Day 18: St. John

Day 18: St. John, New Brunswick, Canada

June 30, 2016

Miles: 46

Average Speed 11.3 mph

St. George to St. John


Di and I got up  at 7am.  We got up this early because we were anxious to leave St. George behind us.  I told Di I was reminded of those movies where folks from the city have to hide out in a small country town and they just don't know what to do with themselves.  That was us.

Di weeping with joy because she is leaving St. George soon

It was cool when we left the hotel, about 15 or 16 degrees, and also foggy.  Di had to put a jacket on after a few minutes of riding.

Di in jacket with horses and water

In case you haven't figured it out yet, that 15 or 16 degrees was in the Celsius scale. You'll have to remember your seventh grade science to recall the formula to convert to Farenheit.

We travelled mostly on two roads today.  The first was Route 175 and it was a great road.  There was a large, paved shoulder for us to ride upon and there was very little traffic.  It offered glimpses of the coast and small towns with convenience stores.  

A typical glimpse of the coast

Convenience store where you can buy all sorts of things

The second road was Route 1 and it, too, was a great road to ride upon.  It was a very busy road, however, and did not even provide the courtesy of a single pretty view.

Riding on Rt. 1 (boring, but nice shoulder)

What the two roads had in common in addtion to a wide shoulder is they were both flat.  Yes, flat!  We were shocked.  It seems as if we haven't had even a quarter of a mile of flat road since we left RI, but here we were with just about the entire ride on flat roads.  Wahoo!  We felt we were flying on those flat roads and by 1pm we were only about 8km from St. John (there's that pesky metric system again).  We went in to the visitor centor to look at maps of the area to make sure we knew the way into town and the place was so nice we decided to relax there for a while. 

Hanging at the visitor center (warm with a nice view)

 We had to verify the way into St. John because you can't ride you bike over the Rt. 1 bridge.  You have to take the old Rt. 1 bridge.  So, we had to make our way to the bridge where bikes are allowed, but this worked out great for us because that bridge is built right over the Reversing Falls.  The St. John River empties into the Bay of Fundy at low tide, but at high tide, the water from the Bay of Fundy flows upward into the river. 

St. John River flowing towards the Bay of Fundy

Apparently, this is pretty amazing and important stuff and people from all over the world come to witness and study this phenomenon.  You know it is important because a placard was erected that explained why this phenomenon is so important.  You can read the placard here:

Placard of important stuff

I tried reading the important placard but got bored about half-way through.  It seems like a very pompous way of saying: "At high tide the ocean level is above the river and therefore sea water rushes up the river.  At low tide the ocean level is below that of the river and therefore the river water runs into the sea."  There was only one other couple observing the Reversing Falls and they were really into it.  This was their second visit that day; they had come earlier in the day to watch the river during high tide and now had come back to witness it during low tide.  "You know", the guy said, "if I hadn't been here this morning to see the river flowing in a different direction than it is now, I wouldn't have thought this river so special.  It would seem like any other river."  "Exactly", thought I,  being there for only one tidal experience.  The couple insisted I take pictures of the river even though I thought they would be boring.  Later, when I looked at the pictures, I confirmed that they indeed were boring.  I will spare you the boring river pictures, but here is a picture Di took of the couple exhorting me to take more (boring) pictures.

Picture taking appeasement

We finally resumed riding and shortly after crossing the bridge found the Harbour Passage Trail, a red coloured  biking and walking path that leads right into town.

The bike path with Rt. 1 bridge in the distance (non-bikable)

The path brought us right to the Holiday Inn and we were checked in and in our rooms before 3pm.  That was some easy riding!  We cleaned up and went out to explore the city a bit.

Di and moose

Sculpture of St. John denizens

We found a great place for dinner: The East Coast Bistro.  They offered many locally grown dishes and for Di, organic beer!

Di is very happy to be in St. John and not St. George

Di got a veggie meal and I got me some lamb

We walked around the city a bit after dinner before wending our way back to the hotel.

