Today has been quite slow paced but that is not a bad thing. We biked about 23 miles, making it our shortest day yet. However, it was definitely the most hilly day, with rolling hills stretching for a couple miles. When we got here, we were greeted by big green pastures and the smell of animal manure. After we set up camp, it promptly began to rain for two hours. As I write this, the rain still seems to be holding off, so we shall see. For dinner we are having pan fried hotdogs, a Maine delicacy. Mimi, Caroline, Seth, Jacob, and Martha all went on an adventure to see the cows at the farm not too far from the campsite. Another thing about this campsite is that it is very spacious and it’s pretty secluded from Freeport, so it’s very peaceful out here. Hopefully we all get a good nights sleep for the long ride tomorrow.
Day three. 20 miles until Cape Cod. Easy pack up and easy start off. We had stayed at a lovely, neighborly camp site. And then we left. Said our goodbyes to our new friends and gave them our extra wood.
Off we were to the Cape. 20 miles to the beautiful bridge. Sagamore bridge that is. At first we could not find our way to the bridge even thought it was right in front of us. Crossing busy intersections and rolling through public parky things, we made it. Obviously I (Paulotta) did NOT forget to compliment every person I could. Otto joined in and Roman laughed. We passed many people including a lady with purple hair, a kind man with a U-haul trailer, a lady walking out of her house AND a lady walking into her house. We had a blast.
The food stop
Finally we made it to a store. Thanks to Otto and Jasper leading us with their trusty very musty maps. Lunch was delish as always. A daily routine of scrumdillyumptious lunches. Of course lunch comes with packing the extra food bought. Everyone took as much as they could but I pulled through. I took the meat, the granola bars, the pots AND pans, peanut butter, Nutella, mustard, ketchup, mayo. I was cruising. Along with everyone else. Cutting to the chase we made it to camp. First stop is obviously the playground after unpacking.
Moving on with dinner. The plan was to have Shepard’s pie. But had it in tortillas. VIBING to music. Sam’s beautiful dance moves motivated everyone to vibe.
AFTER DINNER EVENTS
Back to the playground. Troops of boys scouts scattered around the playground. But we felt no threat. We jumped right into the group fitting right in. I stole a swing from a kid. While Roman climbed the swing set. Otto and Jasper had a two vs. two with two boy scouts. Jaya and Sasha were chilling on the swings. And Josh, Jack, and Lachlan were grooving together.
Tag happened and then it ended.
And right now we are all sitting around the camp fire watching Roman keep it alive. We did Rose, Bud, Thorns and had some s’mores.
It was a difficult task to pull ourselves out of the comfy Buffalo hostel bunk beds this morning, but we had a big day ahead so the road was calling our name. Today, we started our journey away from Lake Erie and towards eastern New York, but of course not without a stop at the legendary Niagara Falls. It was the first time for many members of our group to see the falls, so it was exciting to bike along Niagara River and see the rushing water eventually barricade off the giant cliff creating a floating mist and beautiful rainbows. We ate a picnic style lunch at Niagara and went on our way towards Middleport, NY. On our way, a bike shop was visited to handle several unexpected bike mechanical hang ups, which took up more time than we would have liked, but our ride afterwards was quite pleasant. We were pleased to hop on the Erie Canal Trail and follow the gravel path along the scenic canal as the sun set. We landed at a friend of a friend’s back yard, cooked hot dogs, then hammocked and open-air camped under the stars. We are all anticipating tomorrow, as all nine of us will embark on our first century ride of the trip, to complete 100 miles to our next location in Geneva. Wish us luck!
This morning we woke up and had a hearty breakfast and headed back onto the trail after saying goodbye to our friends at the hostel. I got to ride with a special tiara on my helmet and a birthday sash because today is my birthday. We had a lot of energy and biked 10 more miles than we planned so we could have more time in DC tomorrow. For lunch I had a triple decker PB&J with cheeseitz, potato chips, and off brand Frosted Flakes. After lunch we took a dip in the Potomac River to cool down which was nice. Once we were dry after swimming it started pouring, which Jason was excited about because he said it counted as a shower. Then we had Ben and Jerry’s which was delicious! After we finished dinner we played with sparklers and I got to call my family for my birthday! I also got gifted a quiet night without having to share a tent with anyone. We are excited to finish our last 15 miles tomorrow into DC and explore the city. We are also looking forward to sleeping in luxurious hotel beds!! Written by Anshuman
We started off the day by sleeping in (well to 8:30 but that’s late for us.) A few people needed to head over to a bike shop, so they did that while the rest of us walked around Buffalo. We ended up going to a bookstore and picking up some things. Afterwards, past Teen Treks leader, Tyler met up with us and gave us a tour of the city. We learned a lot about the Erie Canal and even went on a historic carousel! Surprisingly, we were not even close to being the oldest ones. We also visited the Frank Lloyd Wright Martin House, saw Buffalo at the zoo, passed by some city murals, biked through a famous cemetery and visited the Shared Mobility electric bike storage collection. We then biked over to Elmwood, a popular street to walk around and look at the shops. Later we were joined by another past Teen Treks leader, Ben for dinner. Since we are in Buffalo, people wanted to get wings, so we ended up going to 3 different places before landing on a small pizza/ wings joint that was sketchy but delicious. The day ended with some hardcore ultimate frisbee where 4 people ended up bleeding. Overall a great day! Tomorrow, we will visit Niagara Falls on our way out of Buffalo!-Written by Trekker Grace
