Day 92

Today we cycled just over 200km from Campbelton to Miramachi. We took the scenic route down into Bathurst. It was a nice ride with minimal traffic! There were no shoulders, but the drivers in the maritimes are so nice! They give you SO much room! Definitely a change from Quebec!
The day started off really scenic, following the water. It started getting into forest areas and VERY nsmall communities. It was cute until we started getting hungry and we couldn't find ANYWHERE to buy food! Finally we found a Tim Hortons and we were SO happy!!! Then we could finish the rest of our cycle into Bathurst in peace!
The head wind for most of the cycle caused us to get in a bit later than ideal into Bathurst. The headwind, along with the fact it was so hot! We needed to take a bunch of breaks just to cool down or fill up our water bottles! We made one stop in Bathurst before hitting the info center: Coldstone at Tim Hortons! We both ordered ice cream and Michael also ordered a blueberry milkshake (which he was VERY happy with!). Michael really liked his mint chocolate chip, but I felt sick after mine. I ordered some orea thing, with a vanilla base, fudge, oreos and chocolate ships. Sounds good, in theory. But the thing with Coldstone is that they mix it all in front of you. So, unfortunately, the woman making mine REALLY liked oreos and sugar (she kept going on and on about how if she could, she would have a diet consisting of only oreos. I don't doubt it). But she LOVED her sugar so much she decided to JAM pack my ice cream with SO much of the chocolate fudge sauce it was just sickening! That was the worst part, but adding a bunch of oreos and chocolate chips made it unbearable! I mean, I got my money's worth, I guess, but I didn't enjoy it! I probably would have enjoyed it if not for the sickening amount of chocoalte sauce! I don't know ANYONE who could have handled it! But a different woman did Michael's, and he really liked it.
We went to the info center next to ask about the best route out of town (and to get their opinion on whether or not to do the Acadian peninsula. They agreed with our decision not to see it because we were so tight for time we wouldn't get to really experience the Acadian culture, which would be the reason for the detour). So, we continued straight for Miramichi. It was a straight road down (highway 8), and it was only 70km away. Along the route, there was NOTHING to see! Just DENSE forest! Neither Michael or I realized how much forest there was in New Brunswick, but it's barely more than forest! The woman at the info center warned us about the HUGE, STEEP hills along the way, but they were VERY enjoyable! They were really gradual, so not hard, but long enough to make you feel accomplished! And they were constantly rolling, so there were tons of downs (and ups). We only made one stop along the highway (at the only stop available) to fill up our water bottles. The waitress was really nice and even put ice in them! It was wicked! When we were there, we noticed how cheap the food was, so decided to have dinner there! That satisfied our stomachs, but made us lose a solid hour of cycle time. So, we only made it into Miramichi, and not further.
After just completing 200km it was starting to get dark, and I didn't feel comfortable cycling at night. So, we stopped at an ESSO station and asked if we could camp out back. They didn't have a problem with it, which was amazing because it was open 24/7, so we had access to washrooms all night, and early in the morning tomorrow (which is key because we plan on waking up at 4am tomorrow morning to hit Fredricton by the early afternoon!). We passed right out, and were occasionally woken up by someone flashing their lights by our tent (it freaked me right out, but Michael either wasn't scared, or was too tired to care!).