Up betimes and to Eric’s for breakfast, because the milk had gone sour. Yes, it’s a lame excuse, but it was our excuse. It being, for a change, an Absolutely Gorgeous Sunny Day, which it had not been on Monday, October 3, the 23rd anniversary of our arrival in Maine, we decided after breakfast to take our Anniversary Drive.
Out to Skowhegan and beyond via 201, to 43, and then across to Madison, the mountains black-toothed and sharp against the sky. Not much in the way of leaf color; I fear me we’ll have a quiet fall.
From Madison, to Anson, to Starks, past world-famous Chicken Street, and eventually to Farmington, to rest, briefly, and seek out Mr. Paperback, where we signed stock — one copy each of The Agent Gambit, Korval’s Game, Ghost Ship, and two of Saltation — purchased a copy of December’s Analog in which Mr. Sakers says very nice things about the Liaden Universe® in general, and Ghost Ship in particular in “The Reference Library”, and a 2012 Non-Sequitur Kitchen Table calendar (you might call it a desk calendar). We also took on a new ‘prentice — ours is the one with the pink-and-gray tail. His genus name appears to be Yoo-Hoo, and he makes a Magic Twinkly Noise when you press his stomach. No, I’m not kidding.
We then got back on the road, proceeding down 2-and-4, thinking we might go to Portland for lunch. Alas, we hit road construction in Jay, and decided that the better part of valor would be to turn around in Lewiston, hit Augusta for lunch, sign stock at BN, and return home by way of the post office, drug store, and grocery.
(A head’s up, for those in the Jay/Livermore Falls corridor. A bar somewhere in that area, right on Route 4, is advertising that it will be hosting the Maine Saracens Halloween Party. I said to Steve, “Did I read that right?” He said, “Yep. At least we know where we won’t be on Halloween.”)
…We implemented the back-to-Augusta plan, though we did get tangled up in the aftermath of this, which necessitated some cutting-and-pasting of the route. Eventually, though, we found our way to Rooster’s and a nice cup of broccoli cheese soup for both of us, with a shared BLT, and large glasses of iced tea.
At BN, we signed the two Saltation mmps they had in stock. The young lady on the desk allowed as how they had sold out of the Ghost Ship they had in stock and hoped that they would have another one when for us to sign when we stopped in again.
Pause.
What else?
Oh! Staples in the Augusta Marketplace — the very first Staples I ever remember seeing — is closed. There’s a newer store opened across town, so, all’s not lost, but…wow, what a shock.
So, then. Back to Waterville — drugstore, post office, grocery store. A side-trip to Giffords for milkshakes, and so to home where I have caught up on email and bookkeeping, written a blog post, and will shortly join my husband in the kitchen for lunch and a spot of reading.
What did you do today that was fun?