Date: 2004-10-19
From: exploring the maine coast: day 3

To: exploring the maine coast: day 3
Miles today: 0.0

"taking care of business"how do i keep finding myself getting up at 4:30? something just doesn¢t seem right about this. but, we were awake at 4:30 this morning so that we could drive to the marina and make sure we caught the lobster guys before they went out for the day. again, it was about 32 degrees this morning. again, a layer of frost covered everything.it was still pitch black when we got to the marina at 5:00. we parked in the small parking area beside the road and waited. and waited. and watched the minutes on the clock tick by. i stepped out into the cold and walked down to the dock to take some pictures. even in the pitch black i can take some great photographs with my trusty camera. i exposed one shot for about five minutes and did some others for around a minute. i¢ll be curious to see how they turn out. i would return to the car for a bit and then head back out into the cold to continue doing what i came on this adventure to do- take photographs.the sky began to grow lighter with the approach of dawn. by 6:00 we still hadn¢t seen any sign of the lobster guy. by 6:15 there was still no sign. i thought these lobster guys got an early start so that they could get a jump on the day and check as many lobster traps as possible. i was starting to wonder if we¢d come out here for no reason. the sun was about to rise, so mandi suggested that we head over to the wiscasset waterfront to get a good view. i said that sounded like a good idea although i was worried that we might miss our chance with the lobster guy.we parked at the wiscasset waterfront and i got out to take a few photographs while ross and mandi patiently waited in the car. these folks are too great. they are so accommodating. i almost feel bad about how kind they¢ve been. i saw two men heading out towards their lobster boat so they could get a start on the day. when i returned to the car mandi asked me why i didn¢t see about hopping on the boat with those two men. i told her i figured it might be a little crowded with me, them, and their golden retriever that was also on board.i suggested that we head back over to the other marina in hopes of catching chris before it was too late. we pulled back into the parking area beside the road and a few minutes later a truck pulls down a drive and parks by the dock. that must be our guy. at this point mandi-my only connection to this guy, as vague as it might be-starts to back out of the deal. i¢m telling you mandi (aka grace) is definitely not the person that she portrays on trailjournals. it is all a farce. she is a nice, sweet, shy girl. she starts to say that she doesn¢t want to go down and talk to the guy because she doesn¢t really know him and she doesn¢t know what to say to him and blah, blah, blah. ross and i aren¢t having any of this. so he makes her get out of the car and we walk down to the dock and there are two guys there getting the lobster boat ready to go out. we walk up and exchange good mornings with them. mandi introduces herself and chris asks if she owns such-and-such boat and she says yes and he says he remembers who she is.¢have you ever taken a photographer out on your boat?¢ asks mandi.¢yeah, i did once before,¢ answers chris.¢well, would you be interested in taking another one?¢ i chime in.¢sure. when would you like to go?¢¢um, how about today?¢ i ask.¢well, you could go out with us today, but if you want some good shots i would suggest that you come back tomorrow and go with us then. today we¢re just going to be fixing traps and lines and it won¢t be very much fun. tomorrow will be a much better day to go out.¢¢are you serious? you don¢t mind if i tag along?¢¢yeah. it¢ll be no problem at all.¢¢man, that¢s great.¢¢just dress warmly. it¢ll be cold once we get out there. we¢ll be heading out about twenty-two miles.¢twenty-two miles. is he serious?¢what time should i be here?¢¢we¢ll head out around six, so be here a little earlier. we¢ll wait for a few minutes if you aren¢t here, but we¢re not going to wait too long,¢ says chris.i make a note to be there at 5:30 just to be safe. ¢sounds good.¢¢you don¢t get seasick, do you?¢¢not that i know of.¢¢i hope not,¢ says chris, ¢because once we¢re out there, we¢re out there and we¢re not coming back. and, if you get seasick that is going to make for a very long day.¢¢yeah, i don¢t think i get seasick.¢¢alright, well, we¢ll see you in the morning, then.¢¢thanks. i¢ll see you tomorrow.¢so, that¢s it. tomorrow i¢m going out on a lobster boat. i just made this lifelong dream yesterday and i¢m already doing it. i wish all dreams could be that way. make it and two days later it happens. of course, then i don¢t know that it would be nearly as much fun or worthwhile. what would we have to look forward to? what would we have to work at? what would we have to, well, dream about?am i really going out on a lobster boat tomorrow? it didn¢t seem real. i didn¢t really wake up at 4:30 this morning, did i? nope. i had to still be dreaming, such a vivid dream as this. i wasn¢t dreaming, though. tomorrow i really am going out on a lobster boat. who in the world sets off for an adventure on the AT and ends up on a lobster boat? i¢d be willing to bet that not many people do. i am lucky. i am fortunate. i am blessed in so many ways. this is turning out to be one of the greatest adventures i¢ve ever been on. this ranks right up there with the whirlwind weekend road trip that don ofer, jim triple, and i did this past summer (north carolina to old mexico and back in just over two days). this probably falls right in between that and the other whirlwind weekend road trip that jim triple and i did last winter (virginia to canada and back in two days).back at the house, holly cooked us yet another amazing breakfast. i¢m afraid that i¢m going to gain a lot of weight while i¢m staying here. mandi went back upstairs