On into Maine, My alma mater and visiting friends

Wed. July 16
I didn’t sleep very well last night. Don’t know why. Maybe because I was so excited about hiking on the Appalachian Trail. When I was 15 and 16 I went to Camp Merrowvista in New Hampshire. It was an adventure camp. I also worked there on the maintenance staff for a couple of summers. We hiked, biked and canoed all around New England and even paddled in Labrador. When I was 16 we hiked all the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire. One of the many memorable trails was the Webster Cliff Trail that heads up into the Presidential Mountains. So 30 years later I am putting my foot back in the That same trail. It lives up to my memories of being very steep and rocky but beautiful. I started at 9:15 and was soon panting my way up the side of Webster Mt. Lots of switch backs and rocky steps. I set a good pace but soon slow down and breathing hard! The trail is very close to vertical and in places I am pulling myself up with my hands. I pass a trail work crew and praise them for their work on the trail. THey say they have been on this 2 mile section all summer and are almost done. I believe it. Finally I reach the shoulder of the mountain and I am standing on a rock shelf looking straight down at BEYOND. She is at about 375 ft and I about 2000 ft .

The trail continues right along Webster Cliff with more steep rock faces and often a 2000 ft drop to my right. I am still puffing and sweating and finally I reach the top of Webster Mt. at 3910 ft. I have hiked 3.1 miles so I stop for a well deserved break and talk to some other hikers that have come up a different route. Then I head for Mt. Jackson which is 1.3 miles further. The trail is much easier and many more people travel this one. It drops some into a notch and then gets very rocky and steep getting to the top. I make it and am now at 4052 ft. I take a lunch break. A can of portuguese tuna salad, garlic pepper flat bread (dented can store) sharp cheddar and lots of water. I eat my lunch and look up at Mt. Washington. I remember hiking up Washington in August and being bused back down because it was snowing to hard and they closed the mountain. Yes, there is a road and a cog railway to the top at 6288 ft. THe highest point on the East Coast. THe worst weather in New England. I can see the weather towers on the top. I have hiked it at least 3 times and have no plans to hike it again. I hate getting to the top and seeing all the tourists in the gifts shop! It’s a great hike though. Especially up Tuckerman’s Ravine on the other side. Crazy people hike up and ski down Tuckermans in the winter! Not me.

I am carrying twice as much water as my last hike and glad of it. It’s only about 1:00 when I finish lunch and I decide to hike on to Mizpah Spring Hut which is another 1.7 miles. I can see from my map that the altitude stays about the same. It very rocky again getting off the top of Jackson but then levels out and I am flying along on boards over alpine marshes and I have been smelling the spruce trees all day. The blueberries aren’t ripe yet this high but there are lots of flowers blooming and the mosses are brilliant green against the darker green of the trees.

Soon I am at the hut and take a break and eat the peach i have saved from my lunch. I take some pics and talk to RD, one of the hut people who is cleaning up after lunch. You can reserve a bed and buy meals in the huts. I’ve never stayed in one. Maybe when I am old! RD and the other folks get a chuckle out of MR. NIGHT and we take some photos. The huts use solar now but still have the propane lights I remember. I forgot to ask RD if they still carry all the food, supplies and propane tanks up by backpack. I will never forget pass a hut man carrying 2 propane tanks on a frame pack! He said the secret was not to stop for long and don’t sit. he was leaning against a rock for a minute. Just do it! It’s now about 2:30 and the hut says it’s 5 hours and 7.1 miles back to where I started. Including going back down Webster Cliff.

