Missy and Shane's All Around US Tour.

We had a great time in Boston. Our Warm Showers host, Jon, gave us a guided walk of the Freedom Trail, a red striped line of history that winds through downtown Boston and has several historical marker stops along the way. We stopped at a couple graveyards with some of the oldest gravestones we've ever seen and with a pretty impressive list of occupants. We also made stops at Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church (with the oldest working clock in a public building), the State House, the Bunker Hill Memorial, and a few other interesting historical sites. It really is amazing the history that lives here. With both of us being from the West coast and used to seeing buildings and gravestones dating back to the 1800s (at the earliest) it's impressive to see them dating to the 1600's and to see how that affects the cities and culture. Neither of us are the sharpest tools when it comes to geography and history so this ride has been a great educational tour. After our 5+ mile walk around town we had worked up a good appetite and headed over to the North End and had dinner at one of the many Italian restaurants (Limoncello's). The North End of Boston feels even more Italian than San Francisco's North Beach which can feel touristic. I think being that much closer to Italy, the much longer history, and of course having those great narrow streets made it all so much more Italian. The food was great too.

The next day we met Mark & Libby (Kristin's boyfriend, Matt's parents) who live outside of Boston. It was really great to meet them and we had a nice walk around downtown and to the piers. We had a great lunch at Legal Seafood and they helped us on my 'patch hunt' (so far I have every state but Connecticut doesn't look promising). Though it was a short visit it was nice to make a connection with them.

Back on the road Monday, Jon helped us out of the "thickly settled" area by riding with us about 15 miles. He was such a great host; his 'bachelor pad' home, special guide services (including turn-by-turn directions when we were 'off map'), transit help, dining choices, and even baking us home-made energy bars for the road.
We had set up another Warm Showers stay about 45 miles from Watertown in Manchaug, MA. In the email response they told us that if they weren't home we could just go through the gate and set up on the tent platform in the goat pasture- cool. When we got there in the late afternoon Jane was home and DenisDenis come shortly after. It was a great set-up with the tent platform up on the hill looking down through the trees and boulders onto the 'farm' and across the valley. They had three goats, a couple dogs and cats, and several chickens who gave us our breakfast eggs. They were really great hosts and Denis (who has hiked the Appalachian Trail twice!) has newly discovered bike touring and had just ridden up to Bar Harbor, Maine from his place this summer. The next morning he joined us for about 15 miles to the Connecticut border, it's great to have these locals showing us their home roads.

We had tried to set up another Warm Showers stay but hadn't heard back so we weren't sure exactly where we were going to stay on Tuesday night. We rode 40 miles into Stafford Springs, CT pretty hungry since the town we had planned to have lunch ended up not having any resources that our map showed. So we snacked through the day until we hit the grocery store in Stafford Springs. We also bought dinner supplies and decided to head onto the next town and start knocking on doors to ask to camp in peoples fields since there weren't any campgrounds around. Just as we started to roll off several people stopped to talk to us and ask the classic questions (where we're from, how far we're riding, why we carry so much, etc.?). One guy asked where we were staying that night and we told him we weren't sure. He said he was the caretaker of the cemetary just up the road and we were welcome to camp anywhere there. Sweet. We jumped at the chance, not only an overnight spot but a very.... peaceful one. It was a beautiful spot and besides the several locals who stopped to talk to us (seems to be a popular place to walk) it was a very quite night (the caretaker told us it would be quiet but that if we heard any strange noises to get the heck out of there!). Was very damp and cold that night, it dipped down to 36˚.

Last night we stayed in a 'traditional' campground here in Connecticut (along the Farmington River), is kind of nice to get some 'alone time'. Love meeting all of the wonderful people that we do on the road but once and awhile it's good to have time to ourselves.
The climbing has continued and even gotten bigger in the last two days. Yesterdays climb was a long semi-gradual one instead of these steep up and down, up and down ones we've been having.

Missy did some number crunching and has some more interesting stats:
From Coast to Coast we cycled 83 out of 101 days (that's 18 days off).
Total days cycled (including the 'Southern Pacific' route but not the Atlantic) was 113 days of 136 (23 days off).
Missy has cycled 93 miles on her days off- Yes, she's broken her "no pedal" policy for days off (Shane isn't counting but we know it's more =) ).
So far we've had 23 nights in hotels or b&b's, 20 homestays, and 93 nights of camping.