Di is wending

 As we got closer to out hotel, we saw the road was blocked off because a festival was in progress.

That's our hotel in the distance

There was music

There was even cornhole!

We wondered why this festival was going on and learned that tomorrow is a very important day: Andy, Jen, and Ben are joining us here in St. John!  Okay, that is important to us, but that is not the reason for the festival.  The reason for the festival to to help celebrate Canada Day, which is tomorrow.  Canada Day celebrates the unification of their provinces and the signing of a constitution.  Its a very important day and it made me wonder if that means the coffee shops will be closed tomorrow.

View from the hotel looking at the Bay of Fundy

Tomorrow Andy, Jen and Ben will be here (Wahoo!) and we'll be heading to Nova Scotia.  I've always wanted to go to Nova Scotia and can't wait to get there.

Day 17: St. George, NB Rest Day 2

Day 17:  St. George, NB Rest Day 2

June 29, 2016

Miles: 0 (Its a rest day!)
 
St. George, NB

Another rest day in St. George is like a rest day in a deserted town. There never seems to be anyone walking about, and very few cars parked.  Now having spent three days here, it is apparent that there really isn't enough population to support many local businesses (approx 1500). Those open double and triple as multiple businesses. For instance, the bakery is also a market and candy store and a deli. A store that rents equipment, also sells fresh produce and has a gift shop. Although we did encounter one place in town that only sold one type of item - the ice cream parlor only serves ice cream, and we always saw people going in and out.  I guess there is high demand for ice cream in St. George.  

Again this morning, we decided to take advantage of continential breakfast.  What you don't see here below is a bowl of oatmeal that I was mixing at the time. 

Coffee was excluded from the picture unintentionally

We stayed another day because the weather forecast said rain all day.  Instead we got overcast, fog and cold weather - low 60s.  Since we woke at about, 10:00a we decided to stay another day in St George to rest.  We ride to St. John tomorrow. I worked on a route that would get us there in 50 miles.  We plan to leave early, so to arrive late-afternoon. This should be possible given the two consecutive rest days. We both feel well rested, and are anxious to get back on the bike.  The forecast tomorrow is cloudy all day, but warmer (70s). No rain is expected.  

So thanks to Netflix and HBO-Go, besides resting, we caught up on programs we started watching before we left.  How about that Cersei?  As my brother has said 'don't ever under estimate Cersei Lannister'.  He was right!   And, we did manage to leave the room this afternoon for a little while.  We took a walk in town and learned about the history here in St. George.

I snapped this picture along the way; these beautiful petunia plants are hanging in downtown St. George on every other street lamp.

The post office was an interesting building - made of granite.  Also serves as a customs office. 

A few monuments made of granite are below.  Apparently St. George, named the Granite Town, is best known for its granite quarries and history.

 Steve leaning on the Granite History monument outside the Post Office.

 Steve looking like, well I guess like, he's waiting as I snapped the pics of the Post Office.

This type of box is in front of every house.  We saw a lot of these boxes on Campobello Island and Deer Island too when riding to St. George.  It is for the trash.  We summized that it is to keep the racoons out of the garbage.  Not sure, but we both thought maybe because most of the road kill around here are racoons.

 Another shot of, well Steve waiting for me again.

Here is a picture of the St George Dam and the gorge and basin behind.  The dam that separates the river and the town. Considered a local historical place.

Here's another shot of Steve waiting for me.  This time he has a big blueberry in front of him.

We stopped off to buy fresh locally grown strawberries.  They were delilious.

 Here is Steve enjoying his strawberries.  Well, I think he is enjoying the strawberries.

OK, finally a smile.  Here is Steve witnessing first hand the gorge and water basin.  At this point it started sprinkling so we headed back to the hotel.

Tonight's dinner.  Turkey breast sandwich's that we bought at the same store that we did yesterday.  The one with all the candy!

