July 20, 2010 Fireside Inns and Suites, Bangor 60/893 3:45pm
I got e-mails from both Liz Greason and Ken Davis yesterday. Setting up my visits. It’ll be great to see both of them.
Last night I had a small bowl of chili (risky) and then the chicken parmesan with spaghetti for dinner. Pretty good stuff. The Bear’s Den is an interesting place. After that, it was pretty much off to bed to watch some baseball, read a bit of the John Sanford book, eat a Snickers (carried around in the backpack for two days), and go to sleep.
Slept OK. I guess at some point last night, I rolled over and hit the bedside lamp and knocked the lampshade off. I put it back as best I could this morning. A bit slow moving this morning. I couldn’t really decide whether to try to get a ride to Bangor or to risk it and just go as far as I could until something happened (maybe) to the tire with the bump in it. I had heard the owner of the place say on the phone that he was heading into Bangor today. When I asked him about it, he told me that he wouldn’t be going until about 2 in the afternoon. He told me if I was still around that I was welcome to a ride. I also tried to call the number that the waitress had given me last night for the local taxi. No luck.
Eventually, around 8:30 I decided to just go and see how far I could get on the tire. As it turns out, I got all the way here. As I suspected, I did have to break out the “back-up clothing” because the other stuff hadn’t quite dried. I hope it’ll dry while I’m here in Bangor.
When I had asked the owner for a lift to Bangor, he indicated that the True Value Hardware Store in town did bicycle repairs/service. I stopped there on the way out of town on the off chance that they might be able to help me. The “bike guy” in the shop said, “Yup…it’s the tire. I don’t know if we have that size here. Let me check.” When he came back, he said, “Nope. We don’t have that size. The nearest service would be either Greenville or Bangor.” I said, “Well, I’m heading to Bangor. Do you think I’ll make it on that tire?” He actually seemed to think about it for a while and then replied, “Yup. The road’s pretty good between here and Bangor.” I thanked him and left, keeping my fingers crossed.
The ride, in general, was pretty good. The day started out really sunny, but eventually it became a grey, cooler day. Not much wind to speak of. Only a couple of stops for liquids. There were a couple of HUGE hills, especially at the beginning f the trip. There was a good bicycle path all the way along. There were a couple of scenes that I wish I had stopped and taken a picture of along the way. But, I was more concerned with keeping the momentum and kept going.
Without too much trouble, I found the Fireside Inn and Suites. I got a room for two nights. Tomorrow, early, I will take the bike to the nearest bike shop (maybe 2 miles away) to get a new tire for the back. Then, I’ll be good to go to start heading down toward Portland on Thursday.
Anyway…that’s the plan.
July 21, 2010 Paddy Murphy’s Pub, Bangor, Maine 19/912 3:30pm
Sort of a good news/bad news day.
The good news is that I got the back tire fixed on the bike. I had to cycle over to a place near the Bangor Mall called The Ski Rack. The bike shop was wonderful. The clerk seemed quite knowledgeable. He suggested his most durable tire and installed it. It seems that I had pretty much blown out the back tire. I guess I was lucky to have made it all the way here (and then to the Mall) on the tire. The replacement tire cost $40. The clerk didn’t want to charge me for labor (it took about 30 minutes), so I left him with a $5 tip. Everything seemed okie-dokie on the ride back to the hotel.
Of course, there was also some bad news involved as well. I tried to find the bike shop which as only two miles from the hotel. However, I found Cottage Street, but there was no 141 house there at all. Oh, well. Then I had to cycle another 5 miles out by the Bangor Mall where the other bicycle shops were. Oh, well.
The bad news is that it didn’t rain today. Even though all of the forecasts had predicted that it would. That was why I had taken two nights at the hotel. That is why I didn’t get the tire fixed yesterday. Anyway…that means that I’ll have to rethink a little bit about tomorrow. There are supposed to be possible showers in the afternoon, and it’s supposed to be WINDY. Well, that’ll pretty much determine how far I’ll get tomorrow. I was hoping to get all the way to BATH, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Anyway…we’ll see.
