Introduction and Index.
We rode two-up on a BMW R1200GSA (hence, small luggage). I’m the pillion, so Jeff was solely responsible for our safe passage, which he carried out admirably, as always. Much of our trip was arranged around attempts to capture photos suggested by two motorcycle “grand tours” and visits to locations designated by geocachers as worth the visit. If you’re not into long-distance motorcycling, motorcycle “grand tours,” or geocaching these may seem like odd guideposts, but both the grand tours and geocaching tend to take you to interesting spots. Sometimes they are the same places that tourists following the “Top 10” will also visit, but often they cover local favorites or things that are simply interesting.
The Team Strange Melting Pot grand tour took us to statues of immigrants (specific ones designated by the tour organizers), towns with the name of a country (which were up to us to identify), and a search for the Liberty Bell replicas. In the 1950s, fifty-five replicas of the famous bell were cast and then distributed around the country. Most are available to be visited. Some have the crack painted on them, which I find rather funny. As you will read below, over the course of 2018, Jeff and I visited many of the ones on the east coast (some of them twice, for reasons explained below).
The Tour of Honor focuses primarily on war memorials. We did not have many of these on our trip, but we did have a few.
Geocaching was at our selection. For those of you not familiar with this game, geocaches are hidden all over the world, and the information needed to find them is available on the web at Geocaching.com. The number of “likes” indicates the ones that are particularly appreciated, either because of the location, the cleverness of the “hide,” or some other characteristic. With careful reading, geocaching can provide you with a curated tour of the favorite spots of locals in the areas you are visiting, some of which are well-known and many of which are not. Sometimes it's just a fun way to find your way around a place you don't know or to add an interesting challenge or fun memory to your day (see Part 11). Geocaching can also take you to places like lampposts in the parking lots of shopping malls. Hence, “careful reading” is important if you are using Geocaching.com to plan a tour of sights worth seeing.
In addition to the above, we visited places that appealed to one or both of us for various reasons, like arts and crafts destinations (for me), leading to a delightful hodge-podge of sights and very full days!
The logs are chronological, tracing the complete path of our journey, in 17 parts:
Three: 6.23.18. Saturday. Portsmouth, New Hampshire to Steuben, Maine.
Four: 6.24.18. Sunday. Stueben, Maine.
Five: 6.25.18. Monday. Stueben, Maine, U.S. to St. John, New Brunswick, Canada.
Six: 6.26.18. Tuesday. St. John, New Brunswick to West Publico, Nova Scotia.
Seven: 6.27.18. Wednesday. West Publico, Nova Scotia to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Eight: 6.28.18. Thursday. Halifax, Nova Scotia to St. Louisbourg, Nova Scotia.
Nine: 6.29.18. Friday. Louisbourg to Cheticamp, Nova Scotia (Cape Breton Island).
Ten: 6.30.18. Saturday. Cheticamp, Nova Scotia to Georgetown, Prince Edward Island via the Cabot Trail.
Eleven: 7.1.18. Sunday. Georgetown to Tignish, Prince Edward Island. (Geocaching!)
Twelve: 7.2.18. Monday. Tignish, Prince Edward Island to Parrsboro, New Brunswick. (includes the Bottle House)
Thirteen: 7.3.18. Tuesday. Parrsboro, New Brunswick to Perce’s Rock, Quebec.
Fourteen: 7.4.18. Wednesday. Percé’s Rock, Quebec to Revière-du-Loup, Quebec; Gaspe peninsula.
Fifteen: 7.5.18. Thursday. Rivière-du-Loup, Québec to Wilton, Maine, US. (Includes Parc de la Frontière and Four Corners)
Sixteen: 7.6.18. Friday. Wilton, Maine to Bennington, Vermont.
Seventeen: 7.7.18. Saturday. Bennington, Vermont to Springfield, Virginia (home).
It’s taken months to finish documenting this 16-day, nearly 5000-mile motorcycle tour. The combination of me, Jeff, and the wonders of digital photography, yielded thousands of photos to sort, covering the magnificent and the mundane that we encountered. But, it was a joy to relive the trip while doing so. It was a fabulous experience!
