MyIronHorseJourney

Sunday I was meeting up with some friends to go for a ride.  Just before we needed to leave it was still raining, so we decided to wait an hour as it looked like it was going to clear.  An hour later the roads were wet, but no rain.  We were on for the ride.  We met up in Manchester and took back roads up to Houston Brooks Falls in Bingham, Maine.  There were some great roads with hills and curves on the way there, and the views along Wyman lake were beautiful.

The more north we went the warmer it got, especially when the sun came out.  Humidity was on it’s way back in.  After Houston Falls we headed over to Jackman and had lunch at the Hawk’s Nest.  The nest is a gorgeous log cabin lodge and restaurant, the food was delicious.  We sat inside as it looked like rain.  We figured it wouldn’t rain if we sat inside, and it didn’t!  Across the street is the Kennebec river.  We saw a few buses with rafts in tow where people were going to do some whitewater rafting.  The current was up so they probably were releasing water from the dam.  Whitewater rafting is on my bucket list, will need to come back to do that.

After lunch we went to Moxie Falls and hiked down into the woods to the falls.  Beautiful paths, well maintained (a couple trees have fallen).  We were all having a challenge coming back out as the humidity had climbed a lot, and the heat climbed also.  We were soaked by the time we got back to our bikes.  Remember we have jeans and boots on as we are doing all this…..

It was a great day riding with many laughs!  Just the way life should be!

Love and Light to you all!

This past week it’s been very hot and humid here in Maine.  Monday a couple of us were going on a ride up the coast towards Bar Harbor.  Due to the humid weather we decided to stay closer to home, and we are glad we did.  We road up to Wilton and on way there we stopped for a break at Flying Pond.  No one was on or around the water, so it was very peaceful.   We had lunch at Calzolaio Pasta Company which is located on Main Street.  They have a nice patio that overlooks a stream.  We ended up eating inside as it was so hot out.  After lunch we headed back towards home, and it was a good thing, even the shaded areas were hot.  My bike read 91 degrees, and humidity was over 70% (Oppressive).  After being inside all weekend with my class, it felt wonderful to be outside getting some wind therapy!

Wednesday a friend organized a girls ride that I went on.  We headed toward the coast, first stop Owl’s Head Lighthouse.  This was the first time going to this lighthouse.  The road into the lighthouse wasn’t in the greatest shape, it had a lot of big potholes.  Luckily it wasn’t too far.  After we parked our bikes, we walked to the lighthouse.

After we headed to Port Clyde and had lunch at Linda Bean’s restaurant.  I figured being on the coast I should have seafood, so I got a delicious lobster roll!  While we were sitting waiting for lunch to come I notice some people I knew from growing up.  They recognized me by my voice, was great seeing them and catching up a little.  I think it had been about 20 years since I have seen them.  Port Clyde is a great little fishing community!

After lunch we headed over to Marshall Point lighthouse.  The views all along the coast are just beautiful.  There was a nice breeze here at this lighthouse, but as soon as we walked back to the parking area there wasn’t anything moving.  Right along the coast was the place to be – or riding! 😎🏍

It was a hot day, but when we were moving it was perfect!  Another wonderful day riding with some great friends!

Thursday and Friday my son and I put in a floor in my laundry room.   I’ve had the tiles for a few years, just couldn’t coordinate with him to get it done.  It’s been a great week with some play and some work!

Love and Light to you all!

 

Well after the dog bite, it forced me to rest and not do a lot.  I wasn’t happy, as I was on a good roll and was planning on getting the two bedrooms upstairs done!  I ended up reading three books and then worked on shredding old medical papers, so I did get some stuff done (have to keep telling myself that)….

Over the weekend I took Basic DNA ThetaHealer® class.  It was an intense three days of learning the techniques, working on ourselves and clearing our own beliefs as we practiced.  As we all know, it can be very emotional working and clearing our stuff.  We tend to stuff things down and not work on them, and then health issues start to arise.  It was also very rewarding as we worked through everything, and bond with everyone in class.

The ThetaHealing technique is a meditation technique and spiritual philosophy – not specific to one religion but accepting them all – with the purpose of getting closer to the Creator. It is a training method for your mind, body and spirit that allows you to clear limiting beliefs and live life with positive thoughts, developing virtues in all that we do. Through meditation and prayer, the ThetaHealing Technique creates a positive lifestyle.

Fantastic weekend!  Loved working with everyone and the Creator!

Love and Light to you all!