After I returned from getting the tire fixed, I wandered about 1 ½ miles down into Downtown to meander around. Pretty good stuff. I stopped at a couple of bookshops. In one I bought one Spenser novel (which I probably read a thousand of years ago), and two Louis L’amour books (which I don’t think I’ve ever read), and one Zane Grey novel which I’m SURE I’ve never read. In the 2nd bookstore, I saw a couple of titles which would be good to include in my Ph.D. study. I can’t remember them right now. I probably should have written them down. One was by Rory Stewart (who wrote about his walk across Afghanistan), and the other was a book about following the five books of Moses across the Middle East. I’ll have to try to get them when I get to Mom’s. Anyway…
Oh, wait a minute. I stopped by the Hollywood Slots and Raceway on the way back to the hotel. (It’s right next door.) The place was PACKED!!! Of course, as you might imagine, I was the youngest person in there by maybe 10 years! The beer was a bit cheaper than in the hotel. I watched the end of the Red Sox game (from the West Coast). They lost (again). I also finished reading the Spenser book that I had bought downtown. It was called Ceremony although I STILL can’t figure out what that title has to do with the plot of the story. And, of course, at this point, I can’t ask Robert B. Parker.
Not much else happening…Just a day of relaxing and getting the bike back in tip-top shape before the dash down the coast.
July 22, 2010 Amore Restaurant, Belfast 58/970km 4:30pm
next to the Belfast Harbor Inn
Well, isn’t this unusual? I’ve been to Belfast, Northern Ireland, and now I’ve been to Belfast, Maine. Not too many similarities. Both pretty green. Other than that…
Not much happening last night. I had chicken fingers, vegetable beef soup, and the Pub Cheese Chicken Burger and a glass of red wine. All good stuff. All sat reasonably well.
Slept pretty well. The room was dark as a cave. I could hear the thunder as I was watching TV last night. I watched some baseball and also the movie Independence Day with Will Smith. Lights out at 11. Could still hear the rain and thunder.
Out the door this morning by about 8:30. One last look for accommodation in Belfast before I left. No worries. Today was supposed to be windy, but that never really appeared (at least not while I was on the road).
I’m not sure what I was expecting, but the road, for the most part was pretty good. I had expected the traffic flow to be similar to what it was outside the hotel. Nope. Pretty much a two-lane road with a bike lane. Not too much traffic, and not too many trucks. Good stuff overall. About 10 miles outside Belfast, 1A merged with US1 for the rest of the way. I’ll pretty much follow that all day tomorrow into Bath (that’s the target). Should be 50-60 miles.
I rode for a couple of miles alongside another long-distance cyclist. She seemed like a nice young lady. Originally from the West Coast, she was visiting some friends throughout the US and cycling around wherever they were. She was heading from Bar Harbor to Belfast today. She was going to be spending a couple of days around Belfast. After a couple of miles of riding next to her, I saw a big hill coming up, and wanted to get some good momentum going, so I sped off. Up at the top of that hill, I pulled over for some Gatorade. While I was drinking it, there was a brief rain shower, which I waited out for about 30 minutes.
On the way into Belfast, I pulled over at the Information Center to find out if there was any accommodation in the city of Belfast. I was told that the only accommodation in the city proper would cost me $300 or so. No thanks. My options outside the city were the Comfort Inn or the Belfast Harbor Inn. I chose the 2nd. I had seen it online, and, I believe, it is less expensive than the Comfort Inn. It is also about a mile closer to the town than the Comfort Inn (less travel tomorrow). Nice room. Continental breakfast tomorrow morning (starting at 7). I’ll need the fuel for the ride to Bath.
July 23, 2010 Black Barnacle Pub, Bath, Maine 109/1079km 5:00pm
WOOOOW!!! Really, really long day on the bike. Bath was certainly a little further than I had originally anticipated. I probably should have gone to Camden last night. But…that’s water under the bridge.
Before I forget, I meant to mention that there was a guy who came into the Amore Restaurant last night who had had an accident with a table saw very similar to Jim’s. Except it was this guy’s LEFT hand. He lost all of his index finger, and his middle finger might not come all the way back. Other than that, he was VERY lucky. (His words)
The chicken parmesan (notice a pattern here?) at the restaurant was quite good. A bit too much with the fettuccini, though. And I didn’t even touch the salad. I figured the pasta was more important for today.
