I should know by now that the roads designated as scenic highways are often lined with trees - so lined with trees that you can't see beyond them. The contrasting sections of road yesterday really made me think. Don't get me wrong, yesterday's ride was fabulous - I wish I could repeat the sections like the Acadia NP section of the Schoodic Penninsula (or something like it) every day. I remember staying on the non-scenic part of the road riding into Jasper, Alberta many years ago; the scenic road was in the trees, and the non-scenic road had a view of the moutnains. Why am I telling you this? Because after thinking through the rest of my plans, I changed them. Instead of riding to Jonesport today and then having a 55-mile "in the trees ride" back to Ellsworth, I decided to ride back to Ellsworth today, and then drive east to Jonesport. Tomorrow morning I'll be on a boat on my way to visit the puffins, and then I plan to wander on my bike for a while in the afternoon, probably staying in the general vicinity of Jonesport. On Wednesday I'll use the car to allow me to do a day ride further east, as in as far east as I can go in Maine. It took me a while to make the decision to change my plans. And while I do realize that I could still end up cycling in the trees, I'm happy with the change. So now I have a tour that is 4 days as a self-supported tour and 2 (or possibly 3) days of day trips. I guess plans are made to be changed!
Breakfast this morning was a multi-course affair. The first course was mango-lime soup. It had an interesting flavor, but it was a bit too sweet for me for a good breakfast food. Next came a small slice of very moist zuchinni walnut bread. And the main course was waffles topped with slices of spiced pears, Maine blueberries, and maple syrup. Very nice.
It was a good conversation breakfast too, starting with Edith who was serving breakfast and continuing with the family of 3 who came in soon after I did. The inn asks guests to choose a breakfast time of 7:30, 8, 8:30, or (I think) 9. Of couse I chose the early slot, so I found it interesting that anyone else was there. The other guests were a couple from Seattle and their son who is currenly living in Raleigh-Durham, NC. This was their first trip to Maine, triggered by a conference the woman attended in Portland. They managed a long weekend, split between the main section of Acadia and the Schoodic Penninsula. And you know the problems I was having sandwiching my trip into a long weekend? The four days I've ridden so far would have worked for a shorter trip up here.
When I first woke up this morning I thought I saw blue skies, but by the time I walked over to breakfast the sun and blue skies were hiding in fog. It wasn't soupy in that there was plenty of visibility on the road. There just wasn't any visibility up into the sky. It was a much cooler day today too, cool enough that I started riding wearing an extra layer - my wind vest. That only lasted about a mile, and then I switched back to my normal summer riding attire - a sleeveless jersey and shorts. I was plenty warm as long as I kept moving.
I headed back to Ellsworth, adding an extra loop through some very rolling territory. This morning's ride started with a new section of road for me, but there really wasn't any way to ride back without repeating a good number of miles on route 1. Luckily the scenery does look a bit different when you're focusing in a different direction. I did manage to add an an extra loop, heading north on route 200, and then picking up 182 heading to the west (and back to route 1). I had no idea of how many miles it would be before route 200 hit 182. At one point I was beginning to think that the roads didn't really connect, in spite of the state road map that I consulted. They did connect though, as promised by the map. It was a beautiful road with rolling hills that never seemed to stop, and beautiful views including - surprise, surprise - the water! Riding east on route 1 (as I did yesterday), there is a bridge between Crabtree Neck & West Sullivan. As it turns out, the water that flows under that bridge goes up into Hog Bay, Taunton Bay, and Egypt Bay - which I could actually see from the road today. It was low tide when I went by, so what I saw was tidal flats. It was a nice change of scenery. I also met my first logging truck of the trip on the very narrow route 182, nicely heading in the other direction.
Time to switch modes of transportation with a drive to Jonesport. I really noticed the changes in road characteristics in the car. A good part of the road was nicely paved with paved shoulders, but it occasionally degraded to sections of rougher road with no shoulders at all, and then it went back to nice pavement with shoulders. It wasn't obvious where the changes occurred - it wasn't on county lines because I only crossed one of those, and the road surface didn't change. It also wasn't obviously on town lines. The drive for the most part was on either route 1 or 1A, and I found them both similar as to quality. While I wouldn't classify either of these roads as back roads, I did find them to be acceptable roads for cycling.
Since it wouldn't take any muscle effort, and since there was still a foggy feel to the area, I decided to loop around the Schoodic Penninsula once more to see and feel it in different conditions. It was a different kind of beautiful today, very enjoyable.
The road down to Jonesport was beautiful. It had a more open feeling, with cropped fields or low-growing plants rather than trees. The fog started lifting, then it dropped back down again. Then there was blue sky, and then there was more fog. I finally arrived at the harbor and found my B&B. Harbor House on Sawyer Cove. The original section of the building was built around 1880. The current owners bought it in 1995, restored the building, and converted the 3rd floor "storage hall" into two guest suites. It's another beautiful place to stay. My room has a king sized bed plus a sitting area and a table & chairs in a bay window overlooking the harbor. Jonesport is a small town, with just a couple of choices of restaurants - a pizza place, and 2 family-style restaurants. Dinner tonight was at Tall Barney's - fried haddock was a nice change of pace for me.
Tomorrow, an early start... the puffin tour luckily leaves from right outside of my B&B. I say luckily because the boat leaves at 7AM - it's nice to know I can just walk outside. Because guests here often go on this early morning tour, Maureen offers breakfast at 6. That was a nice surprise since I was figuring I would need to get myself something like instant oatmeal for the morning. Not this time - I'll be able to have a nice breakfast before boarding the boat. Here's hoping tomorrow is a good picture day!
These wonderful characters were selling blueberry rakes at the Hubbard Rake Company, on the road in to Jonesport.
