Machais to Pembroke (via Campobello)

June 13, 2015

Well, today was a little disappointing. The ferries between Campobello and Deer Island and from there to the mainland at L'Etete don't start operating until June 19th! We only learned this after entering Canada and deciding to stop and tour the Roosevelt Cottage! A tour guide took an interest in us and our trip, so we spilled out our itinerary and learned the news. Oh well, we finished our well-guided tour and made alternate plans. One needs to maintain flexibility! And be more careful in one's planning.

Today's ride to Pembroke

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So we rode the 30 miles to Campobello along first, Coastal US-1, and then made a right on ME-189 for the 13 miles to Lubec and the Canadian border.

Lubec is the United States' easternmost town, located in the easternmost county, Washington County (aka Sunrise County).

Outside of that, Lubec is mostly known as the gateway to Campobello, Roosevelt's childhood summer retreat and sometimes getaway while president.

But to get there, we had to enter Canada. This was a milestone event, or so we thought at the time, as we were planning to take the ferry to Deer Island and then to the mainland and on to St George, where we had a hotel reservation waiting for us. But what was to be an easy day turned out otherwise.

But first, obligatory photos of the crossing!

Back to the cottage: It has mostly original furniture and appointments. I'll share a few photographs.

The president's bedroom — very modest given his wealth.

The children's bedroom, of which you see only half. This would have been mine!

The kitchen with a stove that has a brand name of "President," which was a pure coincidence.

So after the house tour, we decided to return to Lubec (we had no other choice) and plan our next steps. Calais was too far to go given we had 32 miles under our belt already and it was 48 miles away. Not impossible, mind you, but it was already 2:00 PM, and we are not particularly fast riders. And there was no reason either since we still had a reservation in St George, which was a day's ride to St John. So we looked for a motel somewhere halfway between Whiting (at our first turn this morning) and Calais.

Well, only one place showed up: Rainbow Motel.

Happy says: Bates 5. Tom thinks: Bates 7. We gave Leonardo a Bates 8, I believe.

Seriously, this was it between ME-189 and Calais. And we weren't even sure it was open without much discussion with locals and several phone calls after we reached a real person. The proprietor turned out to be quite nice. So now we are 22 miles from Calais and 53 from St George.

The ride back wasn't too bad, particularly on ME-189. However, when we turned north onto US-1, we met a strong headwind for much of the last 11 miles. And there were still great views to be had:

Lubec Narrows looking toward the Quoddy Narrows.

And tranquil streams that are just about everywhere.

So today we will consider a dress rehearsal for the actual crossing! Tomorrow we'll cross KNOWING we will continue to move forward! But then, as Happy likes to say, "All roads lead to Halifax!"

Today's ride: 57 miles (92 km)
Total: 2,759 miles (4,440 km)

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