Fresh, tasty, spicy and blurry

We are off to St. John tomorrow where we will wait anxiously for Andy, Jen and Ben to arrive.  They plan to leave RI at about 7:00p, so we do not expect them until very early on Friday morning.  We have rented a room for them to crash for when they arrive.  We plan to either take the 8:00a ferry over to Nova Scotia, or the 2:30p.  Tomorrow's a big day, so a short message to the kids from Dad and me - can't wait to see you and be very careful driving!

  

Day 16: St. George Rest Day

Day 16: St. George, New Brunswick, Canada

June 28, 2016

Miles: 0 (Its a rest day!)

Bucksport to Bar Harbor

Today is a rest day for us and Di and I did an amazing job of resting.  First of all, I didn't wake up until 9:30.  Di said she had been awake since 8:30.  I'll have to take her word for it.  We made it to the continental breakfast before it closed at 10:00.  Breakfast was skimpy, just coffee, juice, cereal, toast and bagels.  Breakfast was so unimpressive that I didn't even take a picture of it.  The fact I forgot my camera in the hotel room contributed to my not taking a picture.

We went back to the room to rest some more.  We discussed tomorrow's bike route and downloaded the Canadian maps for the Garmin.  Then we rested some more.  At 3:30 we decided to stop resting.  We left the hotel and headed for downtown St. George.

Looking back at the hotel as we are leaving

The first building we came to as we walked into town was Terry's Beef 'N' More.  You get your meat there.  Its not a deli and has no tables.  I guess you just go there when you want to buy slabs of meat.

Meat! Get yer meat here!

We weren't interested in slabs of meat at the moment, so we continued walking.

Di in downtown St. George

We went into the Country Market to see if we could get some sandwiches, but all I had eyes for were the large jars of candy lining the wall.  Di said they could make us sandwiches, and I said, "Candy".  Then she said they had gluten free bread and I said, "Candy".  Then she said they had coffee and that snapped me out of it. "Coffee!"   It was a cool looking store and had many of the staples one needs for their kitchen. Additionally, they had candy.

Candy!

Looking towards the front (candy on right)

We got our sandwiches and cups of coffee and went outside to sit at the only outdoor table in the entire town.

Di in front of the Country Market

We both got the turkey sandwich and one of us had gluten free bread

Di sitting at the only outdoor table in all of St. George

After eating my sandwich I still had some coffee left, so I went back into the market to get a cranberry scone to keep that coffee company.

Dressed to deter conversation from strangers

I finished the scone and coffee and then thought about getting some candy. I've been trying to eat healthily and stay away from a lot of sugar, so I exerted my willpower and purchased only one bag of gum drops.  I was impressed with my strength.

We walked back to the hotel and resumed resting.

View of the river on the way back to the hotel

Di ordered some service that will allow us to watch Game of Thrones on HBO GO.  We cannot watch HBO through our devices because it blocks requests from outside of the U.S.  For two days we've had to avoid internet browsing for fear of a GoT spoiler, so Di bought the service to ease our suffering.  It would have been better to watch it on a large TV, but we watched the show on Di's iPhone while I ate my gum drops.  We've learned to make sacrifices.  The show, as usual, was full of surprises and very satisfying to watch.

Di made us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on gluten free bread for dinner.   I've learned not to knock the gluten free bread, especially when there is no alternative present.

Di preparing dinner

It was now 9pm and we decided it was best to continue resting.  So, we did very little today and I feel I may have made it seem like we were more active than we really were.  But at least we feel rested.

Tomorrow may be a rainy day and if so, we may stay in St. George another day and ride to St. John on Thursday.  More resting!

Day 15: St. George, New Brunswick

Day 15: St. George, New Brunswick

June 27, 2016

Miles: 30
          
Lubec, ME to St. George, NB

  
We got up early this morning because we wanted to get an early start.  We had to ride through customs at the border and then ride to St. George, our destination town via jumping two Island, Campobello Island and Deer Island, both NB territory. I will tell you that it was hard to leave Lubec this morning.  Unlike leaving the campground the night before that was very easy.  Lubec was gorgeous!

More Blueberry Pancakes for Steve

 More of the view outside our room in Lubec.

