I gingerly packed up the bike and had great fun in getting going. With all the gear on the bike it is ungainly at the best of time, and with my not being able to lift it with my right arm it makes it even more difficult. However, I got everything sorted out and headed off just after 9 a.m.

Kittery Maine is famous for its factory outlets. I’ve mentioned these before but I’ll revisit them again. These are huge shopping malls wherein manufacturers have their own shops. For example Levis or Noritake. The prices are usually much lower than are available for the same products in shops, and they also often include end of line or slightly soiled items. They are like a magnet to shoppers and for many miles approaching Maine there were billboards advertising the outlet malls in Kittery.

My route to Portland took me through the outlet area and there was over 100 shops (or so the signs said) to choose from. I popped into the Levis outlet and bought some Dockers trousers and shorts for a fraction of what they would have cost in NZ. The only problem was where to put them but some judicious repacking (or stuffing as Lis would call it) made it possible for me to fit everything in.

The ride seemed to alternate between shops and countryside full of trees. Since the road took me inland away from the ocean there was no sign, or even smell, of the sea. It was only the occasional sign pointing to a town on the coast that told me it was nearby. Fortunately, the riding wasn’t difficult as I was not feeling the best but at least it had cleared up by mid-morning and the sun was out. Since this was one of my last days for cycling I’m glad that the summer was here to see me off.

Melissa had suggested that I visit the town of Ogunquit as it was quite a popular place. That was an understatement. It was a continuum of motels, hotels, resorts accompanied by every type of eatery and other commercial activity associated with tourism imaginable. In fact, it made Lundy’s Lane outside of Niagara Falls look positively rustic by comparison. Which says a lot!

There were hordes of tourists about and traffic was abominable. My radar was working overtime as I travelled through the town—I had no intention of stopping—and sure enough some silly woman pulled out half way from her parking spot and stopped her vehicle, blocking my way. She also disrupted the traffic since the vehicles driving by also stopped expecting her to pull into her lane. By this time my patience had worn through with these drivers so I asked her if she was planning on just parking there blocking all the traffic or had something else in mind. I then noticed that there were still people getting into the vehicle!!!! These New England drivers (she was from Massachusetts) really are the absolutely worst I’ve found anywhere in my travels across the USA.

Eventually I made it out of town and headed on towards the town of Kennebunk. I would love to know the origin of the name since it is so unusual. More famous is Kennebunkport which is where former US President George Bush has a summer home. I had expected it to be busier but then I realised that it was still the US Republican Party Convention in Philadelphia and that all the Secret Service agents who must usually buzz around here are probably enjoying life in Philadelphia.

The towns rolled along and I passed through Biddeford, Saco and Scarborough before reaching South Portland. There was really nothing spectacular about any of these places although I enjoyed the ride nonetheless. By now it was very sunny and hot which suited me to a T.

I had decided that it was best if I head over to the airport and sort out my ticket. I also had to get a box from somewhere for my bicycle but my main concern was ensuring that my ticket was changed and that I was still travelling out in two days time. Although my wonderful travel agent Michelle had organised everything, I’ve learned never to leave anything to chance.

As in most urban areas the sign posting was not the best and I knew that I had missed the turn when I saw the harbour. I cycled back and asked a woman at a petrol station who gave me very vague (and wrong) directions before her colleague (a guy) told me ‘Turn left on this street. Turn right at the first light. Turn right at the third light. That is the road to the airport.’ Talk about dream directions … and they were right! I found the airport without any problems.

Portland International Airport is not very large and, like most airports, had signs outside for the various airlines. The only problem was that there was no sign for American! Undismayed, I parked my bike and walked the length of the terminal until I found their representative. Whew. It was all I needed if it transpired a mistake had been made and I was to be travelling from Porland Oregon. Michelle wouldn’t do it, but I wouldn’t put it past some of the others who work for these airlines.

The woman who helped me, Trish, was great. She sorted out my tickets for me and because I was changing my routing because of my accident American Airlines had decided to waive the $USD 75 fee. Very kind of them and most appreciated. Unfortunately, they didn’t have an bicycle boxes but Delta Airlines, at the next counter, kindly sold me one for $10 which was a fantastic deal. The economic principle that the value of an item is what someone is prepared to pay for it definitely applied to me at this stage of my trip; I would have paid several times that for the box since with my bad shoulder I couldn’t exactly lug a box from a bicycle shop. Trish wrote my name on the box and stored it out back for me which meant that all I had to do was to cycle to the airport the morning of the flight and pack my bike. Great!

By this time it was late in the afternoon and it was time to find a hotel. There was a travel assistance desk and they pointed me to a board by the luggage carousel which contained advertisements for hotels and had a phone to call them directly. I was dismayed to find that it was not possible to find a non-smoking room for two nights, at least that I could afford. After a visit to a phone booth and working through the Yellow Pages I decided to head out on my bike to visit some of the smaller motels I had cycled by when coming into town.

I was fortunate to find that the first place I visited had a vacancy. The Anchor Motel was run by an extremely friendly woman and the kids were amazed at the amount of gear on my bicycle. Although it was close to the road, it was clean, comfortable and I was given a room which was clean and quiet. I unpacked and then was on my bike again over the ‘Mall of Maine’ where I hoped to get something to eat and a bag to carry on the air plane.

I have come to the conclusion that they love to shop in Maine—perhaps because of the winter?—since there is definitely an overabundance of shops for the population basis. The Mall of Maine was massive and had four large department stores as ‘anchors’ at each end of the mall. I was pleased to find a Borders Bookshop and so spent a fair bit of time (and money) there. It is one of my favourite pastimes browsing for books, and it is often lethal on my pocket book.

I was successful at finding a bag at Eddie Bauer’s and then had a delightful dinner of stir-fried vegetables. One of the books I had bought was the story of the chocolate wars between Mars and Hershey. In the reviews at the front of the book they commented that it made one want to search for a chocolate bar. While I scoffed at this initially, as I read the story it seemed to activate something which sure enough made me crave for chocolate. It’s a fantastic story and it provides insight into two famous, but not well known, companies.

After dinner the sun was setting so I cycled home after first stopping at a pharmacy to see if they had a triangular bandage for a sling. My shoulder was definitely damaged and I needed to take some of the dead weight of my arm off it. I had no luck with that but bought some blueberries (unfortunately the last for a while). I was also succumbed to temptation and bought a chocolate bar … blame it on the book. It was then back to the motel to work on the journal and write some e-mails.