Memorial Day Weekend Shakedown - Monday

About 500 km (310 miles)

Monday we slept a little late again, knowing we each had plenty of time to get home. Breaking camp took a bit longer than I'd expected, but it always does when you're out of practice. Dad and I had camped well together, meaning we both knew what needed doing and went about it without needing to talk too much. I'm often a creature of habit, and am looking forward to a camping routine.

Despite my love for routine and a penchant for planning, my favorite way to ride is without a plan. When Dad and I left camp I headed west with no plan but to head south sometime after reaching New Hampshire. My routine was determined by whim, the need for gas, and more uniquely the need to detour town parades. I detoured around 3 Memorial Day parades (once with detour signs that did not lead back to the route I had been on), and was somehow caught right in the middle of the parade in Farmington, ME. The police politely stopped me and the Harley rider in front of me just as the parade began marching onto the main drag right in front of us. They hadn't signaled for us to pull over, but once I realized the parade was heading right at us I did the best I could. The Harley guy didn't budge tough, so the driving vets and marching bands had to swing wide around us. They didn't seem to mind; I got lots of smiles, several nods, and a few waves. Everyone seems to like a traveler on a motorcycle.


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Rt 2 is pretty boring through central ME, but once you get west of Farmington it gets a interesting, and by the time you start climbing through the White Mountains in NH it's a downright beautiful ride. I failed to stop for lunch in Gorham like I'd planned (the plan being hatched as I entered Gorham) because, as so often happens, I'm indecisive about where to stop for food so I just keep on riding. I stop for a banana on the side of the road overlooking Mount Washington, considering how it's summit is the site of highest surface wind speed ever recorded. Seems impossible on a day like today. I end up eating at a decent dinner near Twin Mountain about half an hour later.

Headed down I93 through Franconia State Park for a short while, passing Mt. Lafayette which Jess and I climbed last year with our friends Eric and Sybil. It's a nice ride through the steep valley there, but I93 widens out soon enough and gets boring so I bailed as soon as possible and started winding down Rt 3. I let myself get pulled back east a ways and ended up in Laconia for the first time. The weather was hot and sunny, and the whole town seemed to buzz with summer. I thought about pulling over and checking out the lake for a bit, but a Nick in motion will stay in motion, and I just kept rolling. Not long after that the roads got familiar, and I was home.

All in all it was a very enjoyable weekend camping and riding with Dad, and I'm feeling confident in our kit after this shakedown.

Memorial Day Weekend Shakedown - Sunday

About 360 km (225 miles)

Sunday we did the obvious: we rode.

We talked about but decided against packing everything up and loading the bikes for practice. We both agree the loading had gone quite well, and we were happy with our 'systems'. We wanted to ride down to the coast to enjoy the views and hopefully the cool air. We thought about Acadia National Park, but decided on Boothbay Harbor.

Jess and I discovered Boothbay Harbor when we rode from Toronto to New Brunswick (east through the US, west through Canada) in 2005 - me on my Honda VF750 Magna and Jess on her Kawi Ninja 250. 250! It was her first big trip. She's amazing. We camped at Gray Homestead Campground for a night, and enjoyed some fantastic lobster from a Robinson's on the wharf.

The next time we visited was just last fall when I was delivering my Dad's R1200GS to him in New Brunswick. Jess and I had decided to take a few days to get there, so we hit up Whitehorse Gear then headed down to Boothbay for the night, this time staying at Sprucewold Lodge. If you've got a thing for wood grain, you'll love Sprucewold Lodge. The room and bed weren't really impressive, but the atmosphere was great and the buffet brunch was even better.

Anyway, Dad and I had lunch at the Fisherman's Wharf Inn right in the middle of Boothbay Harbor, and enjoyed sitting out on the shaded patio watching families and friends and tour groups come and go on the wharf next door. We then rode down the the southernmost tip of the area, Newagen at Cape Harbor. I forgot all about showing Dad Sprucewold Lodge, so I led us out of town right after that.


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The plan was to ride east on 1 up to Belfast before heading back towards our campsite at Newport, but thankfully we managed to miss Belfast and kept on riding until we reached the rather stunning Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory. I'd happened upon it about 7 years ago before it was opened, and even then I was quite taken with it. It's a gorgeous and elegant structure, with some pretty cool engineering including continuous cables that don't actually anchor in the pylons, and are encased in pressurized nitrogen to prevent corrosion.

We crossed the bridge just to do it, then corrected our course and headed back to camp. The grocery store had just closed when we got into Newport, so we ate at the Pizza Hut. Large Supreme for $10! Cheap and sooo good, even if 1/2 a large was a bit much. I don't have Pizza Hut very often, and it still happily reminds me of being a young teen in Fredericton when Mom would get two medium Pizza Hut pizzas (one Supreme, one half Hawaiian, one half vegi), 2L of Pepsi, and some movies from Blockbuster. That wasn't every Friday - those were special Fridays.

