Well Worth the Distance!

(We're so sorry to have kept y'all waiting for the last few entries!  We legitimately weren't near a computer for a week and then came home and got wrapped up in our mundane lives again, so instead of trying to piece together what happened each day, we'll give you a big ol' summary of the last days and our final impressions.)

July 23rd - 18th Day Biking! 

Biked to Charlottetown, biked to New Glasgow, stayed at a B&B.

Mileage: 28.8 miles

July 24th - 19th Day Biking!

Biked to Cavendish, Green Gables, Cavendish Shoreline and back to the B&B

Mileage: 19.38 miles

July 25th - 20th Day Biking!

Biked back to Charlottetown, boxed up the bikes, walked along the harbour

Mileage: 18.16 miles

It's funny how throughout this trip when we've been in the "depths of despair" something or someone always comes along at exactly the right time.  PEI proved to be just as hilly as Nova Scotia and since we were all the more anxious to arrive because we were that much closer, the hills seemed harder, more bothersome.  In New Glasgow we reached our limit and pulled out the guide book to see if there were any available and close B&Bs.  All were full or 9 more miles away... except for the very last one. Carol semi-giggle/cackled on the other end of the phone, "did they try to tell you that PEI is flat?  Well they lied!  Don't worry, I'm just half a hill away."  We trudged up the last hill and were greeted by the old, cute, bubbly innkeeper standing in front of her very stately 1800's estate.  The inside was exceptionally quaint - the kind of quaint that comes apart when you try to analyze all the small pieces in each room but all together seems to work.  We settled in and walked back down the hill to the "town" to poke around the stores.  It was here that we stumbled across something very important, something that would influence the rest of our stay in PEI: a biography on Lucy Maud Montgomery.

Since it was just a thin book, we read it that night, merely trying to prepare for our visit to "Anneland" the following day.  In retrospect it seems ridiculous that  we traveled 600+ miles and didn't know anything about the author of all the beloved characters. Lucy Maud was apparently a very solitary person who was fiercely defensive of PEI and was so adamant that it remain a private place for the imagination that she almost tried to not let Anneland become a national park.  Only when she realized that it was the only way to preserve it from unbridled tourism (the ironic result of her novels) did she agree to not put up a fight.  She was a very private person who almost lived a double life: by day she was a very devoted, pious, and dutiful minister's wife who endlessly entertained and set the town example but by night or by the moments she could steal away she was the penpal of two men from overseas (apparently a usual practice of those times, but possibly not usual for a woman) to whom she communicated her deeply-rooted criticism of religion and even doubt of God's existence.  She was thrilled when Anne of Green Gables was finally accepted for publication and even more excited when the publishers asked for Anne of Avonlea, but she soon grew tired of churning out books 3-7 and actually disliked her protagonist by the end of the series!  She wanted to create new, fresh characters and plots but her other novels were never given the same attention.  

We had originally planned to spend a whole day seeing absolutely every Anne sight available, but seeing Green Gables turned out to be enough.  It certainly was amazing to be there because it was the end of an epic journey, but in terms of the Anne hype, it all seemed simultaneously sanitized and blown out of proportion.  None of the displays on Lucy Maud mentioned anything that wasn't utterly cheery and the rooms of the very beautiful old house were labeled by the characters in AGG, instead of telling about her relatives who had actually lived in them. Many of the tourists hadn't even read the book; they had just been drawn by the celebrity aura.  The haunted woods was surrounded by a golf course and the gift store was a blur of Anne dolls, Anne spoons, Anne mugs, Anne posters, Anne calendars, Anne everything.  (A good 50% of the people working there had red hair - it must be a lot easier to be employed in PEI if you have red hair!) We couldn't shake the feeling that we were accidentally, or actually very deliberately (600 miles of deliberation) participating in Lucy Maud's worst nightmare.  

Knowing that our final destination was somewhat of a fraud did not dampen our experience in the slightest; we were destined to arrive there and were very much in awe of our discovery.  To realize a wise lesson at the pinnacle of our trip was actually quite providential: we learned that literature is best left in the much richer realm of imagination; it is not meant to be sought out and pigeonholed into reality.  The ironic part is that we had to see it for ourselves to understand what happens when a novel is turned into a quest.

We cancelled the rest of the AGG tour and decided to do some extra (gasp!) biking along the Cavendish shores.  They were actually quite deserted even though the rest of Cavendish was aflutter with tourists.  The empty red cliffs, purple flowers, and very blue water offered us the sense of discovery that we were craving.

The following day we biked back to Charlottetown, disassembled our bikes (very sad!) at a local bike store and boxed them up for the bus trip.  Luckily there was a grocery store next door, so we borrowed a shopping cart and wheeled them back to our hotel for the night (while many people watched us).

Even now, back in Atlanta, we can't believe how fast it all went.  It was such a great, fabulous, hard, rewarding trip and we're sad it's over!  It was cool how time worked on the road; our days were measured in miles, grocery stores, and campgrounds and we only arrived anywhere if we were willing to physically work hard enough to get there.  It was very simple yet more difficult than regular life and somehow refreshing.  We're already planning our next trip.

