend (I know I shouldn’t but you can’t understand until you see that hairy face by your feet with just a bit of his tongue sticking out as if to say “Me too, please.”)

After lunch, we took Jake (or maybe he took us) for a walk down towards the visitor information centre and back. It was all so pretty and peaceful. I can hardly wait to go back this summer.

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Do you know how sometimes when you’re traveling you tell yourself just a few more miles and you’ll stop either to eat or for the night or whatever. Sometimes that works out incredibly well.

It happened to us last summer when we were riding around the Cabot Trail. I was getting really hungry. It seems like I’m always hungry when we’re riding. I’m not sure if that’s from the fresh air or if we just don’t stop often enough to eat (more than a Tim’s that is). We were travelling around the northern part of the trail and chatting back and forth on our radios about how we should really find somewhere to eat, when Steve suddenly turned left off the main road and headed toward Neil’s Harbour. We’d never gone that way before and really weren’t certain what to expect, but we will definitely remember that left turn in the future.

We rode a short distance and ended up at a fantastic little restaurant overlooking the ocean. Well, the Chowder House was actually set back away from the water, but the picnic table Jake and I claimed while Steve went for food was pretty close to the edge. It was just fantastic. Jake and I wandered along the shore, which had beautiful cliffs and rocks on three sides, with the sun glinting off the water and a breeze blowing just enough to keep us cool.

The three of us ate wonderful lobster sandwiches (yes, we shared with Jake — our boy is a big fan of lobster) looking at the sea. I was convinced that if I looked in the right place at the right moment I’d see a whale. You can ask Steve — I really was convinced. It was just that kind of place. Unfortunately, I never did find the right place at the right moment so no whales. I know they were there though. I just didn’t see them.

But it really didn’t matter. Our adventure to Neil’s Harbour was perfect just the way it was.
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Sometimes you just have to see what will happen.

When we visited P.E.I. last summer, Steve and I thought it would be fun to stop at Buffalo Land Provincial Park. Well, to tell the truth, we actually thought it would be fun to see how Jake would react to seeing a herd of buffalo, or even one buffalo for that matter.

Until we visited the island, I had no idea the buffalo park even existed. I came across it while reading a tourism guide looking for places we could visit with the third, rather hairy member of our little family. It seemed a good fit — small hairy creature (sorry Jake) meets large hairy creatures, all at a safe distance of course.

Buffalo Land Provincial Park is a bit south of Montague on the eastern end of P.E.I. It has a 100-acre enclosure where a herd of about two dozen buffalo graze. I don’t know any of the particulars about how a herd of buffalo ended up on the island, other than that the original buffalo were a gift to the P.E.I. government from the province of Alberta. Who knew?

Anyway, we arrived late in the afternoon and, sure enough, there was a herd of buffalo. Actually, there was a whole flock of Canada geese, too.

Unfortunately, the buffalo were quite a distance away from us so I’m not sure Jake appreciated how big and hairy the creatures were, but he spent about five minutes just staring at them as they moved around in the distance. That may not seem like a long time, but I can assure you that anything holding Jake’s attention for five minutes is quite extraordinary. He clearly knew they were some sort of creatures and he seemed to be quite curious.

Maybe another time he’ll get a closer look. But not too close, of course.

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Okay, I’m impressed — and a little disappointed.

Those of you who answered our little RoadDog quiz did a bang up job. I don’t know if you went back through old posts to get the answers, which had to take a lot of time, or if you really remembered all those answers, but you folks know a whole lot about our Jake.

Some of the answers were obviously pretty easy — you could hardly read regularly without knowing that Jake likes Timbits — but some of you even knew the tougher ones. It kind of makes my little heart feel all warm and fuzzy.

On the other hand, I confess, I didn’t get as many responses as I had hoped, but I can’t really fault anyone for not sending in your answers since I’m not much of a quiz kind of gal myself.

The winner is Beth, who earned a grand total of 24 points. I’ll be sending Beth off an email later today to get her mailing address, so I can send her the prize.

For those of you who want to check your responses, or learn that one answer that you just couldn’t remember no matter how hard you tried (don’t you hate it when that happens), here are the answers.

1. Jake was born in Saint John, New Brunswick.

2. His birthday is September 11.

3. His favourite human treat — that’s a really easy one — Timbits, of course.

4. Jake likes a lot of fruits and vegetables. He loves apples, pears, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and cantaloupe and he’s absolutely crazy about green beans. He also likes yellow beans, carrots, turnips and potatoes. He does not like parsnips, just in case anyone wants to know that.

5. The first time we tried putting Jake on Steve’s bike to see how he’d react we put him in a T-Bag, a sort of upright duffle bag that fastens to the backrest. I know, I know, it wasn’t the best thing to do, but we made sure he had lots of air and couldn’t get out. Steve only took him a few feet down the road, then turned and came back. Jake loved it and RoadDog was created.

6. Jake’s carrier was built in Liverpool, by Tony at Custom Cycles.

7. Jake burps right after he finishes eating. (He really is a boy dog!)

8. Jake first went wandering into a cold lake in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. As long as his feet can touch the bottom, he likes streams and lakes.

9. Our RoadDog prefers stuffed toys with squeakers. Rubber balls come in second.

10. Jake is the unofficial mascot for the Maritime Motorcycle Touring Association or MMTA.

11. Jake gets PMS — parked motorcycle syndrome — in the winter. Symptoms include minor depression, moodiness and sad glances toward the road looking for bikes, even though you know they aren’t there. The only cure is spring. Steve and I get it too.

12. I dressed Jake as a little devil, complete with red horns, last Halloween. We were both so embarrassed.

13. A garden hose makes Jake go nuts, but it has to be spraying water. As long as it lays quietly in the sun, so does he.

14. Each Labour Day weekend Jake, Steve and I, turn into wharf rats as we attend the annual Wharf Rat Rally in Digby.

15. The three of us enjoyed our first in-restaurant meal in Bar Harbor. It was so cool to be able to have Jake with us right there in the restaurant with lots of other dogs around too.

16. Jake has toured through New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island with us, as well as Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. And Steve insists that I give a point to anyone who included Nova Scotia since we do so much touring here. I thought that was too obvious, but I let him win this one.

17. We were in New Hampshire a few years ago when a woman who worked at a motel asked Steve if we had a ferret in the carrier. To be fair, she was apparently expecting other guests who were travelling with a ferret (not on a bike), but Jake was deeply offended. Okay, not so much, but Steve and I were a little surprised.

18. Our RoadDog climbed Mt. Washington.

19. Jake’s Baddeck girlfriend’s name is Muin. As I said, it means bear in Mi’kmaq.

20. Our RoadDog doesn’t wear a leather motorcycle jacket, but does wear really cool sunglasses (Doggles actually) and a leather bandana, or sometimes other bandanas.
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