2021 Scooter Cannonball Run - Prelude

 For months we have been tweaking our Honda ADV150 Scooters to set them up for a long haul across the United States.  We registered for the Scooter Cannonball Run (SCBR)  which starts on July 12 in Bar Harbor, Maine and ends July 21 in Eureka, CA, approximately 4,500 miles on scooters!  Originally we planned on riding our scooters to Bar Harbor from Tupelo, MS but decided to rent a U-Haul and transport the scooters to the start.  We wanted to begin the event with fresh tires, oil, belt, etc.  Had we ridden the scooters we would have had to carry all the spares and change tires and oil in the parking lot.  That didn't sound like a lot of fun so the decision to rent the U-Haul was made.

On Monday, July 5 we picked up a 15 foot U-Haul and brought it home.  We chose the 15 footer because it was the smallest truck with a ramp and we needed the ramp to load the scooters.  The day before we picked up the U-Haul we received notice that our local Tupelo U-Haul did not have our truck and we would have to go to a neighboring city to get it,  Poop!  That caused about a 2 hour delay on our departure.

We finally got the scooters loaded along with spare tires and our gear.  Eric did a great job tying down the scooters, they didn't budge an inch the entire trip.  We removed the side bags to provide enough room for both scooters to fit without touching each other.

The sidebags went into boxes as did two of the three tires we're taking.  The final two boxes hold our gear, helmets, riding pants and jackets, boots and LD Comforts.

Plenty of room to spare.  We tucked my dry bag in between the boxes to snug them up tight and they also didn't move an inch during our trek to Bar Harbor.  We drove over plenty of bad, bumpy nasty roads and accidentally rolled over a curb but our stuff stayed put!

Finally, we were ready to head out.  Not 5 miles from home we made our first stop at a Love's Truck Stop to get the proper size padlock to secure the U-Haul and grab a McDonald's lunch.  We then jumped on the Interstate and began our adventure!

Mostly is was just a slog up the freeway.  We did take a rural highway but only to connect to a different Interstate.  The U-Haul tooled along at speed just fine except - at higher speeds with the wind just right - the damn truck would howl and sing.  Softly at first then growing to a huge crescendo, mono from either the left or right and then in stereo.  It was nauseatingly annoying to the point we both considered earplugs.  And forget the radio or music the truck was just too damn loud.  Fortunately the crooning wasn't full time and we actually had a couple of days of quiet.

300 miles later we landed in Athens, TN at a Days Inn after crossing Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Alabama again and then Tennessee.  Not great but not awful either.  It was a room and we were ready to call it quits for the day.

After posting on Facebook, Nancy Lefcourt was kind enough to remind us it would be safer to park the U-Haul with the back gate facing our room door so Eric turned that truck around!  Thanks Nancy, good advice ;-)

All was good the next morning and again we headed toward the interstate going north.  Nothing really to report.  There was traffic and it was unpleasant at times.  I am NOT A GOOD PASSENGER!  That's an understatement.  Riding in the passenger seat I found my brakes didn't work any better than my imaginary steering wheel.  Poor Eric just endured my flinching and twitching and mashing my foot to the floor.  LOL, Eric is a good driver and we had zero incidents.  It's just my Type A personality and control freak nature 😉 

We stopped somewhere along the way for food but it wasn't anything special or I would have taken a photo and remembered.  Oh well....  Another 480 miles landed us in Winchester, VA ahead of schedule which was a good thing because our initial departure was about 3 hours later than intended.  Our room for the night was at a Red Roof Inn and it was surprisingly neat and tidy.  This day we went from Tennessee and almost through all of Virginia.

Following a good night sleep we got up early and hit the road again.  Leaving Virginia we drove through West Virginia and Maryland before stopping for lunch at the Dutch Kitchen Restaurant in Frackville, PA .  Yummy.

More slogging on the Interstate we covered about another 380 miles to arrive in Bridgewater, CT.  This stop was much anticipated because we were to spend the night at our friend, Victoria Zandonella's lovely home.  Oh so sweet!  Time to catch up after almost 6 years!!!!  I met the lovely Victoria on a ride in Torrey, UT where we spent a long weekend with a group of fun peeps.  We've kept in touch all this time and it was just a joy to be able to visit!

Victoria's home is beautiful and the 2 1/2 acres surrounding it are lush, manicured and peaceful.  Our first item on the agenda was cocktails on the patio and lots and lots of talking!

Then it was off on a quick auto tour and a fantastic dinner al fresco at Kingsley Tavern in Kent, CT.

Victoria was tickled to get a couple of  DFF stickers.  She is one hell of a rider,, both street and off-road and has a glorious stable full of motorcycles

It was a wonderful evening!