So that about wraps it up for now. We are expecting to get into Lambertville, NJ a few days earlier than initially planned (on Monday or Tuesday) to visit Ryan, Amy and their new baby girl, Natalie.

And finally... NEW PHOTOS. It's been awhile so we put up two different pages:

Sept. 14-20 HERE
and
Sept. 21-28 HERE

It was a little rough start for us after our luxurious days in Maine last week but in the end things balanced out on the better side (as they tend to do). After picking our bikes up from the shop where we both had a tune-up and I had a full drive train replacement we rode back into Bath to pick up some supplies at the grocery store and ride our 30 miles for the day (instead of the 50 originally planned). Stopped at the market we were about to leave when I stopped to look at our map again. Right then Missy saw a flash of yellow and noticed our old friend Ormand ride by. She yelled his name and we were connected again with a fellow tourer and friend that we hadn't seen since Montana! He was flying home the next day for a bit but we rode with him down to Freeport where we planned to camp for the night. The rough days started when the campground near Freeport was closed. Luckily another had opened up just down the road. We set up camp and Mom & Larry came over to check out our 'home away from home' and pick us up for dinner. We all went out for one last meal before saying goodbye until Christmas. We had such a great time with them while they were here and were so glad they could come out to join us for part of our journey. We want to invite anyone else who wants to come and visit to do so anytime (just don't bring as much wine).

That night we had a major rain storm and in the morning we woke to find the tent that had leaked only a little here and there before was soaking wet from underneath as well as the small leaks that we had before in the 'windows' that were dripping on our heads and feet. Ormand left us early in the morning and we took several hours in camp to dry our gear out. We stopped by the outlet stores in Freeport and thought about buying a new tent but I thought I would call Kelty to check on the warranty and the possibility of getting a new tent out to us. They were really great and understood that we needed our 'house' with us the whole time and couldn't just send it in for repair or replacement so they sent us a brand new tent and we are sending the old one back to them. It has been a great tent to us and we think it was just an abnormality of the tent (or something we did).

Once we got that all figured out it was already 2:00 pm and way to late to make the miles we wanted. So we decided to just ride and see how far we could make it. We ended up riding to the town of Scarborough and calling some local campgrounds. We found one that sounded good, close and the least expensive (most places were quoting around $25 and they quoted $15). Missy spent most of the night drying her journal, passport, and other items that she found had gotten soaked the night before during the storm. But a while under the hand dryer in the bathroom and things turned out alright. It seems that some of gear has decided that 5,000 miles was the limit and is giving up before we are ready. My Ortlieb bag zipper also blew out last week and we are getting a replacement for that (thanks Ortlieb!!!!). As we got ready to leave the next morning we stopped by the office to pay for our stay and the owner said that we didn't have to pay and that her father-in-law said she should have called the newspaper to tell them that a couple cyclists were there who had ridden across the country (and more) so she felt it was the least she could do to host us for free. What a great start to the day. Unfortunately the rest of the day wasn't so smooth.
It was a rough ride down Hwy 1 and half way through the day when we decided where we were going to be we called the campground to make sure they were open still. They were closed and suggested the one down the road. They were also closed (except to seasonal campers...RVs). We decided to pedal on and figure something out along the way. We stopped into a huge camping/hunting store in Kittery Maine and looked at a couple maps and books to find camping in the area. There really wasn't much! We jotted down some notes but had spent a long time there. It was getting late. We rode across the bridge to Portsmouth and made a couple calls. Still nothing! It was now getting dusk and so we had to find a motel in the area. We found a cheap one that wasn't too far. Not far but the only access to it was to either ride back 4 miles and come in through several back streets or just ride 1/2 mile down an interstate like road. We decided to ride the 'by-pass' road and it was pretty nasty!! Tired and a little beat down we got into our room and started to make plans for a better day.
We were able to make those plans thanks to our next Warm Showers host, Jon in Watertown, who ended up researching a route for us that took us on a very pleasant 50 mile ride to a state park and then a 25 mile ride the next day to his place. It was a lifesaver! The next day, after our hotels "deluxe" breakfast of coffee and a packaged pastry, we set off with a much better feeling for the days ride. We fueled up with our own yogurt and granola and found a back roads way out of town. We rode the whole New Hampshire coastline and saw people surfing, tanning on the beach, and playing frisbee... did they think we were in California?? It was a beautiful ride, though short at only about 25 miles of coast. We cut inland once we hit Massachusetts and had a nice ride up the Merrimack River Valley to the campground. It felt good to be in a natural setting (and dry) for awhile.
We got a nice early start the next day (that's 9am for us) and rode into the Boston area. Our wonderful host, Jon, met us half way and rode us in through the twist and turns to get here. Now we'll visit Boston over Saturday and Sunday then hit the road again on Monday.

