Epilogue

Flights were all on time, and after a nearly four hour layover in Las Vegas, and a bonus stop in Sacramento, I got into Seattle just after 10pm Thursday night. As usual Southwest had my bags coming off the conveyor just about the time I got to the baggage pickup. I grabbed them and went out to the courtesy van area to call Motel 6 for a pickup. When I called from the courtesy phone at the curb, they didn’t answer, so I called information from my cell and asked for “Motel 6 Seattle Airport”, which is what my reservation said. Their next pickup wasn’t for 45 minutes so I got their address and grabbed a taxi instead. Got there, and they had no record of my reservation, which I’d prepaid through Hotels.com. They called the other Motel 6, which they say is often a confusion, and they had no record of me either. Finally got through the telephone maze at Hotels.com to find out there is actually a THIRD Motel 6 near Seatac, so back I went in another taxi, the cost of the two taxi rides now basically negating the savings I’d made by booking at Motel 6 in the first place. And this place didn’t even have an airport shuttle, so I thought I’d have to take yet another taxi in the morning.

Still on east coast time, I was wide awake before 6am the next morning. This being Seattle, there was a latte place right outside the motel, and the nice guy there pointed out to me that the light rail station to take me into Seattle was only a half mile down the road. An easy 10 minute walk and I was on the train. 

Train, two buses, a ferry, and a car ride, and I'm HOME! Mount Rainier is out in all its glory, birds are singing, sunshine, blue sky, quiet. I am so, so happy to be here. Why would anyone want to live anywhere else?

When I retrieved my bags from the baggage claim  the one holding the Spatz bread and pickled bolgona was soggy and smelled like vinegar. Sadly, the pickled bologna jar had leaked all over the bread and it was a soggy mess.  Bologna is OK but I guess I’ll have to wait until my next Michigan trip for that crispy goodness of toasted Spatz. I was lucky to snag the two loaves, too, as Spatz is just about to go on their annual 2 week vacation and everyone back there was stocking up.

Picked up Thomas Evelyn Cat from Dennis and Char's house yesterday and he spent the first couple hours home hiding under the bed, but this morning he jumped into bed and cuddled up to me so I guess he's adjusted. I let him out on the upstairs deck this morning while I sat in the sun catching up on reading the local paper, and he managed to crawl onto the tree overhanging the deck. He had an adventure climbing up the tree and looked like he was having fun but eventually I coaxed him back down. Guess I gotta do some tree trimming

My bike made it here but is still at the bike shop. My local mechanic found that whoever had put the bike together last had tightened up the stem and aerobars so tight  that it has dented the handlebars. So I'm getting new handlebars, and a new stem to boot, one that will bring the handlebars a little closer to me. It's only money. It's only money.

Here are a few pictures from my last days in Michigan:

This summer's street art in Midland is all made from bicycle parts

They've painted the old Curry Parkway bridge bright red. I love it!

More Midland street art

Kayaking down the Chippewa River

More of that bike-parts street art

Yard work, Fireflies, and a Sick Cat

In downtown Midland, Michigan,  for my afternoon stop at the coffee shop.

It rained the first three days I was here, but yesterday morning dawned bright and clear and perfect for biking. I went into town on one of the rainy days and bought a cheap pair of pedals, since my fancy clip-in ones and my bike shoes are on my way home with my bike. Yesterday I gave them a 25 mile workout. It was so nice to just feel like I was meandering on the bike rather than trying to get somewhere.

I wish you could see the fireflies here! The last few nights they have been just everywhere, thousands of them spread out over the fields, even in the rain. I’ve never seen so many. I sat out on the porch last night with all the lights off just to watch them.

A couple of days ago I had to take poor Snoopy Cat to the vet. This poor kitty, who is about 12 years old, has had terrible intestinal issues for years. He is on a special diet and dad at least tries to give him medication twice a day, although sometimes he can’t catch him.  But still the poor thing gets so bound up he ends up screaming in pain and going back to the vet several times per year. On Monday I am taking him in to have a surgery that may help. I sure hope so.

It's supposed to start raining again tomorrow so today I am trying to get yard work done. Dad mowed half the lawn yesterday, and today I was going to do the edges, steep part of the hill and river bank with the DR trimmer. I hauled it out of the barn, checked the oil, filled it up with gas, and much to my surprise it started right up on the very first pull.  I knew this was too good to be true... now the actual mower part won't engage. So it's going to the small engine repair place this afternoon. Hope it's just a simple something that has come disconnected, as some trimming really needs to be done... the jungle is encroaching. Anyway, I finished mowing the other half of the lawn and the driveway, sawed down part of a dead tree in the front yard, and added it to the ever-growing brush pile. One of these winters we are going to have a BIG bonfire. 

Done, and On the Way Home

I guess it's time to catch up! I am at the airport in Portland, Maine, waiting for my flight to Michigan. I'll finish my trip home on June 26th.