Last night I watched most of the USA-Canada World Cup of Softball game. The US absolutely dominated. It was 4-0 before the end of the 2nd inning. Two home runs…absolutely CRUSHED. One by Jennie Finch. Too bad she’s retiring. She is just lovely and a helluva talent. Oh, well. I suppose the team will just “restock” (not rebuild).
Didn’t sleep especially well last night. Lots of tossing and turning. But, before I knew it, it was 6:45. I got off to a bit of a late start. On the road by 8:30. (Ultimately pulled into the Hampton Inn in Bath at about 4:30) The day was MUCH warmer than I had anticipated. Very few clouds during the day as well. And HILLS, HILLS, HILLS. That wasn’t the worst part. The WIND was. Pretty much dead into the wind all the way. There were so many times that I would be faced with a pretty good downhill before a pretty good uphill, and I just couldn’t carry as much momentum off the downhill as I would have liked because the wind picked up. Another day of having to peddle while going downhill (many times) in order not to lose speed. Pretty frustrating.
The bicycle lane, for the most part, was pretty good. However, the “frost heaves” were especially annoying. (“Fump-fump” about every ten yards or so for most of the trip) After about the first 20 miles, the “refreshment stops” presented themselves a bit more regularly. There was literally nothing for the first 20 miles. Pretty frustrating. I picked up two SNICKERS bars (2 for $1) at one of the early stops. They are now re-solidifying in the refrigerator in my hotel room. Maybe I’ll have them for desert when I get back to the room.
There seemed to be pretty much of a bottle-neck in Wicasset as I came through. I passed most of the traffic as I came down the hill and across the bridge into Wicasset “proper”. As I passed out the other end of town, the traffic was backed up the other way for quite a bit. I figured it’s a bunch of people heading out for the weekend somewhere on the coast. There seemed to be lots of campers, etc. Some of the “recreational vehicles” look like full-sized busses. AND, they’re pulling a trailer or a car behind them. Pretty amazing.
Occasionally, when the wind and the terrain seemed to be conspiring against me, I toyed with the idea of putting out my thumb in the hopes that someone with a pickup truck would pull over and I could put the bike (and me) in the back and get dropped off in Bath (or somewhere on the way). However, I’m glad I didn’t.
Tomorrow should be an easier day than today down to Portland to see Liz and Josh. (36 miles vs. 68 from today) I think it’s good that I’m arriving on a Saturday. That’ll give us ½ a day and then all day Sunday to visit. It’ll be great to see them. Off to Kenny’s on Monday.
When I arrived in Bath, I went directly to the Tourist Information Center to ask about directions to the Holiday Inn (which I had seen online yesterday). I asked the woman at the Tourist Center to call to ask about availability. Unfortunately, they had just sold their last room. (Bummer) Next on the list was the Hampton Inn. Fortunately, they had a room. It was a bit dear at $159 for the night. Oh, well. I didn’t care at that point. I just didn’t want to have to cycle much further. It turns out to be a BEAUTIFUL room. It’s such a pity that I’m not going to be in it very long.
It’s almost 7:30 now, and as I write this, I’ll finish my pint of Moosehead and head back over to the Kennebec Tavern which is much closer to the hotel for dinner. All that I could get here at the Black Barnacle are sandwiches in one form or another (Panini or wrap). I need something a bit more substantial. Anyway…that’s the plan.
I’m kind of disappointed that I’m not in Canada anymore and can’t readily watch CFL on TV. Bummer.
Dinner at J.W. Merrill’s. Onion soup, loaf of warm bread (good stuff), and chicken cordon bleu. I at only about ½ the chicken. I wasn’t crazy about the heavy sauce on top. Good stuff, though. Over to the Kennebec Tavern for a glass of red wine before heading back to the room.
