September 28: Lincoln, ME to Houlton, ME

Lincoln Maine Sept 28 to Houlton Maine (78 miles)

I got up this morning and it was raining hard when I went outside at 7:00 AM. I was not in all that big of a hurry to get soaking wet so I piddled around till 8:30 and finally pushed my bike outside to leave. The rain let up just as I left. I thought that was nice. I rode for about an hour or so and then it started to rain again. It was pretty warm by then and I did not want to put my rain coat on because I knew it would make me sweat pretty bad. The hills above Lincoln were still pretty steep and I knew I would get all sweaty working up those hills. So I just rode in the rain today and got wet. After a few hours I was pretty soaking wet and the rain began to let up a little so I stopped and rung my shirt out and kept riding. The rain stopped and I was dry within a couple of hours.

The strong scent of Pine and Spruce trees was very pleasant as I rode along this morning. As I get further North in Maine, the traffic seems to get more calm. I am not seeing very many cars as I drive down the highway. Highway 2 and 2A are pretty decent roads although at times the blacktop is in pretty bad shape and rattles my teeth a little.

I lost a very good friend today. My US Flag Bandanna. I have been carrying that bandanna for over 4000 miles and somehow I lost it within the last couple of days. I don’t know where. It must have just come unhooked from my seat and fallen off onto the highway somewhere. I think it might have fallen off on Saturday as I rode to Lincoln from Bar Harbor. In Washington State when it was very hot, I hooked the bandanna on my helmet to keep my neck from turning into Burnt Toast. Lori sewed some Velcro on the bandana and I put some Velcro on my helmet so I could hook it on. It helped a lot to keep the sun off my neck. Later on when it was a little cooler, I just hooked it on my seat because I am Proud to be an American and it was also very useful to clean my glasses. My glasses were always getting fogged up, dirty, smudged or whatever and the bandanna was great to clean them. I even washed my bandanna in Bar Harbor so it was nice and clean. I went to clean my glasses this morning and – No Bandanna. I don’t know where he went. I will miss him. I feel like I just lost WILSON. You know – WILSON in the movie – lost on the Island – Raft… Dangit anyway. I bought another small flag at Wal-Mart in Houlton, Maine this afternoon but it is just not the same. I lost a good friend.

I saw a pretty nice looking Newt today, a couple of handsome frogs, a big snapping turtle, a flock of about 20 turkeys, a mink and several cool looking snakes. The rain brings out the animals. The mink was a little on the dead side, but they sure have pretty coats. The big snapping turtle (see photo) had been hit by a car and was hurt pretty bad but he was not dead. I picked him up and took him out of the road and put him in a grassy ditch. I doubt if he will make it but he was still somewhat functional. The frogs were in fine shape and I got them to hop off the road. The New was fine and looked pretty cool. Take a look at his spotted belly. It looks pretty cool. The snakes were tiny. They looked kind of like the grass snakes in Montana and North Dakota but with different colorations. Two of the snakes were the same type but one was much darker. They had a pretty orange band behind their head. I also saw a Starfish right next to the Snapping Turtle. I don’t know where the Starfish came from. I am pretty sure they don’t live in the Penobscot River system and it was about a half mile from the river anyway. Don’t know what is up with that. The turkeys were pretty cool. About 20 of them or so and when they saw me they began to run for the woods pretty fast.

The country side in Maine is very beautiful and the fall foliage is pretty cool. I made it to Houlton in pretty good time today and tried to find another tire for my bike. My front tire is beginning to delaminate. It has a big bulge in one spot and it does not look too good. I could not find a bike shop here and no tires in Houlton, Maine. I am about 42 miles from Presque Isle so hopefully I can fine a tire there. I have not had too good of luck with my tires on this trip. I should get to Presque Isle by noon tomorrow or so. I am debating on just heading up to the tip of Maine and then going to my cousins Dwight and Ida afterwards. I will have to see tomorrow. It is supposed to rain the rest of the week so I should be pretty waterlogged by the weekend. It probably won’t kill me. I seem to be fairly water resistant.

Later,
Dan

Turkeys in the field Sept 28 Lincoln Maine 03
Starfish Sept 28 in Lincoln Maine 01
Snapping Turtle Sept 28 Lincoln Maine 4
Snake No 3 Sept 28 Houlton Maine
Snake No 2 Sept 28 Houlton Maine
Snake No 1 Sept 28 Lincoln Maine
Newt Sept 28 Lincoln Maine 10
Newt Sept 28 Lincoln Maine 9
Newt Sept 28 Lincoln Maine 7
Moose Sept 28 Houlton Maine
Lincoln Maine Sept 28 to Houlton Maine 85
Lincoln Maine Sept 28 to Houlton Maine 81
Lincoln Maine Sept 28 to Houlton Maine 68
Lincoln Maine Sept 28 to Houlton Maine 59
Lincoln Maine Sept 28 to Houlton Maine 58
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Lincoln Maine Sept 28 to Houlton Maine 46
Lincoln Maine Sept 28 to Houlton Maine 22
Houlton Maine Sept 28 No 09
Houlton Maine Sept 28 No 03
Houlton Maine Sept 28 No 01
George Washington Sept 28 Houlton Maine
Frog 2nd Sept 28 Lincoln Maine 02
First Frog Sept 28 Lincoln Maine 01
Fall Foliage Sept 28 Lincoln Maine 15
Fall Foliage Sept 28 Lincoln Maine 14
Fall Foliage Sept 28 Lincoln Maine 13
Fall Foliage Sept 28 Lincoln Maine 11
Fall Foliage Sept 28 Lincoln Maine 09
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Fall Foliage Sept 28 Lincoln Maine 04
Fall Foliage Sept 28 Lincoln Maine 02
Fall Foliage Sept 28 Lincoln Maine 01