We slept like babies in Victoria's nicely appointed guest room.  So much nicer than the bland hotels of the past few nights.  Up early again the next morning we made our push to Bar Harbor, Maine.

Slabbing on the Interstate after another 425 miles we finally arrived at our destination, the Days Inn at Bar Harbor.  Today we started in Connecticut, MA, rode through New Hampshire and into Maine.  Whew!!!  What a long slog on interstates! We unloaded everything except Eric's scooter from the U-Haul and settled in for the night.  

The view from our room.  I imagine in the sunlight it is spectacular.  Hopefully we'll find out soon.

Eric unloading and parking my scooter.

We located a Chinese restaurant downtown Bar Harbor and Eric hopped on my scooter to go collect our dinner.  This was my foturne.  Appropriate!!!!

 

We are both delighted to be parked for a few days and not slogging the Interstate in a noisy, rough, bouncy, vinyl seat U-Haul truck!  We slept well, lol.

Woke up to a wet day with rain off and on.  More on than off.  Eric took off to return the U-Haul and rode his scooter back to the hotel.  Good thing he had his rain gear with him because he certainly needed it.  So, now the U-Haul is taken care off, our stuff is in the room and we can relax for a minute or two.  We decided to walk to Bar Harbor proper and grab a lobster roll for lunch.  I mean, we're in Maine on the coast so we MUST have lobster rolls.  Oops, I mean Lobstah Rolls, lol.

The walk into town was about 1 1/2 miles - in the rain - wet - but not cold, lol.  Both of us dug out our rain jackets and hats.  Unfortunately the only "shoes" we have are our motorcycle boots so we both just wore sandals.  Oh well, wet toes were a given.  The stroll to town was pleasant enough but for the traffic on the main highway.  It just never stops - both ways - non stop traffic!

Victoria had recommended we eat at Stewman's Lobster Pound so we headed that direction.  First we stopped at the Post Office to mail a box back home that contained the scooter tie downs used in the U-Haul and a few other items we wouldn't need.  A few blocks later we found Stewman's and were quickly seated at a window with a terrific view of the bay.  Well, it would be even better if it wasn't foggy and rainy but heck, I'll take it 😊

Lobstah Rolls!!!

Yes, they were delicious but be prepared to pay the piper $30 each plus tax and tip set us back $75 or so for lunch, hahahaha!  Worth every penny but probably not something we're going to do on a daily basis 😋😆

You can see how foggy it is!  Can't hardly see next door.

Lobster traps being loaded on a boat at the end of the pier.

Lots and lots of tourist shops.  We didn't browse because of the rain.  Maybe tomorrow as it is supposed to be sunny.

Eric in rain jacket, shorts and sandals.  LOL, he didn't bring any long pants except riding pants!

Me, glad I had long pants and a hat!  Sandals, lol.

A fun photo of all the bouys.

After lunch we made our wet way back to the hotel.  Glad we went to town and got back when we did because it just started to rain even harder!  That's okay, gives us a minute to catch up on email and stuff and an opportunity to bring the blog current.

This evening our friends Lynne & Jerry Goebeler picked us up at our hotel to take us to dinner.  Lynne & Jerry scored a great post as volunteers at Acadia National Park for the season and are living there in their awesome coach.  We went to a restaurant on the other side of the island and had a fantastic meal with lots and lots of conversation.  Although Lynne and I have been Facebook friends for years this is our first in person meet and it was absolutely fantastic.  We never lacked for conversation and our evening was over much too soon!

The next morning, Friday, dawned bright and beautiful!  A perfect day to do some exploring since we had the time.  But first, lunch!  A fellow Cannonballer had recommended C-Ray's Lobster Shack so we headed there.

They had outdoor and covered seating.  We opted for covered seating because the day was heating up quickly.

They had a nice menu so we chose Crab Melts!  Oooohhhhhh, yummyness magnified times a zillion!  Hearty bread with mild cheddar cheese and loaded with sweet crab then grilled in a panini press.  Great toast on the bread and the cheese was nicely melted.  Served with a dill pickle and chips.

I'm just going to say the Crab Melt was better than yesterday's Lobstah Roll !!!!

After our delicious lunch we mounted the scooters and headed to Acadia National Park where our friends Lynne & Jerry are working for the season.  52 steps up the hill took us to the Visitor Center where I got my National Park Passport stamped and we bought a magnet and a few stickers.  Another 52 steps down the hill and back on the scooters for a lap around the park.

Just as we were getting on the scooters we encounter Lynne & Jerry!  What fun 😍

The Loop Road around Acadia NP is a one way route with pull outs for perfect view pictures.  Lost of hiking trails and lots of cars parked on the road but we basicially had no traffic which was wonderful.

