Quebec to Boston - end of the ride

Mon 07/22Full day's ride to Victoriaville QC.  Some on bike path, most on provincial highways. A nice little town, whose main industry is a large dairy.  The Comfort Inn was great..  Free laundry, and a functional PC.

Good rides start at a good bakery.  Paillard is one of Quebec cities best... certainly the busiest.

Much of the ride to Victoriaville had dedicated
bike trails.  Took these until they turned to gravel.

Tue 07/23
Hilly ride to Sherbrooke.  Went into downtown (hotel was 6 miles SW of town) for dinner on the way, but both places I had picked out were closed for summer vacation... so I ended up adding about 8 miles to my ride with some extra hills.  That said, it's a lovely town with a vibrant downtown.  

Wed 07/24

-->Shortly before crossing back into the USA, stopped into Auberge Le Sunshine, a small french bakery in Stanstead, Quebec.  Crossed border at a very unassuming single-lane CBP station.  A small red building with a carport. Made my way to Barton VT.   Nice log cabin.  Met a nice family from Montreal by a fire pit next to the small river that runs through the property.
Thurs 07/25
Stayed at Nootka lodge in Woodsville.  Really nice place, constructed entirely of large logs.  Right down the street is a Walmart... so got my dinner there, since I ate a late lunch.

Fri 7/26
Weather getting warmer.  High 80's, low 90's and lots of hills.  A horrible Super 8 in Tilton. No computer, smoking room, Really shabby.  Another in-room dinner of cereal and milk.  Glad to be out of there.

Sat. 7/27
Kittery ME.  This is the southern-most town in ME.  Right on the NH border (Portsmouth).  Kittery is more a working town.  Portsmouth has much more tourist appeal.  Scored a great lobster dinner at Murray's Lobster House, which is about 2 mi. from my hotel just on the ME side of the bridge.  Dinner was about $36 for two 1-lb lobsters including potato and an extensive salad / soup bar. 

Sun. 7/28
Scored a nice croissant in Portsmouth, NH (Elephantine Bakery).  Then a pleasant ride down the coast.  Just north of Hampton Beach, I dropped into Ray's lobster house for lunch

Large lobster roll.  It's all lobster meat inside

But man... this was a hot ride.  By the time I stopped for dinner, around 6, it was about 94°.  I was still about 7 miles from Mechuen, MA... but the restaurant (Buono Bistro) had A/C, and by the time I left, the sun was not nearly as strong, and temperature had dropped to 87.

Fantastic roast duck with squash cubes under the duck.
So glad I ducked in to get out of the heat!

The next 2 days will be spent visiting relatives in the Boston area before taking the bike to Amtrak to ship it to SJ, and taking a flight from Logan to SFO on Wed. 8/1 morning.

Final map update:
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.8259019,-106.2568096,4z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!6m1!1s1VcgH5E3nUHkroyi9MB-IqcSvNsCVAItp?hl=en

Ride Stats

Distance bicycled	Total Vertical
2,932 miles	73,000 feet

From Flint to Quebec - Viva la contrast1

See updated trip map at:  https://drive.google.com/open?id=1VcgH5E3nUHkroyi9MB-IqcSvNsCVAItp&usp=sharing
7/12 - Ride from Midland to Flint, MI.  Midland is home to Dow Chemical, and is pretty much a company town.  Flint was home long ago to Buick and other GM plants.  It's a hollowed out shell that GM abandoned... left behind decades of pollution.  It's a pretty depressing city. 

7/13 - Left the sadness behind and entered Canada by being driven across the Bluewater bridge (not allowed to ride bicycle on bridge) by the Michigan bridge patrol.  This is a service they provide to bicyclists who are going to Canada for more than just a day ride.  If you were just going for a short jaunt, you would have to go down to Marine City and catch a ferry across the Detroit river.  Picked up a Canadian SIM card and proceeded to London.
7/14 - Pleasant ride to London.  Stayed downtown near the university.
7/15 - Brantford - 

Humidity and more Donuts

Sat. 7/6
Got off a pretty nice 24-hour Amtrak journey in Columbus WI (about 15 miles from Madison) and proceeded to bike to Beaver Dam, about 1.5 hrs up the road.
Sun. 7/7:  50 miles north to Oshkosh.  The reward, frozen custard at Leon's, a branch (sort-of) of Leon's in Milwaukee, but without their best flavor (butter pecan).   Can't have everything.

