Hey . . . it’s another layover day already!!!

Last night we caught a shuttle and headed to the Van Auken’s Restaurant for the weekly “All You Care to Eat’ fried chicken buffet (they lost money on our group). They have a Clucking Contest every Thursday night at 8:00pm for the best chicken impersonator. The winner gets their buffet for free that night. In September, all the weekly winners are invited back for a “Cluck Off’. The winner gets $200!!!! Ends up Wade does a pretty good chicken imitation, but we were gone by 8:00pm. Some were already getting ready for bed!!!!

A bright and  beautiful morning today in Old Forge. I actually slept in until 7:00am!!!! Old Forge is like any other tourist town we have been through though, mainly restaurants and shops. This one was very tidy though and not too tacky.

Some of ‘late risers’ headed down to Walt’s Diner  . . .

. . . voted the best breakfast for the last three years. Some went to the Pancake House which turned-out to not be so good . . .

Walt’s was a hopping place and similar to many other local diners we have passed through . . .

. . . we had a hungry group (and only 12 hours since we had eaten endless chicken) . . .

. . .and a three egg omelet with sausage, potatoes and provolone was only $8.00. (as you might expect, food is a BIG deal on a layover day).

Time for a little stroll up and down main street. Only two stops interested me. This kayak shop  . . .

. . . is the biggest in the northeast with over 1,000, kayaks and canoes on site for sale. Something for everyone!!!!

My favorite stop was the Mountain Man Outdoor shop. Foe those from MPLS who may remember Midwest Mountaineering or Eastern Mountain Sports, it was that kind of place. I wandered around for an hour. It’s a good thing the end of the trip is nearing or  I would have bought WAY more gear than I need to carry. Would have been nice to have been in a place like this BEFORE the trip . . .

They also had bikes including several electric mountain bikes. I had a discussion with Dan and mentioned ‘It just doesn’t seem right to me’. He said that a actually the ones they have sold have been to hunters who use them to get further back into the woods to find that ideal hunting spot. They sold one to a guy who went hunting in Utah and used it to skid out the carcass of an deer he shot!!!

Beside everything you needed for camping they also had a nice selection of ukuleles and banjoes for use around the camp fire FUN!!!

They also had 3 or 4 of these outside for sale . . .

. . .which  looks like this when ‘inflated’. We are trying to convince Mark to trade in his Topeak trailer for one of these to pull behind his bike. He  could haul all the group gear. At $8,900 it’s a steal!!!!!

As one reviewer commented, “The GO is the camper answer for the Apple tech set: innovative, user friendly, beautifully designed and painfully expensive. It’s an excellent compact alternative to standard pop-up campers, with the bonus of lots of gear towing and storage versatility, though the price is almost double what we’d expect.”

Tonight we ate right down the street at Frankie’s who has been serving it up for over 30 years!!!

The place was full upstairs so the ‘bourbon sipping group’ went downstairs to eat in the lounge area. Subdued lighting, Frank Sinatra singing in the background and a wall off 88 different bourbons (Frankie likes bourbon!) I felt like part of the ‘rat pack’!!!

Three of us had the Veal Parmesan Special . . . and it was AND huge . . .

. . . not only did we enjoy a flight of bourbon . . . but also an after dinner flight of cheesecake !!!!

 . . . a great thanks to our local bourbon expert, Debbie, who made our time in the lounge so special!!!! (not sure what the others upstairs in the main dining room had to eat AND drink).

Tomorrow it is on to Long Lake, back to sleeping on the ground and one pot meals. These layover days are killers!!!!!

Nice night in the motel . . . but 43 degrees around the breakfast picnic table this morning!!!!

. . .I don’t know it seems a little early to me for this . . . but got to reach the tourists while they are here!!!

Very foggy this morning as we headed out of Old Forge. Mark, the Oarsman Boats owner, said we will probably have fog many mornings to come . . .

