Maine, at the End of the Road

I finally arrived.......in Maine, and found Old Orchard Beach, which was the nearest point of entry to the Atlantic Ocean, from my route. There were umpteen million people here on the beach, and apparently its quite the tourist destination. But, I got myself some ocean time... with Jo Jo, and enjoyed the relatively warm water.  My first ocean time....since Maryland. I listened to the gentle rain, overnight, while spending the night at Cabela's. Looking at the extended forecast, I learned that it was going to be rainy, for much of the state today. With that in mind, I figured that I would take the time to drive in the rain, to my ultimate destination. I drove 4 1/2 hours, reaching the farthest, most eastern/northern point of the United States. It was a desolate drive. I am at Quoddy Head State Park in Maine, where I managed to stretch my legs along the beach, near the lighthouse. There was a constant drizzle, and the temperature was only 60 degrees!!! I finally found a nice cool place.... during this hot summer. I located a campsite in town, and am excited to explore more of this area tomorrow. 

I am feeling a wide variety of emotions right now. Absolute feelings of accomplishment, jubliation, apprehension, and gratitude. Even some sadness. And the reason that I say that, is because I have finally reached the ultimate destination, in terms of distance, on my journey. I left the Phoenix area on March 10th, and have now driven 11,691 miles to the furthest most eastern end of Maine. You can't go farther up into this area, unless you enter Canada. So from here on, I turn back towards home...slowly. But not before spending a couple weeks here in Maine. I hope to explore all those places that I hurriedly passed by on the freeway today, as I purposely took advantage of the inclement weather. I'm still about 8 weeks from arriving home, if all goes well. They are calling for sun and mid 70's tomorrow. Let the "going home journey and adventure" begin......

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