Even with the rough spots in the last couple days (gear breaking down, closed campgrounds, bad traffic, etc.) good things are still happening (free camping, random meetings, wonderful sights, etc.) and we are having a really great time. The geese keep flying past us high above and we know we are going the right way- following them south.

What a wonderful week! We've had so many great experiences in the past several days. We were so happy to have had a couple 'warm showers' experiences with Jeff & Katey and Jennifer & Stephen earlier in the week when we first got into Maine (see two posts ago) and those kind of experiences have continued. After completing our Northern Tier we officially started the Atlantic Route by riding from beautiful Popham Beach (with some of the 3% of Maine's sandy beaches) to Woolwich, just outside of Bath. There we had a GREAT experience by meeting Tracy & Dan (and their daughter Kate & dog Boston). It came about through one of the many amazing coincidences we've had on this trip; when we met Paul & Eric (see the June Archives) in North Dakota. They were cycling cross country too and amazingly were from Missy's hometown of Napa. Not only that but Paul is Missy's Mom's Doctor. He had lived in Maine and had some very good friends he suggested we look up when we got there. So we did, and boy were we glad we did. When we rolled in they immediately opened their home to us and made us feel so welcome. As we talked we also learned that while on the road we met their nephew and his friend (Ben & Erin) who were cycling across the country (from East to West- see our photo of them HERE) and It turned out to be Dan's birthday and we were invited to join a group of their friends for dinner and a party. We met a lot of wonderful people and had a really great time. We also found some time to explore the cute town of Bath.
The next day Mom and Larry arrived from Bend (flying Portland to Portland) to help us celebrate the end of the Northern Tier and our one year anniversary. They met Dan & Tracy and we all bought some of Tracy's great pottery (Saltbox Pottery) before heading to Brunswick. Missy and I rode our bikes to Bath Cycle & Ski (the home of the online store Bikeman), where we left our bikes for a couple days to get some well deserved tune-ups. With Mom & Larry we explored Brunswick and then went down to Freeport to check out the hometown of L.L. Bean, which turned out to be a shopping/outlet store mecca, crowded but some cool shops. Missy and I ended up buying some croakies and a roll of duck tape- exciting. That night we had a great dinner at the Back Street Bistro and then stayed at the Brunswick B&B, a nice little B&B in the heart of town. The next day we left Brunswick and headed to Portland to explore a little bit and really loved the waterfront and old buildings in that town. We had a great lunch at Flatbreads; two pizzas we swore we couldn't finish and then proceeded to devour. Wish we would have had more time to explore Portland but we were anxious to get to our next B&B, the Coveside..

We chose the Coveside way back when we were first planning this trip because the owners are Missy's Dad's Cousin and his wife (Tom & Carolyn Church). When we pulled into the Coveside we knew we wouldn't be spending much time away from it for the two days we were going to be there- it was so beautiful. That night we went down to the wharf and had fresh lobster for dinner. We got all dressed up (since it was our anniversary celebration), Tom & Caroline took down a picnic basket with wine, glasses, cheese & crackers, a tablecloth, and bug dope, and we sat down at a picnic table next to all the lobster traps and an incredible view of the lobster boats floating around the Five Islands that the area is named after. When Missy asked about a place to wash her hands they told her that they didn't have a bathroom (beside the porta-potty) but that she could wash them in the lobster tank! She passed on that and we found some wet wipes. Missy thought that she didn't like lobster, because of some bad experiences in the past, but has fallen in love with it now that she has had the best fresh Maine lobster ever! It was a really great dinner and experience, very authentic Maine. Afterward we went back to Tom & Carolyn's and enjoyed their cozy home with them. The next day we just relaxed around the B&B, visited the local potter, went on a small walk, enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere of the cove, and then went out to dinner. This time we got dressed up again but went out to a little fancier place (the Robinhood Meeting House). It was a great dinner and a really fun last evening with Mom & Larry! We had way to much wine for the 50 miles we were going to ride today so we are cutting it to a half day. After another amazing breakfast cooked by Carolyn (crab cakes & Maine blueberry muffins) we packed up this morning, checked out the Reid State Park and now we are off to pick up our bikes and hit the road.