Photos don't do the views justice.  I had a massive grin the entire ride!  The scooters are perfect for this type of touring.  Speed limit of 25 to 35 mph gave us plenty of time to gawk and look at the spectacular scenery.  No narrative for the next few photos, just awesome views at Acadia National Park.  I'm so glad we took the opportunity to ride through!

There was a bit of surf action going on today!

Unfortunately the road up to Cadillac Mountain was by reservation only in the busy season and also charged an additional fee so we didn't go there 😡

Then is was back to the hotel to chat with riders.  The event has riders at two hotels so there has been a lot of back and forth scootering just down and across the road.  People have been doing last minute parking lot repairs and tire changes.  Several peeps had drama getting here as they shipped their scooters here and the scoots arrived on time but the peeps were flying and flights got canceled, flight connections missed and all kinds of mayhem.  One ended up taking the bus for a section of travel and the other finally made it to the hotel in the wee hours this morning!  Whew!  I don't know if there are still missing riders or how many are even here.  I haven't yet met organizers, hahahaha.

A few photos of parking lot shenanigans.

Jose stopped by to say hello. His scooter is totally PINK and SPARKLY SILVER!  LED lights all over the place.  He is just as sparkly as his scooter 😁

I forgot to tell you that I got eaten alive by some kind of bug.  No, not a bed bug, lol.  This was definitely from outside wearing shorts one day on our slog to Maine.  These bites were as big as quarters and itched like crazy!  GACK!  This is only one side of one leg.  I had over 30 bites!!!  Eric found some Benadryl cream for me and that has given me some relief although I still have big red blotches on my legs and feet.  Wowza!!!!  Guess I'm just so sweet and tasty the bugs can't resist biting me.  Maybe I should eat more garlic?

 

Sunday afternoon is check-in so we'll have more info then.  I'll try to take a few more pics and finish and post this blog.

Around noon on Sunday we scootered into town for some brekkie.  It's been days since I've had a proper brekkie and I miss it.  Eric spied this place that served breakfast all day so there we went!  Scored on rock star parking right in front 😉

Eric had a BLT and I  had pancakes, scrambled eggs and yummy bacon!

We then went to the grocery store next door and bought a couple of frozen entree's for tonight.  Next was a ride through town to the pier to take a few glamour shots 😁  Yes, we defied the rules and like the scooter trash rebels we have become, we rode right across the barrier lines and onto the edge of the pier for our photos.

Obviously the weather today was fantastic.  A few clouds but lots of sun and warm.  Perfect day for taking a scooter ride!  After the photo shoot we went back to the motel to drop off our groceries and then headed to the Scooter Cannonball Run Registration BBQ Party!  

Registration was held about 10 miles from our motel at a local brewery.  Here are some photos of all the scooters.  #130 and #131 - Eric and me!!!

A nicely farkled and packed up Super Cub.

Two Super Cubs with trailers.  These guys are camping, hahahahaha.  We'll see how long that lasts 😆

Another scoot packed for camping.

I had to take a view from the other side.  Just check out all the STUFF on this little scooter.  A stealth gas tank tucked in the pass through (painted black).  Looks like this rider is also camping.

There were scooters everywhere.  All makes and models.  Some naked and some way over packed!

So cute!!!

Once we got through the parking lot we headed to registration and the party.  We spotted Jim Boone, one of our LD Riding buddies.  He and his pal, Greg, also bought Honda ADVADV150's to ride the Scooter Cannonball Run, lol 😂

A few photos of the riders at the BBQ registration party.

Dave and Steve, the Scooter Cannonball Run organizers were in charge of liability release forms and check-in.

Serena (Support crew for DJ Tiny), DJ Tiny, Lisa & Laura Fierro enjoying the BBQ and getting to meet peeps!

There was live music!

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Will from Maine is excited to join the craziness!

About 75 riders have registered and shown up for the party!  We will see as the days progress how many will actually finish.  Sure hope Eric and I are in the finishers group, lol.  We hung around for a bit and then headed back to the motel, stopping to fill the gas tanks and the two roto-pax jugs so we would be ready to leave in the morning.

Tomorrow morning (Monday) at 6:30 AM we gather at the Pier in Bar Harbor for a group photo and then launch the 2021 Scooter Cannonball Run.  Hopefully in ten days we'll be in Eureka, CA!  I'm a bit nervous and a lot excited.  Bring it on!!!!!

That's it for now folks.  I probably won't have time to blog during the event although I may post on Facebook now and again.  You can follow us here at the Scooter Cannonball Run .  Eric is #130 and I'm #131.  You can also follow my Spot track here.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my blog.  I hope you follow our adventure!  I'll update when possible.  This is certain to be epic, hahahahaha.  After all what could possibly go wrong?  Bar Harbor, Maine to Eureka, California on 150cc Scooters in 10 days.......

Cheers

Cletha & Eric