Morning arrived. Early on, Sasha awoke and began to pack her things, accidentally waking everybody else up. We proceeded to make a lovely breakfast of oatmeal seasoned with lime juice. And then we drank the lime juice to go with it. Bellies full and we are already packing. One by one problems arose. Many issues with packing gear and Lachlan’s tire explosion. Jenna with her handy dandy tool saved the day again. And we were off. Roman and Sasha led the way to Plymouth Rock. The ride was long and hot. But we got donuts at a nearby gas station. With the fresh burst of energy tingling in our brains, we continued on through hills and highways, stopping for water and motivational talks. Plymouth was around the corner. Zooming alongside the beach, we reached the famous Plymouth Rock and then bought ice cream. Moving along, we biked up hills and made a couple wrong turns, which Sam and Jenna generously corrected. After finally getting to the camping ground, Paulotta, Lachlan, and Josh cooked a lovely meal of pesto pasta and salad, which we accidentally got some grass in while straining the water, which Jasper, Paulotta, and I cleaned. Afterwards, Jack, Roman, and I cleaned the dishes. Finishing off our day, we went swimming in the lake and then made s’mores. We told scary stories around the campfire and then finally went to bed. –Jaya Daulat
Today was a chill day. We started with a beautiful muffin and fruit breakfast that Martha provided. After breakfast, we split into two groups: bikers and walkers. The biking group biked to a small lighthouse house in South Portland that overlooks Casco Bay and it’s many jagged island. The other group took the bus in to downtown Portland. They enjoy the city after four days of rural roads! Both groups visited the Portland Observatory, the tallest and most historic building in Portland. The tour was interesting and scenic! Afterwords, we got even more time to explore Portland. We met up for dinner at Becky‘s diner. With a nice view of the ocean, we all relaxed and enjoyed out meals while watching the sunset. We made our way back to the hotel, where we met in the hot tub to discuss the day and plan for tomorrow. It was a much needed rest day for everyone. We are excited to get back on the road tomorrow! -Ben and the Maine Coast Crew
Today was so cool. We started off the adventure with a communal brunch containing three packs of cream cheese, bagels, chocolate AND blueberry muffins, (which later got crushed by Lachlan’s bungee) and lots of OJ. Next we weaved through busy Boston streets, pushing our large bikes. Ending up in a park some how. Jasper the jumping jelly bean started off with a excited and energized start to the trip. Bouncing around on his bike.
Tooooooot tooooooot
The train. Train time. 10 bikes are lugged onto the train by 11 people. We all sat in an empty train car. Vibing. 8 stops later we arrived. We thought it was cape cod but we were wrong. Paulotta and Sasha were put in charge of the maps. We almost got lost if it wasn’t for Snakey Sam who helped us find our way. We made it to the food.
THE FOOD!
Time for shopping. Jaya, Josh, Jack
, Lachlan, And Roman protected the very perfectly parked bikes whilst Otto and Sasha shopped for Fajita dinner, whilst Paulotta and Jasper zoomed around in the car cart. We had a blast!
WRONG TURNS ALL AROUND.
We made a wrong turn but Jenna came to save us. Then we were off. In the right way.
TO THE CAMPGROUND. Scenic routes led us to our humble abode. Home at last. In the green, buggy forest. It’s like GLAMping.
DINNEEEEERRRRR
Dinner was scrumdillyumptious. The cooks were spectacular. Absolutely stunning. As they danced to Da Baby and the Beatles. You could feel every flavor in their Fajitas it was so delish. Compliments to the chefs.
Dinner is done and we are ready to rumble. Clean up was quite interacting and interesting. We cleaned… then bike ride…
FOUR HOURS EARLIER
panniers went flying. Flying like birds. Away. Away they went away from us. Boston guy helped us. What a cool guy 🙂
This morning we woke up and rolled out of our campsite nice and early. The ride was really pretty right along the riverside. We made it to the Antietam Battlefield by lunch time and we ate a good meal at the Battleview Market where we enjoyed the air conditioning. We also got “fun filled eggs” out of a gum ball machine. These were 50 cent Easter eggs filled with toys (mostly silly bands). We had a lot of fun trying to figure out what the silly bands were supposed to be. Then we headed to the National Park and Cooper, Kai, and Jason told us all the history about the Battle of Antietam. Then we were on our way to the hostel which is SO nice. There is central air, beds, and showers. We are also doing laundry which is not only good for ourselves but the people around us. After we had dinner we played board games and did some reading. Tomorrow we will explore the historic town of Harpers Ferry and go for a short hike and swim suggested by the hikers at our hostel. The hostel has a nice kitchen and we are also going to cook a nutritious and tasty meal tomorrow. Written by Leo
We made it to Buffalo! We were all eager to get to the city and to stay in a hostel and meet some of the Teen Treks staff, so we woke up early from our beach side camp and rolled up Route 5 from Erie to Buffalo at a quick pace. We arrived about 3:30 pm, earliest we’ve ever made it to our next location and had some debriefs by the Waterfront before making our way to the Buffalo-Niagara Hostel. The hostel was in the beautiful theater district and was decorated so eclectic and inspiring inside. We put our stuff down quickly and half of us left to join Buffalo’s Monday night social ride, the “Slow Roll,” with Teen Treks’ own, Tyler Madell, while the other half rested in the hostel and watched Jurassic Park on VHS. We met a whole lot of interesting folks at the Slow Roll and enjoyed seeing the city at a much slower pace with no bags to carry! After the ride, we came back to the hostel where former leaders, Ben Ingalls and Dan Rogers joined us. Dan prepared a delicious pizza bar that he spent half the day preparing, with homemade dough so each person could have their own personal pizza. We sat around the lounge eating our pizza while the Trekkers shared stories of our travels to Tyler, Ben and Dan. We had some great laughs on a belly full of delicious pizza. Tomorrow, we have a day off in the city to visit a bike shop, explore Buffalo, see Niagara Falls and of course, eat Buffalo wings
