MILLINOCKET, Maine

The Northeast has always been that part of the country that I just really didn’t like. Having only been there once when I was a kid, it just didn’t appeal to me. But going there several times in the last year it has grown on me substantially, I would have originally not guessed that I would use my free airline ticket to anywhere to go to Boston, but sure enough – I did.. One of the main reasons is because their highways aren’t littered with cheap developments, warehouses, storage facilities and billboards. Plus its cool to think that the US had its very beginings in this area centuries ago… You see a lot of red white and blue and patriotic stuff in Massachussetts, and the license plate says "Spirit of America".

Boston, Mass in all it’s splendor.
I took this photo as we were about to land at Logan
Airport. Initially we planned to fly into Manchester,
NH – but it saved about $50 I think to go to Boston.

It was completely dark when I left
the airport in Springfield, and about 7am when I
arrived in Chicago to try and locate Ian.

The hallways of O-Hare, terminal
B as in Bravo (as they say when giving connection
info).


Ian came in from KC, so I went and found his arrival
gate. Then it was off to B5 to hop a jet to Boston-Mass.

Another shot of Chi-town on our way over Lake Michigan.

A beach, very pretty. I forget if this was in Mass
or NH, but either way it was cool. The ocean is always
a great place to clear your head.

Unlike the gulf coast, the nice thing about the ocean
in New England, is that it’s not a commercialized
mess of hi-rise condos, restaurants and tourist traps.

We went and found this Geocache near Rye Beach, New
Hampshire. This road reminded me of Sleepy Hollow.
The probably filmed it here.

More forest, attempting to find the geocache. Of course
we HAD to go the hard way as usual.

These crazy rock walls were everywhere in this forest.
I wonder who put them there, and why.

Getting lost in a bog. We could not have picked a
worse way to go.

The forest cover was so dense the GPS was way off
and pretty much useless. By some miracle I found it,
making the day a success.

At long last, we enter Maine – the final destination
of this VERY quick trip.

Ian at the rest stop… I have no idea what he is
doing, but this was before his best line of the weekend
"I’m shootin’ blanks!!"

Running up to the rest stop to…rest. Too bad there
are NO towns or exits once you pass Bangor.

Day 2 – We got up early and made our way to the park.

One of our first views of Mt. Katahdin (kuh-TAH-din).
It looks fairly mellow in this pic, but I assure you
it was anything but.

Our lil rental car enjoying the cool fall morning.

Fog on the lake in the early morning hours.

Me taking a photo of the view as we ascend the mighty
mountain.

The photo I was taking in the photo to the left.

Ian taking a breather to enjoy the view. To get to
the top we basically climbed up a 4000 foot rockslide.

The tundra high atop the mountain. This is where the
Abol trail connects with the Appalachian Trail, which
goes all the way to Georgia.

At long last – the summit, looking down at the clouds
and valley below.

I look really weird in this one, sorry.

Me at the sign, I guess this is proof? By the way,
it was freezing cold on top and the wind just about
blew us away.

The view to which I enjoyed lunch. Overlooking a massive
cliff. We took shelter from the wind under this ledge.

A feature called the knife’s edge. There is a trail
that goes across that ridge, but it had been closed
because of ice, 20 degree temps, and extremely high
wind.

The way back down, we though it would be easy. However,
the ‘trail’ went straight over this ledge, where we
were basically climbing down boulders. Luckily they
provided hand-holds stuck into the rocks.

A really neat waterfall. I was much larger than it
looks in this photo though.

A small stream version of the waterfall. But still
pretty.

This was the trail going down (after we scaled the
cliff) through the dark forest. And since my legs
were shot, I couldn’t keep from taking a wicked tumble
into the creek/trail. Ian was quoted as saying "I
though you were just going to keep going forever"
noting the fact that I fell, rolled, tumbled, and
ended up only slightly wet.

Heading back to Boston. We got some dunkin’ donuts,
a requirement in the northeast – from a girl who did
not understand what Ian was trying to order (nor did
I for that matter). He said "It’s a black donut"
trying to describe it. Well, I have never seen a black
donut – but somehow she came out with the right thing
– a glazed chocolate donut.

Niagra Falls happened to be out my window. Flying
home wasn’t that pleasant because I was once again
lucky enough to be next to someone who takes up all
of their seat and half of the seats on either side
of them.

After being stuck in Chicago for 7 hours because of
storms and scheduling issues, I was finally on my
way home. I was completely exhausted and wanted nothing
more than to go to sleep. All in all…the free ticket
from United was put to very good use!