All of the Photos!

So we are back in Boston and luckily our hosts have the same camera, or at least the same camera cord, so we were able to download all of our photos!

Instead of inundating y'all with 200 pictures all at once we have them sorted into albums by timeframe on the trip. (Double click on the album cover to access all of the pictures.) In addition, key photos will be uploaded to illustrate the previous postings.

So here we go:

Trip to Boston

Maine

Nova Scotia

PEI

In addition, our friend Paul took lots of pictures of our camping trip to Acadia National Park. (The final stop on our journey before we got back to Boston.) His pictures can be found here.

Route Map!

So I made a google map of our route and important stops along the way. Unfortunately after hours of messing with it I still can't get everything to show up on the map at once. So if you go to the map you have to click at the bottom of the Legend to see the second page of stuff. Let me know if you know how to fix this!

Updates Soon!

We are safely back in the States after biking over 600 miles! Stay tuned for updates on the final days, concluding thoughts, pictures, and a route map.

Prince Edward Island!

July 22nd - 17th Day Biking!

We woke up very excited because we were going to finally take the ferry to Prince Edward Island! The last few days the anticipation had been building, with lots of quoting from Anne of Green Gables and reading in the guide book about the sites. Our final destination was at hand!!



We eagerly boarded, locked our bikes in the bowels of the ship, and prepared for the hour long voyage across choppy seas. The ride ended up being a walk in the park compared to the last ferry experience, but we did get our first taste of what the tourism on PEI - for the 100th anniversary of AGG - is going to be like: crazy! It's hard to not resent the other tourists; we should clearly be the only ones who thought of this pilgrimage, and I swear that there were a few more braided pigtails than normal...

After deboating, we had lunch at a little red and white lighthouse and plotted our route. We decided to take the non-interstate route, which seemed like a good choice, but little did we know that we were foregoing bike lanes and relatively light traffic for MORE hills! After 10 miles, we found our way back to the interstate and made our way to the campground on flatter pavement.

A word about the landscape of PEI: all the roads are bright red and damp, the fields that aren't covered in white flowering potato plants are blanketed in blueish-green grains. There are lots of purple flowers and the towns still have no buildings. (What makes a town a town, by the way?)

We turned at the sign for the campground to discover a vertical dirt hill. We plowed ahead, set up camp in the midst of persistent mosquitos, ate dinner, and fell asleep at 7:30pm. So tuckered out!

Mileage: 35ish miles

Indy 500!

July 21st - 16th Day Biking!

We departed Truro after doing some morning errands, including stopping at a bike store to get our tires pumped up and ask about which route to take. It was a great idea on both fronts: our tires were at about half pressure and the woman definitively told us that one route was flatter than the other.



The terrain was great! We didn't experience any climbs that weren't gradual and although it was sprinkling, we were making great time. We hit mile 500 and celebrated with some vegan herb cream cheese that we had found in the last grocery store (Laurel almost had a stroke when she discovered it). Just as we finished, the drizzle started again and so did we... until... Laurel got a flat tire! The first one of the trip! (Katharine is being blamed for jinxing the situation since she mentioned the good fortune of no flats the night before.)

It was the rear tire and it sure was a pain in the rear to fix. Luckily the rain stopped while we were doing our repairs, but after we got back on the road: WOW! Torrential downpour for the rest of the day!! Also, we discovered that when we flipped the bike to change the tire, the odometer stopped working, at a little over 500 miles. All mileage from here on out will have to be estimated...



We arrived in Pictou looking like drowned rats and not happy campers, LITERALLY. That night would be another hotel stay, unfortunately for our pocketbooks but fortunately for our chilled bodies.

On the way to the closest and cheapest motel, Katharine looked in her mirror and didn't see Laurel! Where was she? (Hopefully not at the last stop we had made 2 miles down the road, the last time Katharine checked her mirror...) Katharine waited awhile and then headed back to find Laurel pitifully pushing her bike up the road. After some words, Laurel informed Katharine that her tire was flat, again. We pumped it, hoping it would hold for 3 more miles and arrived at the hotel.

The owners were very sweet and even offered to drive us to a bike store. After showers and food, we changed the tire again on the motel bathroom floor, hopefully successfully this time. (It turns out that the last innertube got pinched when we changed it on the road.)

Mileage: 40ish miles

Rain and Rest

July 20th - 15th Day of Biking!

We woke up with stiff shoulders and very tight thighs. Despite our slow moving, we luckily packed up before the rain started. Other than drizzle during the nights, this was the first rain we've had the whole trip. We dawned our super bright jackets and biked to Truro; neither of us really remember the ride other than "must keep going, don't think about how soaked you are."

We decided to rest and run lots of errands in Truro, and most importantly, to treat ourselves to a real bed. We found a huge grocery store and went absolutely crazy. The food, after it was taken out of all its packaging, barely fit into our once empty packs. The rest of the day was spent doing laundry, getting info at the visitors center, and hanging out. It was wonderful being in a town again!!

