It’s done! I’ve reached the Fourth Corner of the Four Corners Tour. Alex and I knew we only had a bit over 200 miles to ride today, so we lingered over breakfast talking until about 11:00.
Then we blasted up I-95. It’s a basically empty road with a 75mph speed limit and very little traffic. It might go through lots of pretty scenery, but you can’t see it for the trees.
We made it to Houlcom and got onto US-1 (the road that starts in Key West). It went through some small towns with 25 and 30mph limits, and never had a speed limit of more than 55, but it was much more scenic. We ate a good lunch at a little café in Mars Hill, Maine, and kept coming.
We got here to Madawaska at about 5:10 and I got my finishing corner gas receipt . Then we went across the street to the Post Office and I got one of my “official” finishing pictures:
Then it was another 1/2 mile west to the Madawaska Four Corners Tour Park, where we took another “official” finishing picture:
Then it was check-in time at Martin’s Motel, a Four Corners-friendly establishment. The owner has made “I visited Madawaska, a Corner on the Four Corners Tour” stickers and I’ll put mine on the bike tomorrow.
While we were unloading, I looked at Alex’s painfully pristine ST700 (a rebadged NT700) and couldn’t stand mine any longer. I still had bugs on the bike that I’d picked up on my way to Spearfish on July 10th! So it was off to the car wash, where I spent $10.00 getting the bike pretty clean. After I get home I’ll get some of whatever it is that Alex recommends for getting back to the original black from my currently badly faded grey plastic.
Here are some pictures from today’s ride:
Way off in the distance you can see Mt. Katahdin.
A river…don’t ask me which one because I don’t have a clue. Lots of rivers in Maine!
A really unusual Roman Catholic church a few miles east of Madawaska.
Tomorrow Alex will head back to Camden. I’ve got some personal business to take care of before I leave Madawaska, so I might end up staying here another night. When I get over into Canada tomorrow or day after, I’m going back to camping. I won’t be needing to keep to a schedule the way I have for the last three weeks.
Stats: The Four Corners Tour — 7,654 miles; 364 miles per day (average); Longest Day, 514 miles between Benson, AZ, and Fort Stockton, TX; Shortest Day, 211 miles from Thousand Oaks to San Ysidro to San Diego. Highest temperature, 112F between San Diego and Benson, AZ. Coldest, ?? probably the morning Rick and I left Fort Bragg … somewhere in the low 50s.
Total Trip Mileage, 15,612; Total for Year, 21,613; Total on Bike, 73,586 miles.
My Epic Post-Retirement Rides 
Congrats Phil, it truly has been an epic ride! I am very impressed with the NT700V’s performance and that of the PR3’s. I take it you have only done one oil change so far?
Jerome
Jerome, one was done in Baton Rouge by Tim Wilke, a fellow NT-Owners Forum moderator. That’ll get me home, I think.
Congratulations Phil! What a ride, and thanks for sharing it with us.
Hey Phil,
This is great! What an achievement!! Enjoy your time in Canada at a less hectic pace. Looking forward to sharing a cup of coffee (or two) when you get back to town.
Rich and Susan
You made the Iron Butt part now, so are you switching to maybe a “softer Aluminum Butt” mode from now on. I hope you just love Nova Scotia. When I took my group there in 1997, we liked the Cabot Trail the best…it had nice terrain change, no traffic and cool temps. The forest ranger warned us the morning we started up the pass, that temps were below freezing during the previous night, and that the road might be icy in the shady spots…it actually was just fine, and a really beautiful ride with great views from the high country looking down to the ocean.
Have a great time in Canada…no more hot days probably from now on. Ken Harrell
Have a blast! Ride safe! Wish I was riding with ya!
Phil, Mazel Tov on this epic ride. I can’t believe you can still do this at our age? Anyway. Good for you. Sandi
Phil–“CONGRATULATIONS” FROM Golden, Colorado!! Good Job! Take a quick run over to Prince Edwards Island if you have a few hours. The Confederate Bridge is awesome.
Eat some lobster for me!
Planning on it — but I may just do it for myself. 🙂
Congrats on a great ride, Phil! It’s been so much fun following along with your trip!