It has really been such a great week! There are lot's of great moments that I'm sure I missed. Maine has been so good to us and it has been a joy to spend some good quality fun time celebrating with Mom & Larry. And now we ride on- southward!

Hi- Missy here! We have some numbers for those who are interested- totals for the Northern Tier plus totals for the entire journey so far.

NORTHERN TIER
average miles per day: 51
total miles cycled: 4465
average miles per hour: 11.8
our land speed record: 44 mph on a New Hampshire downhill
total elevation gain: 188,740 feet

Totals for the ALL AROUND US TOUR
average miles per day: 46.9
total miles cycled: 5254
average miles per hour: 11.5
total elevation gain: 143, 787 feet
average elevation gain per day: 1295 feet
total time on the bike: 434 hours and 49 minutes
average time on the bike per day: 3 hours and 57 minutes


So there you have it! It's nice for us to keep running totals for every leg of our journey. It gives us a little closure as we leave behind the Northern Route and begin to head South for the winter. Having travelled so far, farther than I imagined I could or would want to, I am thinking we just might be able to go all the way around. Still too early to predict, though. I continue to put out to the universe that as long as I am "able and willing"- I have the physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental abilities to keep going- that I won't stop no matter the headwind, cold, tired, or sore state I may be in. This is no small request but so far has been continually granted. I am feeling stronger and more motivated than ever to keep going. The farther we go, the farther I want to go! My body feels like a machine-granted a machine that cries or gets grumpy when it gets really hard- but a machine nonetheless, as we climb steep hills with a hundred pounds of drop dead weight and we always make it to the top and are able to keep going. I was reading my first journal entry for this trip from March. I wrote, "my lungs feel stiff and my bike feels like lead." - and that was flat terrain. Now I can propel myself, my bike and all that stuff on flat terrain and not even feel like I'm doing much work. Amazing! We feel so very thankful to be able to do this- that are bodies are able to do this. So to celebrate the many miles we have come, here is a poem by Mary Oliver's book Why I Wake Early.

Many Miles

The feet of the heron,
under those bamboo stems,
hold the blue body,
the great beak

above the shallows
of the pool.
Who could guess
their patience?

Sometimes the toes
shake, like worms.
What fish
could resist?

Or think of the cricket,
his green hooks
climbing the blade of grass-
or think of camel feet

like ear muffs,
striding over the sand-
or think of your own
slapping along the highway,

a long life,
many miles.
To each of us comes
the body gift.

We did it!
We've ridden across the country under our own power. We left Seattle 101 days ago and arrived at Popham Beach (outside of Bath, Maine) having ridden our bicycles the whole way. And yet, the amazing thing is, this is just one of the milestones in the journey. Later this week we keep riding! There have been several milestones along the way but this feels like one of the biggies. Pacific to Atlantic- wow.
Standing on the beach last night it really hit us, this is the other side of the country and we pedaled the whole way here. Can you tell that I'm impressed with us?

