Leaving Bangor, Maine on Route 2

By
In Bangor we washed laundry, completed our college homework and got some rest. The next morning we took the most direct route west toward New Hampshire and Vermont. It was route 2 which was not a major highway. The route is heavily traveled. We saw the stimulus money at work first hand. It seemed that every half mile we had to stop at a flag person due to construction. The construction spots closed one lane so we had to wait until oncoming traffic finished with the lane then the flag person would give us a turn. At many of these spots the wait was long enough to turn off the engines while we waited. Despite the road construction we could not have asked for better weather. The temperatures were in the 60s to low 80’s during the day. Not too cold and not too hot for riding. The small towns we rode through on route two were neat. We stopped at a post office in Palmyra, Maine to mail some post cards. Brad almost had the postal worker to close up and join us on the ride. Back on the road we came to so signs that said welcome to Mexico! I am the navigator and didn’t realize we’d turned south. It was a small town called Mexico, Maine. I was still on course to find New Hampshire. I figured it should be difficult as long as we headed west.


We were enjoying the country side. Riding in and out of small towns and kept stopping for the construction projects. It seemed like the entire road from outside Bangor to the state line was being resurfaced. I’ve seen many road construction spots but we came to one that was a little different. Brad noticed workers suspended from the side of a mountain drilling and blasting away the rock so the road can be widened. Brad has experience hang from mountains drilling and blasting making room for a road in Alaska. So on our left there is a rock face of a mountain with construction workers and on our right sides was a river. We were accustomed to the signs alerting us of “flagman ahead” but we saw a sign that said “Road Ends.” There was no place to turn; a sheet of rock to our left and river to the right. Being the navigator I was getting a little concerned. The pavement gave way to a dirt road. We were in a turn and wondered if we should have turned around because there was no trail or anything. Then ahead of us in the turn I saw a tractor trailer coming toward us. I figured if that truck didn’t get stuck in the dirt then we should be ok. After continuing forward we did come to a spot where the pavement started again. I suppose we’d only had to turn around if the road sign said “dead end.” When the “pavement ends” we just keep going until we find pavement again.
Location: Bangor, ME, USA

Popular posts from this blog

By
Image
Bill & Brad's Motorcycle Adventure 2021 New York, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont Day 1 June 2nd Brad and Krista started from Butler, Pennsylvania and rode east along I-80. I started in Stafford, Virginia and followed route 15 North thru northern Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. After riding about five hours, we met in Danville, Pennsylvania. Brad and Krista were eating pie at a diner when I arrived. I ordered brunch.  I got a hot coffee because my hands were wet and cold. The temperatures were about 50 to 60 degrees with scattered showers. When we departed the diner, we had an eye on the clouds in the sky. I watched oncoming traffic for windshield wipers being used.  This will alert us if we should stop and put on rain suits.  We really don’t want to wear rain suits unless it is pouring rain.  Those rain suits will bake a person!  One goal of this year’s ride is to visit our longtime friend Earl.  He lives in northwestern Massachusetts. Brad and Earl served to
Read more

Bataan Death March and Camp O'Donnell

By
Image
I just spent two weeks in the Philippines.   Although the visit was for business I still managed to see a few sites.   This site was humbling. I visited the Bataan Death March memorial or known locally at the Capas National Shrine.   There is a memorial on the site where the Capas Concentration Camp was located during World War II.   Thousands of people both Filipino and American died here.    The memorial for the death march indicates that about 14,908 Philippine and about 600 Americans died on the death march.       After the death march people were stuffed into the railroad box cars (pictured).   About 150 to 160 people were stuffed in each car.   The climate is very hot in the Philippines and it was about 110 degrees in the box cars.   More people died from suffocation due to the heat and limited ventilation of the box cars.   The survivors were taken to Camp O’Donnell a POW concentration camp.   At Camp O’Donnell another 1600 young Americans died.   I am
Read more

2016 Ride to Glacier National Park

By
Image
Montana August 2016 The 2016 NoWhereRide took us to Glacier National Park, Montana. This was the second attempt at going to Glacier.  During the first ride near Glacier we ended up following the Louis and Clark Trail into Oregon. That year we rode the entire Oregon Coast from north to south - what an awesome detour! This year we met in Missoula. We did some white water rafting, experienced the Testy Festy and took in the sites of the huge mountains of Montana.   Tour Bus at Glacier Nat Park Bill rode west from northern Virginia toward Missoula. Wanting to travel quickly I rode over the mountains of Cumberland and got into the toll road. That toll road stretched from Maryland, thru Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and into Illinois. The toll road was nice in that most of the travelers stayed to the right except to pass - the rule or etiquette that most drivers in northern Virginia do not follow. The toll way had petroleum stands and restaurants also know
Read more