Expecting a long day, we were up early. Pat and Florence came down for a cup of coffee and after a quick photo op we were on the road. We stopped and picked up some GatorAide. Began to wonder about the day when the bridge over the Royal River was closed. We thought about riding down to the bridge to see if we could make it over on bikes and just before we headed down the hill, we came upon a jogger. We asked him about the bridge...jogger said no way, so he saved us a ride back up a steep hill. On down the road and asked a guy working in his yard for additional directions which got us back on track in Gray. Looking for a snack, had to settle for a EggMcMuffin! A town that has no motels, a decent restaurant and a bed and breakfast that won't answer its phone has a McDonalds. It just dawned on me that if you enter an address in Google Earth and street view you can see where we are. Enter Gray, Maine and take a look at the town. Weather was good and people were enjoying the late fall weather. A lot of traffic around Sebago Lake. We stopped for lunch at a sandwich shop at the corner of highway 35 and 114 in Sebago Lake. Kind of like the soup Nazi on Seinfeld. Two young girls fixing sandwiches, no chatting, no smiles, just making sandwiches under the gaze of the boss. After we ate, I thanked the boss and she growled, "Don't thank me, they made them". A lot of anger. While waiting for our sandwiches we chatted with a local who built his own steam boat out of a 26 foot life boat. Twin paddle wheels about 6 feet in diameter. He keeps it on Sebago Lake and spends the nights on it some times or tools around the lake at 5 mph. I never thought to ask him what he used for fuel. A lot of people stopping in for beer, ice etc. Fire engines going by with sirens and lights, a happening place. A couple bought some ice and offered some for our water bottles. They were from Maryland and had been to a wedding in Portland, Maine. On to North Windham where we picked up Highway 35, our route for most of the day Some where along the road we stopped to chat with a group of people washing sheep in preparation for the county fair. I will post a photo one day soon. They put the sheep on stands, secured their heads and had a power washer (using Whisk soap, who knew) and Coors for the workers. I asked what kind of sheep they were and one of the guys standing there said, a variety. It appeared that it was taking about one Coors per sheep.
Sunday along the road in Maine is much like anywhere else, mow the lawn, go to church, wash the truck, go to the lake, do house repairs in anticipation of winter, etc. About sixty miles into our ride, Rudy is talking about stopping to soak his feet in the next stream. In stead we stopped in front of a house where a young couple were painting their porch. I asked if we could use their nice homemade bench in their yard. No problem,he works in Massachusetts for his father in law as a piano tuner. We asked about motels in Kennebunk and they said they were right by I 95 as you come into town. We rolled into Kennebunk, one motel by the interstate and no eating places in sight. We headed on into Kennebunk to US 1 thinking we might find an old motel. Nothing in sight, so stopped to chat with Alex just getting ready to back out of her driveway. It was her birthday, (35th) and was feeling old but quickly acknowledged she was not going to get any sympathy from us. She gave us suggestions for lodging and dining and called up a number on her iphone for the Econolodge. We arrived just as Jason was coming on for a 12 hour plus shift and got checked in. Jason's primary means of transportation is a bike so we chatted a bit. Gave him the web page for Adventure Cycling Association, who publish the maps we use. Then walked up town on hwy 1 past a big garden center with nice displays for Halloween to Duffy's right next to a nice stream running through town. A new bridge is being built over the river right next to Duffy's and just before it opens, they are going to have a big party, perhaps with dancing on the bridge. (we were invited, but declined).
