Joeandfrannie's travel blogs:
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An Unexpected Detour in Skowhegan
Entry 6 of 11 | show all | print this entry |
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 The weather at the bottom of the mountain didn't improve while we at the top so we were a little disappointed when we had to get back into the car and battle the rain.  We had quite a while to drive to our cabin in Jackman and figured about 4 hours. At 5:00, we hoped we would arrive in Jackman by 10. We drove and drove for  what seemed to be forever, Joe navigating curvy wet roads that never really seemed to cooperate. The glare from the rain and the tractor trailer trucks made many of our turns blinded and the paint in Maine on the roads just doesn't qualify as quite reflective so even finding the correct side of the road was a challenge. We stopped along the way for a stop Joe could not refuse.  BBQ out of a cut out window of an orange camper on the side of the highway is not something Joe says no to so regardless of whether you are hungry or hot, BBQ is a given. We order a sampler plate of smoked and BBQ dressed meats coulped with some cornbread, hot spicy baked beans, and some Cole Slaw, we sampled the delectable meats as we continued up the highway. Despite every factor playing against us, we arrived in Skowhegan, the last and only town on our map before Jackman. The green DOT issued sign read Jackman 78 miles and we couldn't be happier. While 70+ miles might seem like a world away for some, for us 78 was a walk in the park compared to what we had already clocked on the odometer today. We traveled through the simple town of Skowhegan past a grocery store, a Tim Horton Donut shop and even one of the only Wal-Marts we passed during the whole trip. As we continued to plug away up Rt 201 north we come to a road sign that signaled "pavement ends". This didn't alarm Joe as we have been on these roads of "no pavement" so many times while driving through North Dakota, Eastern Washington and Oregon and West Virginia. What we didn't realize was that the sign shouldn't have read "pavement ends" it should have read "Road washed out from all the rain today and anyone past this point in complete peril!" The moment we passed the point our car dipped into a series of bumps. Moguls and extreme potholes. Joe maintained control of the truck but the truck lost the fight between the crevices to hell and stalled out. A Maine state trooper pulled up behind us within minutes and assisted Joe while he reattached the car battery that had come disconnected by the jarring of the truck. The trooper informed us that we were not the first people to have problems on the highway. In fact as car had lost thier canoe off the top of their car earlier and people all night, were having trouble navigating the road. Our ordeal seemed to be his last straw and before we knew it, we were the only people on the road. He made a call and had the whole highway closed.  There was a smell of fuel but we attributed it only to the smell of exhaust from the truck. The truck, to my surprise, turned over and we figured we were back on our way. When Joe pressed down on the accelerator though, the truck died. After a number of tries, we accepted that not only was the truck not going anywhere but that the smell of gas was only getting worse. Joe looked under the truck while I pushed down on the gas. "Turn it off!" he commanded as we all realized at once among other things, that the fuel line had become detached. We knew we had been bested by Rt 201 and were facing some car maintenance issues. Stranded on a now closed down highway, Joe stood out in the rain with the trooper who called a tow truck while I called AAA. Connecting with Susan, the helpful and patient AAA representative of Skowhegan, I started to get a feel for the small town connections that Skowhegan possessed. She knew a few spots seemed able to help us find a spot to stay for the night. She talked me through the tow truck ordeal and gave me numbers for local hotels. While I was talking with her though Joe was learning out in the rain that our chances for getting our truck fixed in less than 3 days or even finding a room in Skowhegan that night were both going to be next to impossible? Apparently, no one does car repair on the weekend and to add insult to injury, Colby College, the not so local university was having parents weekend and every room was booked. Susan from AAA started making calls for me while I did the same. With Joe's cell phone in one ear and mine in the other, we were both denied one room after another. My last resort was a call to Helen's Bed and Breakfast. I didn't have high hopes but knew I had nothing to loose. The answering machine came on but left a cell phone number where I could try also. Normally I wouldn't have, but I was desperate as a scribbled down the cell number. Answering the phone was the Inn's keeper, Charlene. She apologized for not having a room but at 10 o'clock on a Friday night during parent's weekend, I really shouldn't have expected anything less. I explained to Helen our situation and asked her if there was anywhere that she could recommend. When she heard that we were stranded, she said "let's work something out. Meet me in my kitchen, the door is unlocked, I will be there shortly." With no more questions asked she seemed to understand that helping us was not really an option, but a responsibility. The trooper, the tow truck driver, and the cab driver had been waiting endlessly for us to make a decision or find a solution and finally we had one. We had entertained having the truck towed to Jackman only to find out there is no auto body shop around. We thought about taking a cab to Jackman but could not find a place to rent us a car once we got there, and we settled on finding an Enterprise in the morning who would bring us a car and we would just have to return to Skowhegan on Monday to pick up our repaired vehicle. Barely a best case, at least we knew we had a place to sleep and with little else to do but transfer our belongings from the truck into the back of a cab, we headed to Helen's B&B. Our cab driver from Max Taxi was fantastic and incredibly patient. Considering he waited for over a ½ hour for us to even get into the cab only to drive us 3 miles, he definitely didn't make any money on us. I can't really imagine he had much else to do at the time though, so at least we gave him something to talk about. He dropped us off at Helen's B&B and even waited until we knew for sure that we would have a place to stay. Bidding the last of our 3 highway heroes goodbye we entered Helen's B&B and met Charlene.
I hugged her the moment I saw her and thanked her for helping us. She was embarrassed by my gratitude and really just seemed to think that helping us out was expected (what a novel idea!) She didn't have a room but she did have some mattresses and blankets which she threw down on her living room floor and told us to make ourselves comfortable. Warm, dry, safe, and beat, we nestled up on the couch, opened a bottle of wine I grabbed from the truck before they towed it away and tried to relax. Joe was asleep in no time and I was only shortly behind him. Despite the stress of the night, the anxiety about the day to come, and the overall adrenaline rush we had endured for the past few hours, we fell asleep and rested peacefully until the next morning.
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