We ride with Chris to Camden

Sept. 17th

It rained last night, and unfortunately, tents don't get priority real estate at the RV camp. As soon as I walked out of my tent my feet were greeted with several feet of pure, saturated mud. I gently made my way out of the tent and towards dry land.

Nicole was not so lucky. She took one step out of the tent and the mud swallowed her sandal! Just one step and it vanished in the cream soup-like puddle of Shady Oaks campground.

"That's a trip ender right there," joked Chris. Apparently, he was wise to sleep in a hammock instead of a tent. We all knew we weren't going to let any mud bother us, but Shady Oaks seemed to want to shake its fist at us one last time before we left.

It's good lemonade, but Chris still wants Denny's.

After breakfast, we saddled up and pedaled towards the main gate. It was like a parking lot where you push a button and the gate lifts. Easy enough, right? Except that when we pushed the button, the gate went down as quickly as it went up and poor Nicole got socked on the head! Good thing for helmets, otherwise it would have been a trip ender and worse.


Things got better once we got out of the campground. From Orland we rode to Belfast, Maine, a small town that is practically a major city by Maine standards. It has a harbor and an airport. It also lay claim to Darby's Restaurant and Pub. Nicole and I decided it was the best this city had to offer. Although Chris is a huge fan of miserable dining experiences, he decided to go along with us and give good food a try.

Chris and I take a break at the pedestrian bridge to Belfast.

We saw this sign outside Lincolnville. We decided not to buy it.

From Belfast we pedaled onwards to Camden Hills State Park. I made the mistake of trusting my Garmin 605 GPS for the address of the campground rather than call the place directly. The GPS took us to the State Park allright--just on the other side of a mountain hiking trail! We had to ride an extra 5 miles in total to get back to Route so that we could check in and put and put our stakes down.

Chris refuels while Kevin curses the fallacy of his GPS.

Once we got to the campground, though, it was beautiful. The park itself is huge, as we had already learned the hard way, with hiking trails that go up and down the aptly named Camden Hill. The park also sits on both sides of Route 1, with the eastern side touching the shore and the western side site of the trails and camping area. We arrived with plenty of daylight remaining to rest and cool down.

We've done 90 miles in two days. One week until Caroline and Dave's wedding!

Nicole and Chris coast on Route 1 towards Camden, Maine.