Cross-Country Camping Trip, Part 6

Monday (9-4-06) we left Vermont and drove to Maine to see my dad. I feel strangely uninspired to write anything about the part of the trip that was in Maine. It was like no other trip to Maine I’ve ever taken. I actually wasn’t looking forward to it. I didn’t want to be in my parent’s house without my mom.

Of course, it was beautiful. The rolling wheatfields of the Midwest may speak to my Kansan roots, but the forests, lakes, and rocky shores of Maine speak to me. It’s who I am; a northern nature girl.

Yet….the beauty of the setting couldn’t make up for the fact that when we got to the house, Mom didn’t come trotting out to meet us with a big smile like she used to. Anyway. Sorry. I wasn’t going to get maudlin. The first visit to Maine without her is over; the next one will be better.

I think this is the last fall that Dad will be in Maine, though. He’s starting to make noises about moving back to Kansas (where he grew up), and I think he really means it this time. You can just tell he can’t stand to be in that house without Mom, either. All motivation to continue the renovations and finish off the various rooms is gone. I think next summer, or when the legal stuff about the accident is wrapped up, he will be moving on. Actually, getting away will probably be the best thing for him. I’ll miss that house, though.



Tuesday and Wednesday (9/5/06 and 9/6/06) were spent doing nothing in particular, just visiting and doing laundry and such. We went into town on Wednesday to get the oil changed in our car, and were hit with a surprise when we discovered that the brake pads needed to be changed and the rotors turned. Four hundred dollars later, we escaped from the Subaru dealership with what was left of our bank account….. But it’s good, since now we’re safe again.

I went for a walk around Dad’s property a couple times, and saw a new butterfly, a White Admiral. It wouldn’t sit still long enough for pictures, but there was a cooperative Viceroy under the apple tree.



We did have one bit of excitement on the first night. I went to let Cobalt, our dog, out right before I headed off to bed, and since we accidentally left her leash in Vermont I just stood outside with her while she did her business. Usually she does what she needs to do then comes right back in, but this time she went ambling off across the yard. I lost sight of her momentarily (she’s very black) then spotted her near the barn, walking after an animal. At first I thought it was a cat or a fox, but it was too big and wasn’t moving fast enough. I ran over and got Cobalt, and when I got back to the house, saw that she had a muzzle full of porcupine quills!



Luckily, none of them were the really big quills, and they weren’t poked into her skin very deep. She must have just gotten a glancing blow from the side or head of the porcupine, not the tail. I never heard her yelp outside, and she didn’t even flinch when we got the pliers and pulled them out. This poor dog has been through so much in her twelve years. Hit by a car, giant bladder stones, heartworm (and the treatment, which was worse than the worms), bitten by a copperhead, stoned and drooling from licking a toad, a bout with pancreatitis, an inflamed brain tumor or stroke three years ago when we really thought we had lost her, and now a porcupine. At least it wasn’t a skunk.



Before we left on Thursday (9/7/06), we packed a picnic and went to Schoodic Point for lunch. This is a piece of Acadia National Park that’s on the mainland, just down the road from Dad’s. It’s much less overrun with tourists than the main park on Mt. Desert Island, but just as beautiful.



We ate lunch (including some yummy peaches from Dad’s yard) then had fun climbing around the rocks and looking in tidepools for a bit.



We didn’t stay too long because Dad can’t hike around like he used to, and we had to be getting on the road anyway. We drove the loop around the point, and on the way out we passed a big raft of eiders, gathering together for the winter.



After we went back to Dad’s house and picked up the camper and the cat and dog, we headed out, bound for Connecticut to see Shaun’s dad and stepmom again. It was just an overnight stop, but it was good to see them, and his dad looked a bit better than when we saw them in Vermont.

We got back on the road the next morning (Friday, 9/8/06) and headed down to Philadelphia.