Finished! - 8/20

We reached the pier at Bar Harbor around 1pm on August 20th. Bonnie's parents were waiting for us to come in. Of course we had to go down the boat ramp to dip our tires in the Atlantic Ocean, completing our trip. Then we posed with the sign Mike had made, taking tons of pictures while random people came by to congratulate us. We had great weather for our last day. After 4,246 miles and 86 days on the road, we are done!

Crossing to Desert Island

We crossed the bridge at Tremont to Desert Island. We had breakfast at a picnic spot by the water, then crossed the last of the hills towards the finish. We stopped at the Acadia Park sign for a shot, then biked through Bar Harbor to the pier.

Last camping spot

Our last camping spot was not a great one. By the time we finished dinner, light was starting to fade, and we'd missed the turnoff for quieter Rte 233 that our bike maps showed us taking. Instead, we were on busy Rte 3, with suburban sprawl and no good places to camp. We found a pulloff with a small opening, far enough from the highway so we couldn't be seen, but not out of earshot of traffic. We barely had time to set up camp as we lost the last of the daylight. In the morning, we had a number of slugs crawling on our tent.

Almost There - 8/19

We had heavy downpours in the morning. We stopped at a used bookstore, one of our favorite pastimes, to get out of the rain. We crossed the Penobscot River Bridge to Verona Island, and stopped in Ellsworth to do laundry for the last time on the trip. We found a decent Chinese food place for dinner, to celebrate our last day before reaching Bar Harbor.

Camden, Maine

We biked through the tourist town of Camden, Maine, and camped at the state park there. We took Rte 1, which had very high traffic but a good shoulder. We caught our first glimpse of the Atlantic Ocean - the first sign that we have truly made it coast to coast.

Signs it's time to go home

Several signs that it's time to go home:

-Algae is growing in our water bottles. (Really)

-Our shoes are coming apart at the seams.

-Our pedal bearings are loose, tires are bald, bike seats have holes, chains are junk, and the bikes in general are starting to fall apart.

-The tent, sleeping bags, and pillows are all dank and smelly. Nothing has fully dried out since we hit the Northeast.

-Motorcycles are starting to annoy us.

-Work is looking like a fun alternative to biking.

Maine - 8/16

Maine - 'The way life should be', according to the state sign. We crossed through North Conway and into Maine on the morning of August 16th. At this point we're tired of traffic, tired of hills, and just tired in general. Only 4 days 'til Bar Harbor.

Kancamagus Pass

We had do do a farily big climb before even reaching the Kancamagus Pass. At the top, we crossed the Appalachian Trail. We reached Lincoln, NH around noon, and started climbing the Kancamagus Pass in early afternoon. The day had started out clear and sunny, but just as we started to climb it began raining. Luckily it was a light rain that kept us from overheating, which made for good conditions climbing. Traffic was heavy and the shoulder was small, but the climb wasn't bad. And the roads dried off so we could enjoy the downhill. We had climbed this pass over Labor Day Weekend in 2007 in great weather, so we didn't mind that it was overcast. Plus, the high cloud ceiling let us see most of the mountain veiws anyway. Last pass down, now only rolling hills left!

New Hampshire - 8/14

We crossed the Conneticut River into New Hampshire in early afternoon. We started seeing the White Moutains in the distance. We camped by a church in North Haverhill, and prepared for our last big climb - the Kancamagus Pass - the next day.

Vermont

We entered Vermont, and the scenary instantly became more quaint and charming. Not really - it looks exactly like New York, but Vermont does a good job of marketing itself. Not having billboards or Walmarts helps, too.
Our route took us through backroads and small towns, which was good for having lower traffic. But the small towns usually had only a small general store, which would have no produce and hugely inflated prices. We were always happy to hit a bigger store so we could buy fruits and vegetables.

