New England Fall Colors Tour...Part 2
Day 3
Our tour resumed on Friday morning with our bus driver, Johnny O--who promised we would not run out of gas today! Once again I was allowed to ride shotgun and got the best view of the trip.
We headed north to Maine. The day was cloudy and cool but at least the fog had lifted and the rain had stopped. The fall colors were brilliant! It's not hard to figure out why the New England fall colors tours are such a popular thing!
Our first stop, which wasn't even on the schedule, was Yummies. This is a one-of-a-kind candy store, kind of a "big box" store for candy. There was every kind of candy you could imagine in this store, stacked in boxes clear to the ceiling. It took great restraint to limit myself to a reasonable amount of candy! We all wandered around and made some purchases.
Next we were off to stop at Stonewall Kitchens which is a shop for everything kitchen. They specialize in their jellies and condiments as well as lotions and kitchen utensils, linens and aprons. We wandered around and sampled the jellies, and each one of us made a purchase or two. I purchased a bottle of body lotion that smelled so good. I am rationing that bottle of lotion!
After Johnny O finally convinced us that we had to leave, we headed for the Atlantic coast. In over 65 years of life, I had never viewed the ocean so it was about time I got to see the beautiful Atlantic Ocean. I was surprised to hear that swimming in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New England is not something that happens except maybe for a week or two in August. The gulf stream, which warms the Atlantic waters, veers east away from the coast and the waters are too cold for swimming except in the hottest weather. We did see a couple guys trying to surf in the ocean, but they had on insulated wet suits.
There were many homes built along the shores of the ocean, but for the most part I think they were just summer homes. The weather in Maine is very cold and stormy in the winter months. All of the homes had big yards on the side of the house that faced the ocean, so obviously ocean viewing was a big deal. We were informed by our guide that they sold for premium prices and consequently were owned by the rich.
Our first lighthouse stop was Nubble Light at York, Maine. It is supposedly the most frequently photographed lighthouse on the
coast of Maine, but while we were there it was being renovated so we didn't get real great pictures of it. I would imagine that winds blowing off the Atlantic create a lot of necessary maintenance. We looked around a bit then loaded up and headed off to lunch at the Bull & Claw restaurant, famous for their lobster rolls. We once again enjoyed inferior beef!
After lunch we drove along the Atlantic shore and viewed three more lighthouses. It was at the last lighthouse that the real adventure began.
As we were walking up to the lighthouse, Mom fell. Completely face-planted herself on the path! I tried to help her up but she was somewhat stunned and couldn't really help herself. Up to that moment I had viewed New Englanders as somewhat aloof and uncaring, but this experience changed my view of that. Suddenly we were surrounded by people who were doing all they could to help us. Two young men helped her stand up, then because she was unsteady and dazed, one of the young men knelt and allowed her to sit on his bent knee. His young wife, who was carrying a baby in a sling, had wipes and some water which we used to help clean up blood. Another man introduced himself as an EMT and offered to check her out, coming to the conclusion that she should probably have a CT scan to be sure there was no bleeding in her brain. And somehow, without me being aware of it, someone had called an ambulance. Two young EMT's jumped out and took charge of the situation. They were both very kind and helpful and helped put us at ease in a situation that had us both very uneasy.
So, we're on our way to the hospital! And our tour is proceeding without us! That was a bit disconcerting being so far from home and all. Turns out the hospital is a leading trauma center in Maine so we were in a good place for the situation we were in. Everyone was very helpful, especially when they found out we were from Nebraska and unfamiliar with our surroundings. The doctor who checked Mom out was originally from Omaha. Our ER nurse was very kind and helpful. After the CT scan assured us there was no cranial bleeding and we were being released, another lady from the front desk, who originally hailed from Missouri, called us a cab and made sure we were in it, which made her late leaving work.
From there we were a bit lost. Back home we would call a family member of friends to come give us a ride. Here were pretty much left to our own devices. We ended up at the bus station looking for a ride back to Merrimack, New Hampshire from Portland, Maine. Being unfamiliar with the public transit systems in New England, or anywhere for that matter, we were at the mercy of a ticket agent who obviously had no idea what she was doing. She asked me what bus I wanted, and I said one that would take us to Merrimack, New Hampshire. She just looked at me like maybe I should provide a few more details. I finally told her I was from Nebraska and had no idea how to get anywhere so please just get us headed for Merrimack. In retrospect I think we could have found a better route for ourselves, but she routed us to Boston, then back to Merrimack, the longest possible route she could find, I believe.
