Projected mileage from home to Ellsworth, Maine, was less than 1,550
miles. Daily quota of 225 miles to make
it in a week. Well, we’ve ridden more
than 225 miles a day (with the exception of Friday) and more than the projected
1,550 miles total and it still took us a full week to get here.
I did adjust the daily route a time or two but made sure to keep all
adjustments within a decent range of Rapunzel’s desired route. Some of the daily miles weren’t taking us
toward our end goal...trips to grocery/hardware stores and side trips to just
see the sights all factor into the daily and total mileage counts. We took a day of rest staying in the
Boston/Cape Cod KOA for two nights so that plays into the timing. And the bottom line is that this is a Kim n
Karen adventure...things happen.
But we’re within hours of reaching our destination of Ellsworth,
Maine...right on time, just a week after leaving Ellsworth, Michigan. 👍
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The humidity is gone! It was
there Thursday night, the rains came and the temperature dropped to the high
70s/low 80s and it hasn’t been sweat dripping humid since. I have no clue what the weather is typically
like along the east coast but I do know that traveling through Pennsylvania,
Delaware, New Jersey and Connecticut during the 3rd week of August
2019 was brutal. Temperatures were
hitting in the low 90s, sweat dripped at the slightest exertion and everything
felt damp all the time. But all that
changed overnight.
High temperature has been in the high 70s since Friday morning...don’t
know what the lows have been because they’ve been happening at night when I’m
sleeping. Yesterday was a day of firsts
on this trip: we both reached for a
jacket while riding, I didn’t change into shorts as soon as we reached camp and
we had a campfire going. Oh, and it was
the first time I pulled out the flannel sheets for the mattress. I packed them anticipating that we might
encounter some chilly nights and it was just the thing to chase away the chill
last night. Well, that plus using both
blankets and snuggling close. 😊
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We were on a slight slant again last night despite trying to avoid that very
thing. This time it was a side
slant...in that my side was on the high end and Kim’s was on the low end. It wasn’t drastic but it was enough for me to
roll a bit downward to crowd Kim to the edge.
Oops!
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Time to pack up and get on the road.
I’d like to ride along the coast up to Ellsworth and according to
Rapunzel that’s not the fastest route but I bet it’ll be prettier.👍
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Met our camping neighbors as we were
packing...Mike and Kathy from Maine. Loved
hearing them talk because of that wicked ‘r’ pronunciation the New Englanders
have. We talked about music, concerts we’ve
been to and then covered the ‘where are you from and where are you going’
topic. Being from Maine they had lots of
insight to give us, especially when they heard we wanted to ride Highway 1 up
the coast.
We went back to packing and soon Mike came back out of the trailer,
walked to his car and brought out a Rand McNally Atlas of Maine. Be
still my heart...the man has a paper map.
Yes!! 😎 As he held up the book with an apologetic grin he said, “I’m
old fashioned this way.” I said that I
totally understand, that I have a love/hate relationship with the GPS but it’s
what works best to guide us while riding.
Anyway I mentioned the route we’d probably take from Naples to the coast
and he opened the atlas to the page so I could look it over. We programmed Rapunzel to take us to Camden,
grateful for the advice on what sections to avoid because of continual traffic
snarls.
We left camp at noon hoping to arrive in Ellsworth by 4:30 at the latest.
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Highway 1 is definitely not the road less traveled even though it is off
the highway. It is very well traveled by
lots of people also wanting to ride along the coast. Not really much stop and go traffic today...just
slow at times. I’d like to thank Mike
for his advice on that one.
Stopped at McLaughlin’s Lobster Shack in Lincolnville where I had a
lobster roll and Kim had a seafood basket.
Think pieces of lobster on a tasty hot dog type bun and you have a
lobster roll. Add fries and coleslaw and
you have right tasty meal. The basket
combo that Kim ordered had scallops, clams, oysters and cod or haddock. He gave his meal a thumbs up also.
McLaughlin’s is right on the waterfront so the view at lunch was
great. Lots of boats anchored and we saw
the car ferry take off for a bit of land in the distance. I checked Rapunzel and the land appears to be
an island called Islesboro. Just a point of information.
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We cruised into Ellsworth at about 6:30 p.m....a bit more than a 4 hour
cruise but on par for us. Adam and Co.
flew out of Detroit early this morning and got into Boston at about 7:30
a.m. They rented a vehicle and stopped
at several places along the way to Ellsworth, arriving about 5:40 p.m. We were already in Maine and they still made it here before us. 😏
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Maine’s exit numbers correspond to the mile markers so it feels a bit
like home that way.
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I realized today that we’ve ridden Highway 1 out on the west coast and
now have ridden Highway 1 on the east coast.
I feel so accomplished.
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We are definitely in the Land of Unpronounceable Words. Some city names,
mostly river names. I usually run them around in my head to see if
my Midwestern brain can come up with a pronunciation...sometimes it works,
sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes I have
to ask random people.
Today I came across one of the longest most confounding words yet and I
haven’t had to opportunity to ask a local how to pronounce it but I intend
to. We crossed a bridge today in
Belfast, Maine. The view of the harbor
which included a separate pedestrian bridge was absolutely picturesque. The bridge spanned the Passagassawakeag River.
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Chigger update: It’s been over
two days since the onset of itching. Most sites indicated that the itching
lasts 1-2 days. Maybe for some but not
for me. My thighs are much better but my lower legs/ankles are still somewhat
of an issue. That’s somewhat disappointing because I was hoping to be done with
it by now. Maybe things will improve
tomorrow as it’s a day off from jeans, socks and boots....shorts and sandals
will leave the affected spots exposed and maybe the spots will dry up or
whatever they need to do to heal.
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Sunday’s miles: 155
Total: 1,858
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