Cabot Trail and Maritimes

A 15-day adventure by Matthew Read more

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Trip start
June 14, 2016
Cabot Trail and Maritimes Traveler
Coincidence... or conspiracy?
June 14, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
Again I'm throwing everything together last minute for a two week vacation. I think the universe is trying to tell me something.

I got my trailer back from the welder. He does great work. He chose the location and welded on supports that distribute the forces throughout the cage. He even mounted the lights in the new location and wired them. I bought paint yesterday and cleaned the metal. Tonight I paint.Read more
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Last minute prep - again
June 18, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
1 Burn off the manufacturer's logo. It was remarkably quick and easy. No damage.
2 Drill hole bigger for lock. Remarkably quick and easy. No damage.
3 Apply the crowning glory. Remarkably quick and easy. No damage.
Boy, that was fast and easy and turned out great. I have his awful Wile E Coyote forboding feeling.Read more
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The rig is ready...
June 18, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
but the rider? I'm not terribly enthused. I just got back from a trip after all, and that was an active trip, where I was working and learning from mistakes and changing plans and whatnot. I hate to stay home and do normal stuff like laundry, go to see a Pixar movie, etc, since it's a weekend, a gorgeous weekend, and a time allotted to my vacation. This weather is a gift. It's bonus time we weren't supposed to have. People say carpe diem and then go to the mall and buy things they didn't know they wanted. Then they watch reruns. Maybe I'll go to Acadia tomorrow and have steamers. Google says its a (short) 4 hr drive to Bar Harbor. Get up late, short drive, then lunch, then do a hike, then dinner... that sounds like a good plan.Read more
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Obliged
June 19, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
I feel obliged to take a "start of the trip" picture. Is this a social nicety or indulgent?
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Stop
June 19, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
First stop for gas in and pee out. Weather awesome. Dramatically cooler when you get near an inlet.
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Debs Diner
June 19, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
I drive by lots of stuff I'd like to see. But that's the catch, you've already gone by it. When I saw this place I hit the brakes and did an immediate yooie. Turns out they close at noon on Sunday and as such they only serve breakfast. But they let in some people 10 min after me and let me order a turkey club. Nice small town.Read more
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Pemaquid lighthouse
June 19, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
This lighthouse is in a gorgeous park now. It's a fee to enter so I didn't go. I'll Google a picture later. Glad to be touring one of these Maine peninsulas.
2 The towns here have that special something.Read more
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Tired
June 19, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Wanted to get an ice cream and nap in the grass. Ended up at a McDonald's near big box stores with no ice cream.

It's very windy here, strong wind with big gusts. It takes some work to ride.
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Check
June 19, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
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Motel
June 19, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Decided to stop riding early today (5ish.) It was getting hard to concentrate on the road. I'll get a shot of the motel in a few. I'm at one of the many little lobster places around here. This one isn't a little shack, though, it's an actual restaurant. Two walls are festooooooned with kitsch for sale and the other two with local art.Read more
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Beautiful shores
June 20, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
Another beautiful Maine picture. I'm stopping to admire the view, smell the salt air, and put on another layer. It's nice and cool here with a steady breeze. But on the bike in the shade it's chilly. The sun is intensely bright and the light blue sky and dark blue water against the many greens of the trees is really pleasant. But the tires aren't turning. It's time to move on.Read more
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The days first pit stop
June 20, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Ok, I'll be taking Maine 1 to the end and crossing over. We'll see if the cell phone keeps working.
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Lunch
June 20, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Stopping for lunch before going to customs. This is the Bluebird Ranch family restaurant. It's right on an inlet that's very pretty. This area of Maine clearly has a more difficult time making a living than the seaside tourist towns with the million dollar shoreline properties behind me. I see lots of references to blueberries here. The Ford dealer in town is Blueberry Ford / Cranberry Autos.

The old lady behind me is talking about how safety pins today are nowhere near as good as they used to be because she needs them to keep her glasses on.