We finally got on a bus which had a most helpful bus driver that seemed to understand just how lost we were. He provided us some information and settled us with bottles of water. I even had a phone charger in our seat which was badly needed by that time. We drove to Boston, and our connecting bus was just loading. Our bus driver made sure we got on it and off we went for Merrimack, which as I recalled from our arrival was a two hour drive.
Other than the unhelpful ticket agent, we met the only other unpleasant person on that bus. Mom and I were visiting about the next day's tour events, and I was probably speaking a bit louder than I normally would have in order to be heard over the noise of the bus, but I'm pretty sure I was not shouting. Suddenly there was a lady leaning over me, grabbing my arm and telling me to be quiet because I was disturbing the entire bus! And she was not being nice about it either! Well, she got what she wanted because I was stunned into silence to have someone talk to me like that. To take the edge off that outburst, the guy in the seat behind us leaned forward and assured me that I was not talking that loud. So even on the rare occasion that someone was not nice, someone else stepped out and went out of their way to be extra nice.
The bus dropped us at a bus stop a few miles out of Merrimack where we were to call a cab. This would have been just fine except that the bus depot was closed. So here we were, out in the middle of what felt like nowhere waiting for a cab out in the open at 11:00 at night. I am used to carrying a self-defense weapon in my normal life, but I had left it home rather than try to deal with airport security and the inconsistent conceal carry laws state-to-state. At that point I was certainly wishing I had my weapon. Mom kept encouraging me to just sit down and wait, but I remained on my feet, pacing and looking around the entire time, although I'm not sure what I would have done had someone threatened us! As you have probably guessed by now, we were fine. Our cab driver showed up and chatted non-stop all the way to Merrimack where he deposited us safely at our hotel. Home at last!
It was only when we had arrived back at our hotel and the ordeal was over that we realized how faithfully God had been with us throughout the day. From the people He put in our way to help us along to the protection he gave us when we were scared. And, most importantly, that the worst of Mom's injuries were only cosmetic. For as bad as the day had been, it could have been so much worse.
To be continued...
Our tour resumed on Friday morning with our bus driver, Johnny O--who promised we would not run out of gas today! Once again I was allowed to ride shotgun and got the best view of the trip.
We headed north to Maine. The day was cloudy and cool but at least the fog had lifted and the rain had stopped. The fall colors were brilliant! It's not hard to figure out why the New England fall colors tours are such a popular thing!
Our first stop, which wasn't even on the schedule, was Yummies. This is a one-of-a-kind candy store, kind of a "big box" store for candy. There was every kind of candy you could imagine in this store, stacked in boxes clear to the ceiling. It took great restraint to limit myself to a reasonable amount of candy! We all wandered around and made some purchases.
Next we were off to stop at Stonewall Kitchens which is a shop for everything kitchen. They specialize in their jellies and condiments as well as lotions and kitchen utensils, linens and aprons. We wandered around and sampled the jellies, and each one of us made a purchase or two. I purchased a bottle of body lotion that smelled so good. I am rationing that bottle of lotion!
After Johnny O finally convinced us that we had to leave, we headed for the Atlantic coast. In over 65 years of life, I had never viewed the ocean so it was about time I got to see the beautiful Atlantic Ocean. I was surprised to hear that swimming in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New England is not something that happens except maybe for a week or two in August. The gulf stream, which warms the Atlantic waters, veers east away from the coast and the waters are too cold for swimming except in the hottest weather. We did see a couple guys trying to surf in the ocean, but they had on insulated wet suits.
