The three states? Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. The New Hampshire coast is short enough that an out and back bike ride starting in Massachusetts and crossing the river into Maine before turning back is more than possible as a day's (bike) ride. Today's transit of these states was in my bright blue fossil-fuel (rather than person) powered vehicle. Once I was past Portland, Interstate 95, also known as the Maine Turnpike seemed to be a never-ending stretch of road surrounded by trees. It did pass through some populated areas, but until I was a short 10 miles from Bangor all I saw was trees. From a distance standpoint I may have put in some extra miles in the car because of my decision to stay on the interstate and the head to the coast from Bangor. The other option appeared to be to take back roads from Augusta, but for today I think the interstate was the right choice.As I left the office today, I heard the usual "have a great trip", but my co-workers also had a couple of requests. They were "don't fall off your bike", and "you are going to call in every morning at 7, right?". Well, my intention is to have a good trip, and to not fall, and to allow friends and colleagues to follow my travels in this journal. These requests brought a smile to my face. It's very nice to know that people care, and I wish I knew a way to make people more comfortable with my traveling habits. I really need to get back to what I would consider a normal part of my life, and I trust that all of the good wishes that people are sending my way will help to protect me.
While the normal road signs on I95 were on the right side of the road, the state of Maine appears to like to put blue-background warning signs to drivers on the left side of the road. The one that really caught my eye said "Avoid sudden stops". Let's see, I'm on a road where the speed limit is 65 miles per hour - and traffic at that point was moving at 75. Sudden stops? In normal traffic on this road I don't think that's likely, and I doubt that it needed to stated. Although just past there on the right side of the road and just to the edge of the pavement there was a collection of what looked to me (as I went flying by) as a set of gravestones. That was a prime example of a time when I would have preferred to be on my bike so I could stop and see what was really there. Maybe I was seeing things...
The other sign that kept jumping out at me were warnings: "Caution: watch for moose on roadway", or a sign with a picture of a moose and "next 17 miles". Didn't see a moose though, which was probably a good thing!
There were a number of times during my drive that I really wished I had my camera in my hand. Traveling by bike gives me the freedom of stopping to capture pictures whenever I see something that interests me, but somehow stopping on an interstate highway with a not very wide shoulder didn't really seem like a good idea. Tomorrow...