Calm waters

Floating solo

Set to moorn

  
Getting ready to leave, just waiting for Steve's clothes to dry.  They didn't take long.

Finally, we were off.  This is at the foot of the ramp before heading over to Campobello Island.

Canada here we come!

A short ride over, but a windy ride to the other side

Here is the Canadian customs checkpoint.

Steve scoping the area

At first, we thought it would be easy to cross, but then Steve asked if mace was legal in Canada to be respectful; we were carrying it for the dogs.  The women said that it was not legal and that they needed to confiscate it.  We were asked to go inside and fill out paperwork agreeing to surrender it without the possibility of getting it back.  We had two stray bottles of mace.  I just hope we don't encounter any leashless dogs, but if we do ... we can always buy some milk bones.

Negotiating a swap

 The view from Campobello Island.

Deer Island in the distance, the next island hop

Campobello lighthouse

  
It was only 9 miles to the first Ferry.  It was about .5 miles to Deer Island on the Ferry.  It ran on the hour and we arrived there at 11:10a, so we had a lot of time to kill before 12:00p.  So what do you do ...

You enjoy your surroundings.

You wave at the camera.

Then you start playing games.  What do you see I asked Steve.  He said he saw a man with a cloak with one arm crossed.  I saw it too!

What do you see I asked Steve.  He said a whale.  

Now, what do you see.  He said a coolie.  

 

Thank you, the Ferry has arrived.  We really did need to stop playing the 'what do you see' rock game.

This Ferry ride was about 30 minutes long and it cost $5.00 per person with a bike.  This Ferry went slow and steady.  It was a beautiful ride over to Deer Island. Really another amazing day!

Steve standing guard

Now me standing guard

Ready to rock and roll

Deer Island had very little in terms of restaurants.  In fact, we never past one.  We did pass quite a few fishing villages.

Fishing for Lobsters - quite an industry

We continued riding to the other side of Deer Island to catch the second Ferry.  It ran every 1/2 hour and it was at no cost.  It was about 10 miles to the Ferry so we tried for the 1:30p, but the Island was so very hilly.  Campobello Island was hilly as well.  We ended up taking the 2:00p Ferry because we stopped off to get a gatorade and some snacks before rolling onto the Ferry at 1:55p.  It was a 20 minute ride traveling much faster than the previous Ferry.

The Ferry was packed.  Not even room for one additional car.  We tucked our bikes into an unuse stairway on the side and then venured out to take in our surroundings, take pictures and eat our snacks.

Windy ride - holding on

Steve ready to roll

We had 9 miles remaining to get to St. George. It took over an hour to get to our hotel.  Basically, very hilly - one after the next.   The hills were gentler, but never ending. We never stopped for lunch; we just rode straight to the hotel.

We checked into our hotel, Granite Town Hotel, at about 3:40p NB time.  NB is 1 hour ahead of EST, so all the time estimates above are NB time.  We took advantage of the early arrival by lounging around the room, we took showers and started our laundry early.  By the time we decided to go get dinner, everything was closed except a market about 1.5 miles away.  So we decided to walk it rather than ride it.  While walking back to the hotel, we both regretted not taking our bikes.  We were tired.  So this is what we had for dinner.  It was good for a change.  I was missing my Cheerios and had some fruit too, and Steve ate a turkey sub with chocolate milk.

Yummy!

The weather forecast for the next three days looks pretty bad, so we plan to play it day-to-day as to when we ride.  Originally, we thought tomorrow would be a rest day, and it still may be, but it is looking like Wednesday will be a complete washout.  We need to be in Saint John, NB by Thursday night to meet Andy, Jen and Ben (whaa hooo! can't wait!), so we need to squeeze in 65 miles between now and then.  

We basically have three days - no problem!

*****

Bonus Pics - Lupine, a native plant that grows all over ME and NB. The seeds from the lupine plant are edible and high in protein, dietary fiber, and antioxidants, very low in starch, and like all legumes, are gluten-free (wikipedia).