74 miles on a warm day but feeling good. New Hampshire tomorrow.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Freeport Maine 9/24
Up and out the door in reasonable time in the rain as we start but quite warm. We went over the bridge into Wiscasset thinking of a wholesome breakfast. Just a bakery with one long table for seating. Baked goods looked great and we settled for a cherry scone and coffee. One gentleman and a family of four who moved out last year from Fort Lupton, Colorado. The boy is is a sophomore and plays soccer and his younger sister is home schooled. Boy likes his new school and it has not been locked down recently because a student brought a firearm to class which was not unusual in Fort Lupton. One of my aunts taught school in Fort Lupton years ago and it was a tough school then. They were off to a history thing related to Ethan Allen (I think, might have been Nathan Hale) The other gentleman at the table has been an appraiser for 40 years. I asked if he did residential or commercial, neither, he appraises antiques. Told about an appraisal he did for an older lady and surprised her when he bought the "junk in the basement for $3000 and he expects to sell the items, mostly junk silver for about $4500. He knew the kids running the place and chatted with them, cashier kid runs cross county in high school, never stops moving. Asked for directions to Old Bath Road and as is normal, got all kinds of suggestions. Out the door and up the street into a Circle K for some gator aide. Cashier told us our street was next right up the hill. It seems everything has been up the hill on this ride. One of her regulars came in for cigarettes and she asked him about some one and the answer in a great accent, " He is out "pounding on the island". I assumed they were both carpenters.
On our way and did the equivalent of wind sprints up and down short, steep hills for a few miles. and then a few miles on Route 127 which had poor shoulder and then over the river into Bath. Right at the end of the bridge and stopped in a cafe in the basement. We ordered oatmeal with raisins. A family at next table were very friendly and interested in our travels. We stopped for a bit and watched a couple of boat builders putting together a boat. Out of Bath on a very nice route which got even better when we got on the Androscoggin River Bike Path into Brunswick. Path was very nice and being used by walkers, bikers, etc. Once off the bike path we saw some people around a scull at the river's edge and decided to make it a photo op. However, the people, who appeared to be in their 50s were just finishing a lesson and were in process of getting the scull out of the water. Nice ride through the country on our way to Freeport and spoke to several other bikers along the way doing a ride for cancer.
We arrived in Freeport and stopped at the Azure Cafe, two doors form L.L. Bean which is headquartered in Freeport. Do you think someone ending up with a name like Leon Leonwood Bean might have been a victim of a misunderstanding. Maybe he was going to be Leon Wood Bean? To late now, who would shop at L.W. Bean? The town was full of people shopping at the many outlet stores in town. We shared a chicken Caesar and decide to make reservations for a room down the road. in Gray or North Windham. Not to be, I called county Sheriff dispatch and the Gray public library and neither had any suggestions for a place to stay. So, change in plans and decide to stay in Freeport despite on having put 37 miles in for the day. Zeus, the manager, picked up on what we were trying to do and was a great help, providing telephone numbers and suggestions all the while taking care of the guests in the cafe. I always enjoy watching someone who is excellent in their jobs and Zeus was tops. I called my old friends, Pat and Florence Webb, who were in Portland, Maine for a luncheon and gave them our location and we made plans to meet later for dinner. We checked into the motel and then walked down the the Holiday Inn Express owned by the same company as our Econo Lodge and did our laundry. Chatted with Stephanie, the desk clerk at the Holiday Inn while our laundry was washing. A former Starbucks employee she is now in school at University of Southern Maine studying linguistics.
Pat and Florence show up with a bottle of Navarro Vineyards wine (from Mendocino County) an excellent wine and we head down to the Azure for dinner. Zeus seated us in a very nice table and noted the table was booked for 7:30. We had an excellent meal with complementary appetizer and at about 7:20 had Zeus move us into the bar. All and all a wonderful experience at the Azure and we it recommend highly. Back to the room, to late and tired to write the blog.
37 miles for the day looking at a long day tomorrow.
On our way and did the equivalent of wind sprints up and down short, steep hills for a few miles. and then a few miles on Route 127 which had poor shoulder and then over the river into Bath. Right at the end of the bridge and stopped in a cafe in the basement. We ordered oatmeal with raisins. A family at next table were very friendly and interested in our travels. We stopped for a bit and watched a couple of boat builders putting together a boat. Out of Bath on a very nice route which got even better when we got on the Androscoggin River Bike Path into Brunswick. Path was very nice and being used by walkers, bikers, etc. Once off the bike path we saw some people around a scull at the river's edge and decided to make it a photo op. However, the people, who appeared to be in their 50s were just finishing a lesson and were in process of getting the scull out of the water. Nice ride through the country on our way to Freeport and spoke to several other bikers along the way doing a ride for cancer.
