Woke up late and called Claire as it was 10:30 and we were supposed to be leaving today. She was still in bed. I drove the van over to Harrison and found Claire who was very ill with a hangover. I called Mum and Dad to tell them I was leaving tomorrow. We nursed Claire all morning and most of the afternoon until she threw up, then we went downtime to buy a radio for the van and to get propane and air etc. While Claire and Bernie installed the radio I went inside to tape some tapes. We then went for Christmas dinner at Beaver and then back to Tex's for Friends, Seinfeld and ER. Claire and Bernie fell asleep on the settee and I taped more tapes. This was the first ER I had seen in Canada and unfortunately I had seen it before "Union Station".
Friday 5th December
Got up bright and early 6:30am! Tex had decorated the van with a wreath and a whitener, it looked really festive! Claire said goodbye and Maine here we come. The weather turned quite nasty and we stopped just past the border at Island Falls.
Saturday 6th December
Still at Island Falls. Woke up at 6:30am, still snowing so went back to sleep. We were awoken again at 08:30am with people banging on the van to see if we were ok. We spent the morning sewing and at lunchtime ventured into the petrol station for warmth and company. They said the snow was forecast to stay so we decided to try and leave. The road surface was very good, considering and we made it to Augusta. Yet again I was driving when the accelerator got stuck. I managed to stop it, somehow, but the engine was still revving when we turned the engine off. We went down to a garage and called the AAA, we became members but they couldn't help us until Wednesday. So we explained our plight in the garage and a kind man gave us a lift up the road. We started the engine again and it was fine. He said sometimes it can get frozen and you have to tap it with your toe to release it.
We were on our way again, I did think we were going to crash. We made it to Portland and slept at a McDonalds.
Sunday 7th December
Left early yet again and went for breakfast on the beach at Ogunquit on the Atlantic Ocean. Then to Kittery where I bought some jeans in an Outlet Store. Arriving 5 minutes after it opened, trying on 3 pairs, buying 1 and leaving in 25 minutes. They only cost $21 US as well! Next stop Portsmouth, New Hampshire! Then to Boston. Nightmare traffic even on a Sunday. We eventually found somewhere to park and walked around. It was the lighting of the common and we saw a real Mountie! The tree was from New Brunswick and there was a Mountie band there too. We went to the Cheers bar and then watched the ceremony. We joined in the parade down to Macys, home for dinner and back out to go ice-skating. Unfortunately it cost $3 so we didn't, we watched for a while and then went home. We drove the van to Harvard and then to Weston to a garage for the night.
<these are extracts from my diaries written whilst travelling and working in Canada and the US in '97-'98>
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