I top off my water bottles and head back. I have plenty of day light and take it a bit slower on the steep parts. My body is in the groove and I am moving on the flats. Soon I am back on top of Mt. Jackson and have a conversation with some folks who have been to St. Pete. Then back to Mt. Webster where I chat with some different folks about traveling. I am starting to feel fatigued now. So I take my time going back down along the cliff. I trip once and catch myself but I was pretty close to the edge. Gulp. Slow down some more and watch the ravens flying below me when the trail is level. (not often) Soon I am back at the rock ledge where I can see BEYOND waiting with my dinner! The shadows are getting long but I lie down and rest for 15 min. and do my back exercises again as I am feeling stiff. They really help. I get up and see three guys with lots of military gear and full packs come up the cliff. They are headed for Mizpah Hut. I tell them about the trail ahead and wish them luck. They have just about enough time to get there by dark. If they push it on the flats. Hope they have flashlights!

I head down the last 2 miles and see they same trail crew still working. They have moved about 15 ft up the trail! I test out their new rocks steps and head down. Slowly picking my steps as I am tired and my legs are aching. Down like this is the hardest on your body. I have a couple of scares where my feet slip or my shoes get caught on each other in a narrow spot. So I slow down more. I can hear the highway and it’s finally less steep and at last there is my friend the Saco River again. It’s not very deep but can’t hear anyone so I rip off my clothes and there is just enough water to float. AHHH! I am not really worried about being seen because I am under the bridge playing nekkid troll! WHen I am shivering I get dressed and walk back to BEYOND. It’s 6:30 so I made good time. 14 miles today. I have a couple of blisters and sore toes but not too bad. I feel tired but good. I get in BEYOND, fill my water bottle and head north.

Webster Cliff Trail, Presdential Mts, NH

I find Sugarloaf Campground and pull into the first site. I pull my bike down and ride to the pay station. My legs feel better than I expected. I ride to the john. First flush toilets in NH but no sinks. You just never know what each campground has! Then back to rend to my feet. I sterilize a needle and drain 2 blisters on my right foot. Antibiotic and bandage. Then I cook the organic home raised steak and fresh green beans I bought at the farm store. It tasted great. One of the most tender steaks I have ever eaten. I even tasted a Kobe beef steak at Bern’s once. This is almost as good. I drink an Ipswitch Summer Ale each some lemon poppy seed bread for dessert and then off to bed and I fall asleep to more rain.

It’s raining hard this morning so I read some Pelican Brief and go back to sleep. When there is a break in the rain I walk to the john and then make hot chocolate and eat blueberries raspberries and cantaloupe for breakfast. I read some more then pack up and head out at noon. I drive North and east over to Gorham through scattered rainstorms. I stop at a Quiklube and borrow their air hose and blow out my refrigerator line. Was not able to get it going yesterday. It lights and I drive to the supermarket for supplies. especially paper towels. I ran out last night and cleanup got messy! I drove on into Berlin, NH which is the biggest town around. SOme big paper and lumber mills. I am in the North woods now. I am getting internet so I do the email and look for a bookstore. Closest one is back in Gorham. I google movie theaters as the new Batman movie is opening today. Berlin has a theater. I look at GoogleMap and drive over but the theater is closed and for sale. Oh well. It was a nice thought on a rainy day. I am getting low on gas and have seen it as high as $4.27 here in the mountains. I see $4.07 and fill up. I ask about a swimming pool or YMCA where I can take a shower. They point back to Gorham. So I turn around and head back I see Moosebrook campsite just outside town so I pull in there as it’s 5 pm. THey have a campsite and showers! Hotdog!

I find my site which is at the other end of the place from the showers. I read and listen to the rain pouring down. I bought fresh scallops so I make more pho with fresh veggies and the scallops. It tasted good. THe scallops are great. I am still working the spice combinations but getting there. THen I have lemon poppy seed cake for dessert. The rain has stopped so I get my bike off, load up my towel and shower kit and head for the showers. I have to ride up a pretty steep hill and it’s dark but I find the showers. I got in and it takes quarters. First one on this trip. I ran into these in California. I search my bag for my emergency quarters. Nothing. I search my bike bag. Plenty of tools but no quarters! CWAP! A guy walking by takes pity on me and gives me a quarter. I offer to to return it in the morning. He declines as he bikes and feels my pain. I thank him and get in line for the shower. One guy ran in while I was searching. I shave in the sink and talk to a couple of guys who are thinking about hiking Webster Cliff the next day. I give them the low down and then for a quarter i get 2.5 minutes on lovely hot water. It;’s been 6 days of creek baths or swims and boy does it feel good! I wash my self and my hair and luxuriate in the final time. Then I ride back though a dark misty night and get in bed with the Pelican Brief and soon the rain starts and puts me to sleep.