We had forgotten how good mundane life can be: WALKING in NON-SPANDEX clothing around town is so nice! We even did the unadvisable and biked without any packs. It was hilarious because we could barely control the steering without all the weight!



In the evening we got some bad but warm Chinese food and settled in to watch some tv: guess what was on: Le Tour de France!! We're not sure if watching it was demoralizing or motivating, but it sure was cool how amazingly athletic those people are!

Mileage: 27. 16 miles

(We love reading all your comments even though we usually have people in line waiting to use the computers and can't always respond.)

High Spirits But Still No Grocery Stores

July 19th - 14th Day Biking

We woke up this morning feeling awkward about how to properly thank our hostess or even how to greet her in the morning. Luckily there was so much activity when we emerged that there were no timid good mornings. The place was again transformed into a bustling cafe with lots of yummy smells. We sat down, grateful to blend in, and ordered a very large breakfast from our waittress, Meg. Apparently everyone had learned about our late evening arrival because Meg asked whether the yoga studio had been comfortable and mentioned that she belly dances there on Wednesday mornings. What?? We learned that our hostess' name was Doris and that she had immigrated from Switzerland. (I don't know if we can fully describe how bizarre this place and experience was, but I imagine it was akin to what Rip Van Winkle must have felt waking up after 20 years.)

After breakfast, we asked Meg to give Doris a note, some payment, and one of our lucky folded $2 bills.

We set out very refreshed in spirits and tackled a day that was probably physically harder than our last - you guessed it: more hills. We ended up going further, though, because it didn't seem as hard since our attitudes were brighter.



The only concerning aspect was that there were still no grocery stores; there were weird convenience stores (where thankfully we could buy water!) but no establishments with any wholesome food. We spent the day eating chips, donuts, peanut butter, slushies, stale bagels (seriously, they must have been on the shelf for two years), and the crumbs out of the bottom of our paniers.

We arrived in Maitland at a racuous campground with lots of drunk 20-somethings and unfriendly looking regulars. The music blared well past midnight but we were too tired to care.

Mileage: 46.38

No Room At the Inn

July 18th - 13th Day of Biking!

Today was like watching a story play out. We woke up sore and tired and insatiably hungry. The heat was so strong even in the morning that sleeping more was out of the question. We wearily packed up and began our most physically and mentally grueling day yet. By the fourth mile we were exhausted from the already daunting hills and stopped at a antiques store/cafe. From the outside it seemed like the dime a dozen stores that we've been passing since Maine, but on the inside it was a strange hippie oasis: the baristas had dreds, the coffee was Free Trade, they had soy milk for coffee and even vegan muffins! As we sat on the patio enjoying portabella paninis, in disbelief, one of the baristas came out to shoot the breeze about bikes, telling us that he had once owned a bike shop and then expecting us to know all the pros and cons about different fancy frames (it's funny that everyone assumes we know so much about biking just because we decided to do a long trip and look important with all the gear on our bikes).

We thought we would be rejuvenated after our cool find, but 15 miles more of hills led us into Windsor where we wanted to give up completely. We got lost going to the grocery store and gave up, felt panicked trying to find out how we would stay on schedule if every day from here on out provided the crazy climbs we were seeing, and we were just generally frustrated that the only way we were going to get out of Nova Scotia would be biking.

Since we had no choice, we kept going and started day dreaming about many things: how much easier this trip would be if we stayed in hotels and only ate at restaurants - imagine how much less weight we would be carrying on our bikes! We also lamented the fact that since we were biking along the "armpit" of the coast, if there were only a bridge, it would have saved us this whole day. And lastly, there's always the sobering thought if we were driving, this would all just take a day! All the while we were climbing more and more hills - the type that when you reach the crest, it doesn't plummet down to give you some coasting; it instead barely levels off and then goes up again. The scenery was strange: all farmland on the top of the world, cordoned off by muddy rivers.

More concerning was the fact that we realized the only campground within striking distance for the day was one where there was a festival. The next closest one was 20 miles further on the same terrain and the towns we were passing where we thought we could always find a cheap motel were turning out to be nonexistent. Drained and out of sorts, we stopped at the only building in Summerville: a ragtag inn, the first we had seen since Windsor. We went in to inquire about a room and found the place totally deserted. It was so strange inside: bags of chips among homemade wool caps, prices for lumber, paint, and cans of beans. We called, "hello?" a few times and then gave up, eager to rummage through our sad supply of food. We ate dinner on the stoop: cold spaghettios, jerkey, peanut butter, add water hummous, garlic crackers, pina colada "energy shot blocks," and, alarmingly, almost the end of our water.