July 24, 2010 Dry Dock Pub, Portland, Maine 56/1135km 6:00pm
Josh and Liz just left to go meet her aunt and uncle for dinner and then the show “Chicago” at the Maine Musical Theater. I’ve stayed here in the Old Port area of the city. Just to have a couple of beers and some dinner and then head back to their place. We’ve had a really nice visit. Chilling out on their balcony when I first arrived and then heading out to Portland Head Light (lighthouse) for a bit of a walkaround and then down here to the Old Port. Ill grab a bite to eat down here somewhere and then take a taxi back to their house and wait (or not) for them to come home. I might just turn in early. We’ll see.
Slept pretty well (go figure) last night. Up only once to pee. The first time I stirred this morning, it was 6:10. The next time I looked at my watch, it was 7:10. Up and at ‘em. I watched a bit of SportsCenter as I got ready.
I headed down to the front desk at about 8:10. I paid my bill and got what was left of my $50 deposit (after last night’s phone call to Liz). I headed outside to drink my last bottle of water before heading out. I thought I had left my red glasses in my room on the table in the room. I asked for my room key back so I could retrieve them. As soon as I entered the room and didn’t see them on the table, I felt on top of my head. DUH!!! So I wouldn’t look like a total fool, I swapped out the red glasses for the clear ones before I got down to the desk. Besides, since the day was pretty overcast, I would wear the clear ones on the ride. I still felt pretty stupid.
I walked the bike up all the hills in Bath to where I was able to pick up Route 1 which I would then follow all the way to Portland. It was about .6 of a mile. From there, the ride wasn’t too bad. I stopped twice for refreshment. I arrived at Liz and Josh’s at about 12:15. Not too bad time.
Unfortunately, I somehow missed the cross street where I had planned to cross over from Route 1 to Route 9 (the road on which they live). So, I wound up all the way into Portland, and had to backtrack a little (maybe a mile) up Route 9 to their house. No worries.
When we went over to Portland Head Light, the fog had begun to roll in a bit. There was also a couple getting married in the park. At least we think they were GOING to get married. The ceremony hadn’t actually started as we were leaving. The lighthouse was pretty impressive and OLD. The coast around the site was pretty rugged. It’s pretty obvious why a lighthouse was needed in that area.
July 25, 2010 Liz and Josh’s house, Portland 9:00 am
An absolute DELUGE last night. It just POURED. No wind. No thunder and lightning. Just rain and lots of it.
Great brunch. I had Eggs Benedict and a Bloody Mary. After brunch, while Josh went to his cousin’s birthday party, Liz and I went to watch about six innings of thee Portland Sea Dogs game. Great fun. Nice day. Sun popping in and out. The Sea Dogs were getting killed 6-0. I think it’s the Red Sox AA affiliate. None of the players looked all that great. Some good baseball, though. And, of course, the entertainment is pretty amusing between innings.
Overall great entertainment. Chicken, asparagus, and potato salad on the menu for dinner. Good stuff.
July 27, 2010 Ken Davis’ Cabin, Frye Island, Maine 45/1180km 9:00am
Sorry I didn’t touch base yesterday.
First of all, a big shout out to Liz and Josh for two enjoyable days in Portland. It was a wonderful time. Thanks, you two!!! Great stuff.
Yesterday, I left their house at about 8:30. Took Rte. 9 south to Rte. 302 West. Just stayed on there for the next 20 miles all the way up through Windham, North Windham, and up to Raymond, Maine. Turn off onto Raymond Neck Road and 5 miles later, I was pulling up at the Frye Island Ferry Landing. The terrain wasn’t too bad. Except the ride was pretty much into a steady wind all the way. When I head out on Wednesday, if I don’t have that wind behind me, I’ll be pretty pissed off.
Ken, Brenda, Chloe, and Olivia were all waiting on the other side of the ferry trip. It was about 11:30am. It was great to see all of them. (Oh, ya. Duke was also with them…Duke is a short-legged chocolate lab mix.)
The rest of the day was spent wandering around the island and viewing Ken’s beautiful (but slightly unfinished) house. It really is lovely. I’d include some pictures, but on the ferry ride over, my 2nd battery died. So, until I can get three CR3 batteries to put into the battery pack, I can’t take any more pictures or upload pictures to the blog. Sorry.
