8/26- Flew from Atlanta to Boston, which was probably the right call. There are many daily flights to and from these cities. If I had flown to Portland or out of Birmingham and there was a delay, my whole schedule would have been thrown off. At any rate, the flight went off without a hitch but there was a bit of a delay at the rental car center. I did not do anything in Massachusetts. My first stop was Hampton Beach just across the border in New Hampshire and I arrived just before noon. I did get a little lucky with the weather but I found the conditions to be VERY NICE. Clear water with air temps just over 80 with a water temp of an even 70 degrees. I found it quite comfortable. As for the wave action, it was enough to be exciting but nothing with wipeout potential.
After about 2 hours and mediocre pizza, I was back on the road heading north to Maine. The beach that I chose here was not as well known but a very nice location called Ogunquit Beach just south of Portland. Here, the water was even clearer and a bit calmer but yes, there were still a few rideable waves. This completes a bucket list item for me. I caught a wave in every state with a Gulf coastline last year. I've now completed the Atlantic states from Florida to Maine. The water temp in Maine was 67 degrees. Yes, 3 degrees colder than New Hampshire was noticeable but I still found it tolerable without a wetsuit. If the air temp is relatively warm, I can tolerate as low as 65 degrees. My hotel was just up the road in Old Orchard Beach and I arrived just before sunset. Dinner was a Haddock sandwich across from my hotel and I had a very nice server.
8/27- Caught the sunrise at Old Orchard Beach then after a junk run, I took a dip in the ocean. This beach wasn't as nice as Ogunquit but I still enjoyed it. By mid-late morning, I was back on the road for a 3 hour drive north to Acadia National Park. I mostly stuck to Park Loop Road and made stops at Sand Beach, Thunder Hole and Bubble Rock. My hotel was just a few miles away in Bar Harbor and I treated myself to a steak and lobster dinner. YOLO!
8/28- I got an even better sunrise from just across the street from my hotel. No reservations for Cadillac Mountain unfortunately but I don't see how it could have been much better than Gorham Mountain, where I embarked on a challenging hike. I got some Irish food for lunch then headed south on US HWY 1 back toward Portland and my race in Blueberry Cove in the small town of St. George. I stopped at Marshall Lighthouse, which is where Forrest Gump turned around and kept on going after he got to another ocean.
8/29- Race day and I was dreading it. Once again, the formula shifted this week and I needed a massive dose of Intrinsic Factor with B12 It was worse than I expected. I managed to hold it together for about 8.5 miles but after that, it was my 2nd worst death march on record. I did employ a walk/jog strategy but I was so slow that I might as well have walked it all in. At any rate, state #49 is in the books. I only have Hawaii to go and I don't even care how I do there. I did meet a nice woman named Robin who also plans to finish in Hawaii next year. We called ourselves the 49ers. We may meet up in Maui in April.
From the race course, it was a 3 hour drive on rural roads back to New Hampshire. Mount Washington and its 6300 foot summit was the destination. It was cloudy all day so I didn't expect to see much but we did get a small break on the way up, which made for some epic views with scattered clouds above and below the mountain peaks. Unfortunately, it was totally foggy at the top and it was clouding up again on the way down but I still got a few good shots.
8/30- The rest of the trip was uneventful. It was a scenic ride through the White Mountains. I stopped in Concord the previous night and took short walking tours in both Concord and Manchester, New Hampshire. Both were nice but did not leave a lasting impression. I got back to the Boston airport in plenty of time and the flight back to Atlanta went off without a hitch. I was worried about driving back to Birmingham in the remnants of a hurricane but it wasn't as bad as I feared. I've driven in worse conditions and the rain was light up until the last 20-30 minutes. I got in just after dark around 8:00 and was up for work the next day.
No comments:
Post a Comment