I arose a bit later than intended this morning at 5h49 in Lewiston, where it was a foggy, misty day. After I started driving, I found myself rather hungrier than anticipated, so I stopped at the Kennebunkport (Maine) rest area, where I had a Burger King breakfast platter (scrambled eggs (likely synthetic), sausage, three decent pancakes with syrup, and some tasty round french-fried potatoes (hash browns)), not great, but it filled me up. My next stop was at Sturbridge (Massachusetts) for gas and a rest from the road and my last stop was at Montvale (New Jersey) again to rest from the road. I arrived home at 14h21, tired, but happy to be safely back. It’s +31 (88) here and humid, but was up to +33 (91) in North Jersey; thunderheads with blazing sun and variable amounts of blue sky accompanied me from where I ran out of fog in eastern Massachusetts. Today’s leg of the return trip came in at 695.6 km (432.2 mi); the entire trip, from 13 June to today, put another 8797 km (5466.5 mi) on the car’s odometer (now at 2988590 km (185535 mi)).
While I did get some tunes in the car and will have some more tonight, I can think of far better ways to celebrate my 75th birthday than spending much of it on the road! But, I did have a tremendous helping of live music this trip and for that I’m very grateful. My thanks to the organizers of KitchenFest! and of the Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival, both well-run top notch events in very different ways; to the musicians who shared their tunes and their art so freely while I was in the Maritimes; to the kind folks at the places I stayed for going out of their way to accommodate my sometimes hectic schedule; and to my many friends who gave me such a warm welcome and made me feel at home. It’s going to be a hectic two weeks here until I set out on 3 August for the Glengarry Highland Games in Maxville (Ontario), after which I will continue on to Cape Breton, hopefully arriving there on 8 August in time for the cèilidh in Mabou with Glenn Graham and another month of great live Cape Breton music.
Thank you also to the many who sent me birthday greetings via Facebook, Messenger, e-mail, or text messages. Now, it’s time for some rest!