We arrived in Freeport and stopped at the Azure Cafe, two doors form L.L. Bean which is headquartered in Freeport. Do you think someone ending up with a name like Leon Leonwood Bean might have been a victim of a misunderstanding. Maybe he was going to be Leon Wood Bean? To late now, who would shop at L.W. Bean? The town was full of people shopping at the many outlet stores in town. We shared a chicken Caesar and decide to make reservations for a room down the road. in Gray or North Windham. Not to be, I called county Sheriff dispatch and the Gray public library and neither had any suggestions for a place to stay. So, change in plans and decide to stay in Freeport despite on having put 37 miles in for the day. Zeus, the manager, picked up on what we were trying to do and was a great help, providing telephone numbers and suggestions all the while taking care of the guests in the cafe. I always enjoy watching someone who is excellent in their jobs and Zeus was tops. I called my old friends, Pat and Florence Webb, who were in Portland, Maine for a luncheon and gave them our location and we made plans to meet later for dinner. We checked into the motel and then walked down the the Holiday Inn Express owned by the same company as our Econo Lodge and did our laundry. Chatted with Stephanie, the desk clerk at the Holiday Inn while our laundry was washing. A former Starbucks employee she is now in school at University of Southern Maine studying linguistics.
Pat and Florence show up with a bottle of Navarro Vineyards wine (from Mendocino County) an excellent wine and we head down to the Azure for dinner. Zeus seated us in a very nice table and noted the table was booked for 7:30. We had an excellent meal with complementary appetizer and at about 7:20 had Zeus move us into the bar. All and all a wonderful experience at the Azure and we it recommend highly. Back to the room, to late and tired to write the blog.
37 miles for the day looking at a long day tomorrow.
Friday, September 23, 2011
North Edgecomb, Maine 9/23/2011
We were up and packed and down the road into Belfast fairly early. Overcast, no rain and quite warm, no jacket or arm warmers. We went over the river on Highway1 instead of the pedestrian foot bridge as I missed the turn listed on our maps. Worked out ok as it eliminated climbing up the hill from the much lower foot bridge; however, probably missed a good photo op from the foot bridge. Stopped and asked a city worker laying a border of bricks along the sidewalk where we might get something to eat. Several suggestions and the first one was pastries etc; so across the street to Weavers, one of the oldest bakeries in town. It has been at the present site 47 years. Buildings across the street were beautiful and erected in 1876 and 1886 and I suspect the bakery building was a contemporary. I went to bathroom located in the back. The mixers and other equipment (and maybe the baker) appeared to be 19th century vintage. Nice people in for coffee and conversation. A table of retirees and a couple of tables full of people in town for the Common Ground Country Fair including a lady who lived in Berkeley Ca for many years before moving to Belfast. We have met several people with California connections. We had a huge bowl of oatmeal with raisins, blue berries and brown sugar. This area is famous, and for good reason, for the wild blue berries. They are small but very tasty. We had them in Bar Harbor as well and you see signs along the road advertising them for sale. We made a mistake and took the advise of Herman, a coffee drinker in the coffee shop, and stayed on highway 1 instead of our Adventure Cycling Association maps. Our nice wide shoulders soon became not so wide so we had narrow shoulders along with traffic and noise for a few miles. Riding like that increases the tension and brings your shoulders up around your ears. We came into Camden passing many beautiful homes and Camden itself is lovely and full of tourists.
We had lunch in Waldoboro at Moody's, locally famous. Met a lady on the way out who had ridden in Denmark for three weeks and enjoyed it very much. Denmark is very flat which sounded good as we had some pretty good hills today.
As is our custom we keep a log of animals seen, signs of interest and road kill. Road kill to date on this trip includes several grey squirrels, at least three skunks today, two snakes, a variety of birds. Living animals include one Deer, lots of squirrels, caterpillers determined to cross a busy highway for some reason, and birds and we hear cricketts when not on Highway 1.
