On a day trip from New Hampshire into Vermont, after looking for a place to eat for almost an hour, we pulled into a little restaurant. After shedding riding gear, walking out to greet us was Ruth, a friend from Jym's job at the City! She had flown to Hartford to visit her daughter and was on a trip up to a lake in northern Vermont.

Vermont has a long history of digging up rocks. Early farmers used to build dry wall fences with all the granite boulders (or plow around the bigger ones). Then they got serious and hundreds of small quarries were operated all over the state by the early 1800s. Few are left today, but the largest is operated by Rock of Ages which produces a very high quality 'Barre Grey' granite.

The manufacturing division makes a variety of monuments, mausoleums, statues, and memorials. They also produce highly accurate surface plates for high precision measurement and 20 foot long, 8 foot diameter polished granite 'rolling pins' for the paper pulp factories.

On another day trip, we went to Lowell, Massachusetts to visit the New England Quilt Museum. Although the displayed collection was small, there were many interesting quilts from the area. There is also a library of quilting related publications for the benefit of members. Photos of the exhibits are not allowed .

While in Lowell, we took the Mill and Canal tour through the locks of the Pawtucket Canal that was built around a bend in the Merrimack River. The tour also included a ride on a vintage trolley and a look at one of the cotton mills that the canals were built to power. By the mid 1800s, Lowell's water powered mills was the textile center of New England.

On a day off from riding, Wendy gave Ann her first lesson in creating Ukranian style decorated eggs. The technique involves masking areas with hot wax then dipping the egg in dye. This sequence is repeated until your work of art emerges. The designs and symbols for traditional eggs are many generations old.

Heading north on a swing around the northeast, we stopped at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine. There is a collection of over 200 trolleys from all over the world. This one is a double decker from Blackpool, England. You can ride a trolley, and even learn to drive one while there.

Dotting the coast of Maine are forts from many eras, the earliest in the 1600s and the most recent in World War II. Here, Fort Popham protects the entrance to the Kennebec River. It has been rebuilt a few times, but was never attacked. The stone work is marvelous.

While visiting Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, we went for a kayak tour around the Porcupine Islands at Bar Harbor. The day was perfect and the water and wind were calm. We improved our paddling technique and managed to stay dry for the entire trip.

Leaving Maine behind, we continued up the coast of New Brunswick. This is at the beginning of the Bay of Fundy where, at the upper end, the highest tides in the world occur. Even here, where Jym is standing is underwater at high tide.

Further up the coast, at St. Martins, we indulged ourselves with a stay at the inn. The rooms are decorated with antiques and Victorian touches, including the sitting and reading rooms. The chef could easily be employed at any five star restaurant.

Outside of St. Martins is the Fundy Trail Parkway. Once in the park, the road is a wonderful motorcycle road, however all parking areas and viewpoints are deep, loose gravel. There are miles of coastal and forest hiking trails with great views. The area was once logged for wood pulp to support US papermills.

We arrived at the upper end of the Bay of Fundy just after low tide. The edge of the tidal marsh was nothing but acres of mud. The next afternoon at high tide, no mud!

The rocks at Hopewell Cape (The Flowerpots) are sculpted by the tides that can reach 46 feet on a new moon. There are two people standing at the water's edge in the left picture.

On a high tide (the next morning), you can kayak among the rocks you were walking around at low tide. The tides at the top of the bay change at up to six vertical feet an hour and are the highest in the world.

After the bay, we went to Prince Edward Island over the Confederation Bridge. The island is mostly low rolling farmlands. After contending with bad roads (patches on patches on patches), wet tar, and construction zones everywhere, we left by way of the ferry to Nova Scotia.

In Pictou, we stumbled across a reproduction of the Hector due to be launched on September 17th. The original was a Dutch three masted merchant ship which landed in 1773, bringing many Scottish families and single men to New Scotland (Nova Scotia).

Across the top of Cape Breton Island is the Cabot Trail that winds through the highlands. The roads and scenery through the park are wonderful for motorcycle travel, but the rest of the trail require more attention to surface conditions. Alexander Bell lived here for his last 37 years.

Heading back through New Brunswick, on our way to the northern tip of Maine, we came across the biggest axe in the world in Nackawic. Maybe this will make up for missing the biggest ball of twine.