May 11, 2006

May 11, 2006

Sarampus Falls Rest Area to Calais, Maine

YEAR 2 DAY 328

 

Today was a miserable, gloomy day of cold rain.

Joanne's spirits were very low today, as they have been for a few days now. I didn't start out that way today, but it's contagious. I certainly felt that way for much of the day.

This morning after regular morning chores and preventive maintenance, we left Sarampus Falls Rest Area quite early. We drove southeast on Hwy. 27, then Hwy. 16 / 27, then Hwy. 201A. We made a wrong turn somewhere around Madison, and drove about half an hour in the wrong direction before we realized it. We turned around and drove back to where we made the error, then headed in the right direction towards Hwy. 2. The condition of the roads through rural Maine was very poor, including some construction areas where the road was mud. The truck and trailer are filthy, from top to bottom, from driving on mud on a rainy day. I'm not very impressed with the route recommended by the agent at the Tourist Information Centre on the Ontario / Quebec border.

Before we reached Interstate 95 we saw a truck parked on the side of the road with a sign advertising fiddleheads for sale. I slammed on the brakes, backed up, and bought a pound of freshly picked fiddlehead greens for $1.75. That's enough to provide 4 servings for two. MMMMM ! We love fiddleheads, having been introduced to them a few years ago by our friends in Ottawa, Erbon & Lorraine, who are originally from New Brunswick. They generously fed us some of their freshly picked fiddleheads when we had dinner at their home last Friday. We knew that fiddleheads were found in the Canadian Maritimes, but we didn't know they could be found here in Maine. And the fiddlehead "season" is quite short, so getting some today was an opportunity not to be missed.

The roads were so wet and slippery, I shifted Lanoire into 4 x 4 mode, to eliminate, or at least reduce, the hydroplaning. When the front wheels are free wheeling, I can feel the truck hydroplaning on wet asphalt roads, because of Harvey's weight pressing down on Lanoire’s rear axle. In 4 x 4 mode, with the front wheels being "driven", the sensation of hydroplaning disappears. We stopped at a Wal-Mart at Newport, on Hwy. 2 just before I-95. We did a bit of shopping, buying some items that we know are cheaper in the U.S., or unavailable in Canada. We got onto I-95, then stopped for lunch at a rest area before we reached Bangor. At Bangor we left I-95, getting onto Hwy. 9 heading for Calais, and the Canadian border. At Woodland, just before Calais, we filled up with diesel, which is a bit cheaper in the U.S than in Canada. The Canadian border crossing is at Calais, but we drove about 10 miles south of Calais to a Passport America campground.

The office was closed, so we just found an empty site and parked. It was raining heavily, so all I did upon arrival was connect the hydro, while Joanne extended the slides. We rested for awhile, then had supper. I did today's accounting, and worked on today's journal entry while Joanne washed dishes.

DSK