Lubec, Maine would not be considered a beautiful place, not in the same sense as Eastport, which is postcard pretty. Lubec is spread out, the homes far apart, and while everything is well manicured and still lovely, it just didn't have the "Wow!" factor that I experienced upon reaching the island that is Eastport. If I could have taken a ferry from Eastport to Lubec, it would have been a fifteen minute trip, as opposed to the hour, as I had to circumvent the four bays between the two cities. When I arrived at Lubec, a sign had been posted proclaiming that Lubec is indeed the furthest east United States' town and to get to Sail Rock I had to go south aways to get to Quoddy Head State Park. Unlike Eastport, there was a real briny smell to the ocean and in the distance, perhaps a couple hundred yards, is a large buoy that designates the separation of the US and Canada. I traveled down a rough road to get to the Quoddy Head State Park and when I crested the last hill, that's when I had my "Wow!" moment of Lubec.
The view of the ocean behind the lighthouse was amazing.
I spent a considerable amount of time walking about, taking pictures, recording a narrative on the GoPro. The bike had 6,159 miles on the trip odometer and while I knew there was still a long way to go, I felt fortunate to experience it.
As I've talked to people about this trip, other than the initial disbelief that inevitably shows on their faces at first, they'll usually ask why I'm doing it and whether the trip is a bucket list item. The sad truth is that the farther I travel, the further it feels that I have to go, which is to say that I don't have a good answer. I could be glib and simply say that I had the time and the wherewithal to do it but that would be disingenuous and frankly insulting, especially after I heard from one woman who told me how she's raising her two children without a spouse while also caring for her father who is suffering from Alzheimers. She sat at the bar next to me at Leslie's Retreat the last night I was in Salem. I had stopped for food based on a Yelp review and I enjoyed sitting at the bar so I could hear the locals talking.
I asked her if the wine was any good and, no, it was house wine, not very good, so I had had a beer, Yuengling, a popular beer on the east coast apparently, steak tips and scallops. We started talking and I told her about the four corners, she asked if my wife was okay with the trip, and I said she worries but that she had traveled the first two corners with me before returning home for work. Then she told me how she would love to be able to do what I'm doing and explained her situation. She had one night a week to herself to go to Leslie's when she returned from the doctor and while we were talking her daughter, eight-years-old, called her, and she told her daughter she was leaving right away, she'd be home in a couple of minutes. She paid her tab, wished me well and she was gone.
And right then I knew the answer as to why I'm doing this crazy trip - because I'm lucky and I can and not many people I've met have the time or ability to do it. You will never be any younger than you are right now and if I didn't do this thing now I never would.
Today was a long ride, from Eastport, to Sail Rock, Lubec back down the eastern coast of Maine into Massachusetts back into New Hampshire, Vermont and finally to Troy, New York. Massachusetts and New Hampshire were sad to see me go, at least the constant rain and coastal fog felt like big, soggy tears, and Vermont welcomed me with a blanket of low-lying clouds and more rain. Only New York was happy to see me and greeted me with sunshine.
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