Yesterday when I looked out the window there was a heavy wet fog in the air. Not quite enough to make the ground wet but almost. Riding in these conditions will get you very wet after a couple hours, but we have all the rain gear and stuff so we suited up to ride. By the time we’d gotten ready – it was raining. The forecast said rain until 4:00 PM and a look at the weather radar pretty much confirmed it. The weather through the rest of the weekend though, is supposed to be fantastic – SO, we took a down day. Our list of things that need to be accomplished was adding up and we could certainly get most if not all of them checked off in a day mostly dedicated to the list. We rode to breakfast in the rain but it did quit around 4:00 so our ride (nothing is walking distance here) to dinner was a dry one. The “to do” list is now empty and I even managed to get a new front tire and an oil change done on the bike. Now, I should be able to get home without any more maintenance on the scooter.
Another thing that I was able to do yesterday was sit down with a calendar and discuss the “extra credit” portion of my Four Corners ride. If I were to press on to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland it would have to be at such a pace that it would take most of the fun out of it. So, looks like we’ll be turning around after corner number four day after tomorrow. Besides, don’t want to get it all done at once – then you have nothing left to aspire to. As soon as I made the decision I started planning my next ride – start in August next time, ride around all the Great Lakes, pick up Robin in Boston, then head up to Nova Scotia, Newfoundland & Labrador. Already looking forward to it….
Back to reality though – Waiting the rain out turned out to be the perfect thing to do. It was chilly starting out this morning but it warmed up to comfortably cool in our leather jackets; I don’t think Robin had her electric clothes turned on all day – she was wearing them though!! We were leaving our breakfast restaurant, leathers on and ready to hop on the bike. In comes five girls and a guy dressed like they are trying to stay cool in Key West. Robin said, “You girls are making me feel like a whimp.” They said that the sun was coming out and it would be getting a lot warmer but they were probably thinking – Uh, yea – you aren’t looking too tough.
Portsmouth, Maine – look at all those boats out there taking advantage of the good weather.
Maine is a place that for some reason gives me the sense of being – solid. The ground you see from the road is all rock; and not like the kind of rock you can go pick up either. Rock like it’s been there for ever and you’re not moving it. Not individual rocks, one giant piece of rock. And the soil smells very loamy, like what little of it there is above the solid rock is very rich. Don’t know if any of that’s accurate but that’s what it seems like to me.
I don’t remember exactly which town this church was in but I do remember hoping that Robin was able to take a good picture. It was amazing and easily the coolest thing in that little town.
One thing I try to do is see if I can find any stand out places to eat dinner at our destination. Since I had ample time yesterday I found a place I wanted to try. Top rated for all its food and especially their lobster roll The Eagles Nest was where we were headed. What they didn’t say was that this place is SMALL. It’s on the side of a 45 mph road and there is nothing else around it. I had it programed into my GPS and still blew right by it. Right on the river and actually built out over the side of the steep hill going down to the river, this place is so small that if you don’t catch the front door & it slams (it’s on a spring) the whole building shakes a little. We took the window seat looking out at the river and had a great view but I’m positive had Robin seen a side view of the place and how far out on stilts we were – she would have waited for me at the bike. Other than that the food was fantastic. We both got the lobster roll and since they are so big, I had to eat half of Robin’s. I’m gonna say it’s easily half a pound of lobster meat on a piece of bread smaller than a cheap-o hot dog bun. Good Eats
If you’re ever in Bangor – better give this place a try.
Yum Yum – Lobster Roll, Onion Rings & Coleslaw
We did the first 100 miles or so on the slab then headed for the country. Awesome roads for the most part and as green as can be. When you get to the towns the roads deteriorate to OMG how do we get through here without having a wreck. I’m guessing that it’s difficult to do the required maintenance when there are so few roads so they just try to patch them where they can – it’s not working so good in the long run. But other than having to dodge a few pot holes and hang on and ride through quite a few more it’s been a great day.
It makes me hungry looking at that lobster roll. I remember how good they were when we did the fall color cruise a few years back. What a trip you are taking. I’m really enjoying it.
Wow. Maine looks amazing. I will have to go visit sometime.