I am having trouble uploading pics so be patient with me. They will come.

Saturday July 19th

Very damp this morning so I go back to sleep. When I wake again the sun is shining so I go for a walk and check out the swimming area and the warming pond. Someone in the past designed this Park so the Mountain stream is diverted into a shallow still “warming pond” that then flows into the swimming area. The stream is channeled around the side. Pretty ingenious probably warms the water a few degrees! Anyway after breakfast of granola with blueberries and raspberries I get my suit on and go for a swim. THe water is pretty chilly but the sun soon comes out and I sit on a bench with my book and warm up. Soon some other folks show up and jump off the platform over the dam. I am in again and now the sun is out and I am luxuriating in the warmth.

I move BEYOND out of my campsite and into a parking spot. Grab some roasted soy nuts and an apple head back to to swim again. Soon it’s hot enough that I retreat to a picnic table under a tree and lie in the shade. I discover this tiny jumping spider is trying to climb on me. I keep deflecting him with my book but he keeps coming. When I finally think I have him discouraged he stands on the top of my book and lets out a thread which must have stuck on my forehead because all of a sudden he comes right at my eyes on a tightrope! I swat him off and drop him on the bench where I can watch him hunt flies from a safe distance! He is a very good hunter. He will creep up close and then jump on them! I doze off and wake suddenly thinking the spider is on my face! But it’s just a fly. Whew! There are more people coming so I pack up BEYOND and head North up RT.16 through Berlin again. This time the whole main street is blocked off for a motorcycle event. I can see lots of bikes and vendors tents. I detour around and find a signal where I can send some email. Pics are very slow to load so I do one set as I drive North. It finishes and I start a second set but lose my connection in Milan (pronounced my-lan) and drive North to the Mollidgewock State Park and camp right next to the Androscoggin River.

I realize that I camped here before when I was younger and we were on an 8 day canoe adventure where it basically rained the whole time. THis was out last campsite and it poured all night and I woke up in the morning to the sound of Danny Cohelo blowing bubbles as he snored. Our tent had flooded and we were so damp and tired we didn’t notice! We got up poured the water out of the tent threw it into a canoe and paddled like madmen for out take out point and hot showers! That was a hot shower I may never forget! Tonight was cloudy but the rain had stopped. There was a bunch off college kids staying there with big cheap rafts and they were floating down the river to the campsite drinking beer and having a great time. It was fun to watch them swimming there rafts over before they missed the campsite and went through the rapids below. I put some dried black bean ina bottle to soak at breakfast. They went into a little pressure cooker I bought. Don’t worry this is a modern safe one. Not like the old exploding model i have at home. Soon it was whistling away. When the beans were getting soft I added veggie broth, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, Texas Pete and some sautéed onions and peppers and ran it again. I ate some salad and then made a couple of bean, tomtit and lime juice burritos. They were pretty good. But the beans were bland and a little stiff so I added more cumin and chili powder heated it again and let it sit over night. In the morning I put them in the fridge. Off to read my book. I confess that I finished The Pelican Brief and I am reading Survival of the Fittest again. It’s a truly terrify thriller. It delves into eugenics (theories that non white and retarded people are not fit to live) scary stuff. I know I am such a book fiend! Good night!