Before leaving, Katharine decided to give calling for the manager one last shot. She found an old but vivacious woman inside. There was no room at the inn because of the festival but the woman, knowing that the campground we were headed to was already full and that we would have to bike in the wee hours of the night to get to the next one, called some of her friends down the road to see if they had room for us. No luck. Then, she said, "Well, I have some empty lawn out back. Why don't you stay there? Actually, I think it's supposed to rain so you can sleep downstairs. I won't even charge you." It's strange that given such helpful generosity, it's hard to know how to react or even to keep your suspicions at bay. She didn't even know our names, we didn't know hers, but she hustled in, telling us to lock our bikes up on the post of the "shop" and leading us downstairs to what we thought would be a leaky basement but was, shockingly, a very nice yoga studio?? She then told us to shower upstairs since one of her guests hadn't yet arrived. Her hospitality was overwhelming and very appreciated in our mile of need.

We went to sleep in disbelief, while we could hear and smell her baking cinnamon buns upstairs. In fact, we could hear people pattering around all night, as if no one was sleeping, but just preparing things.



Mileage: 39.8 miles

Providential Moments: A kindred spirit in Summerville.

In the Zone

July 17th - 12th Day of Biking!



We definitely got in the mileage today. The heat hung in the air since we were inland, but the terrain was much flatter, which is apparently the only variable that matters in terms of how far we can manage to go. We saw quite the smattering of countryside: we started along a river, continued through a valley, passed many farms and the occasional stripmall, and finally arrived at the ocean again in Grand Pre. For the farmland portion, sometimes the only distinction that we were traveling anywhere was the change in crops: corn and wheat to beans to berries (the air smelled like strawberries!) and then back to a sea of corn and wheat. We managed to ignore the heat for the most part but what was tiresome was the cars zooming by like they owned the road. Hearing that sound for hours can be exhausting, especially since the shoulder of the road has now disappeared.

Today was the first day that some butt chaffing started (tmi?), other than that, the only parts of us that are sore are our arms, hands, and shoulders. You would think that biking would mostly strain your legs...

We only stopped for 15 minutes at a time and decided that one of those stops would be to find out what the Tim Horton's chain is about - we see them everywhere around here. As it turns out, it's a mix between Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts, perhaps lower quality food, but nicer seating and they recycle and compost!! In fact, everywhere recycles and composts around here, even the campgrounds!.

Well, I guess that's all for now.

Mileage: 61.16 miles

Musings: What does "Clean Fill Needed" mean? We saw it a lot outside of businesses and houses in Maine and some here.

Grumpy-Mcgrumpsters

July 16th - 11th Day Biking

Notice that there is no exclamation point following our biking day count. It was a very hard day. We both woke up very overheated and grumpy and were quickly met with some of the steepest hills we're seen yet. What happened to all the flat terrain from yesterday? And what was that random guy talking about when he said that it would be flat all the way to PEI? We're beginning to realize that people who drive cars don't really notice hills and should not be allowed to give cyclists false hopes.

We stopped after 1.3 miles, ready to throw in the towel. We had a snack, sat in the nonexistent shoulder of the road, and regrouped. Our attitudes improved slightly, but the insane hills continued for 16 miles, coupled by some highway biking and very, very hot sun. It was a pretty miserable day. We didn't even want to take pictures to remember any of it.

We finally made it into the Annapolis River Valley (Annapolis Royal is the oldest European settlement in Canada) and stopped for lunch (definitely at a restaurant because we deserved it) and two types of dessert. It was just too hot to continue so we went to the library until it closed.

Despite the adverse conditions, we got in a fair amount of mileage, and in the evening we got into some flatter agricultural land with lots of oreo cows (black on their heads and rears and white in the middle). We stopped in Bridgetown. To top off our trying day, we opened our dinner bag to discover that a quart of yogurt had slowly oozed onto every single item of food and into every seam and crevice of the bag. (Don't ask why we had opened yogurt in there.) After about an hour of washing everything down with a packet of babywipes, we were satisfied that we had destickied everything. Hopefully the smell of soured yogurt won't be with us for the remainder of the trip.



Mileage: 34.04 miles

A word about water pressure in campgrounds: It is so inconsistent! Last night we had to wash shampoo out of our hair with barely a drip and then tonight the pressure was so hard that it almost made us bald. It was strong enough to be a firehose!

With the Ocean to Our Left

July 15th - 10th Day Biking

No we didn't turn around and head back to Atlanta, we are just on the other side of the Bay of Fundy. The day started cool and foggy and turned into perfect biking weather. The air was cool with breezes off the bay, the terrain was mostly flat, and there was hardly any traffic. In fact the whole day was rather silent. The landscape was soft with marshes rolling into the ocean and laundry on clotheslines blowing dry. The houses were all so old, kind of Victorian style and weathered gray - except for every 5th house that was painted a bright yellow, pink, or aqua. If we saw someone, it was a random child saying hi or a very old man mowing his lawn; other than that, the cute countryside seemed abandoned.



All the signs in kilometers make us feel like we are making much better time. They were also in French because it turns out that the southern part of Nova Scotia speaks primarily French, though everyone we encountered also speaks perfect English - both languages sounded like they were being spoken with a Scottish accent.

