Oh, Man....

…my goodness.  Maine has certainly been a wet state since we’ve arrived yesterday, Monday.

But let me backtrack a little to catch up on the last two or so days.  Friday night we stayed in Lincoln NH at the Mt. Coolage Motel, a place where Jerry and I stayed when he was hiking the AT.  There is nothing special about this place except that the motel owner reminded us both of Bob Newhart as he played the Innkeeper on the Newhart Show many years ago.  Well, Bob ( I think his name was Dennis) was gone but we stayed for two nights anyway.

This is the Franconia Notch area.  A very popular tourist area.  There were so many people cars were circling the parking lots trying to find a space to park.  People were everywhere and the most common language heard was not English.  We headed up the road a little to Cannon Mountain and there I took my first Tram ride.  Yep, I did it.  When we got to the top we were in a cloud, not much to see.  We hiked a little and soon the cloud lifted and we could see forever.  Well, it seemed that way anyway.  We enjoyed some hot chocolate and took some pictures and then rode the tram back down the mountain.

We then headed north to Gorham – so much traffic the overlooks stopped traffic with people trying to get in.  We finally made it to Gorham where we met up with Dan (Gray Ghost) and his wife Becky.  Dan and Jerry hiked together a little back in March when Jerry spent a month on the south end of the trail.  We enjoyed dinner with Dan and Becky.  We then spent the night in a room in Gorham.

Monday THE SUN WAS OUT.  Woo Hoo!  Since we left Genesis the sunny day have been very, very scarce.  So, on Monday our plan was to take a tour van up the road to Mt. Washington.  I had done this before and Jerry hiked it in 2010.  The van ride is the way to go.  You can drive your own car but believe me it isn’t worth it.  The road is narrow and steep – no guard rails.  I’m sure I would have been in tears if we had tried to drive it.  The day was beautiful and we could see all the way to Canada.  It is a rare event on this mountain.  It was time well spent.

After the ride we headed to Maine.  We camped in a National Forest Campground in Maine.  For the first time Jerry joined me in sleeping in the van.  He had so little faith in the adventure that he set up the tent so that he could move in to it during the night.  Much to his surprise (and mine too) he made it through the night.  We woke to rain this morning so even though we didn’t use it we had to pack up a wet tent.  We’ve gotten good at folding up the tent under the rain fly – a trick I first tried out in Yellowstone last year.  It really does work.

On into Maine this morning (Tuesday.  It is a good thing that Jerry’s watch gives us both the time and date.  Saves us the embarrassment of having to ask someone that information.)  I just realized that Maine rhymes with rain.  And that is what we’ve had all day.  Rain and more often than not, RAIN. 

We followed the AT a bit.  Jerry showed me where a canoe is used to cross a river and then we stopped for lunch at a lodge.  And then we got stuck.  And then we got a room.  We were planning on sleeping in the van, really we were but the rain just kept coming.  We did take a ride this afternoon, in the rain.  There is a road that loops near a ‘pond’.  In our neck of the woods it would be called a lake.  The girl at the desk that Jerry talked to said that it was paved but turned to gravel but was completely passable.  So off we went.  There were vacation houses along the shore of the pond.  Paved road turned to gravel.  Gravel road turned to dirt or rather mud in the rain.  We traveled for awhile, there were a number of turnoffs along the way.  I was beginning to feel like we were in an awful version of a corn maze.  Lucky for us God/fate smiled upon us and Jerry decided to make the decision to turn around and go back the way we came.  Sometimes that is the best decision ever.  The road/mud was beginning to turn into very deep puddles/lakes.  It began raining even harder and even though it was only 5:00 things were getting dark.  Needless to say we made it out alive and without having to spend the night in the van after all.  It just would have been crazy spooky.  Back in the room the rain seemed to stop so we attempted to take a walk by the time we got to the door it started to drizzle again but we forged ahead.  Only to have it rain harder.  We ate supper in the lodge to the sound of lightning and thunder.

Jerry was so hoping to hear loons tonight since there is a lake on the property.  He has heard them before and wanted to share the experience.  That is one reason we ventured in to Maine.  Hopefully they will be around in the morning.  There is also suppose to be a lunar eclipse tonight.  Perhaps if the sky clears up and the gods smile upon us we will experience a Loonar Eclipse.