Day 11: Danbury, CT to Portland, ME (289 miles)
 
We left Danbury, CT in 70 degree weather, knowing that we were in for a warm day.  We couldn’t avoid the highway today, but did manage as many miles as possible on Route 44 and other local roads winding through Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts before arriving in Maine. We had to be in Portland, Maine by 5:00 pm ready for a police escorted parade into Old Orchard Beach where us and several hundred other Posse Riders would mingle with the locals and other tourists on the boardwalk and pier for dinner and an evening of fun.
 

Fisherman in little skiffs could be seen on every lake we passed in Connecticut.

 
A tile mural in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, a town founded in the early 1700’s, seemed like a fitting backdrop for the bikes.

A park we stopped at for a quick break, in Uxbridge.

Staging hundreds of bikes for the parade into Old Orchard Beach.

The parade route meandered through South Portland and other towns, with each intersection and roadway blocked by police to allow us an uninterrupted route.

As we got closer to Old Orchard Beach, the streets became more and more crowded with local residents standing by the road waving as we rode by.

Harley parking in the middle of Old Orchard Beach.

Some of our Old Orchard police escorts.

 
Chris and Bill at the entrance of the pier.

 
The view of the Atlantic from the Old Orchard pier.

 
The pier that extends 500 feet over the Atlantic.