 

The last week in Maine has been very hot and humid with thunderstorms on and off all week.  I decided instead of taking the chance of getting caught in the thunderstorms to work on cleaning out more of the house, especially since I rode a lot last week.  A friend contacted me in the middle of the week to see if I was riding at all this weekend.  We decided to ride on Sunday since it was the best day of the weekend weather wise.  Saturday morning I had a dog attack and bite my right hand.  He got a good hold of my hand, but was very fortunate he didn’t hit any nerves.  I spent the day resting as I wanted to ride on Sunday.  When I got up Sunday morning, the first thing I did was go out to my bike sit on it and see if I would be able to ride.  My Palm wasn’t sore or hurt so I felt I would be alright.  Just before I left I put ointment on and wrapped my hand with gause.  I then put a rubber glove on cutting off the thumb and fingers except for my middle finger finger as I have a big cut down that finger.  I also took a bunch of Advil to help with any pain and swelling.

We met in Richmond and had breakfast at Annabella’s then headed towards the coast.  We did a bunch of the fingers going down to the coast.  First was Boothbay and around the Ocean Point loop.  The views around the loop are beautiful, with boats coming and going from the harbor.

From there we headed over to to South Bristol.  The bridge over to Christmas Cove went up to let some boats out of the harbor.  This looked like a pretty new bridge and was neat to watch it up close opening and closing.  Cute little coastal town.

From there we went over to Pemiqid Point.  We parked next door to the park at a little gift shop.  I had always gone over to the park and never wander over to the gift shop.  We checked out the shop and then indulged in a ice cream cone.  Was nice sitting in the shade with a little ocean breeze.  The temperatures were in the 80’s even on the coast.

We then hooked onto Route 32 and followed the waters edge up through to Round Pond, Jefferson, circled around a little on the back roads until we ended up in Newcastle.  I love my friends, they know that I’m always looking for fun things to put in my blogs.  I had totally forgotten about this place!  We pulled over and I looked up and read the sign, and laughed – yup got to have a picture of that!

The locals named the corner as there were dairy farms on all sides of the corner and every time you drove by there was always cow shit in the road.  As I was googling information about this I found a Facebook page, and they have also done weekly YouTube reality videos back in 2014.

We took Blinn Hill Road (the view on top of the hill were breath taking- you could see for miles) back to Route 27, we stopped to gas up and I decided this would be a great end of the day.  We were close to 200 mile at this point, my hand was starting to hurt a little.

There is so much more coastline to see!  Maine is so beautiful, hopefully I will hit more before I head out!

Another great day in the books!

Love and Light to you all!

 

Met up with a friend in the Bridgton area, then we rode over to New Hampshire and did the Kancamangus Highway.  I had never done this ride, and have wanted to since I got my license.  It was a nice curvy road up and around the mountains.  After the Kancamangus we stopped for lunch, then headed to Littleton to see a candy store known for the longest candy counter.  Neat little store, you name it they had it.  The views getting to Littleton were amazing.  As I was driving looking at the beautiful view on such a beautiful day with great company I couldn’t be more grateful for the wonderful life I have.  I kept saying to myself “wow this is retirement” and “I love my life”. We live in a beautiful country and I have been so blessed to be able to travel and see it.  I can’t wait to see what’s next!

 

After Littleton, we headed back through North Conway, NH and into Maine.  From Fryeburg into Norway and through to Oxford where we split to head home.  Right after I turned to head home a hawk flew in front of me.  It was so close I ducked to miss him.  The hawk is the messenger – I knew when I saw him he was telling me to be careful.  I was tired from all the riding, sun and wind.  I slowed down a little and gave myself a little more room around vehicles, just in case knowing I might not react as fast.  I ended the day after 11 hours and 328 miles.  Fantastic day with a lot of new roads traveled.

Love and Light to you all!

 

The other night I met up with some friends at Fast Eddies, it’s a local summertime restaurant close to home.  One night a week they have a bike and car show.  This night my friends were doing the 50/50 raffle for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.  Always nice to help a good cause!

The atmosphere is fun with oldies music, dancing, and good food!  The weather was perfect, and it was a lot of fun seeing some old friends and meeting new ones. I was amazed to see more Indian bikes in the parking lot at one point than Harley’s.  They do make a sharp looking bike!

Love and Light to you all!