Lot of deer in Old Forge. In fact you can hand feed some of them but you will risk getting a ticket!!! Lot of bear in the area too. There have been two mother bears in town with their cubs. David, Denise and Ally have also seen bear while biking along . . .

. . . this was funny . . . a fairly new sign for this resort and they are advertising PHONES!!!!!

Eleven miles down the road we came to Inlet, at the head of the lake . . . make sense!!!!

Inlet is called a Hamlet . . . things are getting very CUTSEY in this area. Haven’t seen a mobile home for several days as we have biked deeper into the park. People are REALLY big on naming their cabin properties in this area (cutesy names too)!!

Next down the line was the small village of Raquette . . . very quiet there this morning . . .

. . . hey emJay, this one is for you!!!

. . . oh yeah, we are in the mountains but seem to stay between 1,800 and 2,000 feet. But we are biking up to 2,500 feet in gain each day. LOTS of ups and down only to end up 100 feet higher than the night before!!!

. . . nice riding along all the lakes.

. . . mmmmmmmmmmm . . . looks like a regular bog????

. . . lots of money in this area . . . even the beaver lodges have satellite TV!!!!

nice, these people had a totem rather than a cutesy sign!!!!

They are calling the little unincorporated villages in this area Hamlets . . . very quaint!!!

. . . a new firewood selling concept. . . . the mobile station

. . . this was a nice one . . .

. . . and they caught on camera some thievin’ going on in the middle of the night!!!!

We met Mark, owner of Oarsman Boats, who has about 400 hours into building this cedar strip Adirondack Guide Canoe. He also makes carbon and kevlar canoes. You can see one in the background.

The Adirondack State Park is 6.5 million acres equally divided between state and private ownership. There are land use rules  guiding the the private land activites. Evidently quite controversial!!!

Nice city beach on Blue Mountain Lake . . .

When we rode into Long Lake, after 54 mile sand 2.570 feet of climbing, I saw the owner of this plane working on the engine . . . mmmmmmmm . . .not sure if I would take a ride. Rhetorical question though because he was not flying today . . . too windy!!!

Tonight we are staying in one of the New York State Parks. Saturday night and the place is hopping!!!! Jim broke two spokes today and Bernie is having trouble with his hydraulic brakes again!!!!

Noisy night in the campground last night, typical of a State owned campground on a weekend night. Mothers yelling at the top of their lungs for their kids to come and get cheeseburgers!!! We were deep in the forest and sun was at a minimum so I stopped at the laundermat in town to dry my gear that didn’t dry during the night . . .

. . . unfortunately the dryer was too hot and my favorite wiener socks MELTED!!!!

. . . heavy fog again this morning as we rolled through town but it burned off by 10:00am . . .

. . . as we turned away from the lake this is what we saw . . .straight up!!!!

We stopped into he first town we came to Newcomb, for some refreshments. Here is a unique Idea for an old satellite dish. . . instead of taking it down, make it into a garden!!!

. . . gee, do you think this guy heats with wood . . . must be a cold winter coming!!!

. . .t he SUNY college has it’s own wildlife forest . . . nice!!!

. . . as we ride through the mountains, it’s was one range after another . . . keep climbing. Most of the climbing  today averaged 8%!!!

. . . we stopped at Adirondack Buffalo Company for some buffalo meat for tonight’s meal . . .

. . . not too long ago, the frozen meat we bought was on the hoof out in this field along with these other critters!!! There were two calves among the herd too. (WRONG: the rest of the story is the herd are ‘pets’. All the buffalo meat for sale comes from Canada!!!)

55 miles and 2,750 feet of climbing today, so not a lot of time for photos when you are facing a new version of this type of scenario after every climb!!!

We are staying in a Adirondack Park near Paradox. Paradox is so named because there is a river that feeds into the lake but when the water is high the river reverses course and flows out of  the lake!!!!

Mark’s shifter cable on his Rollhoff hub snapped today. He has a 4mm and 6mm torx wrench but not the 5mm needed to install the new cable at the hub. That means when he goes up a hill he will need to get of the bike and shift to his gear of choice, at the hub,  with a wrench!!! Luckily there is a bike shop 12 miles down the road in Ticonderoga.

