a poor man's dinner

"What you should do is forget Canada."  It sounds like a stereotypical American response, but Nola is really only trying to help me get started with the blog again.  I'm stuck in Iceland and complaining about not getting enough time to catch up.  Nola's advice has the ring of a teacher who has dealt with many a student who has got behind with their coursework.  This isn't surprising because she is a math teacher "or maths as you English like to say it!" with many years of experience.  She's counting down the years to retirement (only four more) so that she and her husband Rick can head off to travel the World, or at least the States.

Portland harbour

Rick is a retired fireman and he warmly welcomes us into their home in Portland, Maine.  It's a modest wooden house on a quiet street.  The garage next door is not modest - three storeys in fact - but that, if you'll excuse the pun, is another story.  When Gayle asked Canadians about the States many of them replied that it was similar to Canada but "there is more of everything".  We're amazed at the number of vehicles they have, but as Rick explains, they'll keep a car "until it dies".  So, in addition to their tandem, their normal bikes, recumbent trikes and Harley Davidson, there is also a pick-up, two run-around cars, one of which is an electric hybrid, plus the piece de resistance - a mobile home that really does fit the definition (but not the garage).  This is by no means unusual here, as we discover later.  Rick shows us around the RV which is nicknamed The Bus, for obvious reasons.  He and Nola plan to get plenty of mileage with it when she stops teaching.

They're a lovely couple who engage us in plenty of disparate but interesting conversations and we feel right at home with them.  It's the north American way - everyone is so natural and easy to get along with - that we almost take it for granted now.  Their large garage roof is covered in solar panels and they're able to bank energy credit from the output and help subsidise their neighbour's electricity bill too.

on the waterfront

Portland is a relatively small city and easy to get around.  The late summer heat continues into October and we have a sunny day to explore the downtown and get ourselves tuned in to the USA.  The city's waterfront has a touristy boardwalk with a range of restaurants and the day we're here there's a cruise ship in.  But it all seems quite low-key and relaxed.  

relaxed locals

unleashing the beasts

In the morning Gayle mentions lobster to Rick.  We thought the season had passed (it had in Canada, where there are more limits on lobster fishing), but Rick is eager for us to try it and, despite not liking it himself, he offers to cook some for us.  Nola's pleased, as it's a real treat.  She tells us they never eat it in a restaurant because, apart from the mechanics of eating it, it's usually overpriced.  She is telling us this whilst simultaneously demonstrating and instructing us in the best way to dismantle the creature and extract the flesh.  The four young blackish monsters Rick put, writhing, into the steaming pot, are now bright red and inert.  


Back in the day, lobster was seen as a low-value catch, and eaten ony by those too poor to be able to afford fish.  Ruth and Gordon told us that his ageing relatives in New Brunswick would recount how they were so poor, all they ate was lobster.  And they would plough lobster into the fields to fertilise the soil.  How times change.  The meat is undeniably tasty.

teaching another skill

We are then overindulged by our hosts, who confess to having a chocolate vice. Gayle's is ice-cream, and as they've just stocked up on a deal at the local supermarket, they are able to treat us to a 'tasting session'.  Nola has a connection to Ben & Jerry's as the co-founders started out in her university town in Vermont.  It strikes me as a tenuous link but a marvellous excuse.  We indulge.

After a wonderfiul relaxing start to our journey through America, we are bound to actually start the journey.  Rick and Nola share their knowledge of our proposed route plans, advising us on busy roads and things to look out for.  Their words "Maine is hilly" echoes that of our Quebecois hosts who warned us about the Charlevoix region north of Quebec City.  We have been warned!