If the trip weren't completely random, I don't think it'd be any fun. I left Scarborough lacking rest. I learned as the evening went on that my plot in the campground wasn't just a really nice spot in the grass, but also basically the middle of a traffic circle. The cars never stopped coming. Usually, I sit down in the tent at night to read, and I know when quiet hours hit because everything dies down and I go right to bed. That means I'm asleep by 10 or 11pm. Last night, I started feeling tired and looked at the clock...1am. The traffic was unreal. When I checked in, they had a golf cart escort me to my site. With us was a car going further in the campground. These escorts didn't stop until way after I fell asleep at 1:30 or so.
If you've ever seen the movie Defending Your Life, you'll know what I'm talking about. There are a variety of crowded tram scenes and they all break off into side streets and it's beautifully choreographed. That's what this campground looked like...all night. To give you an idea of how large it is, from my site to the front gate was 0.7 mi. That's not back roads in the woods - it was occupied sites all the way!
I headed north this morning feeling alright, but a little under rested. The weather was good and the terrain was pretty gentle and I got to enjoy some really nice descents. I pulled into Portland planning to kick back a little bit...that was supposed to be the halfway point in the day. I made my way down to the wharf thinking about taking a "ducks" tour. The Duck is a WWII amphibious vehicle designed for dropping troops on a beach. A tourism company has bought a bunch of them and set up shop in waterfront cities, giving tours and history lessons while using the vehicle to its full potential. I'm familiar with them in DC and Baltimore, but didn't know they were anywhere else.
When I got to the starting point of the tour, they were almost full and I wasn't ready to climb in yet. I needed a little time to cool down. While relaxing, I met Dave. He works on a lobster boat here in Portland called the "Lucky Catch" and was hanging around the pier waiting for the boat to return. In the winter, they're strictly a working boat. During the summer, they take groups of tourists out to see what it's all about. They only hoist 8 traps during each outing, so they rely on tourism dollars to make up what they miss out on at the market.
Dave and I ended up at the pub and I have since ended up at Dave's place for the night. Tomorrow, the boat is participating in a lobster boat race a little bit north of here, and we intend to go. Apparently, they go fast enough to get up on plane (skimming on top of the water) and they stick their noses up high enough that sometimes, the wind can knock them over...backwards. Or, sometimes they'll catch a wave the wrong way and go into a barrel roll. We'll be riding up to the races in the boat, but observing from land. Only the captain will be on board.
For now, we're relaxing and I've met a bunch of Dave's friends and we're probably going to go find some live music tonight. That'd be Dave and I, his roommate Clint who's a painter (check out his work), Ian and John who just drove up from MA (Ian rides a longboard and wiped out last night...he's about 20% road rash) and a handful of others. Check back tomorrow...maybe I'll have pictures of a lobster boat race :P
Today was 23.5 miles at 11.6 average, 31 max and just over 2 hours.
Hey. Looks like we are still in sync., even though we are hundreds of miles apart. We went to the car museum at Luray Caverns last weekend. Saw a lot of the same stuff. Crazy what they could do back then. You ever thought of taking any pictures of the people you meet? I should think the ones that put you up for a night wouldn't mind a pic? I guess it's safe to say that the whole "Don't talk to strangers."-thing is right out the window, eh?! :)
Posted by: Schmauve | Sunday, July 31, 2005 at 11:52 AM