The last few days (since our last blog entry) have been really wonderful, with such incredible scenery and the most wonderful people! We met a German couple, Dirk and Monika who had ridden from Anacortes, WA and left a few weeks after we did. Turns out they rode with our friend Ormand for a little while (it's a small little bike community out here that spans several thousands of miles). We only got to ride with them for a day though because during that day they were ahead of us when we were stopped by a truck as we left the town of South Paris. The driver's name was Jeff and he said that he and his wife were cyclists and would be happy to put us up for the night if we would like, they were only a couple miles up the road. We had to think a long time about that... an offer of a cozy bed only a couple miles up the road or ride 15 more miles (6 of which were up a big hill) to another campground on a night that was expected to get down to 37 degrees. But after that 2 seconds we said YES. He waited at his drive to make sure we didn't miss the turn and we pulled into a little paradise with a cute house, a big barn, a lilly pad pond, a rocky babbling brook, a friendly & fun dog, a cuddly cat, and two great hosts, Jeff & Katey. They fed us well and we had a good time exchanging stories and getting to know one another. They left early in the morning for work but left us there to pretend that we actually had a home of our own as we cooked breakfast on a real stove with food from a refrigerator and ate at a real table with chairs that moved (as opposed to a picnic table). We lounged on the couch but finally dragged ourselves out of the house when we realized that we still had 50 miles to go that day.
It was a funny weather day. We started out all bundled up, then would strip down to short sleeves, then the wind would pick up and we'd layer up, then the sun would come out and we'd shed again. And it went on like that the rest of the day. We passed one of the reddest patches of trees yet and had many ups and downs through the hillsides of Maine. We arrived in Dresden, Maine in the late afternoon and rode to Jennifer and Stephen's house. They are a couple that we corresponded with even before we left the West coast. They took over hosting cyclists from their neighbor, Doris, who has hosted Adventure Cycling riders since 1984, treating them to Maine hospitality and blueberry muffins. Jennifer & Stephen are continuing the tradition by hosting cyclists passing through the area. They have a wonderful home with a great view of the Eastern River, the rolling hills, and land that 100 years ago was pasture-land but is now a beautiful forest. We had a great meal with them and enjoyed getting to know them. It was nice to spend two nights in a row in houses that felt like homes, very cozy.
We lounged a little again the next morning but knew that we only had about 30 miles left to get us to the Atlantic Coast. We stopped off in Bath for lunch and dinner supplies then rode the final 15 miles to the water. We hit a detour that took us on even more hilly ups & downs just to challenge us once more before we finished the 4,460 miles from West to East. But we did it! We spent the night with the waves crashing a hundred feet from our tent and it felt good.
We've put up photos from the last two weeks. Check them out HERE.

The summer is ending- we've flipped the sleeping bags over. It was a tell-tale sign the night that we switched from sleeping with the very lightweight down bag on top to the heavier-weight down bag. Other ways we can tell that summer is ending and fall is near:
There are a lot less people in the campgrounds.
When we go through towns kids are in the playgrounds and at school.
A state park campground closed the day we left (now we have to watch for that- closed campgrounds).
When we arrive to camp we might crave a hot chocolate instead of a cold beer.
The hurricane season has begun and remnants of storms may make it up here to the NE.
Stores are having clearance sales to make room for winter gear.
The wind is blowing leaves off of trees.
We've broken out fleece & down clothing that has been buried all summer.
We're using our new Coleman lantern every night because the sun is down early.
And of course the major sign here in New Hampshire is the amazing color change going on All Around US.

Those color changes are already amazing, little bits of fireworks going off in fields of green and splashes of orange, yellow, and gold starting to spread across the mountains. We look forward to being here in New England for the major change that is coming and following it south- it's something both of us have wanted to see for a long time and was one of the major "must-sees" on our tour list.

After leaving Bonkaboonie we rode over to Etna, New Hampshire, just outside of Hanover and had a very nice visit with Uncle Bob & Aunt Kathy- Larry's brother. It was a beautiful ride though Vermont and into Hanover (where Dartmouth College is). On the way to Bob & Kathy's we had the most elevation gain we've had since the Rockies (almost 3,000 vertical feet) and it was only a 35 mile day! There were some massively steep hills, with the steepest being the road up to their home that had signs that warned of the 18% grade! It was the first time Missy had to get off and push for a little bit. But once we made it up there it was all worth it. The view of the Green Mountains from their home was beautiful! But most of all the welcome we received was beautiful, even with such a short notice of our arrival. We had a super shower, an awesome meal, a very cozy bed, and a great visit. It was short but sweet. We had a nice send-off with fresh home-made chocolate chip cookies!
The day before we had stopped off at the King Arthur Flour company to check out their baking store- cool gadgets and food (trying their breakfast cereal).
Yesterday we rode up the Kancamagus pass (2855 ft.), our biggest climb since the Going to the Sun Road (though we still didn't reach the total elevation gain we did riding to Bob & Kathy's). It was a great day for a ride, a little cloudy to keep it cool but some bursts of sunlight to bring out the color. It was a nice gradual climb out of Lincoln, NH and as we climbed we saw several recreational cyclists out on their Saturday rides. We even got a 're-fueling' at the summit by a Maine cycling club that was having a century ride in the area. The day before we ran across a couple cyclists heading West- a late start but they'll head south soon they said, eventually ending up in California. Speaking of fellow cyclists, our friend Ormand is just a day ahead of us. Will be fun to meet up with him again, haven't seen him since Montana.
Less than a week left on this Northern Tier!