Even though we stopped to take lots of picture and scenery breaks, we still had our best biking day yet, stopping in Smith's Cove and excited to see what else Nova Scotia had in store for us.

Mileage: 60.7 miles (what's that in kilometers?)

Seasick, Very Seasick

July 14th - 9th Day Biking



We woke up early, excited to take a ferry ride! We got ready quickly and walked our bikes across the street to the ferry "terminal." It was blustery and foggy so we wore our neon biking jackets. We must have been a humorous sight because since we weren't cars, we had to be put in the motorcycle line, as we waited to board. The man taking our tickets warned us that the ride would be "a bit rougher than usual," but we didn't pay him any heed since Katharine had her Dramamine and Laurel doesn't get motion sickness. Little did we know...



We stored our bikes in the frightening underbelly of the katamaran, crammed in with all the motorcycles and boxed in by all the cars and went upstairs to find a seat. The captain came on to announce the stats, as if knowing that 700+ cars on board makes one feel reassured about the safety of the crossing, and then we settled in. Laurel went exploring, pushing her way around the throngs of people in line to get food at the cafe, and saw the casino, the wake, and the duty-free liquor store. Then the ship started to move. It was a sick feeling that we have never known before. Katharine remained paralyzed the entire 3 hours, for fear that moving or speaking would open the vomit flow, and even Laurel took preventative throwing up measures in the bathroom (ie: she wanted to do it in private instead of in a little barf bag that the crew was passing out like candy). During her voyage to the facilities, Laurel saw quite the sight in the stern of the ship: dozens, maybe even hundreds of children and the elderly hunched over heaving into their paper sacks; the smell alone was enough to sicken even the strongest of stomaches. No one was in line for the cafes anymore. Crew members were frantically mopping up and reassuring the other passengers who all wanted to know how much time was left on this ferry crossing from hell. Seriously, we want to know: is this really a business they are running? Charging people for the most nauseating experience of their lives?

FINALLY the announcement came to return to our vehicles for the deboating. There were cars parked everywhere, crammed in at odd angles. We located our bikes, repacked the lunch we had taken onboarding thinking we would have a nice picnic on the cruise, and prepared to greet Nova Scotia. It was cold and foggy and customs awaited.... Stay tuned to find out how Laurel was detained at the border. (In other words, the library is closing.)

Okay, we're back! We thought that what would possibly get us detained at the border was the suspicious looking baggie of dried kale and collard greens that Josh and Christy gave us to ward off scurvy or that left over wine that Katharine had put in a vitamin water bottle for safe travel, but as it turns out, it was Laurel's radical protesting days that got her flagged as a passenger of concern and questioned. It was rather jarring when the official said, "Katharine, I'd like you to stay here. I need to take Laurel back and ask her some questions." Yikes! Luckily the official was very nice and was pacified with Laurel's assurance that she would not protest while in Canada.

We had to take about 3 hours in town - checking email and eating Subway - because we were still so quesy from the trip. It was enough time to make a huge generalization about Nova Scotia: everyone here is SO nice and friendly! (I would be really annoyed living in a town where hundreds of puking Americans deboard all the time.)

We biked to Darling Lake Campgrounds in very heavy fog - it was so beautiful and silent on the road. The manager of the campground turned out to be a huge Atlanta Braves fan and talked Laurel's ear off about the athletic prowess of Chipper Jones.

Mileage: 11 miles by bike, 100 miles by boat

Bar Harbor Tourism

July 13th - 8th Day Biking!



We got up early to not miss mass, heaven forbid. We biked 20 miles in 2 hours, no breaks, with a strong head wind along the coast, but alas, we did not make it in time. Laurel would say it's because Katharine did not get up early enough. Katharine would say it's because of those last 3 miles straight uphill with no shoulder and crappy pavement. Either way, we celebrated the Lord's day at the Fish Grill (hey, that's actually kind of appropriate...) FINALLY eating good warm food - lots of it, even a Sundae!

Bar Harbor was obnoxiously crowded with tourists, so after eating we quickly did our daily grocery shopping (yes, we grocery shop every day) and checked into the cheapest motel that did not involve us biking up all those hills again and that was near the ferry for the following morning. Then we proceeded to watch 7 hours of television. It's amazing how much you miss television... in only a week.

Mileage: 23ish

Observations:

- "Murder, She Wrote" episodes are soooooo good! And she's from Cabot Cove, Maine (which doesn't actually exist on our map, but who cares).
-No matter how many times you've watched "Legally Blonde," you can always watch it again.

And on the 7th Day They Rested

July 12th - 7th Day (Not) Biking!