Leon's looking good in neon at night

7/8 - 7/9  Finished with Wisconsin with a 30-mile ride to Appleton, then an early morning 43 mile ride to catch the 2 PM ferry from Manitowoc to Ludington.
7/10 ride to Evart.  A small non-descript town about 60 miles east of Ludington.

7/11 Picked up the Pere Marquette Rail-Trail just east of Evart.  This is one of the few Rail-Trail routes that's 100% paved.  Flat, straight, quiet and smooth.

 

Took the trail to Clare, MI, home of yet another Donut Mecca : "Cops & Donuts", which is a now-famous donut shop in Clare that was going out of business, so the local police force bought it out in 2009, breathing new life into it.  I was there before in 2013.  It's now 30% larger, and they have expanded to 5 branch stores.  An interesting engine of economic development... with some kick-ass baked goods

A really good sticky bun

Maple frosted cinnamon roll with bacon

Doin' Donut Time!

The 2nd half of the ride was the other half of the Pere Marquette Rail-Trail into Midland, which is home to Dow Chemical's headquarters, a huge complex that dominates the southwestern part of the town.  My hotel, "The H Hotel" was also really nice.  Lots of Dow people stay here. 

In contrast, there's Flint, where I'm staying tonight (Friday 7/12).  The closer you get to Flint, the more rundown the roads and buildings become.  Even though the water here in many places is OK now, trust in public officials is so low, that most restaurants still serve bottles of water at dinner.

SAD.

Going to the Sun

7/3 :  The rain came last night to West Glacier.  It kept steadily raining from about 6 PM through 10:30 AM, despite Accuweather and Weather Channel both putting probability of precip. at 35% for 7/2-7/3.  It let up around 11:30, so I made a break for the shuttle to go up to Logan Pass.  Even if it had cleared a few hours earlier, I could not have biked over Logan Pass, since no bikes are allowed from 11 AM to 4 PM.    The good news is that the shuttles are free, and they have bicycle racks.  The ride up is spectacular.

View of Oberlin Mountain... covered in clouds.

Logan Pass at the top of Going to the Sun Road

Since the weather looked good going east... I decided to ride down to Rising Sun. 

Looking across a canyon on the way down.

It's 12 miles, which would normally take me about 1:20, but since it's mostly downhill, I did the first 9 miles in about 1/2 hour.  Then the rain started and the road by that point was fairly flat ... so I put my thumb out at a turnout, and within about 5 minutes I was picked up by an SUV that had 2 Flathead (Native American) and a Crow woman .  They initially drove past...  then came back for me.   They were on their way back from a powwow.  Browning Montana is at the center of a large Flathead reservation just east of Glacier.

7/4:  Rising Sun (St. Marys) to East Glacier
Not a long distance (37 miles) but a challenging elevation profile (3300 ft)

Arrived hungry.  On US 2 there was an Indian Fry Bread stand.  Fry bread is like a pita-shaped donut.  I had an Indian Taco, which is basically chili on fry bread.  Very filling.

7/5:  Departed East Glacier Friday morning.  Arrived in Columbus (near Madison) early Saturday afternoon.  Amtrak now has bicycle hooks in the baggage car... so for some stations, you can check the bike without having to box it up.  Very convenient.

 

Idaho and Montana

Note:   Interacive map has been updated.  Click here

6/20  Connell to Ritzville

Gasoline is significantly cheaper.  Price dropped by over 30% as soon as I crossed the California-Oregon border.

Ride to Ritzville was hard.  Headwinds.  Wore me out.  Also, Google Maps sent me on gravel roads.  I later learned that it is legal to take the freeway (US395 and I-90) until you reach the Spokane suburbs.

6/21 Spokane :
Stayed at the lovely Montvale hotel.  Originally opened in 1899.  See photos and history here:         https://www.montvalespokane.com/   .  Had a pretty nice dinner at Steam Plant about 3 blocks away.

Scallops and Couscus with a hugh side of corn bread

6/22 :  On the way to Sandpoint, ID, met my friend Ron for lunch in downtown Rathdrum.  I used to work with him in the mid 1990's.  Hadn't seen him in about 20 years.  After lunch we went to his house.  Ron restores cars and has a huge workshop in back of the house and I got to ride in his 1907 Model A.

Ron's 1907 Model A - A thing of beauty!

