30 March

Today I woke at my usual time, with no alarm. I tried to check mail, etc, but the Internet was not available in my room. I tried with the front desk, but no answer, so I showered, dressed, packed and was off. Just as I left I saw he had hung out the “OPEN” sign, but it was too late.
I had breakfast just down the road and then headed off. I went through the rest of Massachusetts and into Maine and into the first Visitors’ Centre I saw. There I was given fairly detailed instructions on how to see the southern Maine coast, and assured that all the good (sand) beaches were in the south. So I travelled along the roads leading to the coast and was able to see representative beaches, many resorts and many holiday buildings boarded up for the winter. It was cold out of the sun or in the wind, and reluctant dogs were being dragged out of cars to go for walkies along the beach. The coastline certainly is dramatic, with little coves and rocky headlands. I didn’t detour to see George Bush’s holiday home, but they were all of a pretty high standard (I certainly couldn’t afford to buy into the area). At one point, where there was a private beach and restricted access, three car pulled up at once – but we were all tourists, so I snapped them and they snapped me. I was going to get the two (younger) ladies to pose with me to make my students wonder, but decided not to. It was very cold!
After that, when about fifty miles along the cast had taken me over three hours, I travelled up on the I-295 and I-95 and called into another Visitors’ Centre. Here I got directions to take me along a scenic valley, past many names shared with Mediterranean places, and then into New Hampshire, Vermont and Montreal. In case that sounds a lot, it is only about four hundred miles all up.
I had some lunch and then set off along US Route 2 (and the ladies in the Maine Visitors’ Centre pronounced it the Australian way, not the American).
The drive was interesting. The road was great, with good directional signs and good views all the way along. However the road surface was terrible, with breaks in the asphalt surface and some holes over six inches (fifteen centimetres) deep – enough to rattle the Ford Escape and shake the car behind me. It seems common that there new roads being constructed but the current ones are not well maintained. Whether in states with snow or without, whether on tolled sections or not, whether very busy or fairly quite, the surfaces are uniformly poorly maintained.
The places passed through had interesting names – Mexico (so I’ve stepped there twice now), Newport, Lebanon, Canaan and many others, but presumably the immigrants wanted some familiar names around them. At one stage the warning signs (and they came thick and fast) were for: moose, school buses, school children, tractors, dairy cattle, fire engines and snowmobiles – and these were all within a few miles of each other. Must get very busy there sometimes.
Just before Mexico, at Rumford, there was a giant snowman – and when I say giant, higher than the five storey bank next to him. I have no idea of what the nose was, or how they got it up that high, just disappointed that I couldn’t get a picture of it. By this time the temperature was up to 56°F, so there were people out walking, dogs enjoying their walk, small children playing and the odd jogger.
By this stage the sun was dropping, I was starting to get a bit tired and it was after 6:30. I looked for a place and found – Cabot Inn, a peculiar coincidence as one reason I wanted to see Maine was from the backgrounds in “Murder She Wrote”. I decided to stay even though the cost was slightly higher than I wanted because it had Internet, but after I booked in I found breakfast (with TOAST) was included and there was a laundry.
After parking and unpacking, I started the laundry, did the washing while checking and writing a few emails and am writing this while everything is drying. Hopefully now if my luggage gets looked out, there won’t be any soiled articles in there. After (probably tomorrow morning), I have to sort out things so I take the minimum with me and have to post the last parcel from North America to Fran. No real souvenirs in this one – I have run out of time, money and enthusiasm at the moment but will recharge for England and Europe.
It seems funny, but I have just passed the half-way point in time tonight. It certainly doesn’t seem like I’ve been away for well over seventy days, but I have. I wonder what it will feel like after I am leaving Europe and have only ten days in Japan to go.
I must finish here (I’ll be paper writing tomorrow and writing up once I am settled in England), check the clothes and take some up, then do the photos, post this and get to sleep. Tomorrow I only have four hours to drive, so I plan to leave about 7:30, travel across into and up Vermont, post my last parcel from a country post office (I passed ten today, so I can be assured they will be thin on the ground tomorrow, but the SatNav will find them), cross the border and hand in my Visa for the US, and then have a quick look at Montreal before I put the car in, get my ticket for my flight and then have some tea before boarding the plane at 8 p.m. Although I get into Heathrow at about 8, the time difference means the flight is not long enough for a good sleep (so I’d better get one tonight!).