As it turns out, it's very difficult to rest all day in a tent. We were totally stir crazy even though we were tired. We both finished our books - what are we going to read for the rest of the trip?? We tried to go swimming, but it turns out the sand had some sort of vile chemical smell and we had to spend quite awhile in the showers trying to scrub it out of our toenails with hand soap. We were also extremely hungry for hot food, good food, basically any food that we didn't have in our packs. Do you know how torturous it is to have to smell 100 families cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner and to have to nibble away at granola bars? Dinner was particularly agonizing: the mere sound of our cold Spinach and lentils Indian food slopping into our tupperware was enough to make us want to hurl. Then we had to eat it - the Indian food, not the hurl, even though it was pretty similar.

Odds & Ends: Thanks for all your comments on our blog! Emily, you're very perceptive. Katharine does do most of the blogging. Eric, we're taking lots of pictures but we can't upload them until we get back - don't worry, there are LOTS of spandex shots (if you could only smell the pictures...!) Hi Susan! David, I agree there is a lot of inconsistency in the voice narration. Paul, get back to work!

Things we're most glad we packed:

Day 1 - long pajama pants
Day 2 - the trowel, not for burying shit but for hammering in the tent stakes
Day 3 - good air mattresses
Day 4 - sweatshirts
Day 5 - roll up pillows
Day 6 - books

*The above list was created to remind us, when we're hauling all this crap up a huge hill, why we have it.

Mileage: 0

Weary of the Transient Lifestyle

July 11th - 6th Day Biking!



It was very hard to leave our beautiful campsite, which is why we didn't start until 12:30pm (this is a trend at this point). We rode into Ellsworth, hell-bent on eating at a restaurant for the first time since we set out. The selection ended up being lobster, lobster rolls, lobster, lobster, and/or crab. So we begrudgingly went to a fake Mexican restaurant with sombreros that felt more than a little dirty. Turns out it was and we felt a bit under the weather during the digestion process.

As we continued on to Lamoine State Park, Route 1 turned into suburban wasteland/stripmall/no bike lanes hell. Luckily we turned off of it for the last time ever and rode on some darling little country roads through some memorable Maine scenery. We went through one town that looked as if it had gone untouched for 100 years. The church bell was tolling as we went by (maybe it tolls all the time, but we'd like to think it was greeting us).

We wearily set up our tent, smiling that we would not have to take it down the following morning since it would be our day off (!), ate our cold Indian dinner, and went to watch the sun set over the bay with little sailboats bobbing in the tide.

Mileage: 24.4

Gone Swimming

July 10th - 5th Day Biking!

Our day started out with a dip in the ocean and packing up by 12pm. Somehow we keep getting later and later starts even though our intention is the opposite! At the beginning of every day, before we've put in those miles that make us look half dead, when we're just donning our spandex and mounting our gear-ladden bicycles, we feel veeeeery spiffy and strong and just awesome. On this particular morning as we were experiencing that very sentiment, heading out to the tackle the road, we were PASSED by a couple on a tandem bike with all their gear AND pulling their two kids in a trailer behind them. We are weak, pathetic people. That much is clear.

The hills eased up a bit but the sun was intense and the skies a very bright blue. Bucksport was disappointing. We tried to find a restaurant as a treat but Dunkin' Donuts ended up being our best option. The egg and cheese sandwich was not as disgusting as Katharine expected (read: she inhaled it and licked her fingers). Laurel ate a bagel with some old avocado smeared on it. Oh vegans.

We've been passing some fascinating old cemeteries along the way and decided to stop by one today. They mostly from the Civil War era and turn of the century and are just sitting along Route 1, making them seem very out of place and almost even more forgotten as hundreds of cars zoom by. The grass is usually mowed but some of the headstones have fallen down.

We biked into the evening and were considering pressing on but we decided to stop at the campground we had planned on, Whispering Pines. We are so glad that we did! It was precious. This older couple owns it and as providence would have it, some people had just cancelled their reservation for the very best spot on the lake that never opens up all summer. It was gorgeous! Our tent was maybe 5 feet from the edge of the water and we could see the sunrise from our sleeping bags.



They also had some canoes that we could use for free. As a disclaimer, Katharine told Laurel before getting in that canoes notoriously bring out the worst in people and highlight their inability to work together. That's basically what happened, but we did enjoy the sunset. (Does anyone from Dartmouth remember the episode when we rented a cabin and sunk one of the college's canoes? Who was in the fated canoe? I was trying to remember.)

Mileage: 23.34

Applying the Brakes

July 9th - 4th Day of Biking

Based on the very ridiculous schedule for the ferry from Bar Harbor, Me to Nova Scotia, we've realized that we have some time to kill. The next ferry isn't until Monday, so we've slowed down our pace considerably to try to be more vacationy and stop at local spots of interest. (We don't want any of you thinking that we're tired or that our muscles feel a bit like mush or that a bed would be nice...)

