The Dynamic Duo

And now we continue our saga of UMom and sister’s adventures in Maine and the AT . I know its been a while since the last installment. You may have to go back and review ” The Land of Dreams and Rainbows” if you can’t remember where we were.

As I said before, the overnight camping was pretty much the highlight of the trip, but that’s because it was one night. A couple of nights would have been okay, but Panther and I (you know, Cougar) weren’t terribly unhappy to be heading back to civilization. The hikers this day, were heading to Caratunk, and were pretty excited about it. It seems there was a killer hostel there with reasonable rates, showers and laundry, and most of the group had decided to zero there. Also near Caratunk was the big river crossing where the only way to get across was on the ferry. Jason and Sara again decided to hang out with us in the car; we would drive to Caratunk and secure lodgings, and then Cougar and Panther would head back towards Portland. We had a bus to catch to start us on our journey back to New Jersey and a few days of much anticipated fun with brother Dan and wife Mary.
When we arrived at the hostel, however, there was trouble. It was so late in the year, the place had been closed down for the season. We drove around and checked other places with disappointing results; either they were closed for the season, or the rates were exhorbitant. We finally decided to stop for lunch at Three Rivers, a bar/resaurant/lodging type place. Sara planned to try to negotiate price if any rooms were available. The proprieter was extremely friendly and personable. The lunch traffic had been so light, they hadn’t been opening for lunch lately, but if we wanted to eat, they would see what they could do. Unfortunately, the grill wasn’t fired up, so no burgers or pizza. I think most of us had roast beef, and it was fantastic. The room was decorated in “early hunting lodge”, with stuffed heads and a big stuffed black bear near our table. We asked the guy to take a group picture, and, at our request, he wheeled the bear around so he could be in the picture too. After we had partaken of our repast, Sara started her negotiating. When she wants to be, the girl is great at intrapersonal relations. A terrific rate was settled upon for a lodge that would sleep quite a few people. When we actually saw the place, Sara and Jason were ecstatic. Not only was it charming, but there were 5-6 rooms, upstairs and down, each containing a large bed. We felt much better about leaving them, knowing they had a good place to spend the night. Our “boys”, as we had come to think of Jay, Pace, Ricky and David (and of course Honey-Girl) would be taken care of for now. We had had the experience of a lifetime, but now it was time for Cougar and Panther to leave the wilderness behind. Farewell, AT!

If you look hard, you can see the bear behind us

Nice rooms, eh?

The lodging situation had taken longer than anticipated, so we decided to stop in Augusta for the night. From there, it would not take us long to drive into Portland, return the rental car, and catch the bus to Boston, the first leg of our journey back. We found a motel not far off the highway, and loaded up with snacks and laundry detergent. By this time we were getting pretty “ripe”, and I was a little worried about the reception we might receive from our fellow travelers the next day, so it was a big relief to send my entire wardrobe off for laundering. Panther had exchanged some gear and apparell with Sara, and it was reasonably clean, so she was the laundress. I snuggled down in bed with my snacks and prepared to watch….........what else? Baseball.
The next day say us on the road bright and early. I was the navigator and I kept telling Debi that we were doing fine, just follow this highway down to Portland, but for some reason she kept questioning me. “Would you just look at the map one more time?” she requested again.” I really don’t remember hitting so many toll roads when we drove from Portland.” Come to think of it, neither did I. Uneasily I consulted the map, and wouldn’t you know it! We had taken the wrong road! Ha, Ha! This turned out to add only a few slight miles and about $20 in toll money to our trip. We were still headed towards Portland. Returning the rental car, we taxied to the bus station. We picked up tickets for the bus, and then went over to get the tickets for the train that would take us from Boston to Newark. “Everything running on schedule?” asked my companion. “Well, actually there is a bit of a problem. None of the trains in this area are running. There has been so much rain that the tracks are all flooded.” Just great. Turns out we would be bussing all the way.
We were able to take the nice Trailways bus to Boston, I think it was, as planned. Same great service we remembered from before:snacks and a movie on board. Then we entered the world of Greyhound. No frills, but it actually wasn’t too bad until we hit New York City, rush hour. Our driver seemed to think he would make better time if he lurched forward everytime there was a gap of an inch in the traffic ahead, with a liberal laying on of the horn. Both of us were feeling a little sick by the time we disembarked to change busses yet again. In fact, I had somehow caught a doozy of a cold. Must have been from all that roughing it in the wilderness. The good news was that we had a better driver. The bad news was that, once we reached the Newark, NJ station, Dan and Mary seemed unable to find us. Thank goodness for cell phones. Dan & Debi, describing locations (“I can see the front of the———hotel from here.”, etc.”) finally connected and we were finally headed back to Sommerville, a good supper, some cold-fighting drugs, and a warm bed.
Next…................Adventures in New Jersy and environs….........