October 2, 2021
Day 124: Camden Hills State Park to Whitefield
Fall colors
“What a weird habit they have putting free stuff out in the yard,” Patrick says. We’ve noticed this all through Maine, some pretty bad junk at the street with a “free” sign. In this climate it does not take long for the recliner or mattress to get wet. We have also noticed there are many auto repair shops and antique stores in Maine.
After packing up, we ride only a few miles on US1 into the town of Camden. Here we leave US1 again and ride on Mechanic Road to Simpleton Corner then Meadow Street takes to route 90 and a café for second breakfast. The secondary roads are hilly and have more traffic than we expected, but it is nice to be off the main roads. The Maine drivers though have been very good at slowing down and waiting to pass, yet sometimes in passing the opposite traffic is run off the road.
In West Rockland we turn onto route 17 for a long time, then turn south towards Whitefield. Fall colors are more evident. We see signs that Whitefield shares the road and an electronic sign “Don’t scare the mare, watch for buggies”. We’d seen evidence of horses in the shoulder, along with seeing quite a few horse and buggies. The Amish people wave. Another electronic sign, “What the heck, don’t cause a wreck, watch out for buggies.” These remind us of the signs in the Indian Himalayas by BRO (Border Roads Organization) like “After whiskey, Driving risky.”
To get to our Warmshowers host, we turn for a few miles on a really hilly road. We reach their farm, welcomed by Patty; we meet Chris a little later. They have been running a farm with sheep, goats, pigs and chickens, plus two green houses for vegetables here for many years, but are scaling back operations. They also have an air B&B guest cabin in the back forest that is rented out almost constantly to city people wanting the experience the country lifestyle; an outdoor shower and outhouse. We are staying in the loft of a timber frame barn, a comfortable bed, Wi-Fi and good company. In the evening we have dinner with our hosts and later Chris builds a nice fire in the backyard for his air B&B guests and us.
We really enjoy talking with Patty and Chris. They just completed their own Northern Tier and stayed with many of the same WS hosts we stayed with. Their tally came up to 37; I think we are going to be close to that before we end this ride.
Today's ride: 40 miles (64 km)
Total: 4,733 miles (7,617 km)
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2 years ago
Yes, let's get together for a beer!
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2 years ago