Day 17 Maine in a Day! by Sharlene

Today we finally made it to the 2nd point of our 4 corners US perimeter ride. We logged 353 miles today, the most ridden in one day yet. Madawaska! If you ever watched the show "Northern Exposure" it's a lot like this small town. You look out across from our motel and see Canada. We started out our day with the much needed trip to Walmart for additional layers of clothes. We lucked out as they had some left. After layering up off we went down the coast highway 1 thru Wiscasset on 27, then cutting up to 95 to Bangor for gas and lunch. Sandwiches and coffee to warm up! We had a wonderful ride up to Houlton, the end of 95. This means we have officially ridden 95 from start to finish. The ride was cool but not cold thanks to our extra layers.  Yes, we did stop for a little "rest the body" break along 95. As you can see Ken needed a little extra warmth, poor thing looked like a snake or road kill, but oh so cute. Just a bit north from Monticello, down came the rain. We had already stopped to cover the bags and put on frog togs. I don't know how they skinned those frogs to make this rain gear but they are great. No, really they aren't real frog skin. LOL I could be their poster child after this ride to endorse them with total confidence. We stopped a bit later to get out of the rain for about an hour. We met Chad, a local from Presque Isle, he was full of local information about the remaining ride ahead of us to Madawaska. He cautioned us about the moose that just stand in the street, since it looked like we would be riding after 6pm. That is something we try to avoid. We did finally see a moose, spotted by Ken, just before Van Buren. Once again the deer whistlers have perhaps aided the moose to move off the street as we only saw his hind quarters. As a motorcycle rider that is the part you want to see. We had a few more sprinkles as we came into Madawaska but nothing heavy. Checked in our motel and headed to "Dolly's" for grilled haddock. Meals here come with ploye, it's a buckwheat pancake that has only been flipped once. People eat them with butter, syrup and/or molasses. Glad we tried them but will save my carbs for something more interesting..like Lobsters! We will complete our documentation at the 4 corners park tomorrow and play Canadian tourist. Find some more local things to do and locals to talk with. Perhaps learn some French while we are hear. About 80% even on the US side of the river speak French. So, au revoir for now.