Hooray! We made it to our final destination on the bike trip!
6AM on the last morning of the trip
We started the day quite early, as we wanted to be sure to get into Bar Harbor in time to meet family that traveled up to meet us here. We had yet another day of perfect weather, so we were in good spirits as we left the campground. We went though multiple coastal towns, all with the buzz of tourist season. one of them had a great little farmers’ market where we purchased some of the best wild blueberries yet! 
The hills weren’t very steep, though they were consistent throughout the ride.
Entering Mount Desert Island
We especially enjoyed the descent into Mount Desert Island, where Bar Harbor is located. We had a few climbs within the island, and eventually we were riding down the final road to the pier. There’s a boat launch area where it’s easy to bring the bikes down for the ceremonial wheel dip in the Atlantic, so we headed straight there and celebrated our finish. 
Atlantic wheel dip!
This trip hasn’t always been easy. Many days it felt more like a job than a vacation. However, we’re thrilled to have completed it, and more of our memories from the trip are of the fun times than the hard parts. Many of the hard parts are easy to laugh at now in hind sight, too. Most importantly, it’s done!
Stats:
Today’s ride: 45 miles
Total distance: 4,206 miles
Stats:
We were happy to miss the heavy rains by spending the night in the motel, though when we started the day, it was drizzling. The rain continued on and off throughout the day, but we had enough blue sky that it wasn’t too bad. We were excited to hit some larger climbs and pretty views in New Hampshire. We were not disappointed by the White Mountains – they have a large scale and openness that feels more like the mountains out west. However, New Hampshire is a big change from Vermont — the land use is so differerent. The gorgeous mountain areas are surrounded by strip mall development, resorts, and car traffic. Many of the roads were empty and perfect for riding, but others were quite congested.
We were starting a bit further north than the Adventure Cycling route, so it made more sense to skip the dreaded Kancamagus “Notch” in favor of Crawford Notch, which is also a bit easier according to the locals. Our route took us past a cute little cafe where the woman who took our orders had done the cross-country ride with her mother about a decade ago.
We were feeling some pressure to get to Bar Harbor by Saturday morning, so we pushed as far as we could go — though we had plenty of energy, however, the daylight was fading by 7:30. We saw a campground on the Adventure Cycling route, and we were just about to make it before sunset, when we realized that we had failed to check the map addendum. This campground was closed for the season! There wouldn’t be another campground for 15 miles. Although we have lights for riding in the dark, they aren’t really adequate for night riding on country roads. So we decided to knock on a farmer’s door and aks if we could put up our tent in the field. We haven’t had to do this yet on the trip, but it’s often done by cyclists. As we knocked, we heard the deep, loud barking of large dogs. A man came to the door, muttering something as he cracked open the door. We explained that we were stranded in the dark since the campground nearby, and asked if we could put our tent in the field. His reply, “It’s never gonna happen!” came with the slam of the door in our faces. We turned around and headed down the road, and decided to stealth camp at a canoe launch. There were picnic tables, and enough trees that we weren’t visible from the road. It was a bit anxiety-producing, given the “no camping” sign, but we managed to get some sleep.
By the end of the day, we were almost to the border with New Hampshire. 
We crossed a covered bridge, just like in the Vermont postcards, and climbed up to North Thetford, where we had a Warm Showers host: Paula and Tom. Paula teaches bread-baking to kids, and she made us amazing pizzas, along with roasted vegetables and a huge salad. We enjoyed getting to know them over dinner. As usual, the generosity and and warmth of Warm Showers hosts was overwhelming to us. To be taken in off the road and offered a clean, comfortable bed, a hot shower, and a delicious meal — it feels so meaningful on a trip like this.
Entering Vermont also means that we are on our last section of the Northern Tier maps! Just 401.5 miles left! 
We also passed some adorable ponies, which Rachel had to stop and pet. We stopped at the first place we saw selling maple cremees, which was a gas station/creamerie. Delicious! 
There, we tried to figure out where we would spend the night. We had decided that staying in one more hotel would be a good idea, as Rachel had a video-chat meeting scheduled for the next morning. We called around, and although the bed and breakfast we called in Middlebury did not have any vacancy, the owner directed us to call Lesley, who runs an unadvertised BnB at an organic farm in Leicester, VT. This ended up being the perfect place to stay. When we arrived, Lesley and Jim showed us to our room: the solarium, with a big, fluffy bed and a view of their llamas through the windows!
We spent the morning at the motel, getting work done, eating multiple donuts from their breakfast offerings, and waiting for the weather to improve. Around 11, we finally headed out into the rainy, cool weather. We had quite a few climbs up Adirondack mountains, and after just 11 miles, we were ready to stop for lunch. In Raquette, we assumed there would be a place to put some sandwiches together, but we couldn’t find a covered spot to escape the rain. This meant we needed to go out to lunch, joining the crowd at the one restaurant in town. By the time we finished our lunch, the rain had stopped. We continued our hilly ride, eventually hitting some terribly maintained roads, and deciding to stop after another relatively short day in Newcomb, NY. The campground here is run by the restaurant, but it’s actually really nice. They only charged us the primitive site rate, but said we could use the electricity (important for the phones, camera, and tablet) and water at the site. Unfortunately, it began to rain again, and the mosquitoes were terrible! In order to avoid both of these during dinner, we ate in the bathroom. The bathroom was really clean, so it really wasn’t too bad. But it was quite a memorable experience: eating baby kale salad over the sink, and putting together bread, cheese, and tomato while the air freshened automatically sprayed near Nick’s face and the motion-activated paper towel dispenser kept releasing paper towels. We were happy to get back into the tent for the night and get some much-needed rest.
We rode out of Boonville, enjoying the scenery of the Adirondack mountains and lakes, until we reached Old Forge, where we stopped for ice cream and groceries, chatting with vacationers who were curious about our trip. The weather was not looking great for the evening or morning, we hadn’t paid for lodging for 11 nights, and Rachel needed to get some work done, so we decided to get a motel. The Marina Motel in Inlet, NY, was a perfect spot. It’s one of the nicer places we’ve stayed on the trip, and the price wasn’t bad considering that this appears to be a popular vacation spot. We were happy to have wifi for work, blogging, and to video-chat with friends, and of course, a comfortable bed was a treat too. We made a dinner out of our purchases from the farmers’ market, and then walked a few blocks for homemade gelato by the public beach. The weather held out long enough for us to enjoy a beautiful sunset, and we made it back to the room just in time to hear booming thunder outside.
two bikes, two months, 11 states (and three provinces) 