Yesterday afternoon, the wind really came up. We were going to go swimming at don’t brother’s house, but the waves were WAY too rough. Even Chloe, the swimmer didn’t want to go into the water. Later in the evening, we walked from Ken’s house to go down to the beach to watch the sunset. From the beach, we could even (barely) see the outline of Mount Washington. I thought it was a beautiful sunset, but apparently not “up there” on the Davis scale.
Grilled steak tips, corn on the cob, green beans, and fried potatoes for dinner. INCREDIBLE stuff. When Chloe came home from work, she tucked in to what was left like a lumberjack. Pretty impressive.
After dinner we looked at some pictures of the house-building and Chloe’s pictures from her recent (April) trip to China. Apparently, a couple of the students they visited with over there are now coming over here during this coming school year. A couple are staying with Ken and his family. Should be interesting.
As I write this, I’m sitting outside on Ken’s deck…not a cloud in the sky…slight breeze…waiting on Chloe’s pancakes. What a life!!!
The plan for tomorrow is to be on an early ferry and cycle back through Portland to Old Orchard Beach just for one night. Then, on Thursday, pick up the Downeaster to Boston. From there…we’ll see.
July 28, 2010 The Pier Pub, Old Orchard Beach 74/1254km 4:15pm
(770.5miles)
Another big shout out to my great friends Ken, Brenda, Chloe, and Olivia Davis. One and a half great relaxing days on Frye Island. In fact, the girls bought me a Frye Island t-shirt. Great stuff.
I was up early. Ken was as well and made for the two of us “homemade mcmuffins.” Outstanding. The girls were rousted out of bed to say good-bye. (I apologized to them for the early hour.) Ken, Duke, and I walked down to the ferry landing after breakfast. The ferry left the island at about 8:15, and by 8:30, I was on the other side and cycling for Old Orchard Beach. Oh, ya…by the way…there wasn’t the hint of a breeze on the island. Only once I hit the mainland. Go figure.
The total distance today was a little more than I had anticipated. I was figuring about 35 miles or so. Even though it was a bit longer, my overall time (about 4 hours) really wasn’t bad, considering.
The breeze that I had ridden into the whole way to Ken’s house had somehow managed to reverse itself and was today in my face the whole way. Obviously disappointing, but what’s to be done???
Instead of following Rte. 302 all the way into Portland and then picking up Rte. 9 to Orchard Beach, I decided to cut over Rte. 4 to Gorham and then pick up Rte. 114 to Scarborough, then Rte. 1 South and Rte. 98 into Old Orchard Beach. The terrain wasn’t bad, but the wind made a bit of tough going. Pretty gusty in places. I doubt it would have been any different if I had gone 302 all the way. Anyway…
Once I got into Old Orchard Beach, I cruised down the main drag looking for some of the Hotels/Motels I had seen online. I saw many of them, but most of them had NO vacancy. I found the Moby Dick Motel and Grocery Store. Fortunately, there was a room available, but it had to be cleaned. I was asked to come back in an hour. The General Store was absolutely CRAZY with sub and pizza orders and people just coming in for refreshments and snacks to take back to the beach, which was only about 75 yards from the place. I had seen this motel online while at Liz and Josh’s. It was one of the options.
I used the time to cycle back to the train station to check on the Downeaster for tomorrow. There’s a train to Boston at 8:15, and one at 1:05. The first one gets into North Station at about 10:30; the latter at 3:15.
Since the train station is not really a “train station” but the Chamber of Commerce, I was not able to actually BUY a ticket. I can call and make a reservation, and I will be given a reservation number and then I pay the conductor on the train. OR, I can try my credit card in the machine at the Chamber of Commerce to buy my ticket. OR I can try a reservation online. We’ll see what happens.
I’m guessing I’ll catch the 1:05 with the bicycle because it really doesn’t matter about timing tomorrow. From North Station, I’ll cycle over to Kenmore Square and try to get into the Hotel Buckminster for two nights. Then, on Friday, I’ll walk up to Dana Farber and visit with Mom and whoever drives her in during her appointment. On Saturday, I’ll cycle out of the city and down to Scituate (approx. 26-30 miles). I’m really looking forward to that.
