Made it to Cavendish, PEI (Prince Edward Island)

Arrived late in the day.   Another one of those 7 hour days which was supposed to be 3 hours according to Google Maps

It started early in Pocologan, NB with an early rise to try and catch the morning sun but there was too much cloud cover

The sun is behind those clouds

It is an hour later now and just starting to show some light behind those angry clouds

There is a nice view of the Bay of Fundy from our deck but there is a chill in the air

We have breakfast in a neat cafe somewhere we can't remember

Here is a view riding the Confederation Bridge from NB to PEI.  There is no toll driving into PEI, but you have to pay a toll to leave

a one handed self-portrait  "riding the Confederation Bridge" .   On the other side there is a cross-section of the bridge construction

and my first PEI sunset as we were walking for dinner  ( Yes, walking and my legs aren't used to it )

Torrential rains are keeping us inside for now and not looking good for the next few days

Relaxing in Pocologan, NB

The skies turned bright and the rain stopped

we were heading to Eastport, ME and the Canadian border crossing at Calais, ME

Eastport is the easterly most town in the Continental USA

This pier and statue are on the main street in the center of town

The Historic Downtown area is about 6 blocks long

boats in the harbour

After snapping a few photos we finallly arrive at the Calais, ME border crossing

and we lose another hour.   We are now 4 hours ahead of Vancouver on Atlantic time

I stop to put my documents away, and this sign is overhead

the decision was made to dry our camping equipment and enjoy a view of the ocean

We are hoping that the fog will disappear for a morning sunrise

a quick stroll on the beach in fading light, but you can hear the waves in the background

Pink Crocs are also enjoying some time in the sun

Lay over in Bar Harbor, ME

We awoke to torrential rains this morning.  Flooding everywhere and Accuweather has issued a Flash Flood Warning alert for our area and Northward into Canada, directly along our planned route

My Marmot tent leaks in the corners.  My packing is minimal but I didn't have room for shoes, I mean it's summer  .  .  .

So I changed into my walking sandals, put on my rain pants and wore my hi-vis rain jacket .  It was decided to say another day here and wait out the rain.    We took the free shuttle bus into Historic downtown Bar Harbor

about a half hour later we joined the other tourists and meandered the streets.  Lots of shops to browse and many restaurants.

signs offering Lobsters are everywhere

No we didn't eat here

there are many colourful shops near the harbour

and I couldn't help singing to myself as I noticed this sign .  I was getting hungry as we didn't have breakfast, nor lunch so I had a quick snack.   Here is a $13. bowl of Lobster soup.   I must say that there are lots of Lobster pieces in there.  MMmmm,  Delicious

Eventually it was time to return home but first we had to have dinner.   We chose this 60s diner

Service was too good and too fast.  Lots of memorabilia in there .   I look at the dinner specials

and decide to have the Lobster Dinner as it was less expensive than the Lobster & Mac

Eventually my steamed Lobster arrives, too hot to hold.  It's a bit messy but I manage

to dig out all the meat.  Maine is also known for their blueberries so we shared half a piece.   The crust wasn't that good

but we are leaving Maine tomorrow and this is our last chance

Earlier we took a stroll around the waterfront to snap a few photos.  The fog had rolled in and the 4 masted schooner was grounded and all tours cancelled

Later as we were leaving town the fog was moving into the downtown area.  Half way back to our campsite, the windshield wipers on our bus were doing double duty.   The rain had come back

Garmin Dan (Vstars* GPS knows better than me

We only had a short distance to travel today (Monday), and according to both Karen and Mike it was only a 3 hour ride from Portland, ME to Bar Harbor so we accepted the generosity of our hosts to have a good breakfast before we departed

I wasn't looking forward to leaving as we were made to feel very welcome here, like one of the family

but soon enough we had to say our good-byes to our new friends and hope that one day soon we can meet again

I wasn't paying particular attention to Mike's instructions and which roads to take and which to ignore.  In fact I didn't even look at the map to familiarize myself with the geographics of which roads we were going to take.  My first mistake was not programming my GPS (Garmin Dan's older brother) to ignore Highways.

