Pennfield to Hampton

With early birthday wishes exchanged, stomach full of hearty breakfast, and the insistence of Horace to give me a lift in the truck to the highway on-ramp (he certainly is stubborn with a twinkle in his eye!), I thanked the Youngs for their generosity and continued down the TransCanada.  While the tailwinds of the day before were not to be matched, the ride into Saint John was satisfyingly mellow and a pedestrian’s directions as to how to avoid the construction mess of the main bridge had me navigate no problem.  I stopped to eat some lunch and reached the highway exit for Hampton mid-afternoon.  Warmshowers member Norm had said he and his wife, Mary Beth, would be happy to host me for the night there. 

Saint John, NB

  Though my legs were tired, I was tempted to take advantage of the remaining daylight hours and good weather.  I decided to go into town, check my email with the directions to Norm’s house, and look at other options that might be further down the road in terms of places to stop.  As luck, chance, divine powers, and energies of the universe would have it, I was in the Tim Hortons searching for a wall plug to turn on my netbook when a friendly-looking chap walked over, extended his hand, and told me I had almost made It to the right place.  Inconspicuous, I am not.  A seasoned bicycle adventurer himself, Norm had seen Nancy parked outside and come in looking for a bedraggled internet-seeker.  

When this starts to look appealing it is probably time to pull off the road for the night...

I figured that if that was not a sign it was time to call it a day, I wasn’t sure what was.  I took directions to his house and, boy, am I glad I did.  The three of us had a great evening of tasty food, swapping bicycle and non-bicycle-related stories, and I got some great tips for the roads in the area.