Really quiet in Paradox State Park last night AND dark!!!! I think we were the only visitors left after the weekend!!!

It’s always amazing packing up in the morning . . . everything has it’s place and eventually Connie shoulders it all as we roll down the road . . .

. . . Paradox Lake reminded me a lot of the glass like lakes we passed in the morning as we biked out of St. Mary’s back near Glacier National Park.

. . . not sure what Gokey’s sells

. . . but not sure I would want to buy it from this guy.

We had a HUGE downhill out of the Adirondacks today dropping from 1,900ft down to Ticonderoga, lake level at 200ft. Here was our last descent out of the mountains . . .

. . . the big draw of Ticonderoga is the Fort. I rode in with my US Park Service ‘Golden Eagle’ pass expecting to get waved through. The attendant informed me the Fort was run by a a ‘private non-profit’ and even though it was ‘America’s Fort’ it would cost me $23.00 to get in to tour. I voted the American way with my pocketbook and left.

. . . near the ferry was a ‘Welcome to New York’ sign. There wasn’t one when  we entered New York from Ontario.

. . . Connie and my third, and last ferry, ride on this trip . . .

. . . the old girl appreciated the ride rather than swimming across.

Ed, from New Jersey, and I were the only passenger’s on the ride over to Vermont. Allison, the ferry owner, collected our $2.00 bike/passenger fee. Ed spent the last week camping with his family. They left for home with the gear and he is biking back to New Jersey. Nice!!! Have a great ride home Ed!!!

. . . another state border crossing for Connie and me!!!

. . . first sign I saw when I entered the state, And a good one!!!

Vermont has their own bikeway system, like New York, and we will be pedaling on it for the next several days.

. . . oh, and there is LOTS of fruit available in Vermont too . . .

. . . where you can pick your own!!!!

. . . saw more and more of this at the higher elevations. IT’S TOO EARLY IN THE YEAR. Where did the summer go????

. . . we may have left the Adirondack behind, but we have the White and Green mountains ahead of us!!! GULP!!!!

. . . looking back over my shoulder was one last look at the Adirondacks . . .

. . . oh, there is a feel of ‘New England’ in the air . . .

. . . nice wire sculpture along the way in someone’s front yard . . .

. . . the higher the steeple . . . the closer to God?????

. . . as we rode up to Middlebury we could see what laid ahead for us . . .

We are staying at the Unitarian Universal Church in Middlebury . . . where we have taken over the back yard. It is a ‘green’ church and you can see the pellet tower that feeds a boiler used to heat the sanctuary with during the colder seasons!!!

. . . lots of peoples laundry didn’t dry last night . . . so yesterdays, and todays, took up three lines . . .

Laura is the office manager of the church and a  bicycle advocated who commutes to work. She made sure we felt at home and was hoping to have dinner with us but has a bicycle advocacy meeting tonight!!!!

Bernie and Rod have dinner duty tonight . . . and it smells like rotisserie chicken!!!!

As we pulled out of Middlebury this morning there sat this great old restored car . . . and what a color!!!

. . .for part of the day we would be on the Scenic Route 100 Byway . . . nice cycling!!!!

. . . typical Vermont Dairy farm. Looks like WI . . .looking for a Ben and Jerry’s Factory!!!

. . .this is one of the streams that had some water in it. Many of them are empty or just a trickle. They must be bank to bank in the spring!!!

. . . we passed through Ripton and right outside of the town was this sign.

. . .we also came upon a satellite campus of Middlebury College, located in Bread Loaf. In fact, the whole campus IS Bread Loaf. Many towns have a similar named smaller town close by. Middlebury ha East Middlebury. I looked on the map for a smaller version of Bread Loaf . . . say, Bread Crumb??? or how about another sister city, Meat Loaf!!!!! Actually, I believe Middlebury College is a Christian School, thus the name Bread Loaf. They also have their own ski hill up from the school. Open to the public too!!!!

