First Days In The USA.
My first day in Maine last Monday was pretty routine. I ran over 45km/28miles to a town called Clifford. The wind was whipping up a cold snap. I guess I could have finished earlier but was pushing for the distance after so many delays during the day.
Around 4.30 I spotted a half closed garage and thinking there was someone inside went over to ask for shelter there. No reply so I just knocked on the door of the house. A tiny lady of about 75 years answered and told me I could lay my sleeping bag out at the back of the garage. the reason the garage door was half open was because it was broken. I tried unsuscessfully fixing it for her. So I had to pull some boards up to the door to keep the cold wind out. I settled in to an area of less than a meter between the back wall and her SUV.
Her name was Mary Ellen. She came out with a thermos of tea and some chocolate chip cookies.
A couple of hours later a man called Courtney called over in a pickup
” Hey Bud!’ You are coming over to stay in my place in Love Lake. ”
It took me a while to get packed up. Courtney told me that Mary Ellen had casually mentioned my arrival on the phone to her son who lives in the south of the state. It seemed the son freaked out as Mary Ellen had be a victim of 2 robberies. The woman was so good natured coming out with the thermos of tea and not in the least bit scared. In fact she was sorry she told her son who was making such a fuss, as she saw it.
I spent a really pleasant evening over at Courtney’s newly constructed log house. He lives there with his wife Christine.
Courtney is a ship engineer normally spending 2 months at sea between Seattle and Alaska then getting 6 weeks time off.
They set up a place for me to stay in Beddington for the following night. A friend of his called Frank that runs a service station, diner and motel.
There was some rain. Very cold and hilly. I still managed 52km/ 32.4 mls.
I ran for about an hour in the dark and figured I had only got a couple of km to go. Then a cop pulls me over and says Franks place is closed for the winter and the next town is 14 miles away. At that time of day I figured on at least another 3 hours running with Nirvana. I was prepared to do it. I suppose I had to as the area was pretty desolate.
So I started asking the cop if he was sure and asked had he got minute till I got out my road notes out to check.
He told me he hadn’t got a minute that he was in a hurry. It was wickedly cold but I was so well wrapped up and comfortable. It was a night for dying if one didn’t respect the elements. I took the cops reaction as a compliment to my survival skills.
I ran on for a few more minutes and saw a light to my left. On closer inspection it seemed to be a day house/ office for a DOT contractor. The door was surprisingly open. I went in and carried Nirvana up the steps as it seemed the place was winterised with no water or electrics. There was a bed with bed clothing and a wood burning stove. I lit it up managing to dry my wet clothes. I cooked some food and tea over the stove, listened to some music on my netbook and settled down to sleep.