After leaving Mike & BRW we turned left and then Garmin Dan had other ideas and lead us off track and we had to do a U-turn to get back on track.   We went over the bridge and got caught in some backlogged traffic.   Garmin Dan said to stay left.   I rely on my GPS and usually just follow the purple line.  It has not failed me before.  We both had our final destination of the day programmed into our units.

 At a critical junction Garmin Dan indicated to stay left while my purple line showed a right turn coming up so I changed lanes and my leader didn't follow.  I managed to trap myself in major construction traffic and couldn't get out.  I also didn't know which way to go as I did not familiarize myself by looking at my maps beforehand.   My intention was to just follow my tour guide

My purple line eventually got me back on track and I was rolling down the highway looking frantically for my tour guide but which way did she go.   I ended up miles north and took an exit which took me west and I stopped at a gas station for map consultation.  I missed the exit for US1 as I did not program ignore highways . . .

after a few text messages and a bit of backtracking we finally got back together.

It's hard to be humble, accept defeat and keep your mouth shut as you are being scolded for not following our original plan which was "to just follow".   I now know just how David felt when he was also being scolded the other day by his lane splitting maneuver

The next stretch was my turn to lead and I must say that my GPS got confused when the highway signs said to turn left and my purple line said to go straight.   Of course I followed the purple line.  But since I got confused I didn't signal my lane change intent and again I got the "evil eye" for not using my signal lights . . .

When I get tired I guess I start to wander back and forth so when I nearly ran off the road into the ditch I stopped at the next opportunity

Maybe I got attracted to the words "bare naked" but anyway it was time for a late lunch and beverage stop.   We decided that this was to be our dinner and just eat something light later

Guess who had that large Haddock burger ?   This is now my 2nd lobster roll of our trip

We now had to make up time for our 3 hour journey has now turned into a 7+ hour marathon, so Karen took the lead and stepped up the pace and we stopped at this viewpoint for a photo of this famous bridge

and was recruited to snap some group photos.   We arrive at our campground late, nearly 6:30p and set up our homes for the night

We are right on the rocky beach

and the sun is nearly setting.   Sunset at Bar Harbor, Maine

Group Ride in Portland, Maine

We were off to a late start after breakfast.  Today was a relaxing day to see some of the local sights

Here we are getting ready to leave.  We have 8 riders on 7 bikes.  The weather today is perfect.  The extreme heat is gone and it is a comfortable 25 C

We take some nice backroads and end up at the Portland Head Lighthouse

Here are our Hosts:  Mike and BRW  (scooter for fun)

and Thomas   (scooter by the sea)

Karen, Thomas, David, Mike, Kevin, Tina, BRW & myself

We managed to take a quick group photo

We also managed to ride to Old Orchard Beach where parking was at a premium

The Pier at Old Orchard Beach.

Portland, Maine

Today I made it to the Atlantic Coast

Traffic here is unbelievable.  Too many cars, too many left lane hoarders and did I mention that it was nearly 100 F.    We started early this morning just south of Hartford, CT and arrived around 3pm

We took the scenic route north on Hwy 1 and ended up at the very popular Ogunquit Beach

Before long we ended up at our destination for the next few days.   Traffic was very challenging and I have to tell you now to not believe everything that Karen may write about our episodes today.    Suffice to say that the roads are not straight and traffic was unforgiving, and it was hot and humid.   Your GPS may lead you to your correct address but does not always tell you which lane to be in and decisions have to be made on the spur of the moment



I recognized the driveway as we were approaching and also scooters were parked on the street to guide us in

Here is our host for the next few days

   Mike, author of  Scooter for Fun

As luck would have it there was another blogger preparing food in the kitchen

   Thomas, author of  Scooter by the Sea

This was the first time that I have ever had home-made Lobster Rolls

This is the first time that I have ever been to Portland, Maine and we were made most welcome by Mike and BRW.   More adventures to follow as we are going on our first group ride in the morning