July 28, 29--Days 47, 48--working My Way Toward Canada

Not much happened today, other than riding 67 miles. The dreaded Hwy 1A was just fine, a nice wide shoulder most of the time. I didn't actually go into Bangor, but through a suburb called Brewer. 

 

I had planned to stay at the Holden KOA just before Brewer, but I got there before noon after just 35 miles. Leaving from the campground, and riding directly off the island via Hwy 3 (also a nice wide shoulder) saved me 12 miles. Still, I was surprised how quickly I got to the KOA. They were kind enough to give me a magazine of Maine campgrounds, which I tore out the pages I needed. The gal at the KOA suggested the town of Newport. I found a campground called Sebasticook Lake. It looked doable distance wise. 

 

I made one stop in Hermon at a Subway for a late lunch. Then continued to Newport, and Sebasticook Lake. This seems to be another one of those places where people go to "Camp". There are more families with kids though.

Sebasticook Lake

 

 

Now I have to figure out where I'll go tomorrow, since I did about 20 extra miles today.

 

July 29--Day 47--Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road...

 

Stinkin' to high heaven! The predominant road kill for today was skunk. Closely followed by porcupine. I even saw a smashed stuffed animal skunk (I could see it's tag). That one did not stink to high heaven.

 

I left the same time as yesterday. I thought I had about 75 miles to do if I wanted to get to Kingfield. When I Google mapped the route back when I was planning this tour, Google must have taken me a different way, because I ended up at the campground I had planned on, but only 64 miles. I probably took the most direct route.

Riding along the Kennebec River that I crossed in Bath.

 

 

The ride was much like yesterday, except it seemed like there were more ups, and not quite as extreme downs. Could be because I'm getting close to the Sugarloaf area. I suspect there will be a substantial climb tomorrow as I go by Sugarloaf Mountain.

Sugarloaf

 

 

I only had one navigation snafu in Skowhegan, which I quickly corrected. Otherwise, I just followed the various highways to get me to Kingfield.

 

The campground is about 3 miles out of town. 2 1/2 of those miles were steep uphill. At one point, I had to walk--something I have not had to do since the very first day out of Minneapolis! The guy at the campground said if he knows someone is coming on a bike, he offers to pick them up at the bottom. At least it will be a good ride down tomorrow!

 

I'm doing laundry as I haven't done full laundry since my Warmshowers stay in Bath. 

 

 

Now I'm ahead a day, which really means, because of the extra day off in Bar Harbor, I'm back on my scheduled itinerary. Not that it really matters...