Maine to Home - part 1

So Bev takes off in a plane for home and I take on the bike off from Bangor...I haven't really made a plan yet, but I'm working on it as I ride.

I DID have a plan to ride the Lincoln Highway home, but the long term weather forecast called for a LOT rain along that road.

Sooo...I decide to change my route.

Hiding in the haze is Mt. Katahdin, the highest peak in Maine, and the northern terminus of the Appalachian trail.

Next in my non-plan is the Solar System Model built by the Good People of Aroostook County, Maine.

The scale of this model is 1 = 93,000,000

I stopped at all the planets, of course I was traveling several times faster than light speed...so it only took me a couple hours. The model is over 40 miles long.

Pluto..

Saturn..

Uranus is missing, I used both hands butt still couldn't find it.

Jupiter... 

Earth...

The Sun...unfortunately the building the Sun is in was locked.

This is the "Sun" building.

Continuing on I rode to Madawaska, Maine - one of the four corners of the U.S.

In Madawaska is the Four Corners Park. 

And, the only monument dedicated to the long distance rider.

When I arrived these three lovely women were taking their photos in front of the monument.

GYP-Z, CURVZ, and THRAPY, are riding the four corners of Maine.

I snapped a couple pix for them and then they were back on the road again.

And they took a couple for me as well.

Taking a moment to remember riding buddies that have past on to smoother roads.

About 4700 miles so far on this trip...  more in part 2 

(if I can figure out where I'm going tonight...)

Maine to home - part 2

So I depart Madawaska and ride south, I thought this church was photo worthy.

One of numerous Amish conveyances I saw in the next few days.

The Blue Church "burying ground" was first established in the 1780s and is one of the oldest functioning cemeteries in Ontario.

A war memorial just before Kingston.

And then I was on the bridge back into the States.

Two days later I'm on the Mackinac bridge into the Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

I ride through Escanaba...as in the movie "Escanaba in da moonlight"...one of my favorites.

LOL..

Westbound the next morning I pass the Porter Sculpture park in South Dakota and stop in for some pix.

Another view..

Never trust a vulture carrying an anvil...

The dragon is about 15 feet tall.

I would guess the horse is 50 feet tall.

The 60 foot bull

On the road again I see this place. I didn't go in and see what kind of implements they have....

Flooded road, actually kind of deep, almost too deep for the Tenere, I don't think any cruiser could go through without sucking in some water.

And lastly for this post, a cool bridge.

8,000 miles so far, I should reach Colorado tomorrow.

Maine to home part 3

And that's it.

I make it home after being on the road for 35 days, and a little over 9,000 miles, 13 States, two countries.

I finally get to cross Nova Scotia off my bucket list! 

I'm so glad Bev was able to join me for 12 days, that was the best part of the trip.

And some more photos that are repeats or didn't make the first cut.

Life is good, ride more! 

Nova Scotia - part 1

So the Cache Rally is over, and its time for the next ride.

Howard and I make the 500 mile dash from Gardiner to my house where we both catch some ZZZs overnight, then he heads for home (Flagstaff, another 500 mile day) and I depart for Nova Scotia.

NS has been on my bucket list for quite some time...and now I'm going to check it off! 

I will ride to Montreal and Bev will fly there and join me.

Somewhere in Canada I realize I'm not in Kansas anymore...

But first I need to get out of Dodge...  I cross Wyoming and stop at Martins Cove. Martins Cove is where in November of 1856 the members of The Martin handcart company hunkered down during a bitter winter storm. Of the original (estimated) 500 members 145 died either in the cove storm or on the way to Utah.

In the picture is a replica of the handcarts that the pioneers pushed and pulled across the plains.

I ask and receive permission to ride some goat roads in the area. One of the docents there told me to keep my eyes open for pioneer signatures in the rocks....

...and I found several, here is just one example.

 On my way again, I pass through tiny Mills, Wyoming......

...and I Dino if I'm still in the Cowboy State until I see this Buck-A-Roosauras...

When I reach Aberdeen, South Dakota, I  get on Expedia to look for a room....but Expedia tells me all the hotels are full...what??

There must be a glitch, so I phone Bev to see if she can find one. What she finds out is that all the rooms for over a 100 miles are full of construction workers...thanks to the gang buster economy.

She was able to find a room a little over 100 miles down the road but the address she gives me leads me to this cemetery....

Whether a joke or a warning, she wouldn't say...

It took some time, but I finally found the hotel.

The next day I stop in at the Split Rock Lighthouse on the north shore of Lake Superior.

One of the most popular lighthouses The Split rock hosts an annual remembrance each November 10 for the Edmund Fitzgerald and other lost seamen. 

Lake Superior, da nort shore, eh.

And into Canada..

 I didn't notice when I snapped this shot that the right fork seal was leaking. I'm hoping I can find some sort of solution soon.

 More in part 2