. . .great buildings on campus . . .

. . . all painted the same

. . .the whole campus was VERY tidy!!!!

After a 2,000 foot climb up to Middlebury Gap (in the west they call them Passes, here in the east I guess they call them Gaps) we took a break before our BIGGGGGGGGGGGGG downhill into Hancock. It took over 2 hours for this climb and then we descended 1,000 feet into Hancock over 2 miles with a 12% grade!!!

. . .this was ort of an unusual house on the way down . . .

We left Hancock and headed for Rochester, our lunch stop. The USFS has some funny names for their trails!!!

A lot happening in Rochester, pop.1,245. . .they even had a bike shop!!!!

. . .and some nice colors . . .

As we rolled down the road to Sharon, the kickoff town for our second big climb of the day, I came upon what I thought was a new type of memorial for someone who died in a motorcycle accident . . .

. . . ends up it was just an add for a local bike shop!!!!

. . . here was a little water fountain along the way donated by General George Lamb . . . nice!!!

. . . and a local sculptor who donation of this piece of art to thank all those who helped out with the flooding after Hurricane Irene.

Joseph Smith is from around these parts. Dairy Hill was STRAIGHT up from this sign. I think I’ll pass. We will have had enough climbing for one day just to get to our home for the night, South Strafford.

Bethel had a great entrance to their town at this T intersection . . .

big fish . . . nice!!!

. . .and Tessie’s a REALLY nice looking restaurant. Maybe a stop there next trip!!

Right before we left Sharon for the last big climb, Allison’s rear shifter cable broke again right in the shifter handle.The same thing happened when we were in Hayward. The folks there talked her out of getting a new one . . . now she will for sure. But where? . . . maybe our layover day in Lincoln. Until them she may have three gears to use along the way.

Doc Mike and David on the first rise of our final climb . . .

This is what it looks like on the screen . . . gulp!!!! By the time we dropped into South Stratford we will have climbed over 4,100 feet. BIIGGG Day!!!!

Nice sleeping last night in South Stratford but we had an early morning. Moved breakfast up to 6:15am because we needed to be out of the bathrooms and school by 7:30am. School starts today in Vermont!!!!

Many of the New England towns villages we are passing through still have a REAL General Store. Groceries, hardware, bank, Post Office . . . all in one place. If it had been later in the year there may have been a bunch of folks sitting around a pot belly stove drinking coffee and solving the problems of the world, like so many others do in the small diners and stores we have passed along the way. This setting lends it sell to  Norman Rockwell type painting!!!

New Englander’s  also seem to be a VERY inclusive  and welcoming people. Many of the churches, I believe , are along the lines of  the Christian Fundamentalist variety . . .

. . . Breathe . . . Hope . . . Love . . .

. . . these guys may have had love on their mind as Connie and I appeared. The old girl paid them no mind as we rolled by . . .

. . . we are seeing more and more color. Mike, who I met today, had been up near the Canadian border and said things were REALLY ablaze!!!

. . . hey, where is my Smoochie???????

. . . what a beauty. Wonder how many hours went into this restoration????

. . . a living wage here in northern Vermont . . . ?????

As I biked along there was a long uphill into North Haverhill. I saw this fox (coyote) lying in the ditch right next to the road and stopped for a shot. I knew this was going to happen sometime . . . it was still ALIVE!!!! Must have been hit early this morning. Obviously paralyzed, it showed no signs of being frightened or scared . . .  just laid there blinking it eyes, looking straight ahead. I felt sick. There were large rocks laying near by and I should have put it out of its misery, but couldn’t bring myself to do it. I rolled on and at the top of the hill there was and elderly women (yeah, like my age) tending her garden. I explained the situation to her and asked if the village had a police department. She said they did and I asked her to call an officer who could come and ‘dispatch’  (our old WDNR word for killing) the poor critter.  As I rolled on I could see her heading into the house to call. I felt better . . .

