Despite the light, it is still only about 5am here:

There are no interstate roads going east/west through VT, NH, and ME. There is, however, a decent size road that runs through all three states, Hwy 2. We figure this is our best bet, as backtracking to a larger interstate will eat up way too much time. I like riding through some of the small towns anyways, so hopefully it can prove to be a more enjoyable experience than the limited access interstates we have traveled so far.

Not much longer after leaving do we enter New Hampshire. The scenery here is just as wonderful as in Vermont. The roads were winding and followed slow moving but wide rivers. The area was very similar to Hwy 129 just south of Deal’s Gap, with sweeping turns following the river there. The fog was lifting off the ground and really proved to be a great site against the lush green mountain areas. Although I had expected Nova Scotia to have some great scenery, I was really impressed in the states of northern New England. I had completely underestimated their beauty, and would recommend these areas to anyone interested in going there.

Somewhere around the VT/NH border:

The Comerford Development At Fifteen Mile Falls

The Connecticut River, starting at the International Boundary, flows 380 miles to the Atlantic Ocean. In its course the river falls 1,640 feet. In 1928, the New England Power Association started a two-year project to build one of the largest hydroelectric developments in the country. The dam is located in the towns of Monroe, NH and Barnet, VT and is 275 miles above the river's mouth. When dedicated on September 30, 1930, President Herbert Hoover pressed a button at the White House to start the first of four generating units.

This marker commemorates 75 years of continual operation of this project and is dedicated to the builders, operators, and neighbors of this first Fifteen Mile Falls Development.

Shameless Hyperformance Cycles plug:

Even though we ride through New Hampshire during what would normally be extreme rush hour in Atlanta, we never do see anything more than one or two cars on the road at any given time. All the towns we rode through were small and never seemed to be more than just a handful of buildings surrounded by houses in the countryside. Nobody here seemed to be in a rush to get to work and the pace here was very relaxed. We inherited this pace and kept it a casual ride through NH.

We entered Maine, with a similar landscape as New Hampshire, and it was here where the strong pine smell could really fill the lungs. Unfortunately the roads started to become more and more rough as we got further into the state. I do understand how the roads can be so beat up, with the harsh winters this area sees, but the potholes we rode through were pretty ridiculous.

I started having my doubts about bringing my GSXR up to Nova Scotia if even Maine was proving to be this difficult. I had to ride standing up for some time as it was just getting to be too much for me at some parts. We ran past many construction zones that were flagged as one lane only. Much of it was repaving although some construction appeared to be removing some trees that may have either fallen over or become an obstruction to something on the roads here.

Taking a break after our entry into Maine:

We also saw many moose crossing signs in this area. They seemed to be just about every mile or so, so obviously we are entering moose territory. After hitting Vermont we were warned many times by locals about the dangers from them and to keep a lookout. Apparently there have been many accidents in recent times regarding moose and other wildlife, many of these accidents involving motorcycles.

The temperatures were also getting colder. My temperature gauge only showed about 65 degrees, but it certainly felt much colder than that. At one of the gas stops I had to add a few layers as the cold was just soaking through.

The early parts of Maine were pretty nice, despite the road conditions. We rode through a few small towns, many of which had large flowing rivers running right through their downtown areas. We also had our first confirmed rodent kill by Judd as he unfortunately hit an indecisive chipmunk that couldn’t quite figure out which way he wanted to go.

Judd and I have also been talking about hitting Mexico sometime soon, and now we can officially say we’ve been there, since we in fact did ride through Mexico, ME. Small town without much there, so I think we’ll stick to our plan of hitting the actual country of Mexico later. If we had more time I would have liked to stop in and have a margarita just for the silliness of it.

As we continued on Hwy 2 in Maine, we got back into rough pavement, and eventually we ran into some serious construction. It appears they have a full blown repaving job on Hwy 2 and we saw detour signs up ahead. I thought this was great since it would put us on a completely different road altogether, with hopes that this different road might actually be smooth. I couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Soon we came upon the detour and I couldn’t quite believe what was ahead of me: a dirt road. The detour had traffic traveling on a packed dirt road. It was quite a site to behold, actually. Here we are in the middle of nowhere Maine, getting completely dirty. I actually had a ball. Oddly enough this road was way more fun than the potholes I was riding through earlier. Both because the ground was much softer, and the fun of riding a road bike on the dirt is something that can’t be described.

After our detour excursion, we take a break at the first gas stop we find:

Finally the construction ended and we found ourselves on a wide open road for many miles. The amount of houses dwindled and we soon found ourselves “in the middle of nowhere.” This is where things really start sinking in. I couldn’t help but think if we ran into mechanical issues here, how screwed we would be. It was appearing that any town of even small size was an hour drive at least. We soon found ourselves on another road that was much tighter and very hilly. We stayed cautious as it would not be hard to have an encounter with an animal wandering onto the road.

