|
Baxter Facts:
Length: 40mi
Width: 12mi
Height: 5267ft
Electricity: None
Phones: None
Cell Service: Nope
Potable Water: Uh-uh
Gas: Not even gas.
Roads: Dirt
Dirt? Yes
All of them? Yes
Claim to Fame:
Starting point (or in most cases, ending point) for the Appalachian Trail, the be-all end-all of hikes. The Appalachian Trail runs from the tip of Baxter Peak on Mt. Katahdin all the way to Georgia, 2200 miles. Dude, that's just nuts.
|
|
Bumper Sticker of the Day |
|
|
Grocery List:
- Reese's Peanut Butter
- Lender's Bagels (6)
- Milk
- An Onion
- A Green Pepper
- 1.16lb Ground Chuck
- Cranberry Juice
- Pretzels
Total: $14.16
Unable to find at the Thriftway in Orono, ME
- Wild Rice
- Tortillas
- Corn
|
|
Innovation Award:
Using the lid for the tin of matches to stamp out burgers, cookie cutter style.
|
|
Bangor? We Hardly Knew Her.
Aug 29 -
We woke up this morning thinking, "Boy, golly, heck, I sure can't wait to get to Bangor."
Don't ask us why. Is there anything even in Bangor? I mean, besides Stephen King.
Okay, it was Stephen King. Aimee read somewhere that you could walk right up to Stephen
King's house, and we had this vision of us showing up and saying, "Hey Stevie," and him
saying, "Oh hi, I was just about to eat, won't you come in and join me?" and us saying,
"Well, we're not sure, see, we're on a cross country road trip, well, I suppose we could
spare a few minutes," and him saying, "A road trip? That sounds intriguing. Come on in,
I just made muffins," and us saying, "What kind?" and him saying, "Apple Cinnamon," and
us saying, "Oh boy!" and the conversation would go from there.
It was enough to get us up at sunrise. After all, we needed to find something to top Small
Town X, and the master of horror might just do the trick. Might.
Mind you, a dollar an hour to rent a canoe was nothing to shake a paddle at. We tootled
around South Branch Pond for an hour or so, long enough for the wind to change direction
and slow us down both ways across. Then we packed up and left.
The road out of Baxter was about 60 kilometers of dirt. We took a break after 30, to let
our eyeballs dejiggle, at Mt. Katahdin. For those of you behind on your Maine trivia, Mt.
Katahdin is the highest point in Maine, and also the end point of the Appalachian trail. We
thought, "How 'bout a hike? Other people walk here from Georgia, surely we can get to the
signpost from the parking lot." We got halfway. That's a tall-ass mountain.
We cleared the South Gate of Baxter State Park at two-ish, and hit the Golden Road to Bangor.
We hadn't uploaded the site in about five days, and thought surely our cell would pick up
a digital signal as we got to a big city like Bangor. No luck. But we did spot
a place that just might have internet access: The University of Maine.
Now, let me tell you a little about the University of Maine. It's in Orono, everyone sounds
like Mayor Quimby from The Simpsons, and the tech staff are about as helpful as Verizon
Customer Service. The first dude we talked to seemed halfway sensible, and let us know that
there are free access computers in the Library. At the Library, the first gentleman seemed
like he would have bent over backwards if only he was allowed to leave his chair. See, there
were cameras on him, and if the supervisor caught him away from his post... you get the idea.
At the computer cluster was one of those long-faced guys who would have to make a conscious
effort if he wanted to cover his top teeth with his upper lip. He just kept shaking his
head and saying, "I don't think there's anything we can do for you." After geting sufficiently
frustrated, we made one more crack at the first lab we had visited, but shift change occurred
while we were gone, and a little dude who would have made a great cartoon rat had taken the
other guy's place.
"Enh! Enh! No! But I... I just can't!" snivelled the little man, as he pulled on his face in
anguish.
Needless to say, we didn't get to upload. But, we didn't get a ticket for parking on campus
without a permit either, so I guess it all balanced out in the end.
At that point, it was getting pretty late, we were feeling frustrated, and felt that
we probably wouldn't be good conversationalists in that frame of mind. So we decided to
put the muffins on hold and take a rain check from Mr. King. He was probably a little
disappointed, but I'm sure he's had let downs before. I mean, look at The Tommyknockers.
|
| |
Today's Weather:
Another Great Day!
Sleeping Quarters |
Acadia National Park
Site D64. Rumoured to be some of the most beautiful parkland in the United States. Couldn't really tell because we got here in the dark, but for the first night since we started, Kev got an excellent night's sleep. A raging thunderstorm kept Aimee up, though.
Cost: $12.00
http://www.nps.gov/acad
|
Bkfast:
| Baxter SP At the Campsite |
|
K's Order: | Froot Loops, in a pot |
A's Order: | Muesli, in a pot |
|
Lunch:
| Baxter SP Entrance to Katahdin Trail |
|
Contents: | Leftover pasta from a few nights ago Coke |
|
Dinner:
| Acadia NP At the Campsite |
|
Contents: | Campfire Bagel Burgers Al Hobbs Carrots Cranberry Juice Coke |
|
Cost: | See Grocery List |
|