From the Atlantic Coast ...

Today – a little crisscrossing, a little back tracking, a little searching for a beach and all in all I travelled 534.8 km. On the map I’ve moved from Enfield near Hartford CT to Freeport near Portland ME. It was cooler than I expected given the current heat wave and I was glad that I’d put on the extra fleece this morning. I made the mistake of giving Dan free rein to take toll roads today and so it cost me $5. to get here. I've touched both the Pacific and the Atlantic. I thought it fitting to turn west from Portland Maine and head for home just as I had turned and headed east from Portland Oregon so many days ago.

I hit Maine about 11 this morning. The sky was of course looking a little dubious, just to add a bit of drama to the day. I spoke to a man at the gas bar, who, on hearing of my little adventure suggested a beautiful beach for my Atlantic coast photos. I headed to Reid State Park and eventually got there after a Garmin Dan meltdown. He was right, it was beautiful – two miles of beach, rock and sand, crashing waves, colorful umbrellas, swimmers and squawking seagulls.

On the road today I met an 81 year old gentleman who told me he had taken his bride on a Triumph to Florida for their honeymoon many years ago and I think I impressed another couple of young men at a rest stop who thought I was far from Ontario until I told how far I’d actually been. I’ve had the opportunity to talk to a lot of wonderful people on this journey. The owners of tonight’s campground are both motorcycle riders and planning a cross country tour next year (currently they are in the midst of the to trailer or not to trailer, he wants, she wants debate…) and another of the campground employees, a gentleman and Goldwing rider from Maine tells me he has lots of friends in Ontario who ride with the Blue Knights Club. Tomorrow I head northwest toward home and closing the circle – one more night on the road, I wonder who I’ll meet.