When I got back to the Moby Dick’s, I spoke with the young lady who was cleaning the room. It turns out she’s from Kazakhstan. What a great coincidence! We chatted for a little while about my trip there and that there are a lot of Kazakh students at AUD, etc. She seemed genuinely excited by the conversation. It was nice. Her English was actually quite good…Much better than some of the Kazakh students at AUD. Go figure. Anyway…by about 2:00, I got into the room and was able to hang out my clothes and take a nice hot shower. (Usually the best part of the day)
When I had originally spoke to the people in charge, I was told the only room available had two “double beds.” In some places, this means two “twin beds.” In this case, it means, essentially, two QUEEN beds. Great stuff. One for me to sleep in. The other one for me to lay out all of my stuff to dry, etc. No worries.
I connected the computer once inside the room. Moby Dick’s has WiFi, but I didn’t have the access code. On the way out to walk downtown, I stopped in the shop and asked for the code. No worries. So, if I don’t find any pub or restaurant here that has WiFi access, once I get back to the room, I should be “hooked up” and can explore a couple of things like Train tickets and hotel rooms in Boston. We’ll see.
July 29, 2010 Hotel Buckminster, Kenmore Square, Boston 32/1286 4:30pm
Little bit of a crazy day today.
I slept reasonably well after a bit of a pub crawl last night. I was up early at about 5:20. I was planning on being on the 1:05 Downeaster to Boston. Unfortunately, there were a couple of problems. One: I was told that there were no bicycle slots available for the foreseeable future on any trains. Obviously that was a bit of a problem.
I was given the number of the Downeaster administration, and discussed the issue with the Customer Service person. I was informed that perhaps the Amtrak people misunderstood my question. I was informed that bicycles are only onloaded at Portland, Wells, and Boston. The only person who could approve loading a bicycle at Old Orchard Beach was the Train manager. So, I could simply sit at the station and wait and hope….OR I could get on the bike and head up to Portland (or down to Wells) where I could put the bike on the train. I opted for Portland…mostly because I felt I would have a bit of a tailwind (or at least not a headwind). It also seemed to be a bit closer. I wasn’t sure how far Wells was. I was told that I could take a bus to Portland. I was told that it comes by every 30 to 45 minutes.
I waited about 15 minutes and then decided that it was only 11 o’clock. I could certainly make it to Portland in time for the 2:15 train. I took off. In fact, I made it to the Portland Transportation Center in time for the 12:50 (the one that would be passing through Old Orchard at 1:05). I arrived at the Center at 12:30. The ticket (with the bike) was $29. Not too bad.
When it was explained to me why I couldn’t load the bike at Old Orchard Beach, the reason given was because the car that the bikes go on is at the front of the train and doesn’t line up with the platform when the train comes in to the station. When I borded the train at Portland with the bike, I was told to put it at the front of the car in the space that is usually reserved for Disabled passengers. AND…AND…later in the trip, another cyclist boarded with his bike at a station that was NOT Portland, Wells, or Boston. He put his bike in the handicapped space on the other side of the aisle. Pretty frustrating. Oh, well.
I had surfed last night and this morning trying to find a hotel near Kenmore Square with no positive results. When I arrived at North Station, I headed for Kenmore Square just hoping that something might have changed. Luckily…it had. The Hotel Buckminster had an Economy Room (or a Palace Room) for $115 for the night. SOLD!!! It was about 4 miles from North Station to Kenmore Square (at least the way I rode). I rode around the Common and then up Beacon Street all the way to Kenmore.
I’ll call Wendy when I get back to the room after dinner. I had an e-mail from Bill, and I asked him how to get to where Mom will be in Dana Farber tomorrow. We’ll see. He’s going to be at the Sox game tomorrow night.
So…one more day to ride for a while…down to Scituate. I’m really looking forward to it. If I stay around here, I’ll take the Jamaica Way. We’ll see. Mom may insist that I come down to Scituate tomorrow with her and whoever takes her in. We’ll see.