The day's riding had reminded me that I simply cannot wear a bandana in my current helmet. I wore one in my previous Arai Profile e for years and it never bothered me, but since getting my latest helmet a few years ago I'm always left with a wicked headache if I try having anything else besides my head in there. (Earplugs are difficult, the headset nearly impossible, and a bandana can only last a few hours.) After having a headache most of the day, I was happy to be fed and heading to bed. We had another fire, I lost my new bottle of soap by dropping it behind the shower stall liner when I tried to place it on the (non-existant) top ledge, and then bedded down.

Baxter(d) State Park

Even though it's much closer to Dad than it is to me, I originally wanted to meet up in Baxter State Park for our Memorial Weekend shakedown trip.  I figured some of the more out-of-the-way sites wouldn't be overrun with long weekend campers, the hiking would be good, and there would be tons of dirt roads to practice riding on with the bikes all loaded up.  To my pleasant surprise, there were lots of sites still available in Baxter when I finally got around to checking; so many, in fact, that I took my time calling to make reservations.  I'm eventually talking with a park ranger, and I'm literally starting to say my credit card number when she stops me and says, "oh, I forgot to go over the rules first, just in case."  Just in case what?  Just in case I plan on canceling my reservations at the last minute?  Just in case I plan on feeding the bears?  Just in case plan on hunting endangered species with an assault rifle?  Wrong, wrong, and wrong.  Just in case I plan on doing something really crazy, like showing up on a motorcycle!  Baxter State Park does not allow motorcycles.  Period.

"Why?" I inquire.   

"The roads can be really rough, and some bikes couldn't make it.  Also, there can be noise issues." she informs me.  Now, I know I'm not going to get anywhere arguing with this lady, which I admit to her, but I find it necessary to point out that those issues could very easily apply to many cars.  My bike is make quite specifically for roads exactly like theirs, and is no louder than most pickup trucks.  Those points, of course, were of no matter.  We would not be staying in Baxter State Park for this trip.

Baxterds.

Memorial Day Weekend Shakedown - Saturday

About 438 km (272 miles)

In order to shakedown our packing list and methods for packing the bikes, we wanted to meet up for a few weekend camping trips before we left on The Trip. Unfortunately, I'm using every bit of my vacation (from this year, a week from last year, and two weeks unpaid) just to take The Trip - there isn't an hour left over for anything else. So, we made the most of the Memorial Day long weekend in the US and met up in Maine for three days of riding and two nights of camping.

I'd been busy all week with some repairs to my bike, including repairs to my repairs. (That's another story.) Instead of leaving work early on Friday like I'd once hoped, I left Saturday morning with the aim of meeting Dad at the Sebasticook Lake Campground sometime between 2 and 3. Having packed and loaded the bike Friday night, I got a much needed good night's sleep and left at a leisurely 9:30 Saturday morning.

The riding was good, and uneventful. I'd wanted to throw the bike around some familiar curves on 123 a little east of Alstead, but I was stuck behind a slow pickup truck through my favorite local twisties, so that particular section had to wait for the trip back in a few days. Still, the bike felt fine even loaded down, and even with the new battery I was carrying for Dad unbalancing me to the right.

I made my way across Vermont and New Hampshire on smaller routes, but opted for making good time once I hit I95 in Maine. I pulled off into Saco (near Old Orchard Beach) for lunch and gas, where a Dairy Queen caught my eye (stomach?) with the promise of actual flame broiled burgers and yummy onion rings. The rub? This Dairy Queen only serves ice cream. I briefly consider eating several ice cream treats for lunch before deciding to get gas then decide on lunch. I head next door to a gas station that has a Subway inside. The rub? They have absolutely no seating inside or out. I could easily sit on the curb out front to eat, but I wasn't looking forward to a sub anyways so I decide to eat at Clif bar and roll on. Damn you, Saco.


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The rest of the trip is pretty uneventful, although my new earplugs bothered me quite a bit and I arrived feeling wind blown and with a bit of a headache. The girl at the campground's check in desk tells me my Dad's already there, and that the fees are taken care of. She appears extra careful to remind me the campground has a strict 5 mph speed limit. I s l o w l y make by way to our campsite to find my Dad laid out on his new Therm-a-Rest Neo Air, beside the picnic table.

After chatting about our rides and recent bike mods and repairs, we setup camp. We head to the grocery store to get food for the weekend, including a vegi stir fry for dinner. Unfortunately, I somehow pick a brown rice that takes 40 minutes to cook. That wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't also forgotten the accessory for my JetBoil stove that lets you place a pot on it. Without that accessory, we had to hold the pot over the stove, while stirring the rice for over 40 minutes, so it wouldn't burn, . I = rice fail. Eventually, dinner was yummy.

We threw a disc around until dark, during which time my father discovers, learns, and nearly perfects the flick. I honestly can't remember seeing someone learn it as fast as he did. We should find pick-up games across North America! We had a small fire, left 2/3 of the wood for the next night, and turned it. I was happy to be in a tent, even with all the RVs around, and man is that Neo Air a comfortable ultra-light sleeping pad!