Confusion at the Campground

Sept. 18th

Unbelievable. It's 8:30 pm and it feels like midnight. Here's a recap:

3 o'clock in the morning and Nicole nudges me awake.

"Kevin," she says. "I think there's something near our tent."

I wake up, groggily. It does sound like there is a creature rustling about, and there were signs posted about a skunk infestation in the campground. And obviously we don't want a skunk wandering about.

The source of the confusion: Chris' hammock/tent.

"Do you think it's Chris?"

"Maybe," I say, hopefully. I can definitely feel the presence of a live animal lurking around. Then we hear zippers.

"It's Chris," Nicole says, quite relieved. Not me. Now I start to get paranoid. Is it a thief? Everyone else at the campground has huge RVs and campers. What could they want from us?

Eventually I hear Chris cough  and hear his footsteps trail off towards the restroom. I know it's him, but my fight-or-flight response takes a while to trigger down before I finally go back to sleep.

Come morning, Nicole and I are both sleep deprived. We tell Chris we thought he was  skunk and he is flattered.

A new recruit for our bike trip?

Nicole and I are a bit slow taking the tent down and packing up. We don't roll out of the campground until about 10:30 am--a full two hours later than it took us to pack up and leave from Acadia. Fortunately, downtown Camden is downhill and just a mile and half away. We roll into the center of town and enjoy a nice brunch before we hit the road again.

Even after tourist season has slowed down, downtown Camden is in full swing.

   The road turns out to include more hill climbs than anticipated. The Adventure Cycling map measures inclines 250 feet at a time. What looks like a relatively flat ride on paper turns out to be several climbs to 240 feet. Ouch!

We ride on, but after about 30 miles, Nicole has had enough. I encourage Chris to ride on while Nicole and I take a break. We turn in to nearby Newcastle. We check it an a B&B and eat dinner at the nearby Newcastle Publick House. We each order a haddock sandwich with an appetizer of steamed Prince Edward Island mussels. I don't usually eat shellfish, but they were fresh and delightfully tasty. Oddly enough, they were all out of Newcastle!

The Newcastle Inn (Bed & Breakfast). Newcastle, Maine.

And now it's 8:30, lights out for
Nicole and me . . .