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| Our first view of the Atlantic Ocean |
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| One of the beautiful homes along the coast |
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| And another ocean-front property |
Our first lighthouse stop was Nubble Light at York, Maine. It is supposedly the most frequently photographed lighthouse on the
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| Nubble Lighthouse..under renovation |
After lunch we drove along the Atlantic shore and viewed three more lighthouses. It was at the last lighthouse that the real adventure began.
 |
| A church we passed along the tour |
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| Portland Headlight |
As we were walking up to the lighthouse, Mom fell. Completely face-planted herself on the path! I tried to help her up but she was somewhat stunned and couldn't really help herself. Up to that moment I had viewed New Englanders as somewhat aloof and uncaring, but this experience changed my view of that. Suddenly we were surrounded by people who were doing all they could to help us. Two young men helped her stand up, then because she was unsteady and dazed, one of the young men knelt and allowed her to sit on his bent knee. His young wife, who was carrying a baby in a sling, had wipes and some water which we used to help clean up blood. Another man introduced himself as an EMT and offered to check her out, coming to the conclusion that she should probably have a CT scan to be sure there was no bleeding in her brain. And somehow, without me being aware of it, someone had called an ambulance. Two young EMT's jumped out and took charge of the situation. They were both very kind and helpful and helped put us at ease in a situation that had us both very uneasy.
So, we're on our way to the hospital! And our tour is proceeding without us! That was a bit disconcerting being so far from home and all. Turns out the hospital is a leading trauma center in Maine so we were in a good place for the situation we were in. Everyone was very helpful, especially when they found out we were from Nebraska and unfamiliar with our surroundings. The doctor who checked Mom out was originally from Omaha. Our ER nurse was very kind and helpful. After the CT scan assured us there was no cranial bleeding and we were being released, another lady from the front desk, who originally hailed from Missouri, called us a cab and made sure we were in it, which made her late leaving work.
From there we were a bit lost. Back home we would call a family member of friends to come give us a ride. Here were pretty much left to our own devices. We ended up at the bus station looking for a ride back to Merrimack, New Hampshire from Portland, Maine. Being unfamiliar with the public transit systems in New England, or anywhere for that matter, we were at the mercy of a ticket agent who obviously had no idea what she was doing. She asked me what bus I wanted, and I said one that would take us to Merrimack, New Hampshire. She just looked at me like maybe I should provide a few more details. I finally told her I was from Nebraska and had no idea how to get anywhere so please just get us headed for Merrimack. In retrospect I think we could have found a better route for ourselves, but she routed us to Boston, then back to Merrimack, the longest possible route she could find, I believe.
We finally got on a bus which had a most helpful bus driver that seemed to understand just how lost we were. He provided us some information and settled us with bottles of water. I even had a phone charger in our seat which was badly needed by that time. We drove to Boston, and our connecting bus was just loading. Our bus driver made sure we got on it and off we went for Merrimack, which as I recalled from our arrival was a two hour drive.
Other than the unhelpful ticket agent, we met the only other unpleasant person on that bus. Mom and I were visiting about the next day's tour events, and I was probably speaking a bit louder than I normally would have in order to be heard over the noise of the bus, but I'm pretty sure I was not shouting. Suddenly there was a lady leaning over me, grabbing my arm and telling me to be quiet because I was disturbing the entire bus! And she was not being nice about it either! Well, she got what she wanted because I was stunned into silence to have someone talk to me like that. To take the edge off that outburst, the guy in the seat behind us leaned forward and assured me that I was not talking that loud. So even on the rare occasion that someone was not nice, someone else stepped out and went out of their way to be extra nice.
The bus dropped us at a bus stop a few miles out of Merrimack where we were to call a cab. This would have been just fine except that the bus depot was closed. So here we were, out in the middle of what felt like nowhere waiting for a cab out in the open at 11:00 at night. I am used to carrying a self-defense weapon in my normal life, but I had left it home rather than try to deal with airport security and the inconsistent conceal carry laws state-to-state. At that point I was certainly wishing I had my weapon. Mom kept encouraging me to just sit down and wait, but I remained on my feet, pacing and looking around the entire time, although I'm not sure what I would have done had someone threatened us! As you have probably guessed by now, we were fine. Our cab driver showed up and chatted non-stop all the way to Merrimack where he deposited us safely at our hotel. Home at last!
It was only when we had arrived back at our hotel and the ordeal was over that we realized how faithfully God had been with us throughout the day. From the people He put in our way to help us along to the protection he gave us when we were scared. And, most importantly, that the worst of Mom's injuries were only cosmetic. For as bad as the day had been, it could have been so much worse.
To be continued...
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