6/23 - 6/26  Trout Creek (ID), Plains and Missoula MT.
Just north of Sandpoint, rte 200 runs along lakes and rivers to Ravalli, where it meets up with US 93 over the hill to Missoula.  Stayed with my 2nd cousin, Bert and his extended family.  Bert's mother (my mother's 1st cousin) is in her mid-90's and is still going strong.

6/27 En route to Allentown
I grew up in Allentown, PA.  Unbeknownst to mostly everyone, there's an Allentown Montana on the map.  First, you go through Ravalli, which was a challenge because it decided to rain all morning, even though it was predicted to be clear after 9AM.  There is no public transit in this area, and no cars available at the Missoula airport so I ended up taking Uber for the 30 miles or so to Ravalli, which was a "must do" stop.  Windmill is a wonderful bakery specializing in the owner's mother's recipe for donuts, made in small batches in what resemble a home kitchen.  It just doesn't get any better than this.

Best Donuts ever at Windmill Bakery

On that side of the mountain things were a little better, so I rode rode to Nine Pipes Inn in Allentown, which is located in the Flathead Reservation, home to Kootenai and Salish tribes.

6/27 - 28  Big Fork and Kalispell
A 50 mile ride around Flathead lake (where most of Montana's cherries are grown) landed me in Big Fork.  Nice little touristy town on the northeast shore of the lake.   On 6/28, short ride to Kalispell, where I'm in a Super 8 that has a good computer that I've been monopolizing while waiting for 7/2 when I have my reservation at West Glacier.  I made the reservation for 7/2 to account for rain delays.. which there were none of ... so I'm here a few days early.  It's a lot cheaper to stay here, about 40 miles west of Glacier.
Tomorrow, I stay in W. Glacier to attempt the big ride over "Going to the Sky road" which opened last week.  Last time I tried to go over Logan pass through glacier in 2016, they didn't manage to get it plowed out until 4 days after I came through, so I had to take
US 2.
Rain is forecast for tomorrow afternoon and for the next 2 days... as luck would have it.  We'll see what happens.

How sweet it is

I think I have a reputation as a donut aficionado among my Kiwanis friends.  I could be part of a more generic sweet-tooth.  I dunno...

All part of a healthy breakfast (the unhealthy part) on Wed. morning 6/19

Popular Donuts, Kennewick

Popular Donuts, Kennewick

Vinny's bakery, Pasco WA

 10 miles north of Pasco is Country Mercantile.  The biggest candy store I've ever seen.  They also have Ice Cream, a lunch counter/sandwich restaurant.  Various jams, spreads, etc.  A produce market.
Google Maps link with lots of pictures :   https://goo.gl/maps/jV3eaPpjVegMRtAaA

Some Samples at Country Mercantile, 10 mi. north of Pasco

From Lassen to the Columbia River

Updated map here:  https://drive.google.com/open?id=1VcgH5E3nUHkroyi9MB-IqcSvNsCVAItp&usp=sharing
The map pins that are blueish signify stops that I've already made.  Red pins are stops that are planned.  This should make it easier to figure out where I am.


6/10:  Lakeview, OR to Summer Lake

A 73 mile ride through beautiful open country.  I rode this same route in 2017... so it started to look familiar, especially as I got close to the town of Paisley.  There were signs in the windows of several of the local businesses which read "Beware, the politicians are coming to take your guns!", including at the Summer Lake lodge where I stayed.  Paisley has a population of under 200.  Summer Lake is even smaller. 

6/11:  La Pine, Oregon: Another 73 mile day.  This is a larger town, supporting a couple of grocery stores and a Bi-Mart (like a smaller Costco).

6/12:  Bend, OR
A real city.  Big enough for a Walmart etc.  This was an easy ride.  Only 33 miles, mostly downhill, following the Deschute river.  Best part of the day was dessert at Bonta Natural Artisan Gelato.

6/13:  Madras
Relaxed 50 mile ride with a net 1400 ft descent.  I was staying on the North side of town.  Across the highway from the hotel was Wild Winds Station bar and grill... a local hangout...  where the special was pulled pork.  Big portion.   I can't believe I ate the whole thing!

6/14:  Maupin - Still on the Deschutes river.  This is a town mostly consisting of rafting tour operators.  My hotel was on the river and was also a rafting ooperator with a not-so-great restaurant.