. . . different kind of church architecture here . . .

I met three people on the road today and the first was Mike. He pulled over to talk bike touring. He and his son Markus are REALLY interested in doing some touring. Marcus is particularly interested in the Surly Long Haul Trucker and had been to four bike shops yesterday looking for one that fit him. He came home empty handed!!! Fun to talk nuts and bolts with someone about what we are doing rather then the usual travelogue discussion. Hope you two find your bikes this Fall yet and get in a short tour. You have BEAUTIFUL state!!!!

We passed through two covered bridges today, the real thing, of course. They are usually over a stream so that means a steep downhill to the bridge and then an uphill out of the river valley again. Here Denise and Anne head back up!!!

Lots of GREAT house viewing today . . . I really liked the covered porches on this one . . .

. . . first ‘house of stone’ I have seen like this . . .

. . . very stately . . . I could move in tomorrow . . . except what about the remodeling project in MSN emJay is in the middle of doing?????

. . . lots of orchards along the way but here was a VERY controlled tomato growing operation. Under plastic overhead and with plastic mulch. Must be irrigated and fed from below . . .  wonder how they taste?????

In Vermont, there have been LOTS of signs for services such as these . . . many right out in them out in the middle  of nowhere!!!!

We sort of slipped into New Hampshire, the back way, like we did from ND to MN. There was no grand sign welcoming us to the state. Only this ‘Keep New Hampshire Clean’ sign sponsored by Caitlin, the Psychotherapist!!!!!!

. . . but NH has a Scenic Byway we would using and it was beautiful riding . . .

Soon I met my second rider of the day Bill, from Burlington, VT. While we were chatting D rolled up and joined the fun. He’s returning to Burlington having made a three week loop as far north as Arcadia Park. We were the first bikers he had seen. Fun discussion. Safe trip home, Bill!!!

As we left Bill behind, we rolled onto a 2 mile stretch of packed gravel. This is only the second or third non-pavement surface we have ridden on the whole trip. ACA routes do an excellent job of keeping you on the asphalt!!!

New Hampsirans do not tell a lie and when they CLOSED they REALLY mean closed!!!!

. . . lots of signs regarding this issue.

the organization states, “Northern Pass, a 192-mile, high-voltage transmission line proposed by Hydro-Quebec and Eversource, is neither green nor clean. The line would carry hydroelectricity from Canada to southern New England, simply using New Hampshire as a huge extension cord to bring power to Massachusetts and Connecticut.”

On our first big climb of the day I met Gretta, from Montpelier, VT who was out on a four day trip. She had overnighted in Franconia Notch State Park and was heading to Orford for the night. She’s done a lot of touring, usually by herself, and did the Northern Tier solo in 2000. Safe riding Gretta!!!!

As I have stated before we don’t read newspapers, listen to the radio or watch TV. Our life on the road is REALLY simple. Sleep . . Ride . . . Eat. That’s about it. Oh and take in everything your senses can sense. Not sure if the Trumpster had done something to make people in New Hampshire mad lately but here was one of his signs discarded on the side of the road!!!! Of course, the next farm down the road still had a ‘Bernie in 2016’ sign up in the yard!!!!

. . . our second bridge of the day. First you go down . . . and them you go up!!! Nice to see the real thing!!!

We were now on our second BIG climb of the day and would need to cross the Appalachian Trail. After four miles of climbing the top was in site. Connie was getting excited and winnowing . . .

. . . soon we were at the top . . . and right behind David and Rod rolled up too . . .

. . . the old girl had a new strut in her cadence and I knew she was interested in turning from road warrior to pack horse and heading up the trail . . . not this time girl, we need to finish the trip we are on, first!!!!

More of the White Mountains were still ahead and somewhere over one of those ridges is Maine!!!

