Bugs galore

Today was a hard day even though I only rode about 50 miles. The roads have lots of short steep hills, a number of which are a tough grind even in my lowest gear. I tried riding a few side roads to get off Route 1. Man, was that a mistake. There were some ridiculously steep climbs, a few of which I walked, something I rarely do. I did meet up with this fellow.


Years ago, when I rode through New Mexico and Arizona, I was told by a Navajo elder that the turtle was my totem animal since I travel carrying my home with me just like a turtle does. (I'm glad there are no snails that live on the Navajo Rez so he didn't think to name that as my totem animal!) He told me to wear a turtle symbol when I travel for protection which I have done ever since. Currently, I wear a necklace I bought in Hawaii that has a sea turtle on it.


There were some pretty views and picturesque towns along the way, which made the tough day worth it.


Once I got to camp, I found some amazing bugs. Check out the antennae and eyespots on these huge moths. These were both about eight inches across.





There were June bugs also.


And, (no picture of these unfortunately) lots of fireflies in the bushes. I haven't seen any since the last time I was out East in 1996!
-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Camden State Park

All about schooners

I spent most of the day walking around the Maritime Museum in Bath. Bath was the fourth largest ship building town in the US during the latter half of the nineteenth century. They built mostly schooners which were the reliable cargo ships of the era. Schooners have fore and aft rigging so the sails are parallel with the length of the ship. The traditional tall ship, such as a clipper, has square rigging, which is perpendicular with the length of the ship. It takes way less men to sail a schooner than a square rig. This is a schooner.


The largest wooden ship ever built in the US, the Wyoming, was built in Bath. There is a sculpture by the museum that shows the size. The thing was immense.


I also learned about how boats were launched and how they were built. This is the joiners building where trees were sawn into planks and all other wooden ship parts were fabricated. This is a three story building. Note the size of the Wyoming sculpture next to it.


There was a place where rope was made, one hell of a job.


I took a 1 hour boat cruise on the river that went by the Bath Iron Works where Navy destroyers are built.


We went past some lighthouses.



The two lighthouses below were designed so that when a ship sighted them, it would maneuver so that the front light completely overlapped the back one. The lights were placed such that when this overlapping occurred, the ship would be in the deepest part of the river channel. Pretty ingenious.



-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Wiscasset Rd,Boothbay,United States

First day

I finally got going this morning after waiting out a soggy, cold day yesterday. I figured out how to adjust my disk brakes after consulting the Park Tool website. It's a pretty straight forward process though it does need a special star-shaped wrench. Steve drove me out to Portland Lighthouse which is in a very picturesque spot.


It turns out that Longfellow hung out there quite a bit.


The ride out from Portland was easy and straight forward. Yup, I'm in Maine!


There are lots of Civil War memorials.


And, pretty New England churches.


I took side roads almost all day and even rode a bike path for about five miles. I'm currently camped outside of Bath and plan on starting tomorrow morning with a visit to the Maritime Museum.
-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Meadowbrook Rd,,United States

First flat

Today was the first flat of my trip. Luckily, there was some help around to get it fixed.


They decided to replace all four tires so we were delayed for about an hour due to that. Now, joy of joy, we've been stopped because of a huge bank of thunderstorms along the flight path. We are currently sitting in the airplane on the taxiway waiting for an alternate route. It's getting nice and toasty in the blazing sun. Now, we are driving somewhere but haven't
-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Philadelphia,United States

It's not a bike

I'm currently on the first of my three flights to Portland, Maine. You would think that connecting in Phoenix is kinda silly but I guess the airlines don't.

I successfully packed the bike up today in about two and a half hours. I took special care to wrap every last bit and strap things together with Velcro straps. I even took the big and middle chain ring off to keep from damaging the frame again. This is the uncoupled bike.


And, this is it all packed in the suitcase.


When I got to the check in counter, I paid the usual luggage fee and asked the airline attendant if there was a special sticker or tag to put on the bike suitcase. He said that it was $200 to fly a bike. "Even in a suitcase?", I asked. "Yup." "Well", I replied, "It's a good thing it's not a bike!" "All right then." So, Sam Junior has an alias just like me. (I go by Laura when I travel to avoid the whole name fiasco that comes with being Piroska.) When he wants to hide, he now goes by 'Not a Bike'.

Here are some pretty pictures of sunset on Mt. Jefferson. And The Sisters.





-- Post From My iPhone

Location:30,000 feet heading to Phoenix