Added more pictures June 14, again out of sequence
After 3,577 miles from South Carolina through North Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island and back west through New Hampshire, Vermont and New York then into Ontario and finally back to Brighton, MI....I'm home, tired and glad I did it.
A major disappointment of the trip was the fact that much of the weather in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick was fog and rain so I literally could not see the fetching views that so many wrote about and I could see in internet images. But, I can say I've been there, done that.
One objective I had was able to be completed. Five years ago I rode US 2 from its western terminus in Everett, WA all the way to St. Ignace. I did not know at the time that it was not the only US 2 segment. There is an eastern segment that starts at the New Brunswick/Maine border near Houlton, ME. It passes west through Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and ends just inside the border of New York after passing north on Grand Island in the middle of Lake Champlain. I completed that stretch to finish the entire route of US 2. I recommend the eastern segment to see some great scenery and down east Americana.
A highlight of the trip was a visit to a friend of college days and with whom I bunked in Alpena for a few months at my first teaching job. Rose was still finishing her student teaching and I got a job teaching 5th grade at Alpena and my friend, Tom Leach, had taken a job at Alpena Community College several months before. We saw Tom, and his wife Cathy, just three times since. Once for our wedding, once when they visited us in Michigan and one more time when we made a trip out east with Rose's parents and little Leigh and Erin. Rose was pregnant with Maeve on the trip.
I must say that a trip like this while worthwhile, was much less satisfying with as much rain as I encountered. I missed so many great views due to fog and cloud cover and it's just plain no fun to ride a motorcycle miles in the rain. I did meet a few characters along the way, had some fabulous local seafood fresh from the ocean and the Bay of Fundy and had zero close calls on the bike. Of note is that in nearly 3800 miles I saw only two deer and one eagle and I was in some fairly remote territory.
Some pictorial views follow. They are out of sequence!!!!
 |
| Ready to leave South Carolina |
 |
| First stop along the way in Virginia |
 |
| The end of US2 at the top of Lake Champlain |
 |
| The bridge crossing from Vermont to New York at end of lake Champlain |
 |
| A cool bistro/bakery/restaurant in Richmond, VT |
 |
| Yup, a little Lake Champlain stuff |
 |
| One view of Lake Champlain. Surprisingly to me the middle, Grand Island, is heavily farmland with some very large farm operations. |
 |
| A cool light in the bistro/bakery in the earlier picture |
 |
| An interesting church in Rickmond, VT |
 |
| Here's the scoop |
 |
| A little old covered bridge on the roadside in VT |
 |
| It was a neat little setting |
 |
| The countryside in this area of VT |
 |
| Farm land and forest in VT...more importantly there were blue skies! |
 |
| This is what a blue sky looked like. Can you tell I was happy to be out of rain, fog and clouods? |
 |
| Mt. Washington in New Hampshire |
 |
| A little New Hampshire view |
 |
| Occasionally I stopped to smell the flowers |
 |
| A nice day in eastern VT |
 |
| Petitcodiac River in Moncton, New Brunswick, the site of the tidal bore |
 |
| Can't remember the name of the town but this was a very cool old train station undergoing renovation |
 |
| A nice scene along the way in New Hapshire |
 |
| The Petiticodiac River in Moncton just half full with the incoming tide |
 |
| A church view in Nova Scotia |
 |
| The same church with a shine to Our Lady of Guadalupe |
 |
| The only clear view I got on the Cabot Trail and this was Lake Bras d'Or |
 |
| A little stop along the way on Cape Breton Island |
 |
| The best view I could get of Lake Bras d'Or |
 |
| Who knew...a Gaelic college on Lake Bras d'Or |
 |
| A little place riding up on the Ceilidh Trail towards the Cabot Trail. This is the Gaelic music trail. Sadly, it was foggy and cloud covered |
 |
| Yup, this was my weather on the Cabot Trail of Cape Breton Island |
 |
| All the signs were in Gaelic and English |
 |
| Rose's father's patron saint |
 |
| StAndrew church |
 |
| Cape Breton was pretty darn Catholic |
 |
| A cool place and finally a decent view with the weather. This was in Nova Scotia |
 |
| A view of Cape George on my way to stay the night in Antigonish |
 |
| Another nice view of Cape George area in Nova Scotia |
 |
| That is one big house up there near Cape George, Nova Scotia |
 |
| Lots of little fishing areas along Nova Scotia |
 |
| This area is very, very Scottish |
 |
| A nice view on the ride to Antigonish |
 |
| St. Margaret's church |
 |
| A little history of the church |
 |
| I think this was the first picture I took when the clouds cleared |
 |
| A good day to ride! |
 |
| A harbor area in Charlottletown, Prince Edward Island. What a beautiful town! |
 |
| The ferry from Prince Edward Island to Nova Scotia has arrived |
 |
| I can't tell you how many semi-trailers that thing had on it...but a lot! |
 |
| A little Prince Edward Island History |
 |
| The park and harbor side of Charlottetown, PEI was beautiful. |
 |
| Picked up a couple t-shirt on Prince Edward Island |
 |
| The red cliffs of Prince Edward Island |
 |
| Without the sun it's hard to get a picture that captures the red sandstone of the island |
 |
| Getting ready to ride the Confederation Bridge from New Brunswick to PEI |
 |
| This is what I woke up to in St. John, New Brunswick...heavy fog |
 |
| One of those dinghs is Tom's that we use to row out to his sailboat |
 |
| I was a lot of help on the boat! |
 |
| Sailor Tom on Casco Bay |
 |
| Wonder what diplomat this is?? |
 |
| Natural Bridge in Virginia |
.JPG)
.jpg)