Green Mountains

The Green Mountains of Vermont challenged us in many ways. The terrain, detours, and lack of markets are a few examples. Only two days and one night was spent in Green Mountain State but the Brandon Pass made us feel like we were out west again. We were forced to take a 20 mile detour due to Breadloaf Pass being closed because of flooding. Off our route we crossed the Brandon Pass which is the green mountain range. Wet, long, steep, and tiring. The famous Long Trail was at the top.

Welcome to Vermont - 8/13

After our illegal sleep at Fort Ticonderoga, we cycled only a half mile to Lake Champlain, where we awaited our ferry to Vermont. New landscapes would lie ahead of green rolling hillsides as we were back in New England for the first time since late May.

Fort Ticonderoga, NY

We reached the town of Ticonderoga, at the northern end of Lake George, in early evening. We had wanted to bike by the fort, but the road had closed at 5pm. However, bikers could still get through, so we went up to the grounds of the fort and looked around. We ended up making dinner there, and camped that night behind an old building in the King's Garden. Mowers arrived at 6:45 the next morning, but we managed to sneak out the back entrance.

Fast Food Nation

We discovered halfway through the trip that it is MUCH easier to get fast food than it is to stop at a store, shop for food, set up the stove, cook dinner, and clean everything up again afterwards. Subway became our fast food place of choice, although we never eat there at home. It was actually pretty cheap, and not unhealthy. Dairy Queen was our other obsession - we made a beeline for it whenever we found one. It gave us a chance to get out of the sun for a while, fill up our waterbottles, and of course get large ice cream cones.

Lake George

We detoured from the Northern Tier route to spend a couple of days at Lake George. We swam, kayaked, skied, boated to Sandy Bay, played miniature golf, and rested. Mike got to try out Scott's rowing shell, which he enjoyed. We got to see some of the Olympic coverage, which both of us really like and regretted missing. We had a great visit with relatives (Bonnie's), and got to sleep in real beds for a while. Still, we didn't exactly feel energized when we hit the road again. We're starting to get tired, and a few rest days aren't enough for the leg muscles to recouperate.

Company Biking - 8/9

Bonnie's sister Chris and nephew Thomas joined us to bike for a short way on rte 9, just north of Warrensburg, NY. It wasn't the greatest place to bike, with high traffic roaring by, but at least there was a good shoulder. It was fun to have company on the road, and Thomas took off on his bike as though training for the Olympics. We had to pedal fast to keep up with him. Then they loaded their bikes back on the car and headed home, while we headed for Lake George.

Camping Spots

Camping options started to deteriorate once we hit the Northeast. In addition to schools and churches, we have now camped at such places as a sandpit, an abandoned railway line, a hayfield, and on the grounds of the historic fort at Ticonderoga. The last was probably the most illegal, since the road to the fort had been closed to car traffic. (Bikes got through easily). We asked permission where we could, and left no trace behind. Still, it was tiring to have to hide out of sight and hope that no one bothered us in our 'unofficial' campsites.

Rainy Days

Once we hit the Adirondack region, we found that the Northeast has been having a fairly wet summer. It rained for at least part of every day, and our ride along scenic route 28 through the Adirondacks was one long slog in heavy downpours. We hid out under trees by the edge of the road, then by a church in Blue Mtn. Lake, then we just rode through the rain. It was disappointing, since I (Bonnie) had looked forward to this part of the trip. I've hiked all over the Adirondacks, and I was looking forward to seeing all my favorite mountains and lakes. We didn't see many views of the mountains in the wet weather.

Old Forge

We had planned to meet up with Patty and Jay at Jay's family camp on Fourth Lake, part of the Fulton Lake chain in Old Forge, NY. We had dinner with Jay's family and got to stay overnight in one of the cabins. It was a steep trek down the gravel road to the camp, but the company and hospitality were worth it!

Adirondacks, NY

We hit the official 'Adirondack Park' sign on 8/7. We took scenic backroads in the Adirondacks, with little traffic. Of course it is hilly again - the days of flat roads ended sometime in Ontario. At least now we get some shade while biking.