I Can See Canada from my Front Window!

 

*Not actually my cabin; mine has an overgrown Yew tree in front that completely hides the cabin.

Well, maybe I can't see Canada quite yet.  But I'm staying in a 1930's travel cabin in Trenton, Maine, a 25-minute drive from Bar Harbor, where I'll board the 3-hour ferry to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia tomorrow.  The cabin is cosy and clean.  Reminds me a lot of the travel hotel rooms we stayed in on vacation with our parents years ago.  Wood panelling, window AC, small bath. "Western" type furniture from the 1960's.

The 3-day driving trip here has been blessedly uneventful.  Way too much tollway for my taste, but I-90 is the fastest way to cover the miles.  I planned the trip for three 6-hour drives:  day one to Syracuse, NY; day 2 to Exeter, NH; and day three here to Trenton, the cheapest place I could find near the Ferry launch.

On night one, I stayed in Syracuse, NY in an old hotel downtown called the "Parkview."  I imagine it was once a very nice hotel, but it is currently being remodeled into a Hampton Inn in a part of downtown that I'd kindly call "up and coming."  Safe to walk around during the day, but too near the looming inner belt highways above to feel completely safe.  Parking was behind the building in an alley lot; construction had closed the back door to the hotel.  Closed also was one of the two elevators.  I hauled my luggage and cooler (can't take a road trip without a cooler!) to the front of the building, up the steps, and into the working elevator.  The room was spare, but clean.

I went to a nearby restaurant for dinner; the menu had a noticeably high number of vegetarian options.  I wasn't hungry after the long drive, so I ordered some hummus.  Decidedly tired, I went to bed early, only to be rudely awakened at 8:30 AM by the fire alarm.  I grabbed my flip-flops, robe, and phone, went down the stairs to the ground floor, and asked if there was a fire.  "Didn't you see the (tiny) sign we put on (the very far end of) the counter that the alarms would be tested today?

I sat in the lobby and waited for the alarm to go off, skipped the hotel breakfast, and went back to bed.

I don't know if it's my age or allergies, but I really hate driving long distances on toll roads.  First of all, there are a limited number of meal choices at each toll stop, all of which are unhealthy and expensive. And this summer the food recalls put a nix on salads! And for some reason, I get insanely tired and droopy-eyed after about 20 minutes of driving.  On a normal highway with numerous exits, I exit to a small town, find a park, and take a cat nap.  But these East Coast toll stops have no nice spots in the shade to park your car, and therefore nowhere to have a cat nap on a hot summer day. I kept pulling over at toll stops and unsuccessfully trying to nap.  It was exhausting.

The next day I began the trek through Vermont and the Green Mountains.  They were beautiful to drive though, but I had very limited occasions to stop and take a photo. I knew I wasn't in Kansas anymore when I started seeing "Watch for Moose" signs and highway warnings saying "No hitch-hikers, bicycles, or horses."  Here's a photo at the only sceneic turn-out I passed:

That night I stayed at the Exeter Hotel in New Hampshire, a 1930's beauty practically on the Phillips Exeter campus.  It was a lovely old hotel, but the entire front of the hotel was blocked by road construction.  What are the odds-- two nights in a row? Also, the restaurant  menu again had an unusual number of vegetarian entrees.  Not being terribly hungry, I ordered an arugula salad and New England Clam Chowder.  The waiter asked me how my salad was, and I answered fine, but that it had a lot of yellow leaves.  Out comes the restaurant manager, apologizing profusely.  I suppose I could have been one of those Exeter boy parents-- she practically promised me a free meal.  I told her that wasn't necessary.  The Clam Chowder was excellent,  and the private garden next to my table was pretty.

Exeter Hotel back garden

  

Exeter was a very "olde New England" town.  I felt like the Gilmour Girls were about to run and dance about the central town gazebo.  

This morning I had breakfast at the Hotel and packed the car for Maine.  More tollway driving, but only a four-hour trip this time.  When I came to the "Welcome to Maine" rest area, I had to take a photo-- it looked so stereotypically Maine!

A long ferry ride tomorrow with car in tow, and onward to the Canadian Maritime Islands!