It's getting pretty chilly on the bike. If it wasn't for the intense, beautiful sunshine I'd have to put on my heated jacket. It's still very windy, maybe that's normal here. I should start eating in bars to find locals to talk to.Read more
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Also
June 20, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
There are lots of help wanted signs, in all the towns I've been in, but all are entry level.

Bike is running fine. Trailer still in one piece. So much bouncing the bottles of iced tea broke loose and squashed my breakfast bars.Read more
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Crossing over
June 20, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
I'm in Calais ME and about to cross over. There's tons of houses for sale here, many on the water, some very beautiful and very abandoned.

The tourist info place here says there's a business that offers no-fee currency exchange. This is suspicious. I looked up rates and I think they are giving 4% less than a straight exchange. My credit card charges a 3% fee. I don't know how to get the lowest rate so I'm just not going to carry cash.

An iced tea bottle has started leaking. And my spare tire was smashing my breakfast bars. What do they have against those things?Read more
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Halfway
June 20, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
Almost forgot, just a bit ago I crossed the 45th parallel, halfway between equator and n pole. Here my coordinates are already 45 degrees 11 min N. I'm actually typing this in the middle of a bridge straddling the line.Read more
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I don't look suspicious
June 20, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
Made it across. They didn't even search any of my stuff.
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Traffic
June 20, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Traffic is backed up on this town because it's prom day. The kids actually walk (promenade) in town. Back on the highway two exits traffic was backed all the way out the exit.
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Step up
June 20, 2016 in Canada ⋅ 🌬 22 °C
Rats, I ended up at 4 star hotel tonight. It's got amenities like a pool and gym so it's moderately pricey. I haggled the price down to $99 Canadian so that's around $75 us. Too tired to look around. Why am I here? My Verizon Internet thing stopped working. It worked over the border and not now. So I can't get maps or search for motels. Big bump in the plans. There were many signs on highway for hotels near airport. Tried getting off one exit before airport that claimed to have lodging, i didnt see any, drove around, on another highway, miles in opposite direction, came back, going to shower nowRead more
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PEI
June 21, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Tired and not thinking, ended up near the bridge to PEI. It was several kms long and amazing being out over open ocean in bright sun.
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Port Elgin
June 21, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Just saw a sign for Sunrise Coast route. It goes in the right direction. Very much want to stay off the highway but even on side roads wind is punishing.
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Farms
June 21, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
This area is all farms, dairy and grass. All on the ocean. All the houses seem to be in real good shape.
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Lunch
June 21, 2016 in Canada ⋅ 🌬 20 °C
This town is on the largest salt deposit in the northeast or something. The mine is a mile down under the ocean. I talked to some bikers. A couple were from Mass, had left on Saturday, and are going up to the Cabot Trail. Would have been nice to join a group but they're staying in campgrounds.Read more
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Pictou, NS
June 21, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
This looks like a very old fishing community. Waves of Scots arrived here starting in the 1700s. There's flags with clan seals on the revitalized waterfront. Can't get any good pictures but it's nice here and shopper friendly.Read more
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Lionstone Inn (motel)
June 21, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
As you guys know there's a front coming through. Showers are predicted here in the evening. Perfect excuse to stop early. It was a tough day and I'm glad to stop. I'm at a motel in town and did a double take - no a/c! Man, I paid $99 cn for the last place (did I mention some rooms had Jacuzzis?) and $79 cn here.

Since I stopped early I tried to make the most of it. I went to the laundromat in town. It didn't have a change machine or soap vending machine! Furthermore, there was a sign that said "regularly the water here gets brown and will ruin your clothes" and if you don't run the water in the sink it's your fault. Holey crap.

Here's a fun part of travel. The laundry machines didn't take quarters, exactly. The small washers take "2 loonies". Looks funny on the sign. That made the roll of quarters I got was doubly useless.

What else happened today? I can't remember. Just the wind made riding pretty unpleasant, and combined with bad sleep the day before made for a poor day. After lunch, traveling on Sunrise Drive where it was warmer and little wind, I felt way better. Now I'm waiting for these little showers to pass (the roads are already dry) and I'm going back to town to find locals to talk to.Read more
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