We rode into  Bar Harbor yesterday afternoon, after skirting through just a bit of Acadia National Park. Our last 2 days of riding we had perfect, sunny weather, nice roads, rolling hills through the Maine woods, with occasional glimpses of the ocean.

Our first day out of Freeport I didn’t ride at all, as I had a sore throat, not to mention a poor attitude about riding 75 miles of hills. Fourteen hours of sleep seem to have cured me, though.

We had a great final banquet last night, said our goodbyes, and this morning I walked my bike a half mile down the street to where the bike shop was supposed to be, but wasn’t. So rode a mile or so in the other direction to find the other bike shop listed in our information, and got it set up to be shipped back to the Whidbey bike shop to be reassembled and waiting for me.

So my totals for this trip are 1,970 miles (which means I rode in the van for 500+, a good sign that I probably won't do any more of these long tours....) and climbed a total of 48,385 feet. I'm glad I did it, but I'm glad it's over. 

Lesley and I entering Acadia

This put a big grin on my face!

View from my room in Bucksport, Maine

I met up with my high school friend Dave M. in Freeport. Had not seen him in 40 years! He's held up pretty well, dontcha think?

These are the EFI-ers on our trip. (having ridden Every F-ing Inch)

At the finish line 

LL Bean mothership

It's a bit blurry but conveys my joy at getting a whole, fresh Maine lobstah! I ate 2 of these during the last few days.

Leslie, Vickie, Lesley

At LL Bean

Group getting ready to ride in the morning

Impressive bridge going into Bucksport. There is an observation area in top of that tower.

I liked this old house

Creative use of snow shovels

We went through a couple of towns that had these old stores with the old Rexall Drug signs in front, and soda fountains.

My victory dance in the waters of Bar Harbor

Singing Around the Campfire

Today's mileage:63
Cumulative elevation gain: 3140 ft
Weather: sunny and 70's
Attitude: Blissful

Tonight and tomorrow night we are at the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport, Maine, just two blocks from the L. L. Bean mothership. This place is divine. I have a jacuzzi tub in my room. The windows in my room actually open, and I'm on the 2nd floor so I can leave them that way. The internet service is good. There's complimentary afternoon tea, two good restaurants right in the hotel, and many more just down the street. There is an excellent coffee shop inside LL Bean's.  This is by far the nicest place we've stayed on this trip. And no bedbugs.

Tonight after another delicious dinner (gourmet mac and cheese, and greens) we had a mini-bonfire in the parking lot, and our wonderful guide Michelle played her guitar and sang for us. And a few of us attempted to roast (or burn) marshmallows.

Today's ride started out flat but got pretty dang hilly by the end. We went up one whopper of a hill that quite a few walked; I huffed and puffed and made it to the top on my bike, not much faster than the walkers,  but then had to rest for about 10 minutes at the top until my legs no longer felt like jelly. They will be very happy to stay off the bike tomorrow, thank you.

I have lost my main two riding partners to poison ivy / bug bites / who-knows-what / infections.... bad enough that they've both been to the doctor and are on antibiotics and off their bikes. Poison ivy does seem to be the main roadside greenery here and I'm surprised that I've been able to avoid it, having had to use the "green room" along the road quite a few times.

I put my phone in a ziploc bag a few days ago because it was supposed to rain. When I took it out I found out it was a bag that had previously held my PB & J.  Keys are not working too well now.... perhaps this will be my excuse to finally upgrade to a smart phone. There are many times on this trip I wish I'd had one with me. For instance, yesterday, when the cue sheet (more aptly, we've started calling them "clue sheets") directed us onto the expressway.....? (I found an alternate route)

Tonight after dinner a few of us walked over to peruse the LL Bean store. It is huge, and open 24 hours a day, 364 days a year. In fact, there's a whole "campus" of different stores.... the main store, the bike, boat, and ski store, the "home" store.... will take pictures tomorrow.

marshmallows

parking lot campfire, serenaded by Michelle

This is just in honor of my relatives who live in Standish Michigan

Riding through the Maine woods

MAINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today's Mileage 46
Cumulative elevation gain:1650 ft
Yesterday: 55 miles, 2600 feet
Weather; Cool and sunny
Attitude: We've made it to Maine! That says it all.

Yesterday's ride was relatively easy, a full thousand feet less hilly than the day before. We stayed in Hampton, New Hampshire. It was a pleasant sunny day until we got near the coast. Right after we left our afternoon ice cream stop the temperature dropped about 10 degrees, and by the time we got to the coast we had a stiff headwind. Last night at dinner we were all bundled up in hats and jackets.