We left the nice (and cheap) state Park in Camden where the ranger looked like Dumbledore and I swear was trying to communicate something very pressing and deep as he was showing me campsites (I'm pretty sure that he'll pop up in another of my lifetimes) and started along the coast. The air was breezy and warm and as a result, we only rode 5 miles before stopping at the beach. We sat and sat and sat, enjoying the waves. Laurel dipped her feet and Katharine ate a brownie. The day proceeded to heat up considerably and we almost thought the health food Co-op in the distance was a mirage; miraculously it wasn't and we wallowed in the air conditioning and whole grains and Panda licorice bites. After a very messy lunch in the cafe (seriously, we were cramming sprouts and hummus in our mouths with our hands as other disgusted patrons looked on), we pressed on in the heat. Secretly we hoped that someone would steal our bikes while we feasted so that continuing on was not an option. Oh, there was a very amusing/clever sign in the Co-op that made us chuckle for miles afterwards (there's not much to dwell on out here); it said: "Unattended children will be given an espresso and sent home with a free puppy." Anyone else think that's a very funny image?

Let's be honest, this day was not a Tour de France showing, so let's continue on the topic of food and what we're eating on a daily basis. For breakfast, we eat nutty nuggets with a peach and soy milk and mini applesauces. For lunch, we eat pita and hummus with another peach and avocado. For dinner, we eat an Indian Tasty Bite with pita and pea pods. Snacks include a lot: veggie jerkey, Panda licorice, corn mix, cashews, luna bars, and the occasional Dunkin' Donuts stop (Laurel has been known to take a bite or two of those delicious pastries).

We stopped at another overpriced private campground that lectured us about how Maine taxpayers subsidize state parks for out of state visitors which is why they are so cheap, but it turned out to be very pleasant with an ocean view and we did laundry for the first time!!



Mileage: 23.8 miles

Hills: Up and Down, Down and Up

July 8th - 3rd Day of Biking



We are currently at the Camden, Maine public library updating the blog. Today has been a hard but very rewarding day. We have gone up and down sooo many hills, making us feel quite bad-ass and hardcore. Most of the way has been inland in Maine, but we're finally getting to see a pretty bay with boats here. It has been sunny and probably around 85 degrees. A little while ago we passed the 100 miles mark and celebrated with some veggie jerkey. Our second (of two) outfits are now stinky and sweaty. We've also realized that our goal of 50 miles/day is a bit too ambitious considering how much stuff we're carrying. We've been discussing different routes to cut miles so that we can complete the trip in a month.

We're probably going to stop in 5 miles for the night at Camden State Park campgrounds. (We're getting faster at setting up and taking down camp!)

Mileage: Around 35 miles

Providential Moment: ... Anyone else had one today?



(Added after the original posting): After blogging at the library, we decided that instead of hurrying to our campsite that we would finish reading Anne of Green Gables on the library lawn overlooking the harbor. As providence would have it, the library was having a book drive/sale so we wrote a message in the front cover about our journey and donated it to help things come full circle. (Don't worry Meghan, the copy you gave me is safe at home.)

It Begins to Set In

July 7th - 2nd Day of Biking

We left Freeport around 10:30 am and headed north on Hwy 1. The traffic was loud but there was a very large shoulder almost the entire way. We had lunch in Brunswick, Maine outside the public library. Then it was on to Bath on a back road and back onto Hwy 1. The route was rolling countryside most of the way with glimpses of the ocean and bays.

We passed a campground around 4 pm but decided to press on to the next one. Unfortunately we were both really tired by the time we made it to the turn-off and the sign said 5 miles. We made it, even though they lied on the sign! The campground was more like a carnival than a flat piece of land to sleep - and they charged us up the wahzoo even though we didn't want to use the minigolf course and the skateboard half-pike. Despite all the frills, we still had to use quarters for the dang shower! (Yes, that's right: first shower of the trip and it was heavenly!) The people next to us were watching tv and listening to music AND letting their dog yap its head off. Luckily "quiet" hours started around 11pm. Needless to say, Katharine had to sleep the next morning.

Day's Mileage: 47.34 miles

Observations:

-If you live in Maine, you either own an autobody shop, a hair salon, or sell antiques and pottery.

- Campgrounds try to get your business by advertising that they are just a "short distance" from the road when they are actually hundreds of miles away.

Providential Moments: In the early afternoon, we were peddling along Hwy 1 when Katharine noticed a bill flitting along the shoulder of the road. She stopped and picked it up and discovered it was a folded $2 bill! Then Laurel noticed a whole wad of $2 bills blowing and separating along the road. In between trucks and cars passing, we collected a total of eight $2 bills. How strange! Even stranger still, Katharine's friend Bob who is from Maine has a lucky folded $2 bill. Does everyone in Maine have them?

And We're Off!

Well... actually when the alarm went off at 6am for us to leave on a maaaany miles bike trip after going to bed at 1:30am the night before, Katharine decided she wasn't going unless the train tickets to Maine were rescheduled for 11am.

Take two: we got up at 9am and rechecked/reloaded everything.... actually, we loaded everything onto our bikes for the first time ever, at which point we realized they were a) veeeery heavy and b) we needed to make some adjustments. With Paul and Mahsa's encouragement and assistance with screwdrivers and tire pumps, we set off to the train station at a fast pace. Despite Paul implying that we were about to miss our train, we made it - phew!



