Part of the rally’s festivities was a door decorating contest. I failed to take photos of most of the doors, but this is how I learned that we were next door to members of the Australian contingent and across the hall from the Estonians.

Monday morning, there was a sign across the hall reading “Welcome to Estonia.” By mid-morning, the sign had been joined by a string of pennants running down the hall and a larger WIMA Estonia flag.

By late afternoon, the pennants and WIMA Estonia flag had been moved outside and the building and the members of the Estonia group were putting up more decorations. I joked that at this rate, I expected their decorations to surround the camp by nightfall.

We were on our own for lunch on Monday. There had been a mention at breakfast that a local restaurant, 290 Maine St was supposed to be pretty good. Bearing that in mind, Amy, her friend Carol, and I headed out to find the place.

Walking to the dining hall on Monday morning, I noticed a teal and white Harley Davidson motorcycle with a license plate saying “TEAL”. Things like that make me smile and as it’s her favorite color, I made a note to tell Amy about it.

Later in the morning, I passed that same cabin. All the other motorcycles had departed for rides on various scenic routes in that portion of Maine, but the teal Harley was still there. There was a woman on the porch, setting a few things out and I asked if it was hers. It was, and I told her how seeing her bike earlier had made me smile.

And that’s how I met Donna Wiegle.

Putting our travel adventure into perspective, one group I felt badly for was the women coming to the rally from Nicaragua. Several of them arrived in Portland and only then discovered that their travel agent had booked them on a flight to Portland, Oregon when the rally was in Portland, Maine (missing the mark by nearly 3,000 miles)!

The 2024 rally was held just outside Portland Oregon; so perhaps the travel agent was off by a year. This does open a potential theme for future rally locations.

The 2026 rally has been announced for “Southern Colorado.” The town hasn’t been announced yet, but there is a Portland in Fremont County, Colorado. There’s also a Portland in Ouray County, Colorado; either one would work.

Wikipedia lists more 20 places named Portland in just the US. And along with Colorado, Illinois and Iowa also have multiples.

(Cover image: A screenshot of the Wikitionary free dictionary page for Portland.)

The travel plan was pretty simple.

• Day 1: Travel to New York to visit family.
• Day 2: Travel to Massachusetts.
• Day 3: Pre-rally preparation.
• Day 4: Travel to Maine and rally setup.

Day 1

We set out with Amy on The Teal Kestrel, and me in the car. I also ride, but for logistical reasons (we were transporting a number of bulky items for the rally), the car seemed the better choice.

We got on the road around 3:00pm; a little later than planned, but well ahead of the worst of rush hour. We got to our hotel in New York around 10:30pm with plans to meet up with family the following morning.

The USA chapter of. the Women’s International Motorcycle Association held their annual rally in Poland Maine from September 7 to 13. As a guy, I’m not really the target audience, but it was a wonderful break from the usual day-to-day and a chance to support the wife’s interests. And, after attending two previous rallies, I’m pleased to know some of these women as friends.

Unlike previous road trips, this one works best as a collection of individual tales rather than journal entries wrapping all the events of a single day.

• Getting there (September 4 to 7)
• Trip Planning (September 8)
• Teal on Wheels (September 8)
• Traveling to Norway (September 8)
• Welcome to Estonia (September 12)