> After the letdown that was Canada, we went to Mexico.
>
> Oh yes we did. Don't look at me like that. We went to Mexico.
>
> Oh I see. No, not the one with the tortillas and guacamole, sombreros and
> Speed Gonzales. This one is a town in Maine.
>
> It's Saturday, on Sunday our tenure of 'The Flume', yes our shed had a
> name, ends, and we were at a bit of a loss what to do, so we went to
> Mexico, Maine, just so that we could be photographed against the sign
> which said "Welcome to Mexico". I admit it was a huge leap of faith,
> believing that such a sign existed, not many other towns had such things,
> but we were rewarded.
>
> As I've mentioned before, the roads in Maine leave something to be
> desired. As you pass the sign which welcomes you to Maine, the road
> surface breaks up as do your wheel bearings and all your teeth fall out.
>
> Exaggerate? Who me? Surely you know me better than that by now. It is,
> however, true that as you cross from New England into Maine, the emergency
> strip at the side of the road turns from asphalt to dirt and the road
> itself develops ruts that allow you to drive without steering. Once you're
> in Maine, you ain't leavin' cos you can't get out of the ruts to turn

>
> One thing before we leave Maine (we did nothing else there), one trivial
> thing we had thought about before coming to the US, was just how good
> McDonalds food would be in the land of it's origin. In Maine we entered
> the home of Ronald to find out.
>
> On this one occasion, the US failed the food test. A British Big Mac is
> way better than it's Maine counterpart. Neither should really be
> considered 'food', but at least the UK version falls into the 'Any port in
> a storm' category. The one I had, just outside Mexico doesn't even qualify
> as a port.
>
> On Sunday we had our second 'ending'. The first was when we parted company
> with Barb and Bob. Leaving the White Mountains was the second. Goodbye to
> Franconia, goodbye to the shed, goodbye to the bears that stayed away, we
> would have liked to have seen you - from a distance, - and onward to our
> next place of choice - Portland, by way of State Highway 395.
> -----------
> Just a couple of things before the White Mountains finally fade from the
> rear view mirror.
>
> We spent a couple of hours at a park area which incorporated 'The Flume'
> which our shed was named after. This was an impressive looking waterfall
> up in the mountain with a fairly decent walk through the woods to get to
> it.
>
> The waterfall had been emasculated by the drought but was still good. What
> it must be like during the spring thaw I can't imagine.
>
> The walk was enjoyable, about two and half miles through woods and at one
> point actually joined the AT. In his book Bill Bryson impresses on the
> reader how uninteresting large parts of the trail are. Just a track with
> dense woodland either side for mile after mile. The part of the trail that
> we walked confirmed this and I have to wonder how anybody could be driven
> to walk the whole two and a half thousand miles of it.
>
> Another little jaunt earlier, in the week, had taken us to a scientific
> area where they specialise in homing and caring for wild animals which
> have been injured in one way or another, and would never be fit to return
> to the wild.
>
> We saw our bears there. Caged, injured and asleep they may have been, but
> we saw them.
> -------------
>
> One thing that was obvious at this stage was that staying in one place for
> seven nights was a mistake. We should have done four days in Franconia and
> then moved on. Staying in one place is limiting, especially when one
> realises the huge numbers of motels there are around.
>
> One of the things that we missed out on was seeing the Blair Witch
> Project, which was showing in Plymouth. I'm sure that would have made our
> stay in the forest even more enjoyable. The film didn't start till seven
> and we were looking to leave town at three and there was no way I would
> drive fifty miles back down 93 to see a film. Had we not had a shed to go
> back to, I would have stayed in Plymouth for the night and gone to the
> movies.
>
> The other reason for regretting the week in Franconia was that it left us
> little time to see anything else, so we decided to do Portland in a day
> and Kittery and Portsmouth in a day, which is what we did.
>
> More later.
>
> -----------------------------------------
>
> Part 7
> --------
>
> Now one thing that we hadn't considered with regard to Portland was it's
> being in Maine.
>
> Now those amongst you who are observant, will have noticed my mistake in
> the last part of the story. 395 does not go to Portland, 395 goes from
> just South of Worcester, to just South of Norwich. the road that I
> travelled was in fact the 302 - thanks for not mentioning it.
>
> Right so there we were bound for Portland on State Highway 302.
> Cross border into Maine.
> Replace teeth yet again.
> Hit Portland.
>
> What can I tell you about Portland? Well not much really.
>
> Having secured ourselves a billet for the night at one of those Super 8
> motel things, we set out to explore Portland. We headed towards the town
> centre and when we saw a sign indicating 'Beach Road' we shot off in that
> direction hoping to see the Atlantic. No chance. All the beaches along
> that road are privately owned so after a few miles we turned round and
> headed back, thinking that the harbour would be nice, maybe a bite to eat
> overlooking the water.
>
> Again, no chance. Especially for our benefit, the town fathers had
> imported a traffic jam from downtown Boston. It was a good one, authentic
> Big Dig crush, nothing moved for over five minutes, so we swung round and
> headed back out of town, none the wiser about this fine old east coast
> port. And unfed to boot.
>
> We ate at Friendlies, next door to the motel. At least the place lives up
> to it's name and the food isn't bad, but they don't sell beer.
>
> You didn't know that? Well neither did I. For the first time since our
> driver resigned and went back to Ohio, I was in a position to have a
> coupla beers without worrying about driving and we pick an alcohol free
> diner. Bummer.
>
> The waitress who took our order went home.
>
> This kid appeared from the general direction of the kitchen, wringing his
> hands and looking like he had been selected to take the heat, and asked if
> we had ordered blah blah.....
>
> It would seem that the very nice pretty waitress who took our order was
> about due to quit for the night. She dumped the ticket in the kitchen and
> was gone.
>
> Without writing the table number on it.
>
> How we laughed. It was as though they thought I was going to sue or
> something. It is a new art form 'Friendly Grovelling' and the food

> even late. I did feel that the replacement waitress was not as cute as the
> original but is that grounds for a law suit. I don't think so.
>
> The next day saw us in Kittery. Not actually in Kittery but at 'the
> shops'. If you have never been there, there are more designer outlets than
> you can shake a stick at. I'm not a shopping person but I enjoyed
> wandering round that place.
>
> "Make it a great first day of the hunting season, visit the Kittery
> Trading post, for all your hunting needs". Wouldn't work too well in the
> UK, that one.
>
> We booked into a Days Inn. Loads more money for less TV channels. What's
> going on? 85 bucks for a room without the weather channel. Outrageous.
>
> Portsmouth is an OK place. Again it is a shame that we had left so little
> time to spend there. Three hours isn't enough. but it was amusing looking
> out over Portsmouth Harbour. I can look out over Portsmouth Harbour (UK)
> from where I am working at the moment.
>
> We had a look at the Atlantic from just outside of the town. I really feel
> that we missed something, not spending more time on this coastline. I
> would particularly have liked to go up to Acadia, but I suppose you can't
> do everything in one two week trip.
>
> We did drive into and out of Kennebunkport (who thought of that name?) but
> we never saw one ex president.
>
> -----------------
>
> Tuesday saw me, and my significant other, heading down I-95 towards Cape
> Cod and the ever nearing end of the Adventure.
>
> More later.
>
>
>
> --
> MTM.
>
> "The empty sidewalks on my block are not to blame"
>