Date: Sun, 18 Sep 1994 08:38:02 -0400 (EDT)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: RGOLEN@umassd.edu
Subject: Busses by the Bouy....and the Toddler from Hell
If things went as planned (Thursday was nice...I snuck off work
early and loaded the EV) I would still be in Maine right now...however...
here I am, 7:50 am Sunday morning, back home typin' this.
Sometimes you get little warning signals of impending doom, which you
ignore. Friday was one of them. Our plan was to be out of the house
by 9:30 get to Portland to have lunch at one of the brew-pubs and
then off to New Harbor for Busses by the Bouy.
Well, we didn't leave home until 11:15. About 1/2 hour out, my wife
turns and looks at me and says "Did YOU (big emphasis) pack the
blankets?" Now SHE was in charge of (for Martha's benefit here..)
the WOMANLY stuff...sheets, pillowcases, towels and BLANKETS!!
Ok, we turn around, drive home and get the BLANKETS!! Off we go again..
I turn to my beloved and say "Gee...one could interprate this as a
sign, huh? Maybe we should stay home." "Drive!" was the response.
North of Boston it begins to drizzel.....by the NH/Maine we have
full-fledged rain. Alex, the soon-to-be-toddler-from-hell is
peacefully sleeping in the back. At 3:30 we hit Bath, ME..home
of the Bath Iron Works, which lets out at 3:30. Now Bath is
a small city....probably about 25,000 population...but it has
a TRAFFIC JAM every afternoon....Route 1 which is normally 2 lanes
either side funnels into a 2 laned bridge 'cross the river. The
main gate to the BIW empties out onto the bridge at the point where
it goes down to 2 lanes...go figure.
We make it to the campground about 4:00 pm as the rain stops.
We get aquainted with everyone, hang out....this is the first
time we've met any of them, and we were made to feel right
at home. The organizers of BtB did a fantastic or should
I say "vantastic" job of setting things up.
About 9:00 its time to put Alex to bed.
We go thru his normal bed-time ritual...again...and again...about
11:00 pm its time to get serious. We all get in the EV and
after about 20 minutes we shut the lights.
HE FREAKS!!!! Now this kid has been in more hotels/motels/sleeping-
trains than the average 25 year old...never a problem. In the
EuroVan (his 2nd favorite car..after the '56 beetle..and yes
he REQUESTS which car to ride in...BUG or VAN) with the bed
down, the curtains up and lights off....TODDLER from HELL!!!
Finally by 2:00 am he is asleep! At 7:00 am - normal wake up
time - he is up! Rather than risking another night we decide
to cut our losses, do a little touring, hit LL Bean (I've been
going there since the early 70s when Freeport was this village
with one diner) and then home.
Freeport, ME's only claim to fame until about 5 years ago was
LL Bean. It was mecca to the faithful. You could go there 365
days a year, 24 hours a day...and it was open. You could
bring back jack-knives that you broke...they'd give you a new
one FREE!! (did that yesterday AGAIN)...but you could get
in and out and out of Freeport no problem.
One day, the evil factory outlets showed up....and the touristes...
crowding out the faithful. It took 15 minutes to find a parking
spot, considering 1/2 the town is now a dedicated complex of
parking lots...and within 5 minutes of getting a new pocket knife...
we were off, swearing to vicariously visit LL Bean via their
catalogues.
Well, its painfully obvious to you folks by now that I'm back. It's
painfully obvious to me that camping wasn't like what I remember it
was 12 years ago...and neither is Freeport, ME!!!
BTW, Joel is amazed that we have 8 EVs on the list. There were 4
EVs at BtB!!! Out of 24 VW Vans! There were 3 MVs...mine included..
and a 1992 Westphalia Camper from Canada!! NICE RIG!! While
talking to the owner I noticed he had a set of clear plastic
Headlight/Markerlight protectors on his EV....available
only in Canada...but I did talk him in to getting me a set!!
THAT, and the BtB sweatshirt, made the weekend somewhat
palatable!
Coffeetime!
Ric
