Maine 2015
  
 

Day 06

August 1

 
   
  The girls lay sleeping but they are about to be awakened. We decide we'll make a run up into Canada today.  
   
  After another scrumptious breakfast cooked up by my two in-house chefs, we hit the northward road.  
   
  It's pretty heavily forested, occasionally broken by a rocky stream.  
   
  Some of the roads are actual in pretty good shape and then ...  
   
  some of them are not. Around here it seems to be a bit like Alaska with only two seasons - winter and road construction.  
   
  But the scenery makes up for the poor condition of the pavement.  
   
  We decide we will stop by the 'east most' city in the USA, properly named Eastport.  
   
  It's an interesting small town, but unfortunately there is not much of a place to park. So we decide we'll not get off and do any exploration by foot.  
   
  They do have an interesting statue down near the main pier that I manage to get a picture of on the fly.  
   
  After a quick look around, we get back to our northern route.  
   
  Along the way, I spy an interesting pull off, so we take a break. The marker lets us know that we are exactly halfway between the equator and the North Pole, standing on the 45th parallel.  
   
  There's also an interesting sign that explains the challenges of surveying in the days before satellites and such technology.  
   
  We end up taking the Calais/St. Stephen border crossing and it is really busy.  
   
  Our goal is to reach the city of St. Andrew, take a look around and maybe snag some lunch while we're at it.  
   
  Parking here is a little tight, but we manage to find a place to rest our steeds. And we feel much better about it, being protected by this cannon and all.  
   
  St. Andrews looks out over the lovely Passamaquoddy Bay, an inlet of the Bay of Fundy. The bay had a long history of smuggling in early years.  
   
  Near the parking area is a lovely stone arch, erected ...  
   
  in honor of those who made the ultimate sacrifice during World War I.  
   
  We 'fish' around for some grub and the first place we stop tells us the wait will be several hours. Not having that much time to hang around, we check out another place nearby call 'The Red Herring Pub'.  
   
  They have fresh haddock, so I jump on that like a duck on a june bug. Charlie and Fali decide to follow my lead, and none of us are disappointed in the slightest.  
   
  But there must be something about the sea air, as it evaporates before my very eyes. And strangely enough, the same thing seems to happen to the plates of Fali and Charlie. I wonder if I could get a government grant to study this amazing phenomenon.  
   
  But we need to back for the gathering this evening, so we settle up with our server and hit the road. I hope the border crossing back over is a little quicker.  
   
  My GPS actually takes us to the 'commercial' crossing instead of the one in town, and it fortunately does go a little quicker.  
   
  Soon we are back in the good old US of A. We pass by the Talbot House Inn in East Machias, Maine. The original part of the house was constructed in 1771 and the 'new' front portion was added in 1874.  
   
  After finding some delightful back roads, we ride over the campground which is the gathering point to collect the herd.  
   
  Soon we're off to a local restaurant for our evening meal.  
   
  This is a place where Miss Della knows the folks well - but then Miss Della knows most of the folks around here well.  
   
  Since I've had lobster for the past couple of days, and a great big old piece of haddock for lunch, I decide I'll default to my favorite seafood scallops. They have a scallop roll and scallop stew so I go for it. And it is as tasty as it looks and sure fills up what little space there is left in my tummy.  
   
  I always figure it's shame to let good food go to waste, so I make sure that this batch goes to my waist.  
   
  It's been a great evening, but tomorrow starts the long journey home - two days of over 700 miles each. So I head back to the cabin and put Frost to bed.  
   
  I want to get an early start as possible, so I get as much stuff packed up as I can. With that out of the way, it does not take long for me to find the land of slumber.