56 miles. WE MADE IT!!!!!

Dead tired but very elated to have completed our journey. We will write all about the last day tomorrow after much anticipated sleep. Thanks to everyone for ALL the support.

53 miles. Yep, more hills but the last day before Bar Harbor.

First I want to say that without Maja by my side I would not have made it out of the state of Washington. Her energy and spirit inspires me every mile. I can safely say there is no other person on the planet with whom I could spend every waking moment for 80 days and still be joyful. I would hate me if I had to spend 80 days with myself! She encouraged me in the gloomy moments when all I wanted to do was stop pedaling and sit down by the road and cry. Every day, almost every hour on a journey like this presents its own challenges and Maja helped me meet them all. To quote Fat Boy Slim, “I have to praise you like I should.”

Last night we walked the mile or so into Damariscotta and had a very good meal at the King Eider’s Pub. As we ate, the rain began so we managed to find a taxi to take us back to the DownEaster Inn. This morning we had to backtrack about 1.5 miles from there to get back on our route where we spent some miles riding on Route 1 with the expected tourist and truck traffic so were glad to get off that highway on to local roads. They were less busy but offered little in the way of shoulders and were steeper climbing.

We had a few ocean views to entertain us and the weather was alternately cloudy and sunny.

We rolled into Searsport, home of sea captains and boat builders with some impressive homes from the late 1800s.

Stopping at The Brick House for a late lunch we pedaled up the hill to The Yardarm, our last hotel on the road. Tomorrow will be Bar Harbor and the ceremonial riding into the Atlantic – from sea to shining sea.

 

All the way across the country we have seen many, many American flags in all sizes. Some are on flag poles, some on porches, some planted in yards.

The patriotism and spirit is great to see and we watch the movement of the flags to give us an idea of wind direction and speed, like a tell tale in sailing. Some people have painted old shipping pallets to look like US flags.

We have also seen many Marine Corps flags (none from the other branches), some Don’t Tread on Me flags and a few confederate flags. In Michigan a pick up went by us with a large confederate flag fluttering from one side of the bed and a don’t tread on me flag on the other. In various communities in the Midwest that had been originally settled by immigrants from European countries in the 1800s the flag of that nation is flying from store fronts and homes – German, Poland, Italy.

The variety of signs we see is vast and entertaining. In Montana there were warnings posted on fences around two houses that showed the profile of a Doberman and the words, “I can get to the gate before you can get to the house.” A cemetery posted “No Trespassing after Dark.” In upper NY state there were many yard signs promoting the repeal of the state’s Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act that among other things, restricts Internet ammunition sales and the sale of large capacity clips. The law was passed after the Sandy Hook shootings. A sign at a golf course proclaimed, “I like big putts and I cannot lie…”

We have been surprised at how few Trump and Hilary signs we have seen. Certainly there have been more of the former but in this election year we expected to see many more. The candidate signs and posters we do see are for local elections for city council or sheriff or Congressional candidates. In Michigan a candidate for congress had many signs on the road saying, “Make Washington Listen.”

From Wisconsin eastward there were ubiquitous signs for camp firewood for sale. Racks had been constructed and the cost was between $3 and $5 per bin for “camp wood,” all on the honor system. Also on the honor system were vegetable stands and flower baskets.

Everywhere we cycled people had cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, RVs, snowmobiles, trailers and every other type of vehicle for sale by the road in front of their houses. Most of them had “for sale by owner” signs on them. There was one stretch through a town in New York where every house had a vehicle for sale on the road. Some were old junkers but others were new.