The sunrise was incredible. We loved this spot we were at and were very grateful to the City of Belfast for providing it to us. Walking out of town was amazing. They have a path known as the Harbor Walk. It goes right through an active shipyard. It was so cool watching them all work on beautiful sail boats.
We spent the first half of the day walking up and down. These hills weren’t as bad as some of the ones we’ve had the other days in Maine. My wheels were warped and wobbly but sturdy enough to make it.
We stopped for a break at a Sunoco gas station. The owner of the store was there and he had hiked the Appalachian Trail years ago. He introduced himself as ‘Bane from Maine’. He talked to us for quite a while and let us have some goodies from the store. While we were talking to him, a cyclist with a bike that was loaded down with gear rolled up.
We called him over. He was riding from Florida to Maine. His name was Louis and we talked about some of the things we’ve seen and how nice people were to us. Then he left. We headed out shortly after as well.
More hills and beautiful sights and smells filled the afternoon. We came up to a beautiful bridge that we needed to cross. There was a scenic overlook and we stopped to take a photo. While we were there, a group of bikers pulled up on their loud hogs.
They had seen us on the news and wanted to hear about what we were doing and what we had seen. They were all obnoxious and a little tipsy. A southern Maine/ northern Massachusetts accent which was coming out stronger due to the beer they were drinking. I was not a fan of them.
They were trying to be nice to us though. In a Masshole kind of way. Many of them donated money and they definitely meant well. They just played into a lot of the stigma associated with addiction and they said a few comments that rubbed me wrong. Here they are drinking and riding motorcycles and they somehow justified seeing themselves as better than people who use heroin. I didn’t say anything though. I didn’t have to. They were all helping each other process things. It turned out to be a great exchange in the end, I just hated to see them drinking on two wheels. Ugh.
We crossed the bridge and I slipped and hit my shin really hard on the frame of Lieutenant Dan (my cart). It hurt like hell and put me in a bit of a bad mood as I “walked it off”. I felt better in a few minutes though.
We came into this beautiful town called Bucksport and stopped at a McDonald’s to grab a cheap bite and some WiFi. The phone and internet service is not great up here in Maine.
While we were eating, another guy on a loaded down bicycle comes in. He was riding from Huntsville, Alabama to Bar Harbor, Maine. So cool. We chatted for a bit then headed out.
We rolled into the KOA campground that we had booked earlier in the day. The owner said she recognized me by my good manners. She said I was very kind on the phone and with the introduction when we walked in. I told her it’s just the Georgia in me.
We checked in and set up our tents. Then we got to thinking about logistics and it would work out well if we could stay here tomorrow night and leave our stuff here during the day tomorrow so that we have light loads to push. We get back to our car tomorrow evening and can drive back.
So I went in to book tomorrow night and she comped the rate for us. Such a huge help! Then I went outside and hung out with the staff for a while to talk about the signs of the overdose epidemic that we’ve seen along the way. I told them stories and they told me some that they knew of also. We then talked about solutions and how we can all play a part in helping. They invited us to walk in a town parade on Saturday morning. We are definitely going to do that if they really meant it. We’ll see how that goes. It’ll be great exposure in this small town. People will definitely get the conversation started!
Anyways, more miles to make tomorrow…. good night!
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