Sunday July 21
I slept late today, ate granola and fruit for breakfast, then rode my bike around the campground and went for a swim in the Androscoggin River. I have canoed on this river in a couple of different places and it runs through Lewiston, ME where I attended college. it’s nice to see it again. Then I drove North to Errol, NH and the top of the hill where I finally got enough signal to call Tom’s house. I spoke to his wife Peggy because I got an email that another college friend of our Cecile and her family are visiting from Seattle and are headed to Maine. I want to meet up with them if possible. Peggy tells me the town where Cecile’s mother lives and will have them call me when they come through on Monday. THis give me the opportunity to visit the ice cream stand that guys with a food blog call the best in New England. It’s in Wayne, ME. I can also visit Bates College. I haven’t been back since I graduated in 1986. I am looking forward to seeing the campus. It’s very pretty. They run a summer dance festival that draws some big names. Maybe there will be a performance I can see.

Errol, NH and Rangley, ME

I drive North along the River to Lake Umbagog which was part of our rainy canoe trip. Also my father and I visited his friend Ed at his camp on this lake one time. Ed was my stepmother’s second husband and he passed away not long after my mother. I drive into Maine and stop at a secluded picnic site along side Lake Aziscohos also part of our canoe trip. It’s a gray day and smells of rain and wet spruce trees. I am feeling lonely today. I take a moment and think about all my family and friends who have passes over the years. It’s a beautiful spot. Sometimes I wish had a travel companion to share these trips. THe laughs and beauty. The mistakes and wet. It’s all part of the journey. Thanks to all of you out there staying in touch. It means a lot to me. I have lunch and shake off the blues. Sharp cheddar, flat bead, cantaloupe and soy nuts. Then I drive on. I stop at a timber road. (Most of Northern Maine is owned by the timber companies and there are gravel roads running through their woods. You have to be careful because the log trucks rule those roads and they drive fast! Sunday is pretty safe. There are two sings pointing up the road saying B-17 Memorial. One is sporting a US flag. I am curious so I head up the road and see nothing for 3 + miles. I reach an intersection and there are not signs for the memorial so I retreat.

I am listening to a Quebec radio station that is playing a mix of French pop and US 80’s disco funk. It’s an interesting mix. They are also taking phone calls but my french is not good enough to catch much. I can see on my map that there is Wilhem Reich Museum ahead in Rangley, ME so I head for it. The name sounds vaguely familiar but I can’t place it. The Property is called Orgonon. And the Museum is a stone house on the hill over looking a pond. I pays my $6 and meet a tour guide who ushers me into a small room where I watch a 30 minute movie about Reich. He was born in Austria studied under Freud, and left Europe because he clashed with the Nazi’s. He then went on to develop theories of orgone. An energy produced by al living things that is not electrical bu is measurable. This came out his studies of the sexual orgasm. He went on to make Orgone boxes which concentrated the orgone energy and began to use them to treat cancer. ( I realize that my old girlfriend Lori told me about Reich and his theories) He bought this property because his home in NYC was to hot and humid for collecting orgone.

He established Orgonon Research Institute and had up to 70 people researching orgone and bions here until he was denounced by a fellow scientist as a fraud and a accused of using his orgone boxes to concentrate sexual energy. The FDA and the courts shut him down and ordered all his books and orgone boxes destroyed. During this time he built a series of orgone collectors that he claimed could influence the weather. There was a drought and the Maine blueberry crop was in trouble. Reich was convinced to use his cloud-busting machine and contrary to weather forecasts for no rain, he was able to produce enough rain to save the crop. He went on to do more cloud-busting studies on Arizona but i saw no mention of the outcome. One of his associates moved some of his orgone boxes and books to NYC without his knowledge and he was sentenced to 2 years in prison where he died of a heart attack. His house is filled with scientific equipment and his paintings (colorful abstracts). If you have ever seen Kate Bush’s video for her song Cloud bursting the machine they use looks very similar to Reich’s Cloud buster. He is buried in a tomb here in the woods. There is a cloud buster next to his tomb. He was certainly a brilliant and energetic man and a victim of an alarmist reaction to his work. Who know what the Orgone Institute would have gone on to do. I leave it up to you to decide whether his theories are sound or not. You have to admire his convictions. Especially his statement to the court that science should not be judged by public courts but by fellow scientists and the scientific method. This didn’t influence the judge favorably. Orgone is a very interesting place.