. . . but first there was a headwall to drop down to descend into Lincoln, NH, our home for the night.  At 12% for two miles, Connie can REALLY moving. Top speed for the day, 43.71 miles per hour. Not that safe, but I still remember constantly braking on the TransAm Teton Pass descent and my wheel getting so hot from the friction that my tire blew up.!!! It sounded like a a shotgun blast and brought Connie and me to a screeching halt!!!

We have had A LOT of climbing since we entered Vermont . . . and it will continue into Maine. The steepness of these climbs, some as steep at 15%, has taken a toll on the riders.  We climbed more out west but the grades RARELY exceeded 8%. In New England, the ‘norm’ seems to be 8%!!!The Today we had 3,694 feet of climbing.  As we roll out on Friday, it’s ‘up up and away‘as we climb Kancamagus Pass. Nosebleed city!!!!

Tomorrow is a layover day in Lincoln. Ally Gator has an AirB&B rented in town. Since I had one of the beds at the Niagara AirB&B, I would be on the floor or in the tent this time. Rain predicted for tomorrow, so I decided to motel it. I’m staying at the Riverbank Motel and Cabins . . . a great choice!!!

The place is very clean and quiet. Deanna has owned the place for 48 years and is passing off the motel portion to her daughter–in-law, Hilary. In fact, tomorrow they sign all the legal paperwork. Since I am staying two nights, I asked Hilary if the room rate would go up under new ownership!!!!!!

I had room 9, an end room . . .with my own balcony where Connie would spend the night and out of the rain . . .

. . . a HUGE, bright room . . .

. . .with a kitchenette, wifi . . . and the laundermat is just down the road. Everything I need!!!!

Good nights sleep last night . . . went to bed at 9:30pm and didn’t get up until 8:00am, Must have needed it!!!

. . . first order of business on a rest day is a ‘hearty breakfast’. Was thinking of going downtown to the award winning Pancake House, but when I checked Trip Advisor and it said the Sunny Day Diner was only 375 feet away from where I am staying . . . I went for it!!!

. . . and was not disappointed. Western omelet with Provolone cheese and about a pot of coffee . . . let’s get on with the day!!!

. . . on the way back to my room, as I crossed the bridge, I saw the cabins Deanna has that back up to the river. NICE!!!!  Beside the usual bike maintenance there was of course time to explore the town of Lincoln.

The town of Lincoln is ga,ga (obviously a money maker) over train rides with no fewer than three different operations offering a variety of train rides out into the countryside. You can hear their air powered whistles every 30 minutes or so as one announces its loading and departure. Right behind where I was staying was Clark’s Trading Post which had an ‘old town’ western motif complete with train rides . . .

. . . and sadly a live bear show. I’m not one to appreciate using use wild animals to perform, whether bears, porpoises, dolphins or lions. They do have electric fences though in case Yogi or BooBoo get a little frisky and want to go after little Johnny’s cotton candy!!!!

The biggest operation was the HoBo Village. Hotel, mini-golf, go-carts, huge gift shop and of course, train rides . . .

. . . that went right through the middle of town when heading out to the countryside.

. . . they did have a bunch of nice old cars that were in varying stages of refurbishment.

. . . and there was the dinner train operation.  Two hour long ride, over 20 miles, with Five Award Winning food courses. At $95 not a bad deal (gratuity and drinks additional)!!

I stopped by the AirB&B to see what was up. Nice place! Five of the gang slept out in the backyard last night. All but Jim have moved into the house for tonight . . . it’s going to be a low of 39 degrees!!!

Ally, our housemother and princess, was enjoying a nice cup of joe . . .

. . . her boudoir was right off the kitchen!!!!

Corvin was comfortable and doing what Corvin does . . . staying connect to the world!!!

Lincoln is a year round destination resort area . . . and as you can see one season sort of flows into the next . . .

Map meeting tonight at 7:00pm at the house. Several of us are considering going out for Thai . . . I’m still full from breakfast . . .

. . . but not so fulI I couldn’t enjoy a nice little brownie Sunday with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, walnuts whipped cream and a cherry. IT WAS ONLY ONE SCOOP.

