Date: 2009-08-02
To: TX - ME
Miles today: 0.0

III. Report: Physically, I¢m off the trail and at home. This report is for July 20.Monday was a travel day from home to Millinocket, ME. I had an 0530 flight out of Bush International. This is about 1.5 hour fro my home, plus add 1.5 hour for check-in and security, and it meant no sense trying to get any sleep, just pull an all-nighter. I got to the terminal about 0400 to find a number of passengers sleeping in chairs, with no staff visible anywhere. I checked the kiosks and could find no information on my flight. I rechecked my confirmations, the travel receipt showed as Terminal A departure; but, the airline confirmation indicated a Terminal B departure. Grab bags and head for Terminal B. At this point, I should mention that my bags had a dry weight of 65 pounds, which included food for 14 days (10 days for the 100 mile wilderness, one day to Mt Katahdin, 2 days to the wilderness and 1 day reserve). Also, the airline policy was to charge $90 for bags over 50 lbs; so I had a 45 lb backpack and 23 lb carryon. On an aside, you should have seen the passengers unaware of this weight limit who were offloading their bags at the check-in. Terminal B was even more deserted, and had even less kiosk about my flight. I flagged down one of the TSA agents, who checked with someone on the phone and re-directed me back to Terminal A. There was significant more activity when I returned to A. There were 4 ticket agents. I saw them all, two twice until we were finally able to locate my flight. I had one number for my on-line travel reservation, another for Delta reservation, and a third for a Northwest ticket. Found my flight finally, although there was no information for this on any of the kiosks. I don¢t remember rollback from the gate and we arrived in Detroit. There was a several hour delay in Detroit, which allowed for 2 gate changes. The flight to Bangor was uneventful.In Bangor, it was a short hike to the bus station. There, I met a fellow hiker and NBFF, Byron, who would eventually be known as TNT (The Neverending Traveller). I told TNT that I had made arrangements with Ol Man for the ¢SOBO Special¢, a ride from Medway to Millinocket, room for the night and then a shuttle to Baxter State Park. TNT called OM and made a similar reservation. We had a short hour ride to Medway where we met OM and a third hiker and another NBFF, Lisa. Lisa would later be known as Fluffy Bunny, Wolverina, ETC, Church Mouse and Misstep. I knew her first as Fluffy Bunny and its my journal, so I¢ll refer to her as Fluffy Bunny (FB).We had a short shuttle to Millinocket and had dinner at local caf©. There, I noticed that Jolly Rancher had completerd his NOBO trek (Lumpy and I met JR and his wonder dog, Harley.   We then headed to the Appalachian Lodge for finalizing plans, a shower and sleep It was 2330 when we finally turned in, resting up for a very full day tomorrow.IV. QOD: How are the NOBO and SOBO AT blazes/trail markers? I had noticed that my AT handbook was very much featured for NOBO hikers. Also, I had noticed that the NOBO markers seemed to be a lot more conspicuous than the SOBO markers, particularly in towns and along roads, and developed a theory that the SOBO¢ers were being shortchanged in the AT markings. I asked Rambunny about my theory, as she has thru-hiked NOBO twice and SOBO once. She agreed completely. I decided to photograph my first road crossing after leaving her hostel. The very obvious results were posted July 18!!V. POD: A big part of my youth activity was devoted to Boy Scouts. I started attending scout camp as the Troop Mascot when I was 6.   I was a Cub, Boy and Explorer Scout. My awards included Eagle Honor, Council Scout of the Year, Order of the Arrow (OA) Vigil Honor, and I was elected OA Area Chief.   I worked on the staff for many summers at the local camp, and attended the National Jamboree in Colorado, two National OA Conferences in Indiana, and took a field trip to Florida via the USS Lexington aircraft carrier.POD: Mr. Bob Warren was our district Scout Executive and totally dedicated to the Scouting movement. He officiated at my Eagle Scout Court of Honor, and served as the OA Lodge Staff Advisor. It was in this last position where Mr. Warren and I had a most significant difference of opinion and argument. However, we were able to respect each other¢s position and were able to work together in a positive and productive manner.