Saturday Nov 3rd
I woke up around 8 and went about
preparing breakfast and packing up camp. I’m surprised how good I feel! I think
my body is starting to adjust to this new lifestyle. I fix the
broken wheel by using a fork handle as a tire-iron to force the little tire
back onto the wheel. My goal was to be rolling within an hour of waking up, but
it's 10 by the time everything is packed up and ready to go. Two hours… I’m
starting to work out a well-oiled system, but I’ll have to work on making it
faster so I don’t lose so much time in breaking and picking-up camp. The
walk itself is uneventful and straight-forward today. The first several hours
are very rural with very few homes, so I don’t see anyone except the motorists
who give me strange looks. A few hours after starting out I come upon several
scattered oranges by the side of the road that apparently fell from a vehicle.
A couple are smashed from the rough landing, and one rolled into the grass
where it became a feast for a family of slugs, but seven of them are in perfect
condition! Sweet! I leave my luggage on the shoulder and seat myself on a large
rock for a welcome break while I eat three of them. I usually buy bananas
because they’re cheap. I can’t remember the last time I had an orange. The rest
go in my cart for later and I press on. I finally pass a home where two young
men are doing something with a wheel barrow in a yard set back from the road. I
holler out,
“How far to Machias?” They stare
back blinking at me for a few awkward seconds before one of them hollers back,
“Far!”
“I mean
like 10 miles? …15 miles?”
“Oh,
probably less than 10, I think.”
“Thanks!”
“Uh-hu…”
They stare for a few more seconds
as I continue on. My headphones are squawking through teaching on the book of
Ester and when that finishes the book of Job begins. I’m reminded how cushy my
life is with a manufactured sleeping bag and a propane camp stove. Several
hours pass before homes become more frequent and I enter the town of East
Machias. I remember doing 5-Day clubs here when I was a summer missionary with
CEF. Those memories always make me feel warm and nostalgic inside. That opportunity to lead children's ministries woke something up inside me that still burns to this day. I pass the
church and parsonage where my good friend Theresa Michaud used to live. She
worked with me in CEF and stood out to me as a particularly virtuous and
gracious young lady. She has a new last name now and is a missionary overseas. Japan,
I think. As East Machias fades away I startle two deer 30 feet from the road. They
have got to be just about the most graceful and beautiful of all animals. I
pass a convenience store and consider stopping for a coffee. No, I’ll reward
myself with that if I can make it to Machias before dark. I’m not nearly as
sore as I’ve been on previous days after this much walking. I definitely feel
my body changing and growing stronger. By late afternoon I reach the outskirts
of Machias. Finally! A teenager peeing into the bushes on the side of the road tells me that the McDonald’s a mile ahead has
free wi/fi. “…and coffee!” I tell myself. My hard-earned reward! I park my cart
outside, peel the pack off my sweaty back, and walk inside.
“Alvin!” My old buddy Alvin is
standing behind the counter with a manager name-tag on his shirt.
“What are you doing here?” He asks.
“Just out for a walk.” I tell him
about my walkabout and he tells me how he’s been transferred from the Ellsworth
McDonald’s and works here in Machias now. He directs a girl to take my order
and says, “It’s on me.”
“Thanks!” He’s just clocking out
for the day, so we say good bye and I settle in with my large coffee and log in
to the internet. I find a church where I can go tomorrow morning. “Downeast
Baptist Church” Should be interesting…
So Here I sit at McDonald’s. I’m
not sure where I’ll break camp yet. Near large towns it’s harder to find a good
place to set up a tent. Google earth shows a patch of forest near the church. That
would make it easy to get there in the morning. I’ll try that area. It’s almost
9:00, and I should go find that camping spot, but it’s warm in here and dark
out there…
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