August 22, 2023 to August 25, 2023
Days 67-70: Layover and Hammer Time
Thomaston, ME to Gorham, NH
On Tuesday and Wednesday, we spent two relaxing days in Maine with Mike’s mom. The weather was actually amazing for the first time that we can remember. There was not a cloud in the sky which made lunch in Camden and a trip to Marshall Point Lighthouse even more enjoyable.
However, when we left Thomaston on Thursday, we left the amazing weather behind. We spent some time on Wednesday tying to figure out how to deal with the incoming inclement weather arriving Thursday night, and we thought we had a plan, but then we promptly changed it when we arrived seven miles from our destination at 11:00 am. Routes and accommodations were rearranged while standing over our bikes in a park-n-ride on the side of a busy road. Well, maybe they were hastily made, but they were set and off we were to a new campground with a different route to New Hampshire. Our route was scenic, moderately hilly, and pretty traffic free most of the day. We arrived in Turner at Martin Stream GC around 5:00 pm, made dinner, planned a route for Friday, took showers, and planned to wake up to rain by making sure we had everything in place to take down the tent and store our gear in the rain.
Our plan worked pretty well; it was the first time that we had to take down camp in the rain. We made sure we had our rain gear in the tent along with our sleeping pad cases; my panniers were under the rain fly as well in order to quickly stow sleeping bags and pillows while keeping them dry. We then carried the tent, covered with the rain fly, over to the campground’s rec hall pavilion to wipe it off, take it down, and stow it away. We had breakfast there as well. We were soon off on our new route and new destination using Ride With GPS’s suggestion. Well, it didn’t turn out to be a great route, and it rained all day long with one pretty major thunderstorm where we needed to seek shelter.
The route was designed to basically keep us off of busy Route 117 and Route 2 on our way to Gotham, New Hampshire. Early on, we were routed on dirt - no big deal, but the dirt was a little muddy; however, we proceeded. But then, the route tuned left onto a “road” with a major washout. There was no good way around it; we tried to reroute without cell reception by using the Offline version of the Ride with GPS map that we were using. Well, it all worked out in the end, and we arrived in Gorham by 3:30 and are currently dry and snug at a motel.
Tomorrow we have a big day, most likely with rain, on our way to Vermont. We should be camping at a Hip Camp beyond Saint Johnsbury tomorrow night and then at Mike’s sister and husband’s house by Sunday evening.
Plans have been made for our trip home. We miss home and look forward to catching up with friends and reacquainting ourselves with non-touring life.
On our way to meeting our second goal,
Team Bean
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Stats
- Cribbage Game Wins: Mike 16, Dawn 9
- Tortillas Eaten: Mike 194, Dawn 54
- Jars of Peanut Butter: 7
- Flats: Dawn 2, Mike 1
- Bike Haters: 4 (We had our first one in Montana yesterday.) None in North Dakota that we know of.
- We may have had some bike haters in Canada…not sure; they do it in a polite way…
- Bags of Salad Consumed: 30
- Dog Encounters: 2
- Beers, too many to count
- Bags of M&M’s: 5 of various sizes (I swore off of these about a month or so ago…that is why there are no updates. I have been tempted though.
- Fritos: 11 of various sizes
- Bear Encounters: 1
- Major Inclement Weather Episode: 2
Today's ride: 135 miles (217 km)
Total: 4,432 miles (7,133 km)
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