I got out of the tent at 5:50am, dressed out for run, only to be greeted by a light rain. No problem. I headed out on Hwy 11 going north with no actual planned distance but it felt so good and, since there was a lack of traffic, I just kept going.
Just short of 2-1/2 miles there was a scenic lookout site with a trail down to the river so I had to check that out.
I continued on a bit and then turned around and ran back, giving me a 5-miler to start the day. I cooled down and then used the showers in the campground to get cleaned up. After a quick breakfast we got things packed up and hit the road again. It was something like 2-1/2 hours to Madawaska and we made pretty good time. The road, Highway 11, was fantastic with lots of sweeping curves and hills to keep things fun and interesting.
Dan captured this one of me with his iPhone.
We stopped for this photo opportunity.
In Fort Kent we ate lunch and then on to the next 20-some miles to Madawaska.
I chose this as a destination, partially because I’d wanted to do it on a long ride I took in 1979 but didn’t make it this far east, and, also, because it is the upper-right corner of the country. We pulled in to town and the first order of business was documentation.
I did the math and here, at the halfway point of the ride, I’ve traveled 3,040 miles. So far, so good.
Next, we went to the Four Corners Park, a site that celebrates that the town is one of the 4-corners of the continental United States. The others are Blaine, Washington, Key West, Florida, and San Ysidro, California. It would probably be worth it to visit all four.
We rode down to the waterfront and checked out the bridge to Canada that is closed. The border agent gave us serious look so I didn’t take a photo.
Having seen what we wanted to see in Madawaska, we headed down Highway 1 to Grand Isle. When I was in the army in the early 1970s, I was stationed at Fort Dix, New Jersey, then Camp Drum New York, and then back to Fort Dix before being deployed to Germany. In those first three stations, I worked with George. At Fort Dix we were regular patrol partners so we had spent lots of time together. He was shipped to Germany at the same time I was although he went to Mannheim while I went to Wackernheim, a small place south of Mainz. We did get together once over there, me traveling to meet him at the Mannheim station from where we went to Heidelberg for the “Burning of the Castle” festival. When I left him at the station in Mannheim, that was the last time I’d seen him.
I remembered that he was from northern Maine and since I’d been scanning all my old film from those days, and had lots of pictures with him, I thought it would be cool to drop them off if he was there. After about 5 minutes in the Internet I had his email address and sent him a “hello” email and attached a few pictures. We exchanged a few messages and I told him about my upcoming trip and he invited me to be his guest at the campground he now owns there.
Today we pulled in to that campground. I gave him a call and in 2-minutes he was there. It was great to see each other again. We went up to a 5th-wheel RV he keeps on the site and he, Dan, and I enjoyed a few beers as we caught up on the past 46 years. He decided we should have pizza together and called in an order. While waiting for that, he gave us a tour of the local historical museum. It was great, all things donated by area people. The camera collection was fun to see too.
We went back to campground and enjoyed the pizza and some good conversation. This definitely a trip highlight.
161 miles today.
Excellent news
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