Ok, so, what day is it now? I got my timing turned around a bit when getting up in the middle of the night (4:15) to catch sunrise and sleeping in the early afternoon…. until I didn’t sleep at all last night. It could have been because of the afternoon “nap”, or just anticipation since I was only going to get 3.5 hours sleep to begin with. Then the disappointment of getting to Fort Williams Park (home of the Portland Head Light) well before sunrise only to find the gate locked, and the police did not arrive to open the gate until I watched the sky go from cobalt blue to mauvy-pink to peachy bright. Darn. I still took plenty photos and hopefully something will turn out.
Back at the hotel at 6:30 AM I set up my photo download onto the laptop, then copy that onto an external drive, and then import the photos into Lightroom, the later while I went to breakfast. Then I packed up everything and continued on my way east, knowing that I was going to enter Canada, and would be going from the Eastern Time Zone to Atlantic Time, one hour ahead. The lack of sleep made this trip a little disconcerting – miles and miles of beautiful forested scenic highway, but nothing else. I didn’t realize my route would side-step Elsworth, and I found myself on a long stretch of nothingness while needing gasoline. Finally I saw a sign for a rest area – I would ask there. Well, the rest area was actually a little cafe full of local folks having breakfast or just coffee, and not a tourist information island as I expected. I asked about the nearest gasoline and was told abruptly “here or at the end of Highway 9”. I had seen the old old pumps in front of the cafe, and since they easily looked like early 1960’s rusted hulks I assumed they were abandoned. But I pulled up to the no-name pump, and figured out how to turn it on, and watched the old dials flip through so fast I wasn’t sure if I was seeing dollars or pennies adding up. Turns out it was dollars flipping through by 10 cent intervals. Of course, I didn’t know it was 10 cent intervals until they stopped spinning. So back into the store to pay in cash. (I found almost a repetition of this in Saint John New Brunswick. The old rusty pumps here were not self serve, and I realized I had to pay by credit card because I had yet to get Canadian currency.) Do they have new (at least younger than 1970) gasoline pumps north of Bar Harbor? That is what I intend to find out.
In contrast to the rusty gasoline pumps, the Chateau Saint John (www.chateausaintjohn.ca/) is a lavish treat. Two beautifully dressed beds with footstools, two valenced and side-tied matching curtained windows, granite-top desk, armoire, formal sitting chair, granite top chest over a refrigerator, and the most lovely bathroom with granite topped “furniture” style vanity and luxury spa bath. Not to mention the 42″ flatscreen TV. I am too tired to enjoy it lol.
So, no photos beyond sunrise today. Although the sky was fierce with fluffy white and dark gray clouds, the dream scenario for a photographer, no light was hitting the landscape to dress it up. But that’s good – I can catch my breath before the ferry ride to Nova Scotia tomorrow.