A friend of mine got a new bike, so she planned a ride for us.  She wouldn’t tell us anything about it, just that lunch would be about half way through the ride.  We met in Sabattus and took off from there.  It ended up that only three of us could make it this trip.  Our first stop (bathroom and stretch break) was in South Paris.  After the break we headed West on Route 117 then turned onto Route 26.  A few miles down that road we pulled over for our host to double check her directions – oops, heading the wrong way, so we turned around.  We headed back through town and turned onto Route 117, then Route 140 and Route 219 which took us to West Paris.  As we were getting close to the intersection in West Paris I was chuckling as we could have turned onto Route 26 and gotten right here from South Paris.  The host was doing a good job at confusing us.  We stopped quickly for her to check her map (not letting us see it).  We continued on Route 219 into Greenwood.  I noticed as we were climbing a hill that the host seemed to be slowing down at each road off and then kept going.  A couple of miles went by and we pulled over and she says I can’t find the restaurant, I’m not sure where we are.  We all laugh as we get off our bikes to look at the gazette.  A lady was out and heard us so came to give us directions and laugh with us.  We turned around and headed back down the mountain – the views were beautiful – well worth getting lost! We took another wrong turn, but someone stopped and gave us additional directions.  We parked and got inside just before the sky’s opened up – it started pouring.  The restaurant was great, a nice little gem which serves organic food and Maine product, it’s located on Route 26 in South Woodstock.

Check it out if you are in the area.  It’s a local favorite as it was very busy the whole time we were there.  By the time we were ready to leave the rain had stopped, roads were dry and the sun was out.

We had so much fun and a lot of laughing!  I’m sure we will do this again, it was so much fun.

Love and Light to you all!

The last couple of weeks have been busy.  With the heat and humidity that we’ve been having I decided to work instead of ride.  I’ve been working hard on cleaning out my house.  Boy where did all this stuff come from……we do accumulate a lot of stuff over 20+ years.  Feels good to get it cleaned out. I still have more, but I’ve made a good dent.

Yesterday I met up with a couple of girls to go riding for the day, it was overdue.  One came down from the Bangor area and the other came from the Bridgton area we met in Manchester which was the middle for both of them.  We rode up to Wilton and had lunch and then ended back in Manchester before saying our goodbyes.  I needed to be back by 4 so I could head back out to Topsham for a Reiki share night.  I met up with a friend to ride share.  Last week was the first time I had seen her since high school, it was wonderful reconnecting.

My journey has been a lot of reconnecting from work friends, to school friends and even neighborhood friends.  So much fun and interesting seeing where everyone is in life!

Love and Light to you all!

The Fourth of July – also known as Independence Day or July 4th – has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1941, but the tradition of Independence Day celebrations goes back to the 18th century and the American Revolution. On July 2nd, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and two days later delegates from the 13 colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence, a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson. From 1776 to the present day, July 4th has been celebrated as the birth of American independence, with festivities ranging from fireworks, parades and concerts to more casual family gatherings and barbecues.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th!

Love and Light to you all!

 

Before I got going one day I went and washed my bike, boy did it need it.  I find an easy way is to go down the road to the local car wash.  Wash, rinse and then wipe it down.  I had a friend say they didn’t realize how sparkly my bike was, it sparkled a lot after the wash.  Being on the road I wasn’t able to get it washed as much as I would have liked.

I Went in for my 25,000 service on my bike.  Talking to the technician, he said he wasn’t sure if my back tire would pass inspection.  I told him that they are the original tires from when I purchased the bike brand new back in February of 2017.  He was shocked and very surprised I got that many miles on them without having to replace them.  Usually you might get 8,000 to 10,000 on a tire.  A little while later another technician Robert came and said the back tire does need to be replaced, and that it had 3 nails in it.  The front tire will need to be replaced soon, probably at my next oil change.  I am darn lucky nothing happened while riding having those nails in my tire.  I have to say that Robert was fantastic, he went above and beyond and was able to get some stuff covered under warranty.  I can’t thank him enough for all he did.  He also made sure that I was out in time to get to another appointment I had.  The 25,000 mile service takes 6 to 7 hours, so it was a long day.  In hindsight I probably should have dropped the bike off and then get it after it was done, but I used my time there catching up on some computer work!

Love and Light to you all!

 

Maine has had a great stretch of great weather, so I’ve been putting on a lot of miles.  As I posted earlier I went to Laconia Bike week with a friend.  The day after I rode with a friend to Rumford for an appointment that she had, then to South Paris for dinner.   We ate at a little Italian restaurant, then headed home.  We ended up getting home about 9pm that night.  The next afternoon I took a ride up around Oakland, ate at Big G’s, which if you haven’t eaten there, you need to go.  Their sandwiches are huge, I get a 1/2 a sandwich and had all I can do to eat it all.  I got home about 8:30pm that night.

Another day I took off from my house I ended up in the Rumford area again.  I stopped at a rest area that I’ve always driven by.  Love all the waterfalls and the statues!