Signs include one on Mt Desert Island informing us that Thunder Hole restrooms were just ahead. It struck us funny. Saw a sign today advertising some lots for sale that were surveyed, percolated and covenanted. I understand the first two and my mind ran a bit wild with covenanted....no witches on the property perhaps, or maybe a coven of witches included.
It was warm and muggy today and we saw one sign that said 75 degrees. We called ahead and made reservations at the Pioneer Motel but never asked about dining in the area. Turns out nothing is close. We called the Two Cities Taxi and Mrs Hatch arrived in the company's silver Lincoln Town Car. She teaches kindergarten but is filling in for her husband tonight as he was going out for dinner with his Bulgarian friends who work in the area during the summer. Seems there are a lot of Romanians in the area during the summer as well.
Spoke to my old friend Pat Webb tonight. He lives in New Hampshire and we will probably have dinner tomorrow night with Pat and Florence, perhaps in North Windham if we make it that far.
57.5 miles today. No rain, tired ready to call it a night. Skyped with my daughter in Ireland. Wished my mother in law a happy birthday. Spoke with my sister in Oklahoma. All in all, a good day.
We had lunch in Waldoboro at Moody's, locally famous. Met a lady on the way out who had ridden in Denmark for three weeks and enjoyed it very much. Denmark is very flat which sounded good as we had some pretty good hills today.
As is our custom we keep a log of animals seen, signs of interest and road kill. Road kill to date on this trip includes several grey squirrels, at least three skunks today, two snakes, a variety of birds. Living animals include one Deer, lots of squirrels, caterpillers determined to cross a busy highway for some reason, and birds and we hear cricketts when not on Highway 1.
Signs include one on Mt Desert Island informing us that Thunder Hole restrooms were just ahead. It struck us funny. Saw a sign today advertising some lots for sale that were surveyed, percolated and covenanted. I understand the first two and my mind ran a bit wild with covenanted....no witches on the property perhaps, or maybe a coven of witches included.
It was warm and muggy today and we saw one sign that said 75 degrees. We called ahead and made reservations at the Pioneer Motel but never asked about dining in the area. Turns out nothing is close. We called the Two Cities Taxi and Mrs Hatch arrived in the company's silver Lincoln Town Car. She teaches kindergarten but is filling in for her husband tonight as he was going out for dinner with his Bulgarian friends who work in the area during the summer. Seems there are a lot of Romanians in the area during the summer as well.
Spoke to my old friend Pat Webb tonight. He lives in New Hampshire and we will probably have dinner tomorrow night with Pat and Florence, perhaps in North Windham if we make it that far.
57.5 miles today. No rain, tired ready to call it a night. Skyped with my daughter in Ireland. Wished my mother in law a happy birthday. Spoke with my sister in Oklahoma. All in all, a good day.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Belfast, Maine 9/22/2011
What a difference a day makes. We woke up to cloudy skies and got our gear ready for our first real day of riding down the coast. We grabbed a quick bite at the motel and as we were leaving the first rain drops fell. We put on our rain pants etc. This was our first riding with loaded bikes on this trip and we made good time off the island to Ellsworth and took a very enjoyable ride down Route 172. No shoulder for the first few miles and then new payment with a nice shoulder and little traffic. We stopped in a small store in Surry for a snack and the talk in the store was about niece Michelle's new baby (girl, 7 lbs 13 oz, named Charlotte, born today at 1:15am). The place was run by Mom, daughter, son in law and Ralph who came in for a cup of coffee and upon discovering the urn was empty, filled it, started a new pot, paid for his coffee and left after getting the news about Charlotte. Donna, the daughter and proud new Aunt, said she finds time to laugh out loud at least once every day. A good plan. She also pointed out where to stand in the store so you could look out the window and see the Bald Eagle who spends part of his day in the tree across the street. Good vibes, so so food and nice people and we hit the road still in the rain. After a few miles we rejoined highway 1 and 3 toward Bucksport with nice wide shoulders but lots of traffic. We blew through Bucksport over the Penobscot River onto Verona Island and then over the new Penobscot Narrows bridge. After crossing the bridge we stopped at an over look for a photo of the bridge and two riders rode up on their bikes and asked if we were Larry and Rudy. John and Bill are from Bellingham Washington and had flown their bikes into Bar Harbor Bike Shop same as we did. The bike shop people told them about us. We did not join them as they were going father and faster than we planned for today. They are riding all the way to Key West. We stopped in Stockton Springs for a quick bite and then continued on to Belfast for the night. We cleaned the bikes, got into the room, had a nice hot shower which felt great after riding in the rain most of the day and then walked down the street to PapaJs for baked Haddock and conversation. They had a great wine list including several Sonoma County wines including Chateau St Jean where my son, the economist in Ireland, worked as a Cellar Rat a few years ago. This is end of regular tourist season but the regulars filled the place before we left including Dan who was recently diagnosed with colon cancer. Said he hated going to the doctor so did not go for years. It could end up costing him his life. While we were talking to Dan his primary doctor, a gynecologist, came it. Another story. Back in the room, try write a blog and figure out how to find the photos to put them on the blog. It is best to do this computer stuff when you are not tired.