6/15:  Maupin to The Dalles  I decided to ride to the next town for breakfast at Molly B's diner about 10 miles north in Tygh Valley. (pupulation 200)  Good decision.   The Dalles is a significant sized town on the south bank of the Columbia river, about 1 hour east of the end of the scenic port of the Columbia River Gorge.  It's a big rail hub, To the east is mostly desert.  On 2 prior trips through here, I came from Portland and continued east along the river (sometimes on I-84) .   This time, I'm approaching from the south and heading across the river going North.  Overall a tough ride (3400 ft climb, but 4300 drop), but only 41 miles.

 

The Dalles bridge and dam.

 On the hill on the north bank of the Columbia

6/16 :  Goldendale:  After a lovely breakfast at Petite Provence in The Dalles, I headed across the river and up the hill to Goldendale.   Nice motel (Ponderosa) for $85 included a full kitchen, so I had corn on the cob and beans for dinner.  This being Sunday night, there wasn't much open in town anyway.

6/17:  Toppenish :  50 mile ride with 3200 ft vertical.  This is a farming town.  There are 6 Mexican restaurants... so it has the feel of a small Central Valley town.  This is part of the Yakima valley.  This town grows a fair amount of hops.

6/18: Kennewick:  70 mile ride, but fairly flat.  Tomorrow morning I plan to hit Popular Donuts for breakfast.  Last time I was there was in 2013 with Elias, our exchange student from Argentina.  On the way to Glacier

Up the Feather River

Tuesday 6/4:  Toughest day of the ride.

The climb to Scooter's café comprises most of the elevation gain.  The 1700 ft drop occurs just after Scooters at the peak.  Then you descend to ride the rest of the journey to Belden along the beautiful Feather River.  Because of this year's heavier than usual precipitation, the river was running full.  I passed many waterfalls and fast running streams that cascade into the river.  A stunningly beautiful day!

Wed. 6/5:  Rode about 35 miles uphill to Taylorsville, where I stayed at Gary's beautiful house on Indian Creek.   We stayed for 3 nights at Gary's Airbnb overlooking the Bay of Islands in Opua, NZ in February.   We chose his place because it's right next to our friend's house in Opua.  Gary was a terrific host, and even took us out for a sailing race on the bay.   It was really nice to see him again.  The food, lodging and company were excellent.

Thu. 6/6:   Rode about 40 miles to the town of Westwood.  Stayed in the Walker Mansion Inn, (click link for pictures) which is a lovely B&B with warm hosts and a great breakfast. 

Fri. 6/7:  Another long day...  82 miles to Fall River Mills.   I had done the same ride in 2017 from Chester, about 10 miles longer than this ride.    Since 2017, a new restaurant has opened in FRM.  Very good food.

Sat. 6/8:  Headwinds going the 75 miles from Fall River Mills to Alturas.  Another wicked elevation profile.

but excellent views of Mt. Shasta on the first climb of the day.

Sunday 6/9: Uneventful 56 mile ride to Lakeview.   A fairly small town, but big enough for a Safeway.  Today and tomorrow, there are no towns with either restaurants or convenience stores along the route, so I'm carrying enough junk food from the Dollar store to get through the day's ride.

It's on...and I'm off!

Good trips start with good baked goods! 
 https://goo.gl/maps/gaRdED2YsV9foPua7

Best croissants in the country!

Alcatraz in the fog through the dirty window on the Ferry to Vallejo

At China House in downtown Vacaville

It's now Monday 6/3.  Heading out from Yuba City to Oroville.  Tomorrow is the BIG CLIMB (3750 ft) up the Feather River canyon.

For updated map, click here

2019 Cross-country bicycle trip preview

This year, I'll be starting in Palo Alto on June 1.  This year's route will climb the Sierras via CA 70, Feather River Canyon.  Proceeding through Northern California, Oregon, Washington through Spokane.  Through Missoula MT, then back up to Glacier National Park to ride over the Continental Divide via Going to the Sun Road.  Then onward to Shelby MT, where I will take Amtrak to 750 boring miles of N. Dakota and eastern MT arriving in Grand Forks MT.  Proceeding to Duluth, then crossing Lake Michigan by Ferry.  Across Michigan, into Canada at Sarnia.  Continuing through Toronto up to Montreal, then back down to Burlington VT. where I will be taking Amtrak to NYC to ship the bike home on Amtrak, and fly back to Palo Alto.

Click here for interactive map.