to go to sleep. these early mornings are taking their toll on her. as much as i don¢t like them while they¢re happening, i really do kind of enjoy them. it is a good feeling getting up early and watching the sun come up and getting an early start on the day. i can only wish that i had the self-discipline to get up so early every morning.i decided that today would be a good day to get some chores done and run some errands. since i¢m on vacation and heading back to the trail in two days, i have two maildrops that are waiting for me in towns that i didn¢t go through. i figured i¢d borrow the car today and drive up to caratunk to pick up my maildrop there (which i know includes a box of my mom¢s delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies. your mom¢s cookies have got nothing on these.) and then drive over to visit honey and bear at the cabin in andover where my other maildrop was.so, i borrowed the car and hit the road. what a great day to be driving. what a great day to get away by myself for a little while. the drive up to caratunk took a little longer than coming down from caratunk the other day. i don¢t drive quite as fast as ross or mandi. i pulled up to the post office and walked in and asked the woman if she had any mail for me. she pulled out three boxes- one that i¢d sent to myself, one from my mom, and one from my friends joy and fun sarah. ah, people are thinking of me out here. not only did i get a box of cookies from my mom, but joy and sarah sent me some cookies as well. so many cookies, so little time. i dug right into the box from mom. somehow, when i was hiking last year, i talked mom into sending me a box of cookies almost every week. i guess that would explain why i gained weight while i was hiking last year.i drove a mile up the road to visit steve the ferryman at his rivers and trails camp. the place was vacant as i pulled up to it. it was obviously shut down for the season and steve seemed to be giving it a massive cleaning. i found him inside the main building sweeping the floors. it was good to meet steve. he seems like such a great guy. steve provides such a service to AT hikers with the kennebec ferry. he told me that shane had stayed with him on sunday night and gotten ferried across the kennebec around 9:00 on monday morning. i¢m glad to hear that shane is heading south. part of me wishes that i was still hiking with him. i enjoyed his company. i wonder if our paths will cross again.the thing about roads and travel in maine is that there is no direct route. there is only one major highway in the state and the rest is a maze of secondary roads. the drive from caratunk to andover seemed to take forever. i didn¢t know if i was ever going to get there. the drive was beautiful, though, so i didn¢t mind. maine is beautiful. i finally did reach the cabin in east andover, only to find it empty. i rang the doorbell, but nobody was home. i hung around for a little while, but still no one showed up. after leaving a note for honey and bear saying that my hiking plans had changed and i had stopped by to see about my maildrop and would stop back by again on thursday on my way to the trailhead, i went in search of the east andover post office.if you aren¢t looking for the post office in east andover you¢ll drive right past it. if you are looking for the post office in east andover, you¢ll still drive right past it. i drove past it twice before i finally saw it. the post office is tiny. and, i mean tiny when i say tiny. there isn¢t a whole lot to it. inside the PO i asked the postmaster if my package had come through yet just to make sure. she asked the name on it and i told her and she said that she hadn¢t seen it. i gave her the confirmation number and she typed it into the system and it showed being check in at greensboro on the 12th. yeah, that would be where it was mailed from. but, it hadn¢t been checked in anywhere else. great. really, that¢s just great. a week later and my maildrop hasn¢t shown up yet. how long does it take to mail a package from north carolina to maine? apparently more than a week. the postmaster asked what she should do with the package when it arrived and i told her to go ahead and send it on to margie and earle at the cabin. my thoughts on the united states postal service? they kind of suck. i¢m not too happy right now. of course, if i¢d gotten here when originally planned-five days from now-then it would probably be waiting for me. so, i can¢t complain too much. i just wouldn¢t think that it would take more than a week to send a package from north carolina to maine. i thought we were further along than that with this whole efficiency thing.i decided to drive over to grafton notch to see what the mountains were looking like over there. driving towards the notch on maine 26, i could see that baldpate had some snow on it. ah, i remember baldpate like it was yesterday. i remember sliding 40 feet down that mountain. those were fun times. i could also see that speck mountain had snow on her as well. yeah, i remember that old bitch. i remember when she and her dirty lover, old man winter, beat the shit out of me last year. not this time, though. this time i¢m going to be prepared....if the postal system comes through for me. i found where success pond road comes out onto route 26 so that when mandi drops ross and i off at the speck pond trail on thursday, we¢ll know where to go.earle, from the cabin in east andover, called me this evening when mandi, ross, and i were out walking on a trail that they¢d cut and blazed today on their land. he said that my package hadn¢t arrived and i told him that the lovely lady at the post office had already told me that. he said that he¢d keep me updated and let me know if and when it showed up. i told him that i¢d stop by on thursday on the way to the trailhead. i can only hope that the USPS comes through for me.tonight = early to bed.tomorrow = a day on the lobster boat.i can¢t wait.