54 miles today and looking at another rainy day tomorrow.
54 miles today and looking at another rainy day tomorrow.
Bar Harbor
We left our motel en route to the visitors center for Acadia National Park, missed our first turn added a few miles and finally made it to the visitors center. Rudy picked up an old guys lifetime pass the US National Parks. We were leaving the center and a couple, responding to Rudy's Sierra Nevada jersey, asked if we were from California. Yes, where? Santa Rosa. They had previously lived in Santa Rosa and went to same health club where my wife Mary works. Small world.
What a day at Bar Harbor. Weather was absolutely wonderful. We rode the park loop trail to Jordan Pond, had lunch. We had a delightful lunch, (Andrea our waiter was from Sunnyvale) and we took some photos of butterflies and hummingbirds outside our window at lunch. . We the rode the Carriage Road back to the park exit and downtown to the Thirsty Whale for a beer. A lady walked in we had seen on the ride. I had commented what a beautiful day it was when we rode past her and she said we won the lottery. She used to live in Livermore and now lives on Cape Cod. Wonderful views of the ocean along the ride. Rudy took photo of a pair of eagles.
We took the free shuttle back to the motel with plans to write blog etc. I went to the office to ask about local dining and talked to Camile and Darren, owners of the Belle Isle where we were staying, for half an hour. On their suggestion, we ordered delivery from local place. A knock on the door, wow that was fast, no it was Klaus Hohle also staying at the Belle Isle who is on a bike trip around the world with his wife Doris. Check out www.hoehles-challenge.de for infor on some serious bikers. Klaus is 72 and has done the Iron Man in Hawii 7 times and their route on their trip around the world is incredible. After a great conversation with Klaus about their trip he left. A few minutes later another knock on the door, our food? Nope Klaus and Doris. Another interesting conversation (our food arrives in middle of the conversation).
We ate. It was late no blog yesterday. We did 37 miles for the day.
What a day at Bar Harbor. Weather was absolutely wonderful. We rode the park loop trail to Jordan Pond, had lunch. We had a delightful lunch, (Andrea our waiter was from Sunnyvale) and we took some photos of butterflies and hummingbirds outside our window at lunch. . We the rode the Carriage Road back to the park exit and downtown to the Thirsty Whale for a beer. A lady walked in we had seen on the ride. I had commented what a beautiful day it was when we rode past her and she said we won the lottery. She used to live in Livermore and now lives on Cape Cod. Wonderful views of the ocean along the ride. Rudy took photo of a pair of eagles.
