Day 10 - Did That Really Just Happen?

Today we had to leave Maine behind and head south for Boston, Massachusetts.  Wish we could have stayed longer, but the non-nature portion of our trip awaits!

Our trip was going smoothly, we stopped at Freeport to check out the L.L. Bean stores and to get lunch.  As we were driving in, we saw a pretty white house that was converted into a McDonald's.  We decided that we needed to check it out.  It would be a quick lunch, so that appealed to us as well.  It was so strange, as you walk in, it looks like a typical McDonald's (tile floor, counters, kitchen and menus), then the dining areas look like an old New England home parlor and dining room complete with old wood floors, chandeliers and a fireplace!  Quite the place.

After lunch, we walked around a little, shopped and got some Ben & Jerry's ice cream (my kids are addicted!).  As we were heading out, I asked Marc if he wanted to get gas since we were stopped.  He said no, that we should be good for a while.  Who knew that choice would lead to some serious consequences down the road.

For those of you who drive newer cars, there's this great function that tells you how many miles you can drive before you run out of gas.  This works really well if you have been driving under the same conditions for extended periods of time, like with or without a trailer, or in areas with hills or no hills.  Well, we just spent the last five days driving without the trailer, so let's just say our calculator was a little bit off.

As we were heading into New Hampshire on I-95, Marc hears the low gas warning signal and notices we have 24 miles to go before empty.  Still not thinking the mileage calculator was off, we start looking for a gas station. Nothing immediate pops up, but we "should be ok."  I think I must have subconsciously knew we were in trouble, so I asked him again how many miles we have and all it says is "low gas."  Then the truck starts to slow down, coming to a complete stop on an overpass.  I can't believe this just happened to us.  Really?  We're smarter than this, I know we are.

Fortunately, we packed bikes for this trip and Marc's was easy to get out of the trailer.  We just had to figure out where the nearest gas station was.  From the overpass, we could see several car dealerships, so a gas station should be close by, right?  Our next problem is how to get there.  The exit we are at is an interchange for a couple state roads and the highway, so the roads are a mess of cloverleafs.  Marc decides to just head out and see where it all leads.

About 15 minutes later, he calls to let us know he found gas and is on his way back.  But getting back is no picnic.  We see him riding along the 4 lane road and finally appearing on our side of the overpass where he decides to cross the median with his bike and can of gas. After riding through a traffic circle, crossing 4 lanes of traffic, climbing over 2 cement barriers, climbing a hill and jumping a fence, he's finally back at the truck.  A truck that has it's fuel tank on the driver's side of the vehicle.  He eventually manages to get the gas in the truck with traffic racing by. It was quite the ordeal, and not quite over yet!

Apparently, there was some confusion at the gas station.  I won't go into the details as this story is already long, but he left without paying for the gas, promising to come back since we needed to fill up our truck.  Surprisingly, the clerk let him go, probably because of the angry customer that got caught in the middle of it all.

So we start to head back to the gas station and missed the exit Marc took on his bike.  So Marc says to me, "I need you to figure out how to get us to the station I was at."  Of course, he can't recall anything about where he was, so I suggested we just get gas and if we see the station, we'll stop.  We eventually did make it back after driving around a bit.  And it's a good thing we did.  There was a police officer waiting for him to return.  All for $7 worth of gas.  Not sure what would have happened if we didn't come back, but it was worth a chuckle to think an APB might be out for Marc, the bike riding gas thief!

So after all that, we make it to our "campsite."  While the gas situation was going on, Jenni was giving us the lowdown on our location for the next couple nights. Our site was a parking lot next to the ocean at a marina.  No sewer hookups, no fires and no public consumption of alcohol.  You've got to be kidding!  But the view was nice, as long as you looked to the water.  We were staying in Salem, Massachusetts, camping options were limited.  It was a bit sketchy, not a place to let the kids wander after sundown, but we weren't planning to hang out long.  The next day would be spent
walking the Freedom Trail in Boston!  For the time being, we just
hung out by the water, looking for crabs, collecting sea glass and enjoying the view.

My sea glass collection for the night.

The view from our campsite (if you took a short walk)!