Having gained an hour coming into Maine yesterday, we woke up early this morning to a beautiful, sunny day. We packed up camp and hit the road, excited to be heading into the White Mountains here in New Hampshire.
We have our Harley Touring Handbook which, among other things, highlights the best riding routes on all the North America maps. The roads through the White Mountains got FAT yellow highlights and we weren’t disappointed.
We started off by doing a loop through Berlin, Milan and then over to Groveton which was a twisty, windy road that wove through small little settlements with lots of little camps buried in the thick forest. They’re mad for “camps” up here and they’re hidden away all throughout the trees. There are also over 20 covered bridges in this area which have been restored and are whimsical to come across!
From Conway, we headed back west on the Kangamagus Highway which skirts the southern edge of the White Mountain National Park. It was another beautiful, scenic leg of the trip today, filled with lovely mountain vistas. From Lincoln, we decided to make some time so we shot up the I-93 interstate to St. Johnsbury where we cut down Route 2 to Montpelier, in Vermont. This smaller route took us through some stunning farmland (quite a few dairy farms) and we stopped in Marshfield for some lunch. Boy did we hit the jackpot.
Marshfield is a tiny hamlet with just a handful of houses on the main drag and only a couple of small businesses. If you blink, you would miss it but I caught a sign for the Rainbow Sweet Bakery and Cafe so we pulled over. Bill Tecosky is the owner and he’s been here for over 40 years. He specializes in European style pastries, some savoury, many sweet. He’s got a fast talking schtick he does with everyone who walks in - he’s his own one-man comedy show and his love for his craft and for the people who come for his delectables shines through. We had some pasties for lunch with a Greek salad and then we had a couple of desserts because you really couldn’t be here and not. Lynn had a chocolate ganache cake that was like velvet and I had the profiteroles which were divine...
Bill loves to talk and, for the time we were the only ones in the shop, he chatted with us and we covered a lot of ground. It didn’t take long for things to move to politics (which I have been adamantly avoiding here in the States - I don’t want to end up in a brawl!) but, thankfully, we were of like mind. He’s a staunch Democrat and, in fact, he says Vermont is probably the most liberal of all the States and home to Bernie Sanders. We love Bernie!! Bill said he’d say hi to him for us... If you ever happen to run through Vermont on Route 2, stopping at the Rainbow Sweets in Marshfield is a MUST. You won’t be disappointed, I promise.
From Montpelier, we carried on to Burlington and over to Grand Isle where we caught a small 15 minute ferry over to Plattsburgh, New York. Just off the ferry was a gorgeous state park right on the shore of the enormous Lake Champlain where we camped tonight. As soon as we arrived, our neighbours from Iowa (who we had only met for 2 minutes) poured us a Jack and Ginger so we sat and visited with them for awhile. Turns out they used to ride as well so they didn’t mind “the riff raff” showing up.
On our other side were a large group of youth and it turns out, they are on a bicycle trip from New York City to Montreal through a youth trekking organization. Some of the kids were only 14 years old and there were about 10 of them with two “counsellors” who were in their early 20s. Lynn helped them with their fire which they were having issues with (green wood) so we visited with them for awhile as well. With all this visiting, we didn’t get to bed until 10:30! It was a great day.
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