Day 66 Searsport to Bar Harbor (last riding day)

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Happy coincidences have abounded all throughout this trip, so why should the last day be any different. I spent the night with friends of friends in Sandpoint Idaho on the eighth day of my journey (some 3500 miles ago). On the last day of my journey, along the highway in Maine I was flagged over by her sister who lives in Georgia but was vacationing in Maine with her husband. They had looked at my satellite tracker and knew our paths would cross so they waited for me! What a thrill on the last day.

I’ve had an observation about New England that I’ve been meaning to share for a while and since I’m out of blog posts today seems like a good day. The latitude of New England is very similar to where I rode in Wisconsin and Michigan. So, the trees, birds, and animals are very similar. What is strikingly different is the rocks. Things that might be obvious to others or at least better students of history I’m slow to pick up on. And thinking about it being called New England makes a whole lot more sense when you think about the terrain of New England compared to England, Scotland, and Ireland where stonewalls are common around farms as they are in New England. It’s because that’s what they had to deal with before they could grow their crops or manage their livestock. Not because they all had the same landscape architect and liked the vibe. The earth has made them a tough and hearty group of people which I’ve witnessed when I stopped for lunch. I was all bundled up against the cold at a convenience store only to watch the locals jump out of their pickup trucks wearing shorts and a short sleeve shirts . I can only imagine the early settlers reaction as they moved into the Midwest and found fertile soil that was not full of rocks. They must’ve thought they died and went to heaven.