Our hotel last night was not the finest. As I lay in bed reading, out of the corner of my eye I see a cigarette hole in the sheet. And then another one. But they were moving. Bedbugs! Ugh, with all the hotels I stay in, I knew I would come across this eventually. Luckily, this room had another bed, separated off in it's own room, and did not seem to be infected. At any rate, I don't seem to have any bites. I sure hope none moved into my luggage. I'll be either washing everything in hot water or putting it in the freezer for a few days when I get home.

By this morning the wind had died down and by the time we'd ridden a few miles the clouds had cleared. Most of us stopped in Portsmouth NH, a lovely little town, for coffee. Then just a half mile down the road we all had to stop again to take pictures of our entry into Maine.

A highlight of today's ride was stopping at the Nubble Lighthouse, supposedly the most photographed lighthouse in the US. Before going out to the lighthouse I stopped at the edge of the parking lot to buy a lobster roll (which is basically just a sort of lobster salad sandwich. I'm not overly impressed but maybe I just haven't had a really good one yet.) and I wondered why I didn't see anyone actually out at the grounds around the lighthouse. Pictures below will explain why.

Coffee stop in Portsmouth NH

Cool shack behind one of the many lobster pounds 

Part of a museum just outside Kennebunk

Welcome to Maine!

The Maine coast

More Maine coast

Welcome to New Hampshire

Nubble Lighthouse

Nubble Lighthouse

Six More Riding Days

Today's Mileage: 62
Cumulative elevation gain: Something north of 3000 feet, I think
Weather: 60's and sunny
Attitude: Just 6 more riding days!

Not sure about the elevation gain today as my bike is locked in a room downstairs and I'm too tired to go look at it.

Yesterday we had our rest day in Sturbridge Mass, which I thought was going to be a nice place but it turns out there's really no there there. I guess there is one of those Williamsburg-like places just down the road but I did not go there. Our hotel was nice enough, if a little dated, and most of our rooms had sliding glass doors looking right out on a little lake.

I went for a walk to try to find downtown, but there really wasn't one, just a little strip mall with a grocery store, Rite Aid, and Tractor Supply. There was an interesting old burial ground with many graves from the 1700's, and a sign saying the stone fence around it had been built by revolutionary war veterans. We've seen miles and miles of those fences for the last few days. It's hard to imagine the time it must've taken to pile up all those rocks.

Today's ride seemed relatively easy, possibly because I've had a couple of rest days and the weather was really perfect for biking, cool and sunny and no wind. And a Starbucks perfectly placed at mile 41. Plenty of hills though. And also plenty of houses; although we were in wooded hills most of the day it seemed like we were riding in suburbia.

The rest of the group has gone out to dinner tonight, to the home of someone who has been on previous tours and lives near here. I opted out, being tired of socializing every night, not to mention just plain tired.

Tomorrow we will finally get back to the coast, where it looks like we'll be for the rest of the trip. Looking forward to seeing the ocean again.

A previous WomanTours rider brewed us this beer

Miles and miles of old stone fences

Seattle Weather in Connecticut

Two days ago I rode in the van all day. We crossed into Connecticut and got to the hotel at 10:30 in the morning, and miraculously, rooms were ready! This was probably the nicest place we've stayed for the whole trip, a small, quiet, very cute little place with flowered wallpaper rooms and fluffy down comforters. We went out to lunch and while we were there the temperature dropped a good 10-15 degrees. Back at the hotel, I slept for most of the afternoon, with the windows open, listening to the birds singing. It was wonderful.

Yesterday morning we got up to rain and 46 degrees. About half the group just bagged it, but I dug my rain pants, shoe covers, fleece vest, and long-fingered gloves out of the bottom of the suitcase, and off I rode with intrepid Leslie, she in her sandals and shorts. A few miles in, she at least put on socks, but at mile 20 we both had had enough and climbed into the crowded van with the others. We now had all the bikes that would fit on the roof, one stuffed into the kitchen in the trailer, and one actually in the van with us. Those that had stayed dry lent dry and warm clothes to us, and wonderful Emily made us hot chocolate while we waited to check on the half-dozen or so hearty souls who decided to keep riding. 

The weather has not improved this morning and most of us will be in the van again today. It's only a 40 mile ride, so we're not even leaving this morning until 10-ish. It's been so great to just sleep in and have a leisurely coffee in the room. I spent some time changing my homeward travel reservations a bit. My previous reservations had me getting into Seattle late Saturday night, spending the night at a hotel, and then..... but oh wait, the bus I need does not run on Sunday! So, I am coming home three days earlier, flying in June 25th. Will still have to spend the night at the airport but that's fine. Home, home, home, on June 26th.

And just 7 more riding days. Tomorrow is our rest day in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Then 4 riding days to Freeport, Maine, another rest day, and 3 riding days to Bar Harbor! Bar Harbor is probably one of those places I'll want to come back to, but I am so focused on homeward bound right now, I'll just fly out the next morning to Michigan. 

Home, home, home, home,home.