Day 21 June 17 Maine-Canada-USA

milage 550 est
total milage 5939


camping fee $44 a room at the Caravan Inn in Canton, NY (very nice)

Left my garage eary in the morning, it was raining, glad I was in Hermans' garage.

I rode accross the bridge in Matawaska, Garmita (GPS) wanted me to drive West 20 miles, cross the bridge there and then return to the other side of the Matawaska bridge.....Hmmmm..decided just to cross. Now if Martin had been there I might have done it just to see the look on his face when we arrived back at our starting spot :) Garmita does have a mind of her own.

I crossed into Canada with no problem, just a few questions. However Martin in black jacket, chaps, v-twin and pipes had a different experience but no strip search (that I'm aware of).

The rain got hard in Canada and the temp dropped, I was wearing my fleece vest under my riding suit and wishin that it had sleeves.

when I crossed into Canada everything was labled in French and English though this wasn't to last. When I got to Quebec Province it was French only, all the flags were Quebec not Canadian, even at Gov't (ie State Police) buildings. I found it interesting that French Quebec demands the other provinces label in both languages so they can read them but decline to do the same.

The first 200 miles was very cold. Stopped for s senior coffee at a Micky D's, $1.67 CA

There are lots of camp grounds in Canada. Unlike the US and some motels allow camping also. But with the rain and cold I just wanted to keep moving. I crossed the US border on hwy 15 and headed towards Niagra falls. I finally stopped at Canton and got a room. No camping spots for 87 miles. Coming thru US customs is a joke, 5-10 mins per car if they do nothing and 5-6 guards per lane. They are ready to repel an army.

I have found northern NY to be as beautiful as the south was. The weather still sucks 4 days now of rain/overcast and cold. Today I left Maine, crossed about 450 miles of Canada and then back home. I could of hit Vermont with a 15 mile side trip but didn't think that would be fair. It wasn't on the route and I wouldn't be going there to see anything special.

Arthritis in fingers so bad I couldn't cut french toast using a fork, had to use a knife...even bumps on road hurt like it was broken. Getting older sucks but it's better than the alternative.