To the "Right" Coast

This entry is for Friday, 27 May 2011:

There was a short segment of severe thunderstorms last evening after I checked into a hotel for the night in Wellsboro, PA. Because of this, my ride today started off moist and cloudy with some moisture still on the pavement.

My wife, Elise, told me she was going to Maine on Friday and Saturday to help our friends, Deb and Wayne, open their beach house at York, ME for the summer. Considering that I had already ridden across the country approaching 6,000 miles, I decided that I would make a run for York, ME today for a surprise and early return from my trip.

The route I chose to get to York was a combination of roads that I had not ridden on before and those I chose to avoid the usual holiday traffic choke points, specifically Danbury, CT on I-84 and where I-84 meets the I-90 (Mass Pike) in Sturbridge, MA.

I continued on Rt. 6 from Wellsboro to Scranton, PA. Town DPW employees were cleaning up leaves, branches and trees downed during the T-storm last night in several towns along this route I went by another 30-unit wind farm on a ridge along Rt. 6 around Troy, PA in the vicinity of Mt. Pisgah. There were a tremendous number of trucks on this route this morning and it took me over 3 hours to go the first 105 miles to Scranton. By the time I got to Scranton the clouds had burned off and the temperature was in the upper 80s. From Scranton, I took I-84 to Newburgh, NY and then Rt. 9W that goes up the west side of the Hudson River to East Kingston, NY. I stopped once along Rt. 9W to visit a park on the Hudson River and got a good shot of a lighthouse on the river. Took the Kingston - Rhinebeck Bridge from Rt. 9W east across the Hudson River and then followed Rt. 199 to the east to Rt. 44 east into Connecticut. When I was going through the town of Lakeville, CT in town traffic, a lady in front of me backed into my bike slightly trying to make room for the vehicle in front of her to parallel park. This is where my AIR HORNS came in handy so she stopped backing up with just a gentle bump. No damage - great.

From Rt. 44 in Canaan, CT, took Rt. 7 north into Massachusetts passing through Sheffield, Barrington and through Stockbridge. Went by the well know Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge and stopped for a photo of some ducks at a wildlife preserve along Rt. 7. I decided to zigzag going east and north to position myself to get to York, ME. So I took the Mass Pike (I-90) east in Lee and then I-91 north in Springfield. Followed I-91 to Greenfield and then took Rt. 2 east to I-495 in Littleton, MA. After stopping for rest and gas in Littleton, I took I-495 north to I-95 north into New Hampshire and Maine. Stopped at the New Hampshire state liquor store to purchase some pre-made margaritas so would be able to celebrate my "right" coast arrival with my wife and friends. I arrived in York, ME around 7:15 PM and took the local tour of Long Sands Beach, Nubble Lighthouse and Short Sands Beach just as the sun was setting.

Had Maine scallops at Harry's at Short Sands before heading over to the beach house for my surprise arrival around 8 PM. As luck would have it Elise and Deb were out shopping when I arrived so I had to wait a while to serve up the margaritas that I toted on my bike from New Hampshire. Total ride today was the most of my trip to date, 525 miles. It was a long day and a long ride but worth it to celebrate with my wife and friends in York, ME.