BUT THIS DESSERT, AT ANYTIME OF THE DAY MADNESS, HAS TO STOP!!!!!!

I had a GREAT stay at the Riverbank Motel and Cottages, but it was time for all of us to move on to Conway, NH our home for the night . . .

. . . on the way out of town there was a Moose Tour operation . . .

. . . which talked about BIG results . . . ( I wonder if they include Rocky pictured above in their nightly count.)

Today we had the last big climb of the trip, up to the Kancamagus Pass at 2,855 feet. We would be riding mostly through the White Mountain National Forest . . .

. . . better have your car full before you drive up (probably means there are no Gatorade stops on the way either!!!)

. . . OK we’ll see . . .

. . . no problem, I’ll stop to take a photo . . . hope to see one, it will be a first on the trip!!!!

. . . as we began the climb, we rode by the Loon Mountain ski area. Here was an actual restored locomotive used in the area during the logging era.

. . . Labor Day weekend, so the road construction was shut down for the weekend . . . notice anything interesting about the photo above ?????

. . . there may not be a lock on the door, but the blades on the front loader have been adjusted to not allow the door to open . . .  not very friendly!!!!!

. . . lots of great scenery today along the way . . . as we climbed and climbed and climbed . .

. . . Jigger Johnson????  Read all about him here . . .

. . . this is what we have been biking through . . . BEAUTIFUL!!!!

. . . this creek actually had some water in it!!!

. . . as we climbed, the colors were starting to show at elevation!!!

. . . the good Lord provided us with cool temps, partly cloudy skies AND a 10-15 mph tailwind, with gust to 25mph!!! Unfortunately, the combination made for a very, VERY cold ride as we sweated away on the uphill . . . this sign meant the top was near!!!!

. . . soon we were at the TOP . . . YIPPEEE!

 

. . . we were FREEZING!!!! The conversation went something like this:

Mark: “ I’m freezing and they wind is really vicious “.

Rick: “I’m freezing too and getting colder from all the sweat dripping down my neck. We should head down, now.”

Denise: “No Shit”

. . . and down we went!!!!!!

. . . not like the 12% descents the other day . . . but fast enough. There were two more signs like this down the road so we actually descended about 11 miles. Hands were freezing!!!!

. . . Bonzai . . . by the time we reached the Village of Conway we were at 500ft of elevation. It was a LONGGGGGGGGG drop!!!

. . . right out of town there was this Inn.  Zimmer frei . . . (room available) reminded me of our upcoming trip to Provence!!!! YES!!!!

.

. . . oh boy, Conway has a scenic railroad too!!!

. . . nice to be on a bike, as I rolled to the head of the Labor Day traffic line that extended a mile and a half from the first stop sign coming into town!!!

Tonight we are staying at the White Mountain Hostel . . . where they have showers and they are HOT!!!!!

. . . this place puts you in the right frame of mind!!!!

I was the first one to arrive at the hostel. Natalie, the manager of the hostel, was very accommodating by letting us in BEFORE the 4:00pm ‘Doors Open’ time!!!!

. . . this is the room I picked . . . first floor, an easy haul from the parking lot. Right bunk, lower level!!!

. . . the second boy’s room was on the third floor. In mbbt parlance, it would be the ‘submarine’ !!!!

. . . nice kitchen for our use. Jim and David are cooking tonight . . . we’ll see what they come up with!!!!

Some slept well . . . some did not. Mixed reviews for staying about staying in a hostel. This was the first one of the trip . . . and last.

On the way out of town this place was open at 8:10am!!!!!

. . .eight miles down the road I crossed into Maine. Our last state line crossing of the trip and maybe for good for Connie and me. This is the last of our three cross country routes: TransAm, Southern Tier and now the Northern Tier. She may spend her remaining years in the stable with only short trips just to keep her legs limber.

. . . just on the other side of the line was Fryeburg, ME. Fun place here . . . woof!!!!!

