Words/No Words
Lenticular Cloud over Mount Rainier, Mount Rainier National Park, from Paradise
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 Sunset, Green Mountains Good afternoon from Westford, Vermont. We've been back here at our friend, Diana's home, for about a week now. Tomorrow we head north for our first venture into Canada. Our plan is to spend a few days in Quebec City, Quebec, then venture north to New Brunswick and then over to Nova Scotia. We don't know exactly how much time we'll have in Canada as Melanie still has National Park Service applications pending for full time seasonal ranger positions that start in July. As of now, we're booked until the middle of June. We spent most of April and a good portion of May in Westford leaving Diana's on the 12th of May and spending a few days in Graniteville, Vermont before heading north to one of our favorite Vermont towns, Newport, located near the Canadian border on Lake Memphremagog. We rode the Beebe Spur Trail up to the Canadian border several times and even ventured over into Canada to ride the extension of the Beebe one day. We weren't able to ride too far along the Sentier Nature Tomifobia trail as a bridge was out about 5 miles into our ride. Riding back, Melanie got a stick caught in her bicycle derailleur and, after I attempted to fix it and subsequently destroy it, we found ourselves walking back towards Stanstead. Shortly after beginning our walk, it began to rain. Luckily we had our raincoats, but after about 15 minutes we were both soaked from our thighs down. Squishy shoes. The rain didn't last and before too long we'd pretty much walked ourselves dry and back into Stanstead where we had a nice lunch at Maison Gorchon. Afterwards, we walked the remaining short distance to the U.S. border and I left Melanie at the Beebe post office while I cycled back to Newport and traveled back in Miranda to get her and the bike. On our way back to our campground we stopped in for a beer at a local watering hole, T Bar, in Newport and had a snack too before heading back to our camp at Prouty Beach Campground. We camped one night on our way towards the Maine coast in Litchfield, Maine at Birches Lakeside Campground. We had a nice campsite with a lake view and enjoyed being on beautiful Lake Cobbosseecontee. Leaving Litchfield, Maine we traveled to the coast and Bar Harbor where I had previously contacted Bar Harbor Bicycle Shop about repairing Melanie's derailleur. We are grateful for their willingness to take us in on short notice and replace her derailleur while we found lunch nearby. It made our time in Acadia National Park much more fun. A few years ago we met Roger Clyne in Georgia when we camped with him and his wife Bonnie at their home through Boondockers Welcome. Roger and I have stayed in contact so when he and Bonnie moved to Maine some time ago, he invited us to visit them if ever we were nearby. He now has a spectacular spot on which he intends to construct a home at some point. It's located north of Birch Harbor, Maine on a peninsula facing west. Melanie and I spent four days there and were able to explore the area on our bikes. The sunsets were great. We cycled around Schoodic Peninsula of Acadia National Park one morning. Since it was early season, there were few cars or bikes around. We rode the coast and circled back to the Visitor Center where we'd parked Miranda on a part of the 8.3 miles of bike trails in the park. One one of the days we were camped with Roger, we ventured north to Machias, Maine. We'd hoped to ride a portion of the Down East Sunrise Trail, but once we were on it riding we quickly realized the portion of the trail we were riding was only suitable for ATV's. Large pieces of loose gravel were present making for a rough ride. We opted for checking out the town and Fort O'Brien State Historic Park nearby on bikes. We had dinner at Helen's Restaurant where we both had Lobster Rolls and tried the seasonal Maine delicacy, Fiddleheads. Both were a treat. Our last day in Maine we spent in Acadia National Park, cycled Carriage Trails and spent the night at Blackwoods Campground. We had a nice lunch in Northeast Harbor at Colonel's Restaurant and Bakery. Melanie began to experience a problem with her bike while on the carriage trails and we were lucky to be able to ride back to the campground. We both agree Acadia is one of our favorite National Parks. We made our way over to New Hampshire for a night to Chocorus KOA Holiday campground and then traveled back here to Westford where we've been since. Finally, a shout out to our mechanic at Earl's Cyclery and Fitness in South Burlington for agreeing to take Melanie's bike in and give us a quick turnaround repair time. Luckily, it was a relatively minor fix. We are grateful for his assistance especially since we had already booked our Canada adventure a few weeks in advance. Watch this space. We're pretty stoked about Canada.
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