Bill Barnes

     At 4:30 a.m. I woke up very, very cold. The days have been nippish the past week, and the nights well below freezing. Our trailer has a propane furnace for heat, and I could hear the blower running (you probably heard it too–it’s even louder outside than in), but even before I tested the vent I knew it would be cold: The propane had run out. Fortunately we have two bottles, and I only needed to go outside to turn on the backup. The bitter cold failed to rouse me permanently, and I fell back asleep. Sara slept happily through both the cold and the commotion. When I finally awoke for good, I sat back down at the laptop and within two minutes was happily downloading files from the camera. The secret? Going against every troubleshooting instinct I had and using the infrared (IR) port instead of a serial cable. It’s actually pretty cool–the camera and the computer talk without any visible connection, using the same technology as a TV remote. Even now, as I type this, today’s pictures are making their way invisibly across the couch. Our tiny little battery-powered color printer/scanner works this way too. So I guess I don’t hate computers after all. I just hate them when they don’t work. We got an earlier start today and celebrated with doughnuts for “breakfast.” Before this trip I probably hadn’t had doughnuts in three years. In the Pacific Northwest you can’t turn a corner without running into an espresso stand, but in the Northeast it’s doughnuts doughnuts doughnuts. Oh well, when in Rumford … We started with the Sunday River covered bridge. I’d never seen one before, never even read or seen The Bridges of Madison County, and the fascination with them pretty much escapes me. It was the setting that really charmed me: a rocky river and a wonderful walking path filled with autumn leaves on and off the trees. Tella was staring longingly at the river, and we finally let her go for it. She jumped in and out, shook off on us, swam a few laps, and just generally clowned around. Nothing makes her happier, or smellier. In the town of Bethel, Maine, Sara investigated a local pottery while I bought her some fleece gloves at the local REI equivalent. It’s that cold out. Lunch was unexpectedly good. We’re both vegetarians (well, I eat a little fish), and finding food on the road can be a trial. In fact, the ability to prepare our own meals was one of the attractions of RVing. But we had great milkshakes and split a veggie Reuben (a Gardenburger replaced the meat). The big attraction for me, though, was the August 1941 issue of Life in the magazine stand. I pored over the old ads and the article on Charles Lindbergh, timely today because of the spate of new biographies. We drove through White Mountain National Forest, which sported a beautiful drive and mountain vistas. Sara found the best photo op, though: leaves floating on a river. We ended the day’s tour at Hemlock Covered Bridge, which lacked the beautiful setting of Sunday River. Its main redeeming value is that we were able to drive through it. We did, then turned around and headed home. We passed a sign illustrating the international flavor of town names in this part of Maine. We also passed a fair in Freiburg, but we were tired and ready to relax. Back at the trailer, Sara walked the dog and I made dinner–crepes, finally, filled with various permutations of fresh mozzarella, aged Swiss cheese, steamed spinach, roasted red peppers, fresh tomatoes, and veggie pepperoni. Dessert was crepes filled with Nutella, the chocolate-hazelnut spread after which we named our dear pup. We eat pretty well for trailer trash.