My first stop was at the Maine Visitor Center just after I entered the state. I wanted to pick up a road map, and I wanted to see if I could get a map of Washington County, which is the county that is furthest east in the state. I was handed a booklet on the county, and the one of the women working at the visitor center headed to the back to see if they had a county map. No map, she came back out and said there was a map in the booklet. I flipped through the pages. Ah, there it is! It's a very readable map, but there are very few roads on it. I commented on the lack of roads, and one of the visitor center staff members said "there aren't too many roads, and the ones that exist go a long way to no where". I wonder if he meant that as encouragement.
At one point I really wished I was rolling down the road on my bike. Why? Because I wanted to stop and look at something on the side of the road, not an activity that is encouraged on a limited access highway when the traffic is moving well above the posted speed limit of 65 MPH. There's a spot right next to the northbound lane of I-95 where there is a rectangular plot with a number of what appear to be very old gravestones. It's a couple of miles before the Kennebunk exit, and it's right next to the road. There's got to be a story about this spot. I noticed it last year, and I did try to find out what it was. No luck. I'll have to try again when I get home.
A search turned up almost no information on this resting ground. The only relevent entry I found was on Wikipedia stating that "A small, disused cemetery lies on the road shoulder near Kennebunk, Maine." Well, that was not helpful at all since I already know it exists. What I don't know is who lives there. Does anyone else know?The sky changed its image as I traveled to the north and east. It was very hazy when I left work this afternoon, and the haze stayed for a while. As I moved further into Maine, the haze gave way to blue skies. At the same time the temperature dropped, from 84 degrees when I first started driving, to 72 by the time I arrived in Bangor. Very nice. I tried not to pay attention to the weather forecasts that kept jumping out of the radio. It still sounds like there is rain on the way, but it also sounds like a possibility that tomorrow morning will be dry. I can hope, can't I? My bicycle has definitely put in an order for dry pavement!
Ah, an answer to the puzzle! Many thanks to Rob... It's not an apparition, but a real cemetery. He found the link by searching for "old cemetery" maine turnpike. My mistake was searching for I-95 (as opposed to "turnpike"). The cemetery - the Hatch-Mitchell burial site - exists on private property adjacent to the Maine Turnpike.
A visual reward as I walked near the hotel... I'm staying at a Hampton Inn near a mall and near the interstate. It's not a location where I expect to see interesting things, but as I walked toward a grocery store I noticed some animals - something like a ground hog, although I'm really not sure what they were - happily eating (grass, or ?). I quickly went back to my room to grab a camera, and I did get a couple of pictures. I'll be very surprised if the animals show as more than a spot in the middle of a field of grass though. They really moved fast. I stopped to try to focus the camera, and the animal looked at me then quickly scampered away. Watching little animals always brings a smile to my face.
Here's hoping that my dreams of riding are satisfied tomorrow.
