June 20, 2017
Day 54: Machias, ME to St. Stephen, NB
We woke up this morning to a cold rain. The forecast was for it to end by midday. Kerry went to the office and asked for a 12:00 checkout and they were happy to let us do that. About 10:00, we walked to Helen's Restaurant, adjacent to the motel. We had dinner there last night and it was very good. Kerry had strawberry rhubarb pie - mostly rhubarb - which he said was almost as good as his grandmother's. That is the ultimate praise for pie. It was great to have breakfast at 10:00 when I could really enjoy it. We both ate a big breakfast since our route today was very rural and there were no services at all for 38 miles. After breakfast, Kerry wanted to go back to the barber shop which was closed yesterday and get his haircut. I went over with him and the barber asked if I wanted my hair cut too, so I said that would be great. While we were waiting our turns, we talked with the other customers. There was a young guy there with his wife who was a lobster fisherman. His wife fished with him. It was very interesting to talk to a real Maine lobsterman. He had been lobstering with his uncles since he was a child. It helped that he really looked the part as well. His wife had some suggestions for the barber about trimming his very long, full beard. Shaving it off was mentioned, but he made it clear that was not going to happen.
By the time we got our haircuts ($22 for both of us) it was 11:30 and the rain had almost stopped. We loaded up the bike and headed out. At 12:23 - we checked the time - we saw a little sunshine. The weather continued to improve and by mid afternoon we had an almost clear blue sky. It was wonderful to ride in the sun again.
We rode past lots of wild blueberry fields. We really weren't sure that's what they were, so we asked someone to be sure.
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The someone we asked was Candy Bridges, the owner of Baring Gifts. It was the first store we came to after leaving Machias. We were both more than ready for a break. Candy made us welcome and pointed me to the restroom which my first destination after 38 miles without a stop. While Kerry was waiting for me, he noticed the store had homemade fudge for sale and ordered a small slice. When he went to pay, Candy said it was on the house. Thank you Candy!! She also had ice cream. We ordered a large cup to share. While she was getting that for us, two women came in. After we got our ice cream, they ordered fudge. They went to pay for their fudge and also paid for our ice cream! It was such a nice surprise. They said they wanted to welcome us to Maine. Thank you again, Mary Ellen and Kim.
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From our ice cream stop, it was just a few miles to the border crossing at Calais. We were directed inside the customs buildings to show our passports. As we had read in other blogs, we were told pepper spray was not allowed in, so we relinquished ours. We never have used it, but I've gotten used to having it at hand.
So now we're enjoying our first night in Canada with dinner in our room from the grocery deli across the street. It has been such a good day with meeting great people and riding in the sunshine. Tomorrow, we're going to Black's Harbor to a B&B for two nights. The forecast is for mid 70's and SUN!
Today's ride: 45 miles (72 km)
Total: 2,237 miles (3,600 km)
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