... a bit slow in coming, result of working with pocket camera, ipad, and not-so-swift internet service, here we are ...
... we left waterville saturday and wandered state highways all the way to presque isle ... along the way we stopped on the side of route 2a, the "military road," to pay our respects to the man who inspired the song, "there's a tombstone every mile" ... (dick curless recorded it, for those of you itching to get a copy) ... as you can see, i was approprately demeanered as i paid my respects ...
... unlike others i will not specifically name ...
... the next day as we wandered north i took jon and eric for a guided tour of loring, once the largest base in the air force ... it was strange to drive our motorcycles freely over cracked and crumbling tarmac where i was once required to display my line badge least i be "jacked," handcuffed, and escorted to jail as a potential "covered wagon" suspect ... at the peak of the cold war this hanger could shelter four giant b-52 bombers, or, when empty mid-winter, house a rousing inter-squadron softball game ...
... before we crossed into canada jon completed chapter one of his "my heated handgrips aren't working" saga ...
... half-way to campelton we decided to take a right turn and explore a bit of the interior of new brunswick (translation: drive a few hours through the irvings' back yard) ... we drove over eighty miles without see powerlines, road stripes, signs, nor, for that matter, very many other vehices ... trees, trees, trees, and more trees ...
... it rained on and off the entire day ... we had fun anyhow ...
... (yes, i know, my helmet presses my sunglass frames against my forhead) ...
... the next morning, with sugarloaf mountain looking down, jon and eric completed the "handgrips not working story" ... a hard to acess wire had pulled loose, using two toolkits and access via the internet to clear diagrams, the happy ending to the tale was jon having warm hands again ...
... two heads, they say, are better'n one ... today they were right ...
... we started the day under clear skies, but as we drove east along the edge of the sea we encountered ateas of rain which gradually increased until we were motoring along in full wey cobitions ... the visibility was too poor to stop when it actually occurred, but here's a shot celibrating my bmw's 30,000th mile ...
... rounding a rather dangerpus curve it was suddenly upon us, the world famous "hole in the rock" ... eric and jon missed it, so while they were miles down the road looking for a safe place to do a u-turn i hopped off my bike, climbed over the fence, and climbed down through the puckabrush to the edge of the cliff ...
... during the descent i saw many lovely flowers ...
... some, names unkown to me, which almost became my funeral boquett when as i waded through the brush to find a good vantage point i learned that the vegetation didn't end at the edge of the precipice, but rather grew right over it to continue down along the cliff face ... foot dangling a hundred feet above the water, it was a "whew, that was close" moment ...
... here's the spot of my almost doom ... i am going back some day to visit that mysterous island ...
... john took a snapshot of me with helmet inhanced chipmonk cheeks ...
... i returned the favor ...
... eric did another of many u-turns so he could join the show ...
... we drove over those mountains and through that weather ... hidden within its darkness is the scariest high-speed s-curve i've ever been surprised by ... how surprised, you ask ... hmmmm, well, i may have to have my motorcycle seat recovered ...
... at one of our stos for fuel i found in the rest room a sink that never needs cleaning ... honest, in this picture it has just been scrubbed ... what will they think of next ... ??? ...
... in gaspee we stayed at "the best motel in town" ... we then walked down the hill and ate supper at "the best resturant in town" ... after, we enjoyed "the best view in town" ...
... beautiful ...
... it's now morning ... my turn in the shower ... "miles to go, miles to go" ...