Well, we’ve been back at home for three months now, and in many ways it feels like we never left. After jumping back into our usual routine of school, work, and activities, our Central America trip seems like another world. So, time for a new (mini) adventure!
With the kids all away at camp for two weeks (!), Bob and I had three criteria for what we wanted to do: (1) not too expensive, and (2) fairly close to home in case we needed to do an emergency camp pickup, and (3) something that we couldn’t easily do with the kids along.My mind immediately jumped to some kind of walking or biking trek. I’ve always wanted to do one of those European vacations where you walk from village to village, past castles and sheep and cheese shops, and arrive each night at a quaint little inn where your bags are waiting for you. Though I did briefly toy with this idea, it didn’t meet criterion #2 and a quick look at air prices made #1 right out as well. I started to look closer to home. Apart from one possibility in Vermont (which, despite the name “inn to inn tours” seemed to imply that a car was a necessity), I didn’t come up with anything.
So, then I started thinking, we can do this by ourselves, right? I mean, we could pack really light. Our bags wouldn’t be very heavy. (I have yet to confirm this with a test run. Based on past experience, I’m a bit apprehensive about this assumption.)
Will this get me through five days? Will it fit in my pack? Time will tell.
And in terms of destination — well, we have one of the most beautiful areas in the country right here. And a little googling revealed that there are indeed quaint little towns (possibly with cheese shops, though castles and sheep seem unlikely) strung out at convenient 10- to 15-mile intervals along the route.
So, we’ll be walking up the Maine coast, starting in beautiful downtown Portsmouth, NH. We’ll cross the bridge into Kittery, ME and continue on for five days or so, hopefully ending in Old Orchard Beach. When we arrive at our final destination, we’ll hop on the Downeaster Amtrak line and cruise right back to Durham.
The plan was to avoid car travel entirely by starting our journey with the COAST bus from Durham (a short walk from our house) to Portsmouth. Unfortunately, this morning I discovered a little note on the schedule that indicates, “No weekend routes in reduced service season.” Given that this bus is run by UNH, summer falls squarely into that category. So we may need to prevail upon a friend for a ride to the starting line.
Along the way we’ll see state parks, lighthouses, cliff walks, arcades, T-shirt shops, and lots and lots of coastline. First stop: York Harbor, approximately 11 miles (via a coastal route) from Portsmouth. We’re crossing our fingers on finding a convenient hotel, since it’s a high-season Saturday night and most places have a two-night minimum. Still, I figure someone will take pity on us if we show up on the doorstep. (If not, one of you locals might be getting a phone call.)