Date: 2008-09-19
From: Greenville, ME

To: Greenville, ME
Miles today: 0.0

Surprise! Didn't end up leaving today afterall. Geez..there are days I have to wonder if I'm firing on all cylinders. Yesterday, the plan was to obviously pack everything into the car, except our packs, and A.M. graciously volunteered to help us place our car in Millinocket. Well, all day I was thinking in my head, "If we leave @ 5, we'll be back by 7." I sort of had that wrong. I knew it was a 2 hr drive ONE WAY to Millinocket, and had that time frame stuck in my head for the round trip. So come 6 p.m., we're FINALLY ready to go, and it occurs to me, "Shit! We won't get back till 10 p.m. and we haven't even eaten dinner yet!" Well, we all take off and Karen and I are discussing all of this, as well as the fact we haven't stopped to just "be" these past 2 days. She (understandably) was feeling a bit rushed, and I could totally empathize, so we decided to take 1 more day where we truly had nothing running us around, and then start off fresh and relaxed Saturday morn! ing. I see this last section as her big pay-off for all of the support and logistics and shuttling and driving she's been doing the past month. I want this to be the most incredible and enjoyable experience for her, and to me, starting off feeling ragged around the edges is not the way to do that. What's really funny now is that if we hike the way I sort of think we will, my summit date would now be October 5th...which is Persistent's summit date as well! (I thought hers was the 3rd earlier...my brain is just NOT working these days.) I'd love to share a summit date with her! Part of my chores yesterday was retrieving a surprise maildrop from Persistent! It had some goodies like oreos, a note to Howard, ibuprofen, and then a small envelope saying "Open on Katahdin" on it. There were other snacks and wet ones and stuff like that. So fun and so appreciated. I also tried to upload my pics, but the wireless internet kept losing a signal, so I ended up having to burn the pics to disk, and A.M. volunteered to mail it to Persistent. So, last nite we got to Millinocket after a long and dark drive, and parked the car @ the Econolodge. You know how these amazing synchronicities happen?   I was backing the car up and Karen noticed someone flailing her arms and jumping around in the dark next to the passenger side of our car¢Karen thought maybe we were accidentally rolling over someone¢s pet. It turned out to be none other than Banjo!! She was yelling, ¢I summited today!!! I summated today!!,¢ and she was absolutely ecstatic. I could not believe the luck! They had just pulled in with her parents and Half Elvis' parents and "just happen" to be in the parking lot when we drove up! They originally thought they'd summit on the 20th, so I was ecstatic to be able to give her a huge hug and congratulations. The ONE person (besides V8 and A.M. of course) that I seemed to connect with out here this year, and I had the privilege to congratulate her in person. How cool was that? Well, Karen, A.M. and I grabbed a bite @ Subway and I drove us all back in A.M.'s car. We got back after 11 p.m., so I was so glad we weren't hiking in the morning. Now, it's morning and Karen calls the office to get the room for 1 more nite, but they were totally booked! Oh no! She just happen to remember there was a sign @ the Black Frog (where we ate dinner) that said they had rooms above, so we called them and score..got a place for tonight. It was better, because it's right downtown and if we'd stayed here at the Chalet Moosehead Lodge, it would have been a bit of a walk to the main area of town. A.M. came over and she loaded up on all the leftover food stuff and we got our packs all loaded in her car. Then Karen and I realized we couldn't find 2 of the 3 room keys and now believe they are in some clothing in our car in Millinocket! See people, sometimes, we just can't get it all together, so I went to the office and tld the wonderful owners that we would mail the keys asap. They were totally cool and sweet about it. Nice folks. I recommend this place as a great get-a-way, I think the official name was Chalet Lake Moosehead. A.M. drove us up to the Black Frog and we had to say goodbye. Wow...so hard to do it for the final time. We are hoping though that we can visit her and V8 on our drive home...crossing my fingers. Auntie Mame, you were INVALUABLE these past few days, and I'm not quite sure how to thank you, but perhaps a trip to or place in Virginia is in your future. Thank you for everything you did. Karen and I walk up to our room to find basically a whole apartment! We were laughing, and there's a deck that overlooks the cove, where we've been watching a loon fish for food. We decided to walk over to an outfitters here in town and to our aazement, Karen found a pair of hiking pants on sale. She was planning on wearing tights like a lot of hikers do, but they have no pockets, so this was a perfect find. Also, the temps are freakin cold, so this gives her 1 more layer of warmth, and we both feel better about that. I asked the woman about possible shuttles, and se just happen to be calling a guy who does them, so she left a message for me and gave me his #. The trailhead is about a 10-15 minute drive from here, so even if we can't arrange this shuttle, I think we can hitch out tomorrow. Not worried about it really, it has always worked out. Then we went and browsed in some little stores and both stood there and looked @ a book about moose. I had no idea the bulls shed their antlers every winter and when they grow new ones every year, they are in a velvet stage where they are soft, and once it becomes hardened, the velvet molts, leaving the hard antlers we always see. Wow, these animals are amazing! We read in the local paper moose hunting season opens 9\22\08, 2 days after we head into the wilderness. Then we ate lunch @ the Black Frog and walked around a bit more, got some hot coffee and retreated to our warm room. I'm telling ya folks, everyone up here is talking about the unseasonably cold temps...ticks me off. I'm so hoping for it to warm up a bit. Karen is snoozing, I'm about to follow suit, and it is the calm day we both needed. No more thinking, no more logistics...just getting to the trail and hiking. Oh, I also called Kathy Preble and changed our food drop date. She was cool with it totally. Today gives me a moment to really process what is happening. Seeing Banjo and the ecstatic smile on her face gives me some hope it won't be all sad, besides, the Econolodge i Millinocket has an indoor pool and hot tub...and I have THAT to look forward to! LOL Off into the wilds for sure in the morning. Looks like it will be a bit warmer, so that's good. I'm ready to do this, and so is Karen. It's going to be an awesome adventure together! ~Certain