As expected, I’m now in Maine.  Wells, Maine, to be exact.

This is not my final destination – that’d be at Schoodic Woods Campground in Acadia National Park tomorrow afternoon – but it is the place that I’m staying tonight, and I think I’m in love with my hotel.  This place has vibes from the 1960s and 70s, before every overnight stay was in a corporate hotel chain.  Tallwoods Motel is one of those places where you park directly in front of the door to your room, the room itself is about 12×15, there’s a window A/C unit, and you have to walk to the office to get ice.  I’d post some pictures now (maybe I will in the future), but I haven’t figured out yet how to link my phone’s gallery to this tablet, so you’ll just have to imagine it.

I started the day today in Winchester, VA, in one of the aforementioned hotel chains (a Sleep Inn, as I recall).  I chose it because it was the cheapest I could find in the Winchester area that didn’t give me the idea that I’d be in a crack house.  I still kinda felt like I was in a crack house.

The drive from Lawrenceville to Winchester (on Thursday) was at once boring and incredibly stressful.  Somewhere south of Boone, NC, my car screamed at me that “EyeSight” (that which is responsible for cruise control) was no longer operative.  It then flashed a series of warnings at me, telling me that my transmission was shot, that my brakes weren’t working, that my backup assist was toast, that my windshield wiper fluid was empty, and that my engine needed checking.  In short – and this is no exaggeration – every check light that could possibly come on came on.

After an initial freak out, I did not freak out.  You ask, “Why not?”  Well, because the exact same thing happened to me two years ago when I was driving to my fall vacation in Michigan.  When it happened back then, I was just south of Knoxville and – mainly because of the “transmission oil overheated” warning – I searched out the closest Subaru place and made my way to it, hoping to save my car from death.  I’m not sure why I didn’t actually have anyone check it out, but I didn’t.  I literally drove through the parking lot and continued on my way to Ohio – without cruise control, which sucked.  I did a bit of research that night and someone had said that the same thing happened to them and it was because of a rear proximity sensor and they’d cleaned it off and everything was fine.  So the next morning (this was two years ago), I wiped off all of the rear sensors, got into my car and started it, and everything was fine.

So yesterday when all this happened, I didn’t freak out (after the initial freakout).  I drove to the next rest area, went to pee, came back and wiped off the rear sensors, and started the car. 

Still had the check engine light.  Still had no Eyesight.  Still had no cruise control.

So I continued on my way to Winchester, got to the hotel, and pulled up Copilot (an AI software that wasn’t available two years ago), and told it the whole story, including what happened two years ago.  Copilot told me not to worry about it, said it was probably an intermittent electrical problem, and that it would bet that the problem would be cleared when I started the car this morning.

I felt good.  I felt confident.  I started the car this morning.

Check engine light was still on.  Still didn’t have cruise control.

So I resigned myself to driving to Maine without cruise.  Not a happy thought, but what else was I gonna do? 

After about 20 minutes on the road, I stopped for gas and thought, “Maybe it’s a vacuum thing with the gas cap and all will be well now!”  Got back into the car, started it….check engine light on, and no cruise control.  Shit.  Drove to Dunkins for some breakfast.

Came out, started the car…..everything was fine.  So…..I’m still thinking it was a gas cