Friday, August 7, 2009
End of the Road
Well, the journey has come full circle...let me fill you in on the activities from last post. After arriving in Bangor, ME on Thurs evening, I spent the next couple of days at my mother-in-laws house. Friday was a rainout!!! Didn't do much...watch some TV and took a nap. Saturday was a BEEYOUTEEFUL day...I left early for Acadia National Park and stopped at Birds Acre Wildlife Sanctuary on the way. It was the 50th anniversary of Birds Acre and there were some pretty cool owls and red tailed hawks to photograph. Then I stopped in Trenton, ME and visited with an old friend, Jim Wagstaff. We were stationed in Southwest Harbor Coast Guard together in the mid 1980's. Jim was the one who got me into the Masonic Lodge and he was 3rd base for those of you who are Masons. Had a good visit with Jim and then on to Southwest Harbor. No changes there...pretty much the same old place with one flashing light on main street. I visited Bass Harbor Light, ate lunch at the Head of the Harbor, took a few photos and then I rode the Park Loop Road through Acadia National Park and then back to Bangor.
On Sunday I left early and met Kelvin in Medway, ME. We ventured to Millinocket, ME where we met some 35 years ago. The paper mill has since closed and the town is in a very depressed state. We rode through the Hanesville Woods (there was a song about how dangerous the road was and referenced "a tombstone every mile".) Anyways we made it safely and arrived in Calais, ME where I grew up. Calais is a border town on the St. Croix River across from St. Stephen NB Canada where I was actually born. We drove by the old homestead and visited with Ella Robinson and her daughter Sharon. Ella and my mother were close childhood friends, much like me and the Huntermeister. We concluded the day visiting with my Aunt Jesse and Uncle Sonny in Baring Plantation, ME. We had a great homemade bean supper and some other old family friends were there as well, Earl & Jackie Bartlett and Tommy & Billie Parks. After dinner we found that Kelvin's exhaust had cracked again and was broken completely in half. We had to spend the night with Uncle Sonny...he was so disappointed. The next morning we took the exhaust to Charlie Boy Towns, Uncle Sonny's cousin. They repaired the crack and we were on our way back to Bangor. We arrived in Bangor that afternoon and then went to Skowhegan, ME (about 70 miles one way) to have dinner with Kelvin's mother, Connie. The we returned to Bangor and retired for the night.
We spent the night in a pop-up camper and JEEZ it got cold. About 46 over night. At one point Kelvin got up and put his clothes on...LOL. We left early the next morning and stopped at Augusta, ME for coffee at Tim Horton's. I hope we get a Tim Horton's in the near future...they have great coffee and donuts. After shopping a bit for souvenirs, we then enjoyed a nice clam dinner and on the road again. We rode about 6.5 more hours and stopped for the nite in Beekman, NY.
The next morning we rode to Scanton, PA where we separated. I continued home via I-80 through PA/OH and then down to about 50 miles north of Columbus, OH for the nite. I had no troubles BUT, Kelvin continued down I-81 and headed through Fredericksburg, MD to catch I-95 to Jacksonville to avoid a potential storm. He met a friend for coffee and discovered that his rear tire was worn down to the cord!!! Needless to say he couldn't ride it that way so he stopped for the nite and had to get a new tire the following morning. He was not back on the road until 2:30 pm. Last word was that he was in Savannah, GA with about 5-6 hours left to get home today.
I rode a total of 3,261 miles. We expected to ride more miles but with breakdowns and bad weather it just didn't happen. Kelvin will most likely have ridden close to 4,500 miles since he came up from Florida, went to Canada and then returned to Florida. All in all we had a great trip despite the Gremlins. Thanks to y'all for watching our travels on this blog. I apologize for it not being current every day as planned but as they say..."Stuff happens".
On Sunday I left early and met Kelvin in Medway, ME. We ventured to Millinocket, ME where we met some 35 years ago. The paper mill has since closed and the town is in a very depressed state. We rode through the Hanesville Woods (there was a song about how dangerous the road was and referenced "a tombstone every mile".) Anyways we made it safely and arrived in Calais, ME where I grew up. Calais is a border town on the St. Croix River across from St. Stephen NB Canada where I was actually born. We drove by the old homestead and visited with Ella Robinson and her daughter Sharon. Ella and my mother were close childhood friends, much like me and the Huntermeister. We concluded the day visiting with my Aunt Jesse and Uncle Sonny in Baring Plantation, ME. We had a great homemade bean supper and some other old family friends were there as well, Earl & Jackie Bartlett and Tommy & Billie Parks. After dinner we found that Kelvin's exhaust had cracked again and was broken completely in half. We had to spend the night with Uncle Sonny...he was so disappointed. The next morning we took the exhaust to Charlie Boy Towns, Uncle Sonny's cousin. They repaired the crack and we were on our way back to Bangor. We arrived in Bangor that afternoon and then went to Skowhegan, ME (about 70 miles one way) to have dinner with Kelvin's mother, Connie. The we returned to Bangor and retired for the night.
We spent the night in a pop-up camper and JEEZ it got cold. About 46 over night. At one point Kelvin got up and put his clothes on...LOL. We left early the next morning and stopped at Augusta, ME for coffee at Tim Horton's. I hope we get a Tim Horton's in the near future...they have great coffee and donuts. After shopping a bit for souvenirs, we then enjoyed a nice clam dinner and on the road again. We rode about 6.5 more hours and stopped for the nite in Beekman, NY.
The next morning we rode to Scanton, PA where we separated. I continued home via I-80 through PA/OH and then down to about 50 miles north of Columbus, OH for the nite. I had no troubles BUT, Kelvin continued down I-81 and headed through Fredericksburg, MD to catch I-95 to Jacksonville to avoid a potential storm. He met a friend for coffee and discovered that his rear tire was worn down to the cord!!! Needless to say he couldn't ride it that way so he stopped for the nite and had to get a new tire the following morning. He was not back on the road until 2:30 pm. Last word was that he was in Savannah, GA with about 5-6 hours left to get home today.
I rode a total of 3,261 miles. We expected to ride more miles but with breakdowns and bad weather it just didn't happen. Kelvin will most likely have ridden close to 4,500 miles since he came up from Florida, went to Canada and then returned to Florida. All in all we had a great trip despite the Gremlins. Thanks to y'all for watching our travels on this blog. I apologize for it not being current every day as planned but as they say..."Stuff happens".
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