Got the Bonkaboonie pictures up!! Check them out HERE!

We're moving nice and slow through Vermont. Taking it easy and enjoying the beautiful hills, mountains, and countryside. Heading to Norwich today (just outside of Hanover, NH) to visit Bob & Kathy Snyder (Larry's Brother). Also making a stop over at King Arthur Flour to get our foodie fix. Life is grand.

What a weekend. What a wedding! Bonkaboonie was blissful. It's hard to put the weekend in words and the pictures won't even do it justice. We had an amazing time meeting wonderful new people, hearing great music, eating great food, relaxing in the woods, lending a hand, dancing, and most of all, celebrating Kori and Thomas' super Nuptial Jamboree.
We arrived into Poultney, VT on Thursday after taking the ferry across Lake Champlain from New York state. It was a beautiful day of riding- sunshine and a beautiful new state to see. We loved the rolling hills, the small farms, the people, the trees just turning colors, the cute little towns... and it was just our first day in Vermont. I think knowing that we were so close to the long awaited celebration made the days ride even more blissful. After a couple loads of laundry (even our tent!) and some major grocery shopping in town we rolled the next three miles to Lake St. Catherine State Park where Bonkaboonie would be based for the weekend. As we were riding out of town (with our Bonkaboonie or Bust sign) Missy said that she had an image in her mind of pulling into camp and having people holler "they're here, they made it" and clapping or something of the sort. We both acknowledged that this was very unlikely and then one minute later a car drove by loaded down with a canoe, two bikes, and lots of camping gear. Someone leaned out the window and yelled "BONKABOONIE!! Yahoooooo", they honked, we rang our bell, and we all laughed. And so the fun began. A couple other cars passed us loaded up and then we pulled into the campground and began to meet some of the wonderful people that would fill the weekend.

The next three days were filled with shared meals, five bands, meeting lot's of new and interesting people, helping Thomas set up lights around their AMAZING property (.5 miles down the road from the park), and so much celebrating that it won't fit into a blog entry. The weather was sunny on Thursday and Friday, cloudy on Saturday, and a mix of clouds, sun, and rain on Sunday.
Sunday was the main celebration day, with the shortest ceremony we've experienced, but at the same time one of the most magical as Kori was paddled across the pond by her dad in a canoe as her reflection, along with those of the trees that surrounded them, made it seem like she was being transported from one world to another. And in a way she was. She gracefully floated out of the canoe and onto the dock (that Thomas recently built) where Thomas took her hand, they exchanged rings, said "I Do", and within five minutes everyone was giving them their first hugs as "husband and wife". The party and music went on late into the night with only one little shower to add a fresh smell to the air. The fireworks blazed, the music rocked, the drinks flowed, the dance floor jammed, the food fulfilled (especially those home made pies- wow!), the lights were magical, the prism tent was trippy, and the night was magical!
But now we are sad to see it all end. We took yesterday to head to the Killington area to ride the Alpine Slides with Judd & Mahri (Kori & I knew Judd from High School in Alaska and Mahri is his girlfriend). We had a great time with them. Today we packed up and said our last good-byes to them and Kat. This is the longest we've been camped in one spot yet and since we have no 'home' it's tough to leave one that has been so filled with fun, friends, and love. But the road beckons and we still have a little more than week to get to Maine. So back on the road with our hearts full but heavy.

Have some pictures up finally from mid to the end of August HERE. Will put Bonkaboonie pictures up next blog- but here's one for a teaser:

See you at Bonkaboonie 2007!