Leaving Bangor, Maine on Route 2

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.

Bar Harbor to Bangor- Bill's Orange Vest.

After seeing the top of Cadillac Mountain, Brad and I spend the second half of the day tooling around Bar Harbor then decided to start heading west toward Bangor. The sun started to set and riding west into the sun is not a good idea no matter how dark your sunglasses are. So near Bangor Maine we stopped to get gas and directions to an affordable hotel. I fueled up, moved my motorcycle out of the way and went inside the gas station shop. I noted that this shop had two pay phones hanging inside with two old fashioned phone booths painted on the wall behind them so it appeared the pay phones were in the painted phone booths. I thought it was neat since phone booths are becoming a thing of the past. I'll try to take more pictures next time...

I walked back outside and Brad is talking to another customer pumping gas. This guy is associated with the military too such as the National Guardor Army Reserve. So we got to talking for some time. We got directions to a good hotel and bar near the airport in Bangor. Brad and I start talking about motorcycle vests. Notice our pictures - Brad wears a leather vest proudly displaying his ride pins. Bill wears the orange vest that meets the military regulations and no ride pins. Bill actually out grew his leather vest and is too cheap to buy a larger one! Anyway Brad told me that many people were asking him questions about his pins and the vest was causing others to start conversations. He suggested that I stop wearing my orange vest and wear my leather vest with pins because no one will come up and start talking to me about my vest! Well later we find our way to the hotel. While unpacking our bikes a woman comes up to me in the hotel parking lot telling me that I have a cool orange vest! So ha! Turns out that woman wears one just like mine! My orange vest does get attention and invites people to talk to me.

We did laundry at the hotel. The hotel even had complementary laundry detergent and scented dryer sheets! I know we are tough bikers but we like clean and fresh smelling clothes. We ate dinner at a bar near the hotel and planned to continue west thought New Hampshire and Vermont tofind some covered bridges we heard about.