On down the road into Rangely, ME and it’s raining again. Pretty hard and the light is fading. I am heading South now and am seriously watching out for moose. Lots of car-moose collisions up here. Neither party wins. I am so busy watching for moose that I almost hit 2 wild turkey crossing the road! That was close. I like turkey soup but I don’t have pot big enough to cook 2 turkeys! I can see clouds loving quickly and mist settling around the mountaintops. It’s very beautiful. Not town here until I reach Coos Canyon and there is a sign next to the Canyon for a campground. I pull in and stop in the first site. The rain is pounding down. I pop the top so I can stand and pull out the beans, salad chipotle salsa, cheese, cook some yellow rice and cranked out some really good burritos. THe beans are just right now. Soft but firm. Burritos, salad, Smuttynose IPA and Laurie Anderson’s Mister Heartbreak. Probably my favorite of her albums. THen on to a really interesting mix of tunes from Chris and I hear some Patrick in there as well. It’s great to have new tunes on a stormy night! Thanks guys. Some dishes are done and it’s a monsoon out there. I have the windows almost completely zipped because water is bouncing all over out there. Soon I crawl into bed with my book. Almost finished with Survival of the Fittest (2nd read)
I am dry, warm and cozy. BEYOND is just so cool! Stay dry my friends.

I am up at 6 am this morning after a deep sleep. I take a walk down by the canyon and the water is really high and booming through the canyon. THe rocks are very slippery and I almost slide in once. That would be the end of me. I find a few ripe blueberries and the head back for granola , fruit and hot chocolate for bkfst. Then I do some writing and watch other campers walking by and realize that there are hot showers here. YESSS! I am off like a shot for a hot shower. IT feels great and when i finish the sun is out. It’s almost 9 am so I pack up and when the office opens I pay and then am out of there. I turn of the pavement and take a dirt road over the mountain to Mt. Blue and then south past Saddleback Mt. I was going to hike SB but I couldn’t find the trailhead and there were dark clouds up at the peak. I head on to Wayne, Maine. Hilton send me a foodblog from two guys who tried lots of handmade ice cream in NEw England and there fav is...... envelope please.... TUBBY”S in Wayne, Maine! So I am on an ice cream hunt. There it is and they give samples! I try raspberry chocolate, Coffee chocolate and chocolate chip. I settle on Coffee chocolate and it is really good! Heavenly! Thanks Hilton!

Wayne and Monmouth, ME

That takes care of lunch and I drive off to a Disc Golf Course I found on the internet and play 18 holes. It’s at the Beaver Brook Campground in Monmouth, ME. Lots of trees, rocks and bug! Not very long throws but lots of trees in the way. I did okay. Then I discovered they have a book exchange! Cool. After looking at all the titles I trade The Pelican Brief for a John Irving and The Perfect Storm. I was in Gloucester, MA so why not! I head south and then spot the Theater at Monmouth. I was up there when I was in college. It is a really cool little theater build by a shipbuilder. It’s tiny but very ornate. Ipull in a show my portfolio and resume. They seem interested. Fingers crossed! I drive into Lewiston, ME and Bates College where I went to school. I pull in and it’s starts to pour again. Dang! It’s really raining hard so I go for a drive around Lewiston. It looks about the same. I go looking for The Station which was a bar I used to frequent. It’s now a hairstylist. The Blue Goose Tavern is still there and Luiggi’s Pizza. I go to the Goose for a couple of beers and then a pizza at Luiggi’s. They still put luncheon meat on all their pizzas! I thought about going to see the new Batman movie, but it was hours before the next showing and I was tired. So I drove up to the campus and parked in the admissions lot. Nobody came to hassle me so I slept.



