Day 79 - Saint John to Sussex - Two Far 2022 - Reunion Bound (the long way around)

June 27, 2022

Day 79 - Saint John to Sussex

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What an excellent touring day we had. The rain expected this afternoon held off until well after we were in our hotel. The strong winds which preceded the rain were at our back the whole way. The hills provided exercise without being painful. And, best of all, we had memorable encounters with some terrific people.

We got on the road about 8:30 to give plenty of time to get to Sussex before 4:00. It was a little cool, but we had enough climbing to warm us up quickly. Our route followed the Kennebecasis River from Saint John to Sussex. The first half of the way, we went through a few small towns and the second half was mostly rural with some farming.

The first town we went through was Rothebay. It seemed like it might be an upscale suburb of Saint John.

At Hampton, we crossed the river on this cool old bridge.

Once we passed the towns, we started seeing some farming.

This is the first herd of cattle we've seen recently

And this is their home - it was very fragrant as we pedaled past.

Another farm - we didn't see any more livestock after the cows above.

The best part of today was our visit to Hall Bros in the little community of Norton. We were ready to find a restroom (or washroom, as they say in Canada) and stopped at the only store, only to find it closed. We had seen the Hall Bros Kubota dealership coming into town, so we turned around and went back there.

We had just parked the bike, when this man walked out of the store. He wanted to take our picture because, he said, his wife would never believe him. He and his wife had talked to us in Ogunquit, Maine on June 13. They were walking on the sidewalk and while we were stopped in traffic, we chatted with them briefly. It was pretty amazing to see him two weeks later in Norton, NB!

I'm calling this picture "The Stokers Meeting"

Tanya, Jeanna, Judy & Kate. The three women all got a short ride on the tandem with Kerry (Jeanna is taking a much longer one). A good time was had by all.

This is Judy, one of the owners of the business. She took the first ride.

Next, Kate, one of the staff, took her turn.

Finally, co-worker Tanya couldn't miss out on the fun.

Kerry noticed this interesting structure but couldn't think what it might be.

It was located in front of this NB highway department building and next to the big pile of sand. I didn't get a clear enough picture of it, but one of the white signs inside said something about loading trucks.

Maybe the truck pulls in and whatever is loaded goes through the grate on the top?

Near the end of the route, we crossed back over the river on this bridge.

We arrived in Sussex, had lunch, did a little Walmart shopping and then checked into the hotel. Sometime later, the front desk called and said that someone was here with a basket for us. It was Tanya with a basket of treats and a note from three of them thanking us for "brightening their Monday". It was kind, thoughtful and delicious! Thank you, Tanya, Kate and Judy.

Kerry here...

Among other items, there were biscuits, fresh (made yesterday) strawberry jam, and Diet Coke. How can life get any better??!!

Today both Jeanna & I noticed that the flora is changing as we get farther north. There seemed to be fewer flowers today than we have seen in New England. That's not to say there weren't any, but they are just not as abundant. There were several stretches of road today that had lush grasses, but no wildflowers. Also, the lupines that were so abundant in Maine are thinning out and the flower below seems to be the predominate wildflower in this area.

Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 2,652 miles (4,268 km)

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