June 29, 2017 St. John, New Brunswick to Auld's Point, Nova Scotia 335 miles

Good ride here on 4 lane divided highway. Weather was in mid 70s which was also about the speed we traveled.  Several flat areas had signs warning of strong cross winds for good reason. We had lunch at a local deli in Amherst, NS and we saw filming of a father and daughter for what looked like an episode of The Amazing Race. The owner of the deli is not a Trump fan. We are staying at the Cove Inn in a cabin right on the water. Dinner was onsite, Atlantic salmon and fish and chips.  It started raining while we were eating and a bright double rainbow appeared. Below are pics of The Cove Motel.

June 28, 2017 Bar Harbor, ME to St. John, New Brunswick 203 miles

Beautiful ride today through miles and miles of forests and rolling hills.  The temperature was chilly staying in the upper 50s to mid 60s.  I was not wearing all of my warm gear so I got a little chilled.  We stopped for coffee and homemade strawberry rubarb pie in Airline, Maine in the middle of nowhere. When we asked the waitress why was the town named Airline she said probably because the cars fly by on the road in front of the restaurant well over the 55 moh speed limit.  We had a great Indian meal in St. John and then rode around watching the tide roll out the St. John River making bigger and bigger whitecaps that some of the locals were kayaking. The St. John River flows into Fundy Bay which has some of the greatest tidal changes in the world.

June 27, 2017 Portland, ME to Bar Harbor, ME 187 miles

Good first day with my pillion on the back seat. We were introduced to the real Maine architecture with shake siding, square buildings, stone tiered landscaping and steep roofs. We stopped in Rockport waterfront park for a picnic lunch of cheese, bread and fresh blueberries.  It is the peak tourist season so there is lots of slow moving traffic. We had dinner at the Thirsty Whale in Bar Harbor I had my first lobster roll and it was okay, nothing special.  The clam chowder tonight on Cottage Street in Bar Harbor was excellent.  Susie had a massage tonight to keep her back loose.  Tomorrow we enter Canada.

June 26, 2017 Portland 16 miles

Today was a rest day in Portland and waiting for Sooz to arrive.  She just texted that she is in a cab coming to the hotel from the airport.  It will be good to see her.  I explored downtown Portland today, walking, riding around, eating and drinking coffee. The weather is beautiful. It is a very easy town to get around with lots of motorcycle parking on the street - I like that.  The pictures below are of a Portland beach and the rowing center at Promenade Park.

June 25, 2017 Grantville, PA to Portland, ME 479 miles

Today was pretty much Point A to Point B in a mixture of interstates, parkways, threats and turnpikes.  Not a lot of rural back roads but still pretty eventful.  At the Pennsylvania, New Jersey state line I looked to my right and say a deer in the side of the road staring straight ahead as if she was thinking about trying to cross the highway.  Luckily for her and me she stayed still.  Crossing the Hudson River on the Tappan Zee Bridge was an experience I would rather not repeat.  The bridge in use is not in good shape; crumbling concrete, jarring seams and major construction of a replacement bridge.  I'm glad I was driving on a Sunday and not during rush hour.  Had a nice lunch break at a rest area.  Rest areas have been a pleasant surprise, well landscaped and maintained and very busy.

I wouldn't be surprised if I get several unpaid toll now in the mail.  I know there were several toll zones but I never paid after seeing a sign that said don't stop because they will mail the bill.  We shall see.

I missed my riding partner Susie yesterday and today.  She rides pillion meaning she sits on the passenger seat.  I know she would not have liked all of the highway mileage but I think she would have found some of it interesting. Plus, I just miss her. She flies in to Portland tomorrow afternoon and then we head to Bar Harbor Tuesday to officially kick off the trip.

June 24, 2017 Hillsville, VA to Grantville, PA. 411 miles

Another full day riding with a couple of great detours.  I left Hillsville on SR 211 and picked up Indian Valley Dr. to I-81.  Indian Valley Dr. was a gorgeous ride; small two-laned, twisty road through the woods with very little traffic.  This road is a keeper, if you are ever in the area you need to check it out.  On one corner I felt the front and rear tires slip a little which woke me up. The area received a lot of rain and winds over the last couple of days which left gravel, twigs, branches and wet leaves on the road resulting in many slippery areas, especially in the morning with dew.  I wasn't going fast but I slowed down even more and enjoyed the scenery that much more.

Using my GPS is always a way to increase my adventure. I must have the GPS set on 'shortest distance' instead of 'fastest route' because I ended up on a couple of dirt roads.  Never a dull moment.

I stayed on I-81 until Buena Vista, VA where I had a coffee and long chat with a local at a very local cafe.  After leaving BV I picked up the Blue Ridge Parkway and road that for 40 miles or so before getting back on I-81 and heading to Grantville.

June 23, 2017 Gainesville, FL to Hillsville, VA

Had a good day starting the big trip.  Rode 551 miles, started at 7:30 am and got to hotel in Hillsville, VA around 5:30 pm.  Temperature got up to mid 90s with a lot of sun and no rain. The Mighty GS ran great. Because I needed to cover some ground today I stayed almost entirely on interstates and didn't get off the beaten path.  Although riding on I-95 in Georgia I crossed many rivers and creeks that were very high and moving a lot of water to the coast.

June 22, 2017 Gainesville

Sooz and I will be leaving on a trip soon and wanted to pass along some info if you want to follow us.  I will be riding The Mighty GS (2008 BMW R1200GS) from Gainesville to Portland, Maine leaving tomorrow morning.  Sooz is flying to Portland Monday, June 26 and then we start riding the bike on the 27th.  We will be riding through Maine, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, visiting our nephew Connor Skehan in Quebec, then down to Vermont and back to Portland when Sooz will fly to Gainesville and I'll head south on the bike back to Gainesville.  

We will be updating the blog periodically and hopefully posting some pictures there.  The route tracking link below leads you to a map that will show our location updated every 10 minutes as we travel on the bike using GPS technology.

Travel Blog:

http://terryandsooz.blogspot.com/ 

Route Tracking:

https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=14f1c594c1a4e037d4&hoursPast=0&showAll=yes 

I am pleased to say that we have our first sponsor.  Wolfman Motorcycle Luggage provided us with a Large Rolie Bag which you can checkout at their website: wolfmanluggage.com   We already use 2 Wolfman large dry bags and a tank bag and we really like them so we are happy to have them help us out.

Terry Clark

Cell: 561-346-6392

Email: terryandrewclark@gmail.com