America One Spoke At a Time: August 2021

Sunday, August 29, 2021

Riding to Cape Cod, MA

Jay along the coast

When we last wrote, we had been taking shelter from tropical storm Henri in Scarborough, ME (south of Portland). We are now another 260 miles further along in our journey near Fall River, MA (east of Providence, RI). For Jay, this bike trip has finally begun showing signs of a REAL east coast ride. There was a brief touch of coastal life in Belfast, ME where the boatyard held an ocean-going tugboat in drydock. No doubt there were other ships moored in the harbor with names like “The Scurvy Dog” or “Master of the Sea.” However, most of Jay’s rides have been bereft of the smell of salt air. That changed as his route wound about the southern edge of Maine’s coastline.

A large house on the coast

Along that coast, there are towns open to the American heartland providing beach access, amusement rides, pizza and sugar-coated fried dough. There are also exclusive enclaves of mansions with polite but firmly worded signage, “Keep off my beach!” There is something for everyone.

We have been blessed with blue skies and mostly moderate temperatures, but we have not been without our mishaps.

Our current big adventure was a ride down the spine of Cape Cod. Jay attempted, unsuccessfully in several conversations, to determine the appropriate way to communicate a trip to Cape Cod. Some declared that one “Goes down to the Cape.” Others offered “Out to the Cape.” There was no consensus, yet we soon discovered that our Cape Cod adventure had a more serious problem than mere linguistic inconsistencies.

Progress Report

All of Jay’s bike software and mapping resources indicated riders can catch a ferry from Boston to Provincetown at the northern tip of the Cape. Jay booked two tickets accordingly. It was not until we arrived at the ferry dock in Boston that we learned that the ferry was for passengers only (and their bikes) and not for cars. Our Prius, driven by Helen with all our gear, was not crossing on this ferry. Not willing to forego a Cape Cod adventure, we drove the 115 miles to our campground, Dunes Edge, just outside Provincetown.

Universalist Church in P-town

Provincetown, or P-Town as the locals refer to it, is a compact city at the northern tip of Cape Cod of narrow streets filled with bars, restaurants and art galleries. P-Town lives into its welcoming promise to the LGBTQ+ community with ubiquitous displays of Pride flags, and the flamboyant and ordinary harmoniously mingling without raising an eyebrow. P-Town was the site of another mishap with the loss of Jay’s prescription sunglasses. Per the karma of our trip, Helen returned the next day and retrieved his glasses from a pizzeria where we had paused for “a slice.”

This lighthouse is in Portland

We purchased an audio tour of Cape Cod and drove from site to site visiting different historical artifacts. The most

Old lighthouse on Cape Cod

interesting were all the light houses, but we also learned a lot about the Pilgrims who landed on Cape Cod in November, 1620. As you probably already know, they didn’t eat turkey and pumpkin pies at the first Thanksgiving. The menu was probably mussels, shrimp, lobster and fish.

Narrow bike path on bridge

With 584 miles into our trek, we are getting our traveling sea legs. A great deal of planning is required that is constrained by the weather, riding terrain and a flood of vacationers in our intended path. Helen is the queen behind the curtain. Finding vacancies at hotels and campgrounds is no easy task during the summer vacation time. Even securing a dinner reservation is a challenge. Thankfully, a Whole Foods hot bar is a good fallback position. As we head into Connecticut’s urban environment, we anticipate more hotel stays and hope for less vacation pressures on availability.

We spent two nights at the Sandwich (MA) Lodge & Resort “on historic Route 6A” on Cape Cod. On Sunday Jay rode 68 miles on his bike, Helen retrieved him and drove back to the hotel. In the morning we will both drive to the pickup point, the Fall River Historic Park, and tour the battleships moored there.

Sunday, August 22, 2021

The bicycle ride from Canada down the east coast to Key West began when we finished packing the Prius and started our trek northward on August 11, 2021. On our way to Canada, we visited the Pinball

Museum in Roanoke, VA, Jay’s 99-year old mother in NJ and his cousin in Waterville, ME. Our master plan was to start in Canada and have Jay ride across the border. However, entrance into Canada required not only proof of vaccination but a COVID test within 72 hours. Finding a location to get a COVID test with our “whenever” travel schedule just made this requirement one bridge too far.

Ironically, Canada is just over the narrow river from Calais, Maine where Jay began the ride on August 16. Jay could easily see Canada when he clipped into his bike pedals to begin the ride.

It is now August 22, and we are safely taking shelter in Scarborough, ME (just south of Portland) from Hurricane Henri that is currently lacing the Northeast with persistent winds and heavy rains. Jay has ridden 324 miles. There are two things we have learned in our short stay in Maine; “Vacationland” as the state’s license plate would lead you to believe.

Vacationland

First, it appears EVERYONE comes to Maine to vacation. Finding spots in campgrounds is hard. Finding an available hotel room is impossible. We are not exactly sure of the Vacationland allure. Near Calais, mud encrusted ATVs (All Terrain Vehicles) filled campgrounds. The Sunshine Trail, suggested to Jay as a potential bike route by his mapping resources, offers ATVer’s a chance to zoom about Maine’s wooded, secluded landscape. Jay sampled a section of the Sunshine Trail and abandon it due to the loose gravel on the trail that is kicked up by the ATV traffic. There are many tiny tourist towns, endless antique and collectable stores and a good sampling of coast seaport towns. None of these attractions would lead one to anticipate the Hunger Game-like competition for a dinner reservation in a small tourist town. We did meet one young 30ish couple who were not on vacation but were “COVID nomads.” They both worked in Washington, DC and went to remote work due to the COVID pandemic. They have been traveling in their van with their dog for about a year.

The other thing we learned is that sections of Maine are very hilly. The first 200 miles were extremely challenging. Jay is a good rider, but at age 70 there is an argument to be made that an east coast tour from Canada is for a younger generation. As we get closer to the coast, the riding terrain has become

undulating, rolling hills with stretches of pleasant, relatively flat riding. Fortunately, the weather has generally been clear skies and moderate temperatures. Our first two nights of camping were downright cold (55 degrees!). On August 19, we had to accommodate predicted late afternoon rain showers. Jay got an early start on a short 37-mile ride. Helen spent the day searching for a hotel. Well, that hotel search ended with a lake view camp site at the Duck Puddle Campground in Nobleboro. We fortified our tent in anticipation of water flooding down from the sites up the hill from us. We also set up our rain resistant canopy over the picnic table. After several hours of rain we abandoned the campsite for dinner in Damariscotta. Enter the Hunger Game effort to get seated in a restaurant. An hour and three restaurants later, we had a great seafood meal and stayed dry for a few hours. The next night was only 40 miles away, and we stayed at the Meadowbrook Campground in Phippsburg. That campground has the distinction of the only campground we have visited that did not have a single level spot of ground and the site was covered in rocks and tree roots. Ugh!

Just like our 2018 trek across the US (Seattle to Savannah), one just needs to take things one step at a time. Sometimes we can buy out way our of a situation. Our initial hotel rate in Scarborough was quoted at $375 a day. We paid, but later negotiated a better rate. As we sit out tropical storm Henri, we will tour Portland, file a blog entry, do laundry and plan for the next part of the journey.