ricknelson

August 1, Saturday On to Maine, and hurrah, I've ridden on two wheels in 48 states. When we pulled into the visitor center to get maps and another hotel discount book, we found that the "Cat", the ferry from Portland to Halifax Nova Scotia, cost about $330 for the two of us and Bear. From Bar Harbor it would still cost over $237. Ouch. We decided to make a run from St. Johns New Brunswick to Digby NS instead, which only cost a little over $150. This was another rainy off and on day, so we stopped for the night in Belfast ME at another hotel. Boo. August 2, Sunday From Belfast, we explored Bar Harbor, which was okay, but not as good as the hype I've been given, then we continued on the border at ... read more

July 26, Sunday New Jersey has really surprised me with the farming ambiance, I guess the nickname of The Garden State does indeed have something more to it than irony. Many horse farms, lots of vegetable farming, and mostly pretty trees and well kept yards in this area. Of course I'm sure the NYC metro area is different, but we'll see soon enough. On past Trenton we headed for our reservation date at the Newburgh/NYC KOA campground we rode in after a little wandering about, as Sheila didn't have it listed. Not even in the wrong spot - just no knowledge of it at all. I eventually had to resort to the old fashioned way of calling them and getting directions. At least my instincts were right, we only had a few more miles to go ... read more

July 19, Sunday Happy Birthday Debby ! Today consisted of an easy wake up, a slow pack up, then getting the pick-ups and trailers back to the respective donors. Once all this was accomplished, Deb and I headed for Johnson City and a motel to take it easy and to get some laundry done. We now are heading for New England and the Maritime Provinces of Canada. July 20, Monday We left Tennessee via the Blue Ridge Parkway and rolled on into Virginia. This road is nicely built, rides the ridges with amazing views on both sides, and can drive one crazy with the 45 mph speed limit. Once I was in "cruiser" mode though, it was very enjoyable. We found a cool little campground, cabin and motel spot just over the border near a place ... read more

July 10, Friday Easy wake up and pack up from the worst tent site we've had so far. The "tenting area" which is the cheap seats, was sloped, rutted and full of sticks of all sizes. All it needed was a couple of 40 year old single wides and a school bus with no wheels. Recommendation: If you camp in Old Davidsonville State Park AR, pay the extra bucks for the high falutin' site. We rode into Jonesboro, grabbed a coffee, then (eventually) found John and Maria Flora's home. He had generously offered the use of his garage to change out the liquids in Bear. He also had the 19 mm socket I needed to pull the transmission drain plug. I keep finding out I need a fuller tool tube than what I started with on ... read more

July 6, Monday We slept a little later than usual since we were going to visit the little chapel just down the block. This was built by the Sisters of Lorado, and when designed the architect forgot to figure in a set of stairs for getting up to the choir loft at the rear of the church. Oops. all the local carpenters told the nuns that any stairs they could build would take up much of the space on the first level. The story goes that the sisters prayed to St. Joseph, and soon an unknown old gentleman showed up, offered to build stairs. He had a few basic tools, and when he was done, having built everything by himself, there was a set of circular stairs, 33 steps, two 360's to the loft, and completely ... read more