. . . on the way out of town was the Fryeburg Towne Hall and the Hazel Owen Currier Doll Museum. I had to stop . . .

. . . not to tour either but because of the pot of coffee I had with breakfast. I needed to visit the little house on the prairie. No nature calls along the road . . . this morning . . . to much Labor Day traffic, even at this hour!!!!

. . . right next to the museum was the Agricultural Fair grounds . . .

. . . funny sponsor for the restroom building!!!!!

. . I passed this cemetery along the way. Mainers are funny . . . the way I read this sign, trespassing is only allowed during the day!!!!

. . . along the way was the tomb of Ester Nevers. She was buried here by her husband who used to come and watch the sunsets from her grave site. Today the forest has matured and blocks any sunset viewing . . . but the site is still maintained.

. . . the BIG climbs of the trip are over but there are still a few 12% surprises in store for us as we bike to Bar Harbor. In fact, there were several of them this morning!!!!

One thing we noticed RIGHT away is the roads in Maine seem to be in poor shape. The shoulders are crumbling away. Denise described it as the edge of a pie dough crust when you roll it out . . .

. . . and as you can see, the interior of the lane is not in much better shape. One must approached steep downhill’s VERY cautiously. Rough terrain could mean a crash!!!

. . . this guy must REALLY like bowties or Chevy’s or both. Quite the display complete with solar powered lights!!! I wonder if he comes out and sits in the bench????

. . . after 45 miles and 2,500 feet of climbing we arrived in Naples, ME. We are staying at a state park four miles south of town. It’s Labor Day weekend so the town is REALLY hopping . . .

. . . before I headed out to the park, I stopped for a little treat . . .’the horror . . .the horror’!!!!!

We had  a surprise at the campsite last night when Martha showed up at the campground.

Martha is Denise’s friend and co-worker who also visited us with three other co-workers back in MI. She is out visiting her sister Marie and will be giving Denise a ride home at the end of the trip.

Martha and Marie along with Bobby, Rebecca and Bob. VERY nice family and we had a lot of fun.

. . . they brought us lots of goodies to eat on the road the next day. Dawn, a reporter for the Brunswick Times, showed up too do so a story on our ride.

It was  late night and the last thing to do before we turn in  is to cover the breakfast and the lunch food with the tarp to keep the critters away from it.

Soon were on the road for the day and passed across one of the last swing bridges on the US. The bridge pivots on its axis to allow boat traffic to pass on either side . . .

. . . and there was also an old lock system. Once the locks are full, the gates are opened by hand!!!!

. . . very fun. Would have been great to have seen the whole works in operation.

. . . not too far down the road today we came to another roadside general store. They seem to have EVERYTHING. Unfortunately this one specialized in discount cigarettes!!!!

. . but  right across the street were Rebecca, Martha and Marie, waiting to say good bye to all of us. They were going to visit us at the campground but there were no visitors allowed until 9:00am!!!

. . . we have started seeing a number of stone fences along the way. Lots of work to build one of these . . .

. . . what intrigued me about this place was the slab wood that had been debarked and was being used for siding. Interesting  look!!!

. . . Maine does spend some money on roads and today we rode on several new slabs. NICE . . . smooth as the bottom on a new born baby!!!

. . . .typical scene around many rural road turns in ME . . . only thing missing is a family of moose standing out in the marsh!!!

. . . hey did I make a wrong turn or what!!!!  . . . and they are open for business!!!!

. . . several examples of quirky Maine humor along the way . . . .

. . . including this 12 foot high system of mail boxes . . .

. . . puppy.

There was rain in the forecast for this afternoon and by the time we reached our campsite it was raining.

Mark and I had kitchen duties tonight and we caught a ride into town to get groceries for breakfast and lunch. It was wet and cold so we made the decision dinner would be in town tonight. Ally lined up taxi shuttle and away the 15 of us went to downtown New Brunswick. Great choice of international cuisine (it is a college town) and most of us finished the evening off with gelato!!!!   . . .

It was still raining hard when we returned to camp!!!