We took the free shuttle back to the motel with plans to write blog etc. I went to the office to ask about local dining and talked to Camile and Darren, owners of the Belle Isle where we were staying, for half an hour. On their suggestion, we ordered delivery from local place. A knock on the door, wow that was fast, no it was Klaus Hohle also staying at the Belle Isle who is on a bike trip around the world with his wife Doris. Check out www.hoehles-challenge.de for infor on some serious bikers. Klaus is 72 and has done the Iron Man in Hawii 7 times and their route on their trip around the world is incredible. After a great conversation with Klaus about their trip he left. A few minutes later another knock on the door, our food? Nope Klaus and Doris. Another interesting conversation (our food arrives in middle of the conversation).
We ate. It was late no blog yesterday. We did 37 miles for the day.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Bar Harbor Maine 9/20/2011
Well, after sleeping poorly because I was thinking about things that still had to be done before leaving for our trip and also thinking of a few things that had not been done such as a few miles on the bike, it is time to get on the road. I made one more call to Liddy at the Bar Harbor Bike Shop and confirmed our bikes had been received (via FedX) then Mary and I went to Rudy's. Picked up Rudy and Mary dropped us off at the Santa Rosa Airporter in Rohnert Park and our trip is underway. Arriving at SFO with plenty of time, we ate and made our way to the gate for for the red eye flight to Philadelphia with connection to Bar Harbor. The flight was full. Young man next to us was going to Virginia where he is a 2nd year law student at William and Mary, he had helped his girlfriend get settled at Stanford University where she is a grad student. He promptly went to sleep and slept the entire flight to Philadelphia. After arriving we sat for a while in the white wooden rocking chairs between B and C concourse watching the airport wake up. It is cloudy outside and from the way people are dressed maybe a little cool. We went to the Legal Sea Food restaurant and opted to have the Steel Cut Oatmeal served with walnuts, raisins and brown sugar, in lieu of the famous clam chowder (served at presidential inaugurations) as it was 5:30am. We then walked over to our gate and discovered one of our plane mates from SF was sleeping on a few of the chairs, snoring very loudly. We chatted with Boots who had been to her sister's wedding in Denver. Her sister is Lannie of the famous Lannie's Clocktower Cabaret in the 16th Street Mall in Denver, Colorado. Lannie is in her 60s and Boots said it was a great wedding. Boots was on her second day traveling en route home to Maine. Canceled flights due to equipment failure, long delays, overnight in a hotel with no luggage, she was ready to get home and we were five minutes from our scheduled departure time and no mention of boarding. I woke the sleeping snorer and asked him if he was going to Bangor, uh uh, back to sleep. We got on our flight to Bangor to find the flight was not full. As we take off one end of one of the ceiling panels dropped down a few inches. Flight attendant reports same to crew chief and rows 11 to 13 are emptied in case the panels continue to fall. We are in row 14. Boots moved to the front and I am thinking whether it is save to have her so close to the pilot as she seems to be plagued on her trip home. No problem, the flight is good and we land with no problem. Boots' ride and her long gone luggage are at the airport and our shuttle is at the door. James the driver has one of those meeting people signs with my name (misspelled of course )on it. Helen the Shuttle person had called my cell phone when we landed to confirm we were there and to direct us to James. Helen is our age and has ridden the same route from San Diego to Florida we rode 10 years ago. We say goodbye Boots, a very pleasant lady and Paul, her ride home, and take the shuttle the 50 miles or so to Bar Harbor. We are the only people on the shuttle and James stops at our motel for a second while we check in, drop our bags, put on some riding gear, back on the shuttle to the Bar Harbor Bike Shop. Our bikes are in good shape, and Fred and Joe at the shop discuss local riding with us. We locate the local free shuttle, stop by the police station to chat with the chief, a FBI National Academy grad, about local eating etc. He suggests one place and tells us to avoid the "two swipe" place on the corner. The department is working a case involving credit cards being swiped two times for same meal, not by accident. We had our lobster dinner/lunch at Geddys. Chatted with a couple from Illinois who are in town on the Caribbean Princess cruise ship, one several to make port this week. It is windy, misty and forecast for tomorrow is sunshine. After a brief ride/walk around town,we opted to take the free island shuttle back to our motel as the road is busy with no shoulder. On our walk we listened in on a tour and discovered the local Civil War Memorial has a Confederate Soldier on it. Seems the manufacturer of the statue made them for both Southern and Northern cities and a town somewhere in South Carolina has a Union soldier on their monument. The mistake was discovered about two years after delivery and the towns opted not to spend the money to exchange statues. In the room, called home, tried to write a blog but was having trouble getting on line so called Brian my neighbor at home for suggestion and discover in mid conversation the problem is my mind is gone as I haven't slept well for two days. I figure out the problem and shower and go to bed at 6:30 local time (3:30 California time). Rudy is already asleep. We are up at 6:30 am, sunshine as promised, coffee in the room, finished my blog and we are off to face the day. We are in Bar Harbor today and leave in the morning.
