July 24, 2013

Our last day. We will have pedaled across the country. It doesn't seem like a big deal to us, but the people we meet each day seem impressed. Oh well.

Roger knows how to start out such a big day with a good breakfast.

The weather was perfect, and we cheated a bit and left some of our heavier items back at the hotel room. I left my laptop and my cooking stuff.....that was a third of my weight. The shoulder was better than previous days, but the traffic was still pretty nuts.

We had a pretty strong headwind on our last day, but thats okay.

The curbs and railings were sometimes less then ideal, but usually they were short so we could get away with only some brief segments of riding defensively.

Before we knew it, we had climbed our only remaining climb of the day. Mount Desert. People had been warning us about it, but it was no harder than the dozen climbs per day we had been doing for weeks. Rog barely broke a sweat.

Apparently Laura had been taking up too much of the road. Maine put signs in place asking her to share.

We passed through part of Acadia National Park.

The ride went fast, and we were in Bar Harbor sooner than expected. Laura didn't even slow down and went right down the boat ramp into the ocean. Some onlookers were yelling to her to "use your brakes!". Obviously she did, but there was some concern that she was going right in.

Laura and Katie shared a big hug, with Laura spinning Katie around.

We waited to head down to the beach for Dee, and took a lot of goofy pictures.

My tire is almost worn clear through. Good thing the ride ended today.

Katie took a well deserved nap.

Dee arrived and we went down to the actual beach to dip our tires.

We went down to the beach and officially tipped our tires together.

We loaded up the truck, then looked for lunch. I know everyone wants to see Rog eating a lobster, but think about it from the lobsters perspective.

So, we got Rog a BLT and headed for Acadia National Park to do some hiking.

Taters loved it. This is her type of activity. She was bounding from rock to rock before the rest of us were hardly out of the truck.

Good thing I liked the Where's Waldo books as a kid. Keeping track of Katie is nearly impossible.

Don't do it Rog!!!!!!!!!! I think she has the hotel key!

After getting our fill of the ocean, we went inland on a couple hiking trails. Rog and Dee stuck to the coastal trail while Laura, Katie, and myself went for the mountains.

The trail was marked by cairns. These are piles of stones stacked in such a way to help you identify the trail.

The Gorham Mountain trail proved too easy for us. We climbed to the summit in half an hour. We must be in shape because the trail was packed at the bottom and we saw very few people at the top.

Our confidence was high after doing the intermediate level Gorham Mountain Trail, so we figured we had time for a far shorter advanced level trail called Beehive. We very quickly noticed that the terrain became less like a trail and more of a climb. We followed the blue marks.

Then came the warnings. For a 0.8 mile trail, there seemed to be very little foot traffic and a lot of warnings.

Then it was steep enough to be stairs.

Then it was too steep for stairs.

Then it became a vertical climb. Just awesome. Walking along the ledges was simply neat.

We made it to the top, although I think we all had our doubts a few times. That was the most awesome hiking trail ever. TJ would have loved it. These are some tough girls.

We were then a bit late meeting Rog n Dee, so we had to hurry down. The back side of Beehive was easier than the front, but not exactly wheelchair accessible.

We waved goodbye to Acadia and Bar Harbor.

We were starving and went for dinner. And here is the picture everyone has been waiting for........

Laura and I had some Lobster Mac-n-Cheese. It was really good!

The mac-n-cheese would have been better if it hadn't been over 20 bucks. Ouch. Apparently the lobster population is exploding and there is concern about lobster prices dropping. We just saw that Walgreens had live lobsters for $5.99. Most places are $12 to $20 and will cook it for you when you pick it out.

Well, this concludes our trip. Thank you everyone for following along. It was truly an experience of a lifetime.