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| Packed and ready to go! |
We rode two-up on a BMW R1200GSA (hence, small luggage). I’m the pillion, so Jeff was solely responsible for our safe passage, which he carried out admirably, as always. Much of our trip was arranged around attempts to capture photos suggested by two motorcycle “grand tours” and visits to locations designated by geocachers as worth the visit. If you’re not into long-distance motorcycling, motorcycle “grand tours,” or geocaching these may seem like odd guideposts, but both the grand tours and geocaching tend to take you to interesting spots. Sometimes they are the same places that tourists following the “Top 10” will also visit, but often they cover local favorites or things that are simply interesting.
The Team Strange Melting Pot grand tour took us to statues of immigrants (specific ones designated by the tour organizers), towns with the name of a country (which were up to us to identify), and a search for the Liberty Bell replicas. In the 1950s, fifty-five replicas of the famous bell were cast and then distributed around the country. Most are available to be visited. Some have the crack painted on them, which I find rather funny. As you will read below, over the course of 2018, Jeff and I visited many of the ones on the east coast (some of them twice, for reasons explained below).
The Tour of Honor focuses primarily on war memorials. We did not have many of these on our trip, but we did have a few.
Geocaching was at our selection. For those of you not familiar with this game, geocaches are hidden all over the world, and the information needed to find them is available on the web at Geocaching.com. The number of “likes” indicates the ones that are particularly appreciated, either because of the location, the cleverness of the “hide,” or some other characteristic. With careful reading, geocaching can provide you with a curated tour of the favorite spots of locals in the areas you are visiting, some of which are well-known and many of which are not. Sometimes it's just a fun way to find your way around a place you don't know or to add an interesting challenge or fun memory to your day (see Part 11). Geocaching can also take you to places like lampposts in the parking lots of shopping malls. Hence, “careful reading” is important if you are using Geocaching.com to plan a tour of sights worth seeing.
In addition to the above, we visited places that appealed to one or both of us for various reasons, like arts and crafts destinations (for me), leading to a delightful hodge-podge of sights and very full days!
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| Home of artist Barry Colpitts |
The logs are chronological, tracing the complete path of our journey, in 17 parts:
One: Introduction and Index
Two: 6.22.18. Friday. Springfield, Virginia to Portsmouth, New Hampshire (via Maine), United States.Three: 6.23.18. Saturday. Portsmouth, New Hampshire to Steuben, Maine.
Four: 6.24.18. Sunday. Stueben, Maine.
Five: 6.25.18. Monday. Stueben, Maine, U.S. to St. John, New Brunswick, Canada.
Six: 6.26.18. Tuesday. St. John, New Brunswick to West Publico, Nova Scotia.
Seven: 6.27.18. Wednesday. West Publico, Nova Scotia to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Eight: 6.28.18. Thursday. Halifax, Nova Scotia to St. Louisbourg, Nova Scotia.
Nine: 6.29.18. Friday. Louisbourg to Cheticamp, Nova Scotia (Cape Breton Island).
Ten: 6.30.18. Saturday. Cheticamp, Nova Scotia to Georgetown, Prince Edward Island via the Cabot Trail.
Eleven: 7.1.18. Sunday. Georgetown to Tignish, Prince Edward Island. (Geocaching!)
Twelve: 7.2.18. Monday. Tignish, Prince Edward Island to Parrsboro, New Brunswick. (includes the Bottle House)
Thirteen: 7.3.18. Tuesday. Parrsboro, New Brunswick to Perce’s Rock, Quebec.
Fourteen: 7.4.18. Wednesday. Percé’s Rock, Quebec to Revière-du-Loup, Quebec; Gaspe peninsula.
Fifteen: 7.5.18. Thursday. Rivière-du-Loup, Québec to Wilton, Maine, US. (Includes Parc de la Frontière and Four Corners)
Sixteen: 7.6.18. Friday. Wilton, Maine to Bennington, Vermont.
Seventeen: 7.7.18. Saturday. Bennington, Vermont to Springfield, Virginia (home).
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