Maine 2021 Part One

We are in Maine.  We finally got here yesterday around 11 AM EST.  You’ll see why I say finally in just a minute.

Our journey began after work on Friday afternoon.  I got out of work early and we were able to tool down to Rob’s dad’s house by 2:15ish PM PST.  We were scheduled to catch the Airbus up to the San Jose airport at 5:35 but since we were early we decided to catch the 3:00 bus.  Our flight wasn’t until 9:00 that night but I get nervous when taking a shuttle that traffic and all that good stuff might make us miss our flight.  We both agreed that it was better safe than sorry and since we had the time, there was no harm in getting there super early.

Jetblue had cancelled our Friday night flight on the last two trips that we took to Boston, so we had been cautious at best all week that were would even get out that night.  However according to their app, the flight from Boston to San Jose had already taken off so the likelihood that we would have a plane to take us to our destination was good (the lack of a plane due to a cancelled Boston to San Jose flight was the cancellation issue the two previous trips).

The shuttle was uneventful (though nerve wracking if you hate freeway traffic like I do) and we got to the airport around 4:30 or 5 — bear with me as the details are already getting fuzzy — and we settled in for a long night.

The first area of business was to change my shirt.  You see, I had a mishap on the shuttle bus.  Remember the part about me being a nervous freeway traveler?  Well, as soon as we were on the bus I pulled out my CBD oil to take a dose.  I put the dropper of liquid under my tongue and in my already frazzled state of mind, I was in a rush to put my mask back on my face and proceeded to do so–with the hand that had the bottle of CBD oil in it–the bottle that I hadn’t put the cap back on yet.  Um, yeah.  So I basically just dumped CBD oil all over my shoulder, my hair and down the front of my left boob.  Smooth.  I – and presumably the whole bus – reeked of weed.  Also, I have probably ruined my Ashley McBryde T Shirt. Ace move, Kel!

So when we got to the airport we pulled a spare shirt out of my suitcase and I changed in the bathroom, washing that section of hair as best I could with hand soap in the the sink.  I still stunk, but less.  Especially after scraping my hair up into a bun.

The Jetblue desk had a note stating they wouldn’t be back until 6:30 so we hunkered down outside on a deserted set of steps so we could take our masks off.  After an uncomfortable (concrete doesn’t give) couple of hours we were able to check in, ditch our rolling luggage and make our way through security.

After another couple of uncomfortable hours (those chairs at the gate don’t have much more give than the concrete) we boarded our mostly full flight to Boston for a blessedly smooth flight.  If you know me (and if you don’t, what the hell are you doing reading my blog for anyway??), than you know that I don’t like flying.  It petrifies me to no end and I cannot relax at all from several days before the flight until the time we actually touch down.  Having said that, this was probably one of the smoothest flights I’ve been on (the smoothest were the flights to and from Korea – I don’t remember feeling even one little bump on those) and I am super grateful for that.

We arrived in Boston on time if not a little early, around five thirty AM EST.  We were both sore and cranky, not having gotten any sleep in the cramped quarters of our airline seats but glad to at least be most of the way through our journey to Maine.  We grabbed our luggage from the baggage carousal and settle into another pair of uncomfortable seats to wait the two hours for our bus.

Why a bus, you ask?  Well, normally we would – and have for many years – taken a small plane (puddle jumper) to Augusta, Maine from Boston.  Augusta has a TINY little airport but we started flying into there many years ago because that was where my mom lived and when she stopped driving, it was just easier to fly directly in and either get a cab to her place (when she still had her car that we then used for the trip) or rent a car for the week.  The problem with that plan is that the plane from Boston to Augusta has about a five hour layover.

On our last trip, that small plane was cancelled due to fog and we had to take a bus.  What we discovered is that even though the bus takes us a bit over three hours to get to Augusta on two separate buses, it was actually quicker than taking the small plane due to that layover.  When we booked this year, we didn’t even hesitate, because we found the bus so much more comfortable by comparison to the puddle jumper seats, not to mention the whole getting there faster thing.

By the time we got on the bus, Rob and I were both dehydrated and starved for actual food (all we had eaten in the last almost 24 hours was a 7/11 sandwich when we got to San Jose and a bunch of little snacky type foods that we had brought for the plane).  Rob was able to catch a couple hours of choppy sleep on the first bus while I watched the movie they were running (Cathryn – if you are reading this, they were playing “A Dog’s Purpose”!!) and then I think I got about 15 minutes of sleep on the second bus.

We finally arrived in Augusta around 11:00 AM EST on Saturday and grabbed an Uber to get our rental car.

Side note – if you ever have to deal with Hertz rental car at the Augusta airport, make sure you ask for Michelle.  She has saved our butts on a couple of trips out here and always goes above and beyond to help us, even giving us a ride to the bus station on our last trip when we returned the car.  She’s an angel and we LOVE HER!!!

As promised, she had the rental car waiting and the paperwork left for us at the Cape Air desk even though Hertz isn’t open on the weekends.  We grabbed the keys from a kind of surly desk clerk and off we went.

First stop was our hotel but it was too early to check in.  The desk clerk told us it would be another hour or two so after grabbing some complimentary coffee, we headed over to our usual first meal stop of the trip: Damon’s for some delicious sandwiches.  We got them to go to eat when we got back to the hotel because we had peopled enough in the last 24 hours, and made off to our second stop, Target.  I would have preferred Walmart but I wasn’t about to hike my dehydrated, starving and sleep deprived self back across town so Target it was!  We got a couple of things we were needing but either forgot or didn’t want to pack because we knew we could get them cheaply once we arrived and then it was off to Hannford’s for some groceries for the room.