The train ride was nice and scenic but overly airconditioned. We de-trained in Portland, Maine at 2:30pm and stopped to get a bite to eat since the train ride was very arduous. Then, finally, we started biking. The scenery was beautiful along the Maine coast. People were very friendly and curious about where we were going. Everything was quaint and Katharine decided that she needs to move to somewhere along the coast in the Northeast. The weather was strange and beautiful; it was very hot and very chilly at the same time but didn't mix in the air. We arrived in Freeport and camped at a brisk coastal campground.

Day's Mileage: 25.28 miles

Providential Moments: On the train, we met a family of four from Walla Walla, WA. The dad was very interested in talking to us about bicycle touring and very happy that we were just setting out. When we arrived at the campground in Freeport, we pulled up alongside a minivan carrying the same family! Not only was it providential that we were staying at the same campground, but it is also noteworthy that we arrived at the same time - we on bicycles and they in a minivan.

Chillin' in Boston/Going to a Wedding

July 3rd thru July 5th -

We had a greeeeeat, great time in Boston staying with Paul and Mahsa (friends from Atlanta who abandoned us to move to Boston) and Meghan, Cort, and Bob (Katharine's college friends who she perpetually misses). We went out to eat a lot, reminisced, and caught up on everyone's news. For the 4th, Katharine avoided a frat-like party to see fireworks from a rooftop in Beacon Hill, which ended up looking kind of smoky, but reminded her of the chimney scene from Mary Poppins - very cool! Laurel spent the 4th camping on a beach after a wedding rehearsal and cookout, for which she was the best-pal.

The next day Paul, Mahsa, and Katharine drove to the beach to meet up with Laurel et al. There was lots of good vegan snacks to be had and very cold water to wade/"swim" in (kudos to Paul and Josh who spent a good 1/2 hour trying to catch hypothermia).

The wedding was nice/formal. Katharine had to shower and get ready for said wedding in an outdoor beach shower situation, but Laurel got to freshen up with the bridal party and looked very debonaire(sp?). We had fun at the reception except Laurel almost hurled watching people tear apart lobster and Katharine injured her thumb trying to tear apart said lobster. That night we drove back late to Paul and Mahsa's.

Driving to Boston

July 1st - We started driving from Atlanta at 6am this morning and ended up in Baltimore by 6pm. Even though it was 12 hours of driving, it flew by on long stretches of highway through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland. We stayed over at Jonah House, a small religious house where radical nuns and laypeople live. They are entrusted with taking care of an old cemetery and in order to do it they own 2 goats, 2 llamas, and 2 donkeys who eat a lot of overgrowth. We took the donkeys for a walk after a pleasant dinner with the nuns.



Highlights:
- Went to a self-serve Dunkin' Donuts, first one ever

Musings:
- Can people named Gus have non-bus driver professions?
- Why don't adults own hampsters and gerbils as pets?

Games Played:
- Choose an adjective ending in "y," such as grumpy. Subtract the "y", add a "mc" to the beginning and a "ster" to the end to make any adjective sound funnier. Examples: Grumpy-mcgrumpster or chubby-mcchubster.

July 2nd - The drive was awful today! Even though we had a shorter distance to go and avoided going through downtown New York, we still hit hours of traffic in random places at random times. We went through Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersery, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts - phew! To top off the day, we got lost at hour 12 in downtown Boston where there are no true rights or lefts and streets only maintain their names for one block. We were very relieved to arrive at Josh and Christy's house (quite late).

Packin'

Katharine demonstrates her superior packing methods.

First fold the fancy pants bike shorts.



Carefully place the folded item in large zip-lock bag.



Label all bags with clothing type and owner.




That's it. All of our clothes carefully packaged and ready to be packed!

Our Bike Trip Approaches!

Katharine:

It's Sunday, we leave on Tuesday, and we haven't packed a thing. We have, however, been to REI six times in the past month, and have also frequented all the local bike stores. I'm on my way to the poor house in my fancy new paniers on my fancy new bike. You know all those grubby hipsters you see riding around? Well, at first you might think that they've rejected mainstream consumer values, but that's a bunch of bunk. Even if you want some shitty fenders that bend the second you lean your bike against a tree, they put you out a good 45 bucks, unless you'd like to devote your life to craigslist surfing.

Apart from all the minutia, I'm super excited! There's something pretty cool about being self-sufficient just with the stuff that you've hauled with your own leg muscles. I'm not sure how hard/easy or how rewarding/frustrating this adventure might be, but I'm willing to just see what happens. Fly by the padded seat of my spandex pants, right?

LJ: I am so busy preparing I have not had time to get excited yet. It is just hitting me that we are actually leaving in two days! But we do not actually start biking until the 6th of July. We are driving up to Boston (stopping in Baltimore overnight). Then we are visiting with friends in Boston and going to my friend Jackie's wedding. (I am the best pal.) The morning of the 6th we take the train to Portland, Maine to start biking.

Ok, time to start packing!