We hit a small town on the Atlantic coast, and it could not have been a more cliché Maine seaside town. After riding through we hit some incredible fog. The temps dropped at least ten degrees and our visibility was dropping as well. Fortunately it cleared up a little when we arrived in Lubec. They were repaving the road that leads to Quoddy Head state park, which leads to the easternmost point, and we were told we had to wait a bit before being able to get onto the road there.

Before arriving in Lubec, we find a small town with some great atmosphere:

Before hitting Quoddy Head State Park, we try and grab a quick bite to eat. Unfortunately they are closed. The houses across the street are on the water and you can see the bay in the background:

We finally go onto the road leading to the state park and we came upon the Quoddy Head Lighthouse, marking the easternmost part of the United States. We hung around here and took a few pictures, and then wandered off to a trail that led to the coastline. We walked down to the beach, which had a completely eerie vibe to it. The fog was still incredibly thick here so you couldn’t see much past the water’s coastline.

Pathway leading to the coast:

Finally! We find the access to the beach:

A few more random pics:

Back on the bikes we head back to Lubec, looking for a nice lobster lunch. There is no way we are getting to Maine without having a good Maine lobster meal. We ride around looking for a good place to eat. One looks promising but is apparently closed on Mondays. Another place is open but does not serve lobster. Things are not looking good! We head back and talk to some of the construction guys on where a good place to eat. To our surprise, they tell us that lobster is going to be really hard to find here unless we backtrack south to another one of the larger towns. With our schedule roughly one day behind, we pass on this idea and head to the border, without our Maine lobster meals.

The Canada border is very close to here. We had planned on heading a bit more north to hit the border there but instead we opt to enter Canada through the Lubec area. Before we know it, we’re at the border and talking with their border officials. Everything is pretty smooth, although Judd has to give up his pepper spray to the nice ladies at the border. He expected this and called it his “sacrificial lamb” to Canada.

We made it! Canada!

We head up to the information office to get some maps of the area and to figure out where exactly we are. We get some maps and talk with the lady that runs the information office. I have some American cash on me but wanted some Canadian money just in case. I know they use American dollars but I was not sure how far north they did so I didn’t want to take any chances. We run up to a local shop that has an ATM and head for the first of two ferry rides.

At first we didn’t know where we were. There was a picture sign of a ferry pointing to a dirt road that didn’t really lead to anywhere. We could see the water just an eighth of a mile down but nothing more. No cars or offices or anything of this nature. A local kid was cutting the grass just across the street so we kindly ask him if this was in fact the road to the ferry. He says that it is and to go ahead and go down the road. Hesitantly, we ride down and don’t see much more than what we already had. A gravel area is off to the side, so we stop there, and wait for the ferry to arrive.

We came from here:

Only to see the gravel loading ramp down there:

Parked off to the side waiting for the ferry to arrive:

While waiting for the ferry to arrive another vehicle comes to the pull off area. We chat a bit after seeing they are from Massachusetts. Since we didn’t know what exactly where we were going we talk in more detail about the roads in the area, and they kindly advise us to follow them through Deer Island since they will be heading to where the second ferry is, which takes us to mainland Canada. They were super nice guys and they really helped us get through the second island. Although it was basically a straight shot, it was nice following another vehicle and not worrying about exactly where to go.

The ferry comes and we get prepared to get the bikes loaded up. I was a bit nervous at this point because the road leading down to the ferry was rough gravel going downhill and the loading ramp I can imagine was wet steel. We take our time loading the bikes up and then get ready for the thirty minute ride.

The first ferry arrives:

Loading up and hanging out:

Once on Deer Island we follow our friends from MA and get to the second ferry ride. We still have to wait for it to arrive, like before, so they advise us what to do when the ferry comes, and we part ways. After a few minutes, the second ferry comes, and we get loaded up once again.

Second ferry, this one was a bit bigger:

Once on mainland Canada we follow the signs and make our way to Hwy 1, which is a limited access highway and takes us Northeast and connects us to the Trans Canada Highway, which we follow for the rest of our time in New Brunswick. We follow this road for roughly 80 miles.

Having spent the last two nights in hotels, we were ready to camp for the first time on the trip. Unfortunately we had the issue of it being very wet in the whole area, which would make it awful for setting up camp. Although there was no more rain in the area, and we tried riding through it, we just couldn’t seem to get out of the slight fog and humidity of the area. When we make our way into Sussex, we decide to find another hotel room. Due to the fog and humidity, our gear was a bit wet by this point so getting dried out properly would surely be nice. I’m hoping we can get some camping done soon but I’m not going to lie, hotel rooms are nice, especially split two ways.

Our last gas stop for the night, we decide a warm and dry hotel room would be pretty sweet:

We find a decent room and grab a proper Canadian meal… at McDonalds. Hey, it’s fast and cheap. Judd and I soon learn that this is quite the popular hangout for a lot of the kids in the area, as it was actually kind of packed. We make our way back to the hotel and dry out some of our gear with the hairdryer. I’m in TMobile’s data network so I check the forums and make a quick update on our progress. Once all the gear is dried up and looking good we call it a day. Nova Scotia is close and tomorrow will be our real trek into Canada.