Slow like a turtle. The day starts that way with a sharp turn of Route 1 toward the meat of Maine, away from the lovely river and Canadian border. It turns to head straight into the mountains. This is because I'm taking Route 1, and will not go Route 1A which stays by the river. In the mountains I disappear, as does most any cell service around. I lose my Canadian cell service, and switch from No Service to Off Network until I get to Caribou. That's okay, I was busy pushing my cart up the mountains, and had to take it easy on the downhills, too. It seems logical to run down them, but I know shin splints will take hold. So I choose to take it easy and not create a problem just because I want to go faster. Turtle wins the race. I will go slow, to get myself through these 35 miles of ups and downs.
I arrive in Caribou. It's funny, the town ends in a U, and that's exactly what shape it is. A big U. You start at the top of the U, and take a nose dive into the town. Down, down, down. Then, in the Valley of the U, there are minimal eating places. (Such that I even had to go backwards to go back and get food. There wasn't a lot on the route.) My maps had "said" some food places were there.....that weren't. That's okay, sometimes you have to go backwards to go forward. I spent quite a bit of time in Caribou, and it was well worth it. But now it was time to finish the U shape, and climb out of Caribou. I was fed, rested, and ready to move on! And got it done.
One major difference I noticed over the last two days is that (I'm pretty sure) due to my painted words on my Cart AND on the back of my shirt (RUN/WALK ACROSS AMERICA), people understand what I'm doing. Well, they don't "understand ", but they get it. No, they don't "get it" either, but they do know my purpose. They don't feel sorry for me, like I'm in need of assistance or lost or whatever it was they thought. Now, it's clear what I'm doing. And I'm able to move along more independently, without people calling the police on me, and being questioned by the police. People don't look at me (as much) with pity in their eyes, it's more of a "why?" kind of look. I look away so it makes it easier for them (and me) to move on. Overall, I'm very glad that others have the knowledge of what I'm doing. Day 2 with no police turning their lights on and pulling me over. I'm loving that.
After leaving Caribou, I move along, knowing it won't be too much longer til I arrive in Presque Isle. I enjoyed the lush green acres, mostly of potatoes, for miles. That's a big farming crop in this area. There is ZERO farm animals. It's all crops of potatoes, raspberries, blueberries and such. There's a big farming community here, with many tractors and mowers! (By the way, the town is pronounced: press-q-aisle). Say it fast, all together, like it's one word....but it's not. I'm constantly corrected when I say it around here.
I made it to the Budget Travel Lodge in press-q-aisle. Best customer service ever! I settled in, rinsed off real quick, then put on clothes for yoga and proceeded to walk back toward town 1.2 miles to the library. They have yoga there at 6:30 on Wednesday nights. Or at least that's what their website said. After I arrived, they informed me they forgot to put it on the website that it's cancelled today. Okay, so I walked back to the motel, but there's good news from it all. The front desk lady informed me they had laundry facilities here. And she had detergent I could use. It has been two days of 80 miles with no washing of clothes. She kindly nudged me in the right direction. No yoga, but I have clean clothes!
Let's talk about the plan for tomorrow. I laughed when I typed that, because rain is coming and it changes everything. But for now, it's 41 miles to Houlton, and with rain, we'd rather not camp. But I have reservations at a campground AND reservations at a 1 star motel there. It's a toss up where I may end up. Only time will tell! Days like tomorrow are unpredictable. Weather, terrain and many miles to cover. What happened to those "30 mile days"?
Hope your day was a good one!
Cyndi
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