Foggy Soggy Blog!

No sunrise this morning but we were up early and decide to leave the hotel

at 6:35 to try to beat the thunderstorms as the weather channel said might be possible.

 We traveled more than an hour to reach the point at which I picked Glenn up yesterday on Rte. 9

It was a muggy, soggy, gray morning but the scenery was still 

photo worthy.  Quiet and peaceful river in the early morning.

Dense Fog!

Happily, Glenn did have his red blinking light on the back

of his bike.   In some places, visibility wasn't more than a 

car length.  The roads were still fairly quiet at 7:45.

We found our mile marker from yesterday's ride easily.

What wasn't easy was letting Glenn hit the road in the 

fog and rain with a slight hint of thunder.

Glenn couldn't be dissuaded from this important day of riding

so he took off at 7:55 heading to Calais!  I waited for a few minutes 

then caught up with him when the thunder AND lightening began to

be a threat.   He waited the storm out in the car for 20 minutes 

then pedaled on in the pouring rain.  What made this most difficult

was the fact that his well used Gore-tex rain gear is not waterproof

anymore.   Not a good time to discover this fact.

Glenn was off again after his storm break.  You can't tell in this photo but he was

already soaking wet as evidenced by the puddles he left behind on the

passenger seat!  Perhaps he needs one of these silly umbrella hats!

For the first 20 or so miles, I continued to play this leap frog

game with Glenn, just to be close by in case he needed rescuing.  

When we were 20 miles from Calais, he sent me ahead to explore

and we planned to meet 5 miles from the Canadian border which

would be our end point for today.  I happily forged on to see

what I would find in Calais and to venture across the border to

St. Stephen, New Brunswick where we will have a celebratory

lunch on Monday when we official finish the ride with the entire family

present.   It was exciting to see signs for Calais.

With my passport in hand, I headed across the border into Canada.

The customs agent was very friendly and I don't think I appeared to 

be a threat, especially after I told her that I was just headed to a restaurant

over the bridge and would only be staying in Canada for 15 minutes :)

TRIVIA QUESTION FOR TODAY!

St. Stephen is Canada's Chocolate Town.

What town is know as the Chocolatetown USA?

Email the answer to lynnhirsch@yahoo.com

I loved this artwork painted on a storefront in St. Stephen.

This was my first clue that the river I had just crossed was the St. Croix.

After my visit to Bistro on the Boulevard to firm up our lunch

plan for Monday, I was on the road to head back to the USA.

That has to be the shortest stay I have had in a foreign country....ever!

There was a long line to cross back into the US so I took a 

few photos.  I was waiting for someone to confiscate my camera for

taking photos in a customs area.  I know that is a no-no in airports!

I did, however, spend more than a few minutes being debriefed by the US

customs agent about my rental car, what I was carrying in the bike case

(which was Sam's Club purchases for our week in Bar Harbor), if I 

was bringing any fruits and vegetables back from Canada, what I was doing

in Canada (that answer was probably not one he hears often).  He finally

let me go after telling me that he went to school to become a customs 

agent in Georgia and he found it unbearably hot!  

I didn't realize, until I tried to book our lunch in St. Stephen,

that New Brunswick is not in the Eastern Time Zone but in the 

Atlantic Time Zone so a little ride across the river adds an hour

to the time.   Lunch on Monday will be at noon for us but at

1 PM for the restaurant.....Confused, ey?

Since we didn't find a "Welcome to Maine" sign as we entered

from New Hampshire on Monday, I was happy to find this one 

as I returned to Maine from Canada.  

After my jaunt to Canada, I found Glenn five miles out of town.

Drenched, cold and happy to be done, he sloshed into the

car and we headed to Subway for lunch and a quick change

into dry clothes.  He tells me that he found a new use for the

hand dryers in the restrooms....the one in Subway was a 

Full Body Dryer today!  

The stats for today are amazing considering the weather conditions:

42.41 miles pedaled in 3 hours and 6 minutes.

Only 2070 calories expended....despite the very hilly terrain.

Unfortunately, the computer did not calculate his ascent but I am

sure it would have been the highest number on this leg of the ride.

Tomorrow we'll try to sleep late, relax and get ready for the

kids and grandsons to arrive.   We'll all meet in Bar Harbor and

have a quiet weekend before we all head to Calais on Monday 

morning to finish this ride.  Glenn tells me that when he was getting

close to Calais today, he slowed down to take it all in since this

journey is coming to an end next week.  Very bittersweet.

If you don't hear from me during the weekend, you will surely hear from me Monday

or Tuesday.  Thanks for your continued support and encouragement!

Have a great weekend!