 

Another day I was going to go up to Littleton, Maine to see a covered bridge that is there. I got started late so I decided to get onto the highway until Bangor, Maine.  This trip would be about 450 miles round trip.  When I got close to Newport, Maine I had something happen.  It’s hard to explain, but while cursing at 70 plus I couldn’t feel anything, and my hands felt very strange.  When I moved them, I wasn’t feeling what I was doing.  It scared the poop out of me.  I wasn’t sure if I would be able to use my clutch, brakes or anything.  Wasn’t even sure I would be able to stop the bike.  I immediately started to pray for my safety and took the next exit.  I was able to do what was needed even though I couldn’t feel it.  I stopped the bike and took a break.  As soon as I was stopped the strange feeling was gone.  I decided to take the back roads towards home just in case it happened again.  Since this incident I have done some meditating, had energy work done and had a reading done to figure out what was going on.  I do know that they needed to get my attention – boy did they!  I also know that I need to pay attention to my body and do what is necessary so I can keep riding and riding safely.  I’ve had some hand issues that I have been ignoring and that is one of the reasons they needed to get my attention.  I don’t have all the information on this as stuff is still coming to me daily.  I’ve done a lot more riding since that day and haven’t had anything else happen – thank goodness!

Sunday I rode up to Cordin Gore which is on the Canadian boarder.  It’s a nice ride with multiple hills and curves.  There wasn’t any traffic in the morning, and by afternoon it was all the campers heading home after a weekend of 4 wheeling.  Eustis is a popular place for that.  I have a habit of not looking at my phone until I get home, but I took it out to take a picture and saw that a friend had texted me asking if I wanted to ride that day.  I was bummed I missed it, as I was riding alone.  I ended up meeting up with him and we went for a short ride and dinner.  It was nice catching up!

 

I’ve been back home for about a month and a half and have already put on 4,000 miles.  I’m enjoying having the free time to go riding whenever I want.  Having all this nice weather is making it very hard to get the house cleaned out…..

Next week they are calling for better/warmer weather than we have had this week – uh oh 😳.  I think I hear my bike calling me!

Love and Light to you all!

I got up early and left my house at 7:00 am, stopped in Lewiston to gas up and then stopped in Naples to pick up a friend.  We then went through Bridgton, to Conway New Hampshire then on to Meredith, and Weirs Beach, New Hampshire for Bike Week.  The first half of the week is usually slower (less people and bikes).  We hung out and walked the area checking out all the vendors.  We checked out a vendor doing pinstriping to a ladies bike, stopped at the H.O.G. Booth and got the bike week pin, and grabbed lunch at a local restaurant.  After lunch we headed to the Rochester dealership, and then down to the Seacoast dealership.

 

We then headed back to Maine, picked up Route 1 up to Arundel to Bentley’s Saloon (Biker bar).  We had a beer and a lobster roll before working our way home.  From Bentley’s we went to Gorham, stopped and gassed up and said our goodbyes as we would both be heading in different directions.  I rolled back into my driveway at 8:30 pm, a 13 1/2 hour day putting on about 336 miles!

Another fantastic day in the books!

Love and Light to you all!

I decided to hike over to my kids place, it’s about an hour through the woods.  I was just thinking about the fox that is in our area and we think it might have rabies when all of a sudden a pheasant came out onto the trail fluffing her feathers and making all kinds of noise.  Scared the poop out of me…. then I saw that she had a few little chicks that she was protecting.  I walked out around them and kept walking so I could get past them.  I could hear a hawk in the area, but I didn’t see it.  When I got to my kids place I got to see the new puppy and then I took there older dog with me when I headed back.

 

 

We took the longer trails back to my place.  It takes him a little while to calm down and enjoy the walk.  When we first start out he likes to pull a lot along with pee on everything – let’s make sure all the other dogs know I’ve been here!  A dogs life!

 

 

I texted the kids when we were almost back so they would meet us.  Koda is shedding so much, and two minutes in my black interior car turns white!  He was tired and resting while we wait for them.  I’m sure he will take a nap once he gets home!

Nice hike and being in nature!

Love and Light to you all!

Yesterday morning a college friend contacted me saying she had a spare ticket to the Maine State Musical Theatre in Brunswick, Maine, and asked if I would like to join them.  I had never been the the Brunswick theatre, it’s located on the Bowdion College campus.  The campus itself is very beautiful.  It was dark when I was able to get a picture of the building, but you can still see the beautiful structure.

We met up and then went to dinner at The Great Impasta located on Main Street in Bowdion.  The meal was delicious!  Then we headed up the hill to Bowdion College.  We had to park a little ways away, but it was a nice night for a walk.  We went to see Million Dollar Quartet, which is about Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins as they got started under SUN Recording Studio.  The cast members all played and sang everything.  We had fantastic seats, but I don’t thing there is a bad seat in the house.

After the show we dropped the others off at their vehicle and my girlfriend and I sat in McDonalds until the lobby got closed.  It was such a fun night with dinner, the show and then catching up.  I didn’t get home until 1 a.m. – I’m not used to being up that late…lol

I think today will be low key!

Love and Light to you all!