Maine is an Unbelievably Beautiful

After leaving Cumberland we were headed to Camden, Maine. Gary and Roberta Walker, a Rotary couple that we met in the Villages in Florida, hosted us and had us present at their West Bay Camden Rotary Club. Its always great fun to share our story with fellow Rotarians. Gary and Roberta gave us a wonderful tour of their city.

Look out lobsters here we come

We left the history of Boston and went to Cumberland, Maine. Our friend Aaron and his wife, Kristen, live there. Aaron took the train to Boston and he joined us for 2 days of "Budweg" style riding. You know....eating lunch in the park, taking lots of photos of everything and then at night enjoying a local beer. We spent the night in Portsmouth, NH and had a random stranger invite us to his home to stay. He was a cyclist also and he saw our bikes in front of the Rusty Hammer Pub. Super friendly people in New England.

We started our Lobster onslaught when we arrived at Aaron and Kristen's. When in Maine do what the Mainers do. EAT LOBSTER!!!!! It was only $4.99 per pound and scallops and shrimp were the same. Jacky really loves seafood as I do also. Great to spend time with Aaron and Kristen.

The Boston Connection

Our ride into Boston was long and the traffic was a bit chaotic. We were pushing our global positioning tracker and Jacky's cousin, Lisa, was following us. I guess we were heading through the rough part of Boston. They told us if we did not arrive they were going to send out the search team. A week visiting Lisa and Wayne included many walks around Boston and along the freedom trail...Fenway Park, Old Ironsides, Paul Revere's house, and the Boston Garden. We took in the tour of North Boston and the coastal communities for a look at the good life. Oh yes the Marines were in town for the week and we felt very secure.

Wayne is pretending that he is "living the dream".

Rock climbing in Connecticut

My first time rock climbing. Again a new adventure. Scott and Missy took me to new heights of fear. Hanging 30 meters above the ground is crazy. I loved it.

Onto Boston

Leaving New York using Google maps, (bicycle function) took us through Harlem and the Bronx. I told Jacky that if I run a stoplight that she should follow. We were not in harms way but our early morning departure helped with the security.

As we headed into Connecticut we were seeing the nice homes of the New Yorkers that commuted into the city. Our next stop was to see Scott and Missy in Canterbury, CT. This was the 3rd time that we have seen them on our trip. I went rock climbing while Jacky worked at their house. Two nights with Scott and Missy seemed very comfortable. We felt right at home. Connecticut has lots of stone fences and the houses have the New England style. We only rode 20 miles in Rhode Island. It was not much different than Connecticut or Massachusetts.

New York is the Big Apple

Arriving in New York and seeing it by bicycle is really cool. Mark had been here before on bicycle and he was our guide.New York has put in many bike lanes and has many bike paths. Most noticeably were the signs that said a $350 fine for honking. We did not have the annoyance of an eager taxi driver bearing down on us. We visited the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Central Park, Grand Central station, Wall Street, Ellis Island. We also saw all the famous bridges of New York, the Empire State Building. Our whistles were wet at McSorley's, the oldest ale house in New York. We road the subway and felt very comfortable getting around the city both by bike and subway.

We had the goal of getting seen on the Today show and we were seen 3 times by our loyal fans back in Iowa.

New Jersey to New York

Having our friend Mark as our on road travel guide was great. We left Pennsylvania and headed to Mark's home in Princeton, NJ. Crazy as it might sound Mark likes beer also, We shared a Blatz together. Mark also joined us in New York for the day.

A little more of Eastern Pennsylvania

We knew when it was wash day as the clothes were hung out in the wind. Also the road had horseshoe hazards. An Amish horse for sure.

Our friend Mark joined us in King of Prussia and road us through Philadelphia. Rocky Balboa was there to greet us.

On to the Mason Dixon Line

We left Ashburn, Va in the rain. Not a heavy rain, but after 4 hours of riding we were very cold and very wet. We had made into Maryland and spent the night in Frederick. Maryland had nice rolling hills and beautiful style colonial houses, but the roads were very narrow and not easy to ride.

We entered Pennsylvania and crossed the Mason Dixon Line. The line that now classified everyone north of it as a Yankee. This was the line of Demarcation. A nights stay in Lancaster with some warm shower hosts. Janet and Kevin were very kind and had done some serious touring on bicycles in the past and will do again in the future. Traveling through eastern Pennsylvania we south the Amish part of Pennsylvania. This Amish community was a lot different than our Canton, Minnesota community. I found the barns were very different and I was trying to figure out why so many windows were in the barn.