DAY 65--Whoopie!

Had a little rain in the morning, off and on, then mostly a cloudy and chilly day with some wind. Still good for riding! Continued on small, hilly roads. As we progress farther east, the roads become more twisting and meandering, undoubtedly due to the fact that there is now so much water to navigate around. This makes it much more challenging for us to be sure we are on our designated route. Also, there are signs saying, for example, "Welcome to Newton" when you enter the township of Newton, but the town is nowhere nearby, frequently not even on the same road. This caused us to stop several times to check the map to make sure we hadn't taken a wrong turn or missed a turn.
Stopped at a bike shop so Lonna could replace the bite valve on her camelbak, which she last several days ago. We made our usual stop for muffins. We have discovered that Maine is the center of the universe for whoopie pies! These are two soft cookies with a layer of white creamy goo in between. Decadent! Whoopie pies are sold in every place we have stopped in Maine-- cafes, gas stations, convenience stores, grocery stores-- and they come in a wide variety of flavors including the traditional chocolate, maple, and (my favorite) pumpkin.
It also seems that the primary industry in Maine is antiques. There is an antique store on every corner.
The scenery continues to be stunning, although the autumn colors aren't quite as far along here as they were in VT and NH. We were on many roads that followed rivers, and had a couple of river crossings.
We camped a couple of miles off the route at the Duck Puddle Campground on  Pemaquid Lake.

DAY 64--The Maine Thing

We had rain overnight, and guess what-- another foggy start to the day, riding into beautiful hills. We have been very fortunate that the rain has not continued into the days.
17 miles into the day we entered MAINE--our 12th and final state! We stopped in at the visitor's center where they were handing out little Paula red apples. We took some for the road.
We went through a lot of picturesque little towns, built all over the colorful hills, with the traditional white-steepled churches and more colonial style homes. We stopped at a cafe that served muffin tops (for all you Seinfeld fans), which they warmed on the grill and slathered with butter. Lonna was in heaven. I opted for fresh apple pie.
One thing we discovered is that both Vermont and Maine prohibit billboards. Instead there are small blue interstate information style signs for local businesses. This makes the ride SO much more pleasant and attractive!
Camped at a private campground next to the Ranger Ponds State Park, near Poland.

DAY 63--Let's just call it challenging

Another foggy start to the day--must be because we are near the river--but it did clear up to a gorgeous riding day. We knew this would be a challenging day, with two major climbs. The first part of the day we followed the scenic byway along the Connecticut River. Eventually we got into our first climb, through wooded areas on small roads, with a false summit in the middle of it. Again, the grades were fairly steep. The falls colors are beyond spectacular, especially when you are completely surrounded by them!
When we stopped for a snack after descending off this climb, I happened to notice some significant damage to my rear tire. We thought it would be unwise for me to continue riding on this tire, knowing we still had a major climb and descent coming up. We were very lucky to be in a place where we had cell service, so we called Steve to bring us a spare tire. (We carry spare tubes, but not tires.) After changing the tire at a place that we were told is the most photographed spot in NH, we set off again.
We stopped at a bakery to re-energize, then headed up the second climb. This one was on the Kancamagus Highway, along NH's Rt.112, that is known as one of the best fall foliage viewing areas in the country. Because it is a major road so the grades weren't nearly as bad. We stopped near the top at a great overlook. The last two miles of the climb (15 total) seemed to drag on, and we seemed to be going slower and slower. When we finally reached the top at Kankamagus Pass, we saw a sign indicating that it had been a 9% grade. Well no wonder we were slowing down. The 7 mile descent down the other side was great fun!
We camped in the White Mountain National Forest at Blackberry Crossing campground, near Conway.

Breaking News

WE MADE IT TO BAR HARBOR! 4029 miles! Details to follow!

DAY 62--Friends along the way

Had another foggy morning start, near the river, but eventually it burned off. We spent the day continually climbing and descending many sharp hills along the Connecticut River. The fall colors are spectacular!
About halfway through the day we met up with Ross Goodwin-Brown, a high school friend of ours who had ridden out to see us. He rode with us the rest of the day (well, he rode well ahead of us for quite a bit of it) and we had a great visit.
We made it through Vermont and into NEW HAMPSHIRE! It's just as hilly here as Vermont. Saw a couple of covered bridges along the route. The nice thing about riding the back roads is that they are quieter with less traffic and often a beautiful route. The downside is that the roads often are not maintained very well, and of course they don't attempt to ease up the grade like they do on major highways.
Today was the warmest day we have had in quite some time, and with the exertion of all that climbing, by the end of the day we were looking for ice cream. There was none to be found in Orford, the small town where we were camping, so we rode across the bridge back to Fairlee, Vermont, where we found an excellent little ice cream stand.
Ross stayed around to enjoy dinner with us (our usual sandwiches from the cooler) before taking off.

DAY 61--We love you, Granny!

Started off in a foggy mist, into beautiful hills. The trees are in full autumn color now. We took a short ferry across the river to VERMONT, state #10! We had a nice chat with 3 Harley riders who were also taking the ferry. Vermont seems to be even more scenic (hilly) than New York. For the first time on the entire journey, both of us finally got down to our very lowest Granny gears (1/1) to get up Middlebury Gap.
We have been fortunate with the weather so far. It is usually cool when we take off (around 45-50 degrees) and gradually warms up throughout the day. This makes for an interesting routine each morning as we try to decide what to wear. We always have bike shorts/yoga pants and our biking shoes. Beyond that, we have some combination of biking socks or wool socks, short sleeve or long sleeve jersey, long sleeve t-shirt over the jersey, waterproof jacket, short-finger or full-finger gloves, wool cap under our helmets, warm biking tights/pants or waterproof pants, neck warmer, waterproof/warm booties over our shoes, and sunglasses.* As we ride along, we gradually remove layers as it warms up and load them into the pannier or bungee them to the bike. Today Lonna lost her beloved biking tights when they jumped ship somewhere along the way (probably on one of the fast and bumpy downhills).
We camped slightly off the route near Rochester in a lovely National Forest Campground.
*We were very lucky with the weather being warmer than we had expected it to be by this point. We never had to use our winter gear--fleece vest, ultra-heavy gloves, etc.

Lonna's favorite sign.