Bar Harbor tonight
Four wheels speeding, gas-powered
Tomorrow the sea
It was a driving day today. My bike was itching to ride, but first there were roads to quickly traverse. From the edge of Massachusetts, across the shortest side of New Hampshire, and through miles and miles of Maine. Driving, driving, finally arriving...
The hours seemed to go by slowly, but when I consider that it would have taken me at least 5 days (and probably longer) to bike from home to Bar Harbor the 5 hours it took to drive here represent a pretty small chunk of time. I took a slightly different route today. Instead of staying on I-95 to Bangor, I jumped off at Augusta and followed 2-lane roads to the coast at Belfast, then followed Route 1 north to Ellsworth before turning off to Bar Harbor. From a mileage standpoint I think the drive was slightly shorter, but because I spent more time off of the high-speed interstate it took the same amount of time to get to Bar Harbor. It was a nice change of pace, with a few interesting sights along the way to catch my eye. There were patches of bright reds and oranges in the middle of a still mainly green "treescape". There was the first sight of the ocean as I rolled down hill. There was the opportunity to take in the view of old and new bridges standing next to each other, crossing the Penobscot River in Bucksport. The new bridge is under construction, a beautiful cable-stayed structure.
If I had been biking, I'm sure there would have been a number of stops to try to capture that beautiful "skyscape" with my camera. There was blue sky and white puffy clouds. There was gray sky and rain. A return to dry but cloud-studded shades of blue, and an end of the day bright circle of a moon against a dark sky, decorated with wisps of clouds. Beautiful.
There were a couple of what I would consider odd signs too. The first was in front of a church: "Vacancy, 11am Sunday". I wonder if that attracts anyone. The second? A field labeled "all natural corn". What do you suppose non-natural corn looks like?
And then there were my (own somewhat odd) thoughts as I drove from Massachusetts to Maine. Who created the two-character state abbreviations? Was it the postal service? And more than that, how did Massachusetts rate the MA abbreviation, and Maine ME? After all, either state could have been MA. Was it because Massachusetts was a standalone state before Maine? Do I remember correctly that at one point Maine was actually part of Massachusetts? Sometimes silly thoughts like these take up space in my mind as I drive or ride. Does that happen to you too? What odd things went through your mind today?Tomorrow, the ferry beckons, a new adventure, and explorations of a province that I've never visited before. I'm looking forward to it, excited, yet there's a niggle of concern (is that even a word? No matter, I'm sure you know what I mean). I shouldn't have listened to the weather forecast that jumped out of the radio as I drove here. Maine Public Radio threw out some (unwanted) information on Tropical Storm Florence as she is apparently is forming in the Atlantic, including a statement that the current forecast (for Maine) includes 10-foot seas. I was hoping that putting up with the ending gasps of a hurricane / tropical storm while I was in PEI last September would mean that I wouldn't need to deal with a crazy windy rainy storm this year. Weather wizard, could you please behave?
Let the adventure begin!
