Going Green Going South 2024

  Newburyport to Salem, Massachusetts Our morning started off sharing sweet memories of yesterday’s ride.  While today couldn’t be better, it was almost as great.  Our B&B included breakfast and we were greeted by Catlin, our lovely and charming innkeeper. She provided several fresh fruit choices (in yogurt or plain), yogurt, breads and muffins, and poached eggs with a hollandaise sauce.  We ignored all the cereals, and other stuff except for the coffee.  We met her 5 year old daughter and 4 year old son. It was tough leaving there.   We quickly arrived on a trail that took us out of town.  However, it took us a long time to cycle that short trail.  The first mile must have had 20 sculptures and other artsy things.  It was full of trail art and Joe wanted a picture of each item.  No sooner did we get off the trail and onto the road, we came across a classic car restoration shop.  More pictures were taken of the cars, trucks...

ADDENDUM to yesterday's post: Joe cycled on unpaved trails in yesterday's rain and when he got to the hotel he was a muddy mess. He entered the hotel but was ordered out by the manager.  Joe went outside and cleaned up himself and his bike with rags provided by the manager.  It was a most unpleasant seven hour day of cycling through non-stop rain. Kittery, Maine to Newburyport, Massachusetts We started in Maine, cycled through New Hampshire, and are staying in Massachusetts.  While not yet mentioned, we also went through the state of Confusion when we couldn't correctly interpret our GPS's directions. Joe was cycling from the hotel and I was cycling from the rental car return location.  We programm ed our GPSs to meet at the Elephant coffee shop in Portsmouth.  A 15 minute ride for both of us.  However, we each ended up at a different location.  There were 2 elephants in the room:(  Once we got together we toured the town and then got on our route...

 Portland to Kittery, Maine Today it rained and rained heavily and we had a 64 mile ride.  Because of the weather, length of ride and Jeff going into Afib yesterday, he used a rental car to drive to Kittery.  Joe, however, was determined to cycle regardless of the conditions and pedaled the whole way.  Because the next 2 days are short and the weather is supposed to be nice, Jeff plans to keep cycling.   Map of today Trip total map Pictures

Edcomb to Portland, Maine  It was difficult leaving our luxurious lodging this morning, but the road awaited us.  We cycled across the river to Wiscosset for breakfast at a coffee shop. They didn't open until 7:30 and customers were already outside waiting for it to open--a good sign.  The offerings were limited to freshly baked pastries and coffee.  The aroma was wonderful and we had difficulty making a selection.  However, the barista was more interesting than the pastries.  She had on a leopard print top, skin tight cutoff shorts and tattoos running up her legs. While we did not notice, the tattoos rose to her butt cheeks that were exposed by the short shorts.  The music was funky and she danced while she worked. After we had our order and sat down, one of us went back to the counter several times to get cream for his coffee, napkins, and to take pictures for our blog.  At least that is what he said. The morning started off cool but by mid...

Rockland to Edgecomb, Maine Today started off with rain and cold temperatures but we left the hotel anyway.  The forecast was iffy as to what the rest of the day would bring.  The rain lasted about 2 hours but the sky was overcast all day.  Not a good day to sight see and take pictures,   We encountered more hills than yesterday, some steeper and longer, but still managed to get to the top without walking.  Along the route we saw 3 other long distance cyclists going in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, we met on hills and while stopping is easy, getting started again is difficult for the uphill cyclists. We just waived and kept going without exchanging stories.   While it was a rough day for our old bodies we ended up at the Sheepscot Harbour Village Resort. We have a suite with 2 bedrooms, living room (with fireplace), kitchen, and a bath bigger than some of the rooms we stayed on past trips. For dinner we walked across the half mile bridge ...

Belfast to Rockland, Maine Last evening we had several hours of severe thunderstorms but woke up to calm weather and moderate temperatures.  We headed to the only eating place opened at 7 a.m. that was just a few miles on the other side of Belfast.  We got to "The Only Doughnut" just a little after 7 and faced an offering of exotic doughnuts.  They didn't serve anything but doughnuts and coffee.  We each had 1 toasted coconut doughnut and coffee; could have eaten several more but we behaved ourselves.   Most of the day was spent on country roads with a few unpleasant hills that required using lower gears, and a few enjoyable downhills.  One of the more interesting downhills took us to the shore of   Megunticook Lake.  That was a nice diversion from the hours of cycling through wooded areas.  While going through all those wooded areas we hoped to see some moose but the only wildlife sighted were a few wild turkeys.   While ...

Brewer (Bangor) to Belfast, Maine Unlike past trips, we slept in until 5 a.m.  For those of you who don't know, both of us are early risers and 5 is actually late. After a light breakfast we were cycling in cool temperatures on low traveled country roads for the first 22 miles of the day.  We enjoyed many fast descents and found the climbs to be easy.  A perfect morning. At mile 22 we crossed the Penobscot River to see Fort Knox.  No we weren't in Kentucky and this fort was the first Fort Knox in the United States .  Named after Major General Henry Knox of the revolutionary war.  Its granite structure was started in 1844 to keep the pesky British out of the United States. After leaving the fort ,the East Coast Greenway route took us onto US Route 1. While it had a lot of traffic, its wide shoulders gave us plenty of room. We stayed on this highway until we reached Belfast.  Along the way a local cyclist stopped us to chat.  Steve, has taken severa...