In the morning the rain had slowed to a drizzle so I walked over to the Library and researched some theater design ideas. I had seen book at Monmouth theater that was a whole book of textures. They didn’t have it at the Library but we found the Title and ISBN number so I can order it. Then I walked over to the theater and it was open so I walked around and they were hanging lights for a Bates Dance Festival concert. I found one of my professors in his office and we had a great conversation. He reminded me about a documentary film I made about the process of putting together a show. He want to know if I had a copy. He wanted to show it in one of his classes. I don’t have a copy and had completely forgotten the project. We reminisced and then he gave me a tour of the building. THey have added another theater and changed a lot around. It was interesting to see that they are still hand drawing all their designs. No computers yet. I think it is good to have a foundation in doing it by hand. But the industry is moving rapidly towards computers. They may be at a disadvantage in the working world. We talked about bringing me up to design a show. That would be great!

I ran into Professor Kuritz and he loved my photos of Uncle Bends written and acted by Bob Devin Jones and designed by me. He is interested in bring Bob and I up to direct and design a show in the spring. THat would be great. So Maybe I can come up a few times to do shows. Then I walked over to see the new Olin Arts Center. It is a neat building. Lots of good studio and music space. I was also able to visit with Marcy the modern dance professor. She started the dance program and the dance festival. She has retired now so I went to her house and we had a great talk. She looks great. Her husband has had brain tumors removed and can have a conversation but is not moving very well. It was great to see them both. She sent me over to see the New Dance studio they dedicated to her and a painting of her. It is a great setup with a lot more space then when I was choreographing dance pieces. I took a shower while I was there and then drove south to Bradbury Mt. State Park for the night. It is right near Durham where my friend Cecile is supposed to be. I leave her a message on her phone that I am near. Where are they? I make some more burritos, salad and I am drinking some Vermont beer tonight. I can’t remember the name but it was good! Then off to sleep.

In the morning I am up and after cereal, nuts and tea I take my bike out on the mountain bike trails. They have a lot of trails and some of them are really tough! I ride for about an hour, including on IMBA trail that really tested my abilities. I made it through with out falling but was feeling all the pounding in my back so I return to camp and did some stretching and called Cecile again. Still no answer so I packed up BEYOND and pumped up that leaky tire again! Then I drove into Durham and was on the internet trying to find Cecile’s parent address when my phone beep and there were two messages. One from Bob Devin Jones about the show and one from Cecile. Yeah! SO I call her, get directions and roll out there. It’s Cecile, her husband Mike,son Percy, daughter Bridget and her parents. THey live in Seattle and are visiting her parents summer home. It’s great to see Cecile and company and to meet her parents.

We catch-up and then all jump in two cars and drive into Lisbon Falls, ME ( home of the Moxie Festival, Moxie is America’s first soda. It has a strong very unique taste) to a glass studio and Insect Museum. It is in an old church and is a run by an amazing guy. He seems to have boundless energy and make all kinds of things out of glass. Including glass box dioramas of insect, shells, butterflies, scorpions you name he has boxed it! Some of them are amazing. He also has a collection of live insects, scorpions, Tarantulas. We had a great time looking at all of his stuff. Then we went to a park along the Androscggin River for a picnic and Percy and Bridget went swimming. It started to rain so we went back to the house and Percy, Cecile and I drove back to Bradbury Mt. State Park and hiked up a rainy Bradbury Mt. (.6 miles) then walked one of the trails and discussed movies and work. Cecile has a PHD in Biology and works for a small drug company as a project manager. We think we saw some bobcat tracks! Then to a country store (no lettuce) and back to the house where between all our supplies we rustled up oriental chicken,rice and lilly buds, fruit salad, Merlot and homemade rhubarb pie for dessert! YUM. We talked and then Cecile father gave a show with dancing stick puppets. They are a dying art form from Applachia that I haven’t seen in years. It was great to see him perform them so well and being so enthusiastic about them. He makes his own puppets and they are cool. Then everyone crashed. The rain poured down on BEYOND all night like and woke me a few times it was coming down so hard!

