Making a school zone look like zee autobahn!

Oh. My. Lord.

Maine is full of hills. Not your garden variety hill. These hills are the gnarly spawn of plate tectonics and Satan. Yesterday, we rode through 31.66 miles of the most treacherous hills we've ever ridden. This came as something of a surprise, because we are both in pretty good shape. Vanessa just rode RAGBRAI with no problem, and I am an Olympic caliber athlete (still a free agent). We did some training rides with a full load on the trailers, and had no problem. But, when you combine the forces of 50 degree weather, a constant demoralizing "mist" (read: it rained the whole way), complete lack of sun, and the occasional lack of pavement, the hills were nearly unbearable.

Be that as it may, we kept riding all day. It took from noon (ish) to dusk to ride into Ellsworth, ME, where we happened upon the best hotel in the northeast. To Sunset Motel on highway ME-3: THANK YOU!!!!! Just as our nerves were reaching their ends, we saw the glowing light of your comfortable beds and warm showers. You took us in with hospitality, and offered the sweet warmth of hot cocoa, which we enjoyed while watching a Married With Children episode.

After the first day of discomfort, our respite at the Sunset Motel had us ready for another hilly but short day. We had a quiet ride into Trenton, ME, where we had our first whole steamed Maine lobster (pictures forthcoming). We rode some wide shoulders into Bar Harbor, where our first stop was.......a winery!!! We tasted some wines and bought a bottle of Bar Harbor Winery Bo Jo, which is a delicious Beaujolais blend. We got to our campsite and paired it with pasta drenched in pizza sauce and Cracker Barrel fromage. C'est magnifique!

To top off a relaxing day, we managed to build a campfire from scratch. As a treat, I offer our readership the following step-by-step instructions: 1) get a campsite where the previous campers left some firewood behind 2) collect grass, paper, etc 3) use sticks and small twigs to make a teepee over the grass, paper, etc. 4) try to light the fire in vain for 45 minutes ("the natural way") 5) spray entire structure with bug spray 6) enjoy your raging campfire with a glass of Bar Harbor Bo Jo!

Cheers from Maine!