Journal

If you've ever tried to get to the northernmost part of Maine without a car (or at least close to it), , you know how bizarrely difficult it is. Trains don't come up here. There are some close-ish airports, with few flights from Boston and still an hour drive away. There are some buses, but they don't go straight to Fort Kent. One-way car rentals either aren't offered up here or are crazy expensive. It really felt like one of the biggest logistical challenges of the trip would simply be getting to the starting point.

Then my parents stepping in, offering to drive me up to the starting line. Normally I might feel bad having someone haul my 8 hours up to the middle of nowhere, but not only does my dad love to drive long distances, but they will probably turn this into a little road trip, so it's a win-win for everyone. As an aside, my dad has twice driven from New Jersey to Illinois (~14 hours) with basically a single lunch stop in the middle, and maybe a couple bathroom breaks; he's a machine. Anyway, I'm very thankful to my parents for driving me up here! And as much as I despise cars, I really couldn't have gotten to this point without one.

It was a long (7 hours) drive from Boston to Fort Kent, but it was pretty smooth. Surprisingly a decent amount of traffic, presumably because people are taking advantage of one of the last weekends of the summer. But we made it around 7:30 and had a good dinner at Swamp Buck Restaurant and Lounge. Then we headed back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep. I can't thank my parents enough for being troopers and driving me up here. A 7-hour drive is obviously non-trivial but they did it for me and are headed to Portsmouth for a night on their way back home. So I hope that they enjoy that and that this whole trip wasn't just for my sake.