Waffles and tea for breakfast. Cecile's Father and I try to load a back-up program on his Mac and are partially successful then give up. The rain has slowed so Cecile, Mike the kids and I drive to Runaround Pond where Mike, Percy and I swim and Cecile and Bridget hike. THen we all look for frogs and I find a frisbee and Cecile finds just one frog. Usually there are lots of frogs according to Percy but we only find one and throw some ‘bee. The rain starts again so we head to the country store and order pizza, a hero, beer chips, root beer and ginger beer. We head to the house and all feast and then nap as the rain continues. We have leftovers for dinner and then look at vids on the computer before calling it a night.
More rain tonight. I have never seen this much rain in Maine. Reminds me of florida summer rains without the thunder.

Lewiston and Durham, ME

In the morning it’s tea and cereal and the well all head in different directions. I drive North on Route 1 along the coast and then stop at Rockland, ME and get on the internet to find a phone number for another college friend. Eva. She and her husband and two kids have lived on Matincus Island for about 19 years now. The ferry only goes out once a week in the summer. Her number is unlisted. GRR! But I know that there are only 100 full-time families on the island so I start calling all the island numbers I can find. Finally the power company picks up. I know Eva and her family run the power company and the guy gave me her number. It’s busy, busy but finally rings and her son ( I met him once when they came to St. Pete for the International Folk Festival.) Her remembered and amazingly she is on the mainland and I call her cell and leave a message. I hang around for an hour and then am driving out of town when it rings and it’s Eva. We meet at the ferry docks and talk about 20 minutes. She rarely comes to the mainland so it was meant to be.

She talked about her writing for local papers and magazines, running the power company, selling baked goods and hauling trash and freight to earn money. You have to be multitalented to survive on the islands. Her daughter is attending Exeter on full scholarship and her son is interested in theater design( how cool!) After 20 minutes Eva had to finish her errands. She can’t miss the ferry or she is stuck on the Mainland for a week. Or longer if the weather is bad! It’s very different way of life but they are doing well and are healthy and happy. It’s really great to see her. Maybe if I get a show in Maine I can spend a week on the Island with them. Something to plan for a another trip. I drive on up the coast through the tourist traffic. Past Bucksport and head south for Brooksville, ME. My college pottery professor has a shop in Brooksville, ME and after ending up in Castine, ME (the tourist bureau back in Rockland gave me wrong directions) I finally find the studio and there is Paul. He is surprised to see me. I left him a message that I was in the area but then lost his phone number. I meet his partner Scott.

Rockland and Brooksville, ME

THey have living and working in a beautiful house overlooking a cove. It’s very peaceful. We talk and then Scott gives me permission to park on his sister’s land next door. It’s very gracious of him since I dropped in and there are no campgrounds nearby. They are expecting company so we chat a bit and then I move BEYOND and go for a swim in the cove. THe water is a great temperature and completely flat. I alternate between swimming and floating perfectly still. I lie on the water and watch the sun drop behind the trees and dark begin to creep into the cove as I sit on the rocks. Finally I make my way back up the hill and eat my last burrito ( finally) with some Keilbasa and salad. Then I look at plane flights and at maps my stepmother has sent me on how to find her property in Nova Scotia. I think I have it sussed out now! A couple of cars drive up the road past me. I am barely off the road as it’s damp from all the rain and I don’t want to get stuck! They pay me no mind so soon I am off to read. I finish Survival of the Fittest then sleep.

When I get a strong signal I will load more pics.

As always pics ca be seen at

http://picasaweb.google.com/allenloyd