Auckland (North Island)

Like Melbourne, Auckland has lots of bays, inlets and islands.  We've been making use of the ferry system to explore a couple of them.   The city is attempting to expand its fledgling metro rail system, so may streets are torn up with that activity, and only 1 of the 3 metro train lines are running.   The bus system works well, however, and we were able to make effective use of it to buy a bike for my upcoming Auckland to Christchurch bike ride.   New Years Eve here was fun, as there was an amazing fireworks display
Alexandra will be heading back to the Philippines next Wed, and I will depart on my trip on Thursday Jan 9, morning.

Click here for route map .

Down Under, another Summer Solstice

We touched down in Sydney, and immediately flew to Brisbane, which is directly north, but has a 1-hour time zone shift, because they did not adopt daylight savings time, and Sydney did.
We spent the next 3 weeks meandering our way down to Melbourne where we spent 10 nights before flying down to Auckland, where we are now.
Highlights of our travels in chronological and geographical order (North to South) :
Tambourine Mountain area:  Several parks and some lovely waterfalls.  Unfortunately, most of the streams that have rock pools for swimming had too little water to swim in, but the rain forests were beautiful  (80% of the original Australian rain forests vanished after Europeans arrived), and the Koala bears, cockatoos and other wildlife unique to Australia were very interesting.

Central Coast Area:
Especially enjoyed the laid back coastal towns of Port Macquarie, and Port Stephens / Nelson Bay areas.

Sydney:
It's surrounded by water.  This strikes you when visiting the Sydney Tower Eye.  We enjoyed the city life, restaurants, and parks, especially the Botanical Gardens, and various municipal ferry rides up the river.

Melbourne:
The highlight of our stay was a visit to Phillip Island, where we went to see the Penguin Parade, which occurs after sundown.   Click here for video.  We also got to watch pelicans being fed, and seals nursing their pups
(a boat ride out to an island with thousands of seals.) and playing in the water.
Spent Christmas in Melbourne.  then off to Auckland on Dec. 28.

The last of the Northern Hemisphere - Executive Summary

I took a long break from updating the blog after finishing the bicycle trip in Madrid.  The first item of business was to sell the bike.  Happy to say, I sold it for about 100 euro less than I paid for it (200 E after accessorizing).  That turned out to be reasonably inexpensive for a 1-month bike rental.
Alexandra joined me in Madrid on Sept. 25, and we remained in Madrid for about a week before departing by train to visit:
Segovia (2 nights) :  Highlight - Cathedral
Toledo:  (2 nights) :  Highlight - Jewish Quarter
Valencia:  (5 night) :  Great aquarium, bike friendly, fabulous beaches and good restaurants

Then rented a car to get us to Seville by way of:
Granada
Cordoba

and finally departing to Porto, Portugal from Madrid, which we reached by high-speed train from Seville.   A few nights in Porto, followed by 5 wonderful nights in Lisbon finished up our stay in the EU, just before our 6-month French visas expired.   We high-tailed it out of the Schengen area on Sat. Oct 20 to Casablanca.  Had a lovely dinner with Alexandra's friend, Wendy, from Cebu, who works there.  Then proceeded to Rabat to visit Soukaina, who invited us to join her family for dinner.  We met her and Chaymae, her sister at the Hassan Tower. 

They live across the river in Sale.  In spite of the gathering dark storm clouds, we took the "ferry" (a large row-boat) across the river, and got soaked by a violent downpour just after disembarking.  We were soaking wet, with our destroyed (from wind) umbrellas by the time we got to their house.  They lent us some dry clothes, and her dad spent most of the time we were there trying to iron my jeans to dry them out.  Dinner was a feast of Lamb Tajine, sweets, Tea, and wonderful Moroccan hospitality. 
Alexandra still wears the pink pajama bottoms that Chaymae gave her.
We then took the train from Rabat to Marrakesh.  Stayed there for 5 nights, then left for a 1 night stopover in London before flying back to SFO. 

Arrived in SF on November 1 and settled into an AirBnb in Mountain View for the next 10 nights.  Checked in on the house.  It's still there.  Then departed for DC to visit my nephew and d'Niece (Baltimore).  Then took the train to Philadelphia, did a drive-by in Allentown, where I grew up, and then went to a family friend's 90th birthday in Phila before departing for Denver, where Janine, our daughter, now lives.  We spent her birthday there and had Thanksgiving at my cousin's place nearby, then departed for the new new world, Sydney, Australia.