Larry and Rudy, looking forward to checking out the island and Arcadia National Park.
Larry and Rudy, looking forward to checking out the island and Arcadia National Park.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Santa Rosa, CA 9/18/2011
Well, it has been a while, but our plan to circumnavigate the continental US on our bikes is back on track.
As most of you are aware we rode from San Diego to Miami in 2001 and earlier posts in this blog detail our ride from San Francisco to San Diego completing our west coast ride.
Tomorrow, we are flying to Bangor, Maine on the red eye flight from San Francisco via Philadelphia. We have shipped our bikes to a bike shop in Bar Harbor, Maine and will be in Bar Harbor Tuesday afternoon. Our current plan, following the Adventure Cycling maps, is to ride from Bar Harbor to Washington, D.C.
Much has changed since our ride in 2001. Mostly technical equipment. In 2001 we had a Sony Vio computer which was the state of the art at the time. We submitted e-mails when possible and had no way to upload photos. I used a throw away camera which I mailed home for Mary to develop. We had to depend on call up access to the internet and that was not always possible. The Sony did not have a USB port!
Rudy has an IPad for this trip and a digital camera and Iam continuing to use my HP notebook with WiFi and access to the Verizon network.
Rudy has Weather Bug on his IPad so we will have up to date local weather. Weather has been great in Bar Harbor this week but looks like it might get a little damp later in the week. Our route takes us down some areas that were hit quite hard by Hurricane Lee but we are anticipating no major problems.
We are still riding our Bianchi Volpe bikes and I will detail our gear in a later blog.
Oh, we had planned to leave a bit earlier this year but Rudy had shoulder surgery and then he wanted to attend his 50th high school reunion held last night. He said he had a good time and what is typical of 50th high school reunion attendees, was home by 10 pm.
Larry and Rudy in Santa Rosa, anxious to hit the road.
As most of you are aware we rode from San Diego to Miami in 2001 and earlier posts in this blog detail our ride from San Francisco to San Diego completing our west coast ride.
Tomorrow, we are flying to Bangor, Maine on the red eye flight from San Francisco via Philadelphia. We have shipped our bikes to a bike shop in Bar Harbor, Maine and will be in Bar Harbor Tuesday afternoon. Our current plan, following the Adventure Cycling maps, is to ride from Bar Harbor to Washington, D.C.
Much has changed since our ride in 2001. Mostly technical equipment. In 2001 we had a Sony Vio computer which was the state of the art at the time. We submitted e-mails when possible and had no way to upload photos. I used a throw away camera which I mailed home for Mary to develop. We had to depend on call up access to the internet and that was not always possible. The Sony did not have a USB port!
Rudy has an IPad for this trip and a digital camera and Iam continuing to use my HP notebook with WiFi and access to the Verizon network.
Rudy has Weather Bug on his IPad so we will have up to date local weather. Weather has been great in Bar Harbor this week but looks like it might get a little damp later in the week. Our route takes us down some areas that were hit quite hard by Hurricane Lee but we are anticipating no major problems.
We are still riding our Bianchi Volpe bikes and I will detail our gear in a later blog.
Oh, we had planned to leave a bit earlier this year but Rudy had shoulder surgery and then he wanted to attend his 50th high school reunion held last night. He said he had a good time and what is typical of 50th high school reunion attendees, was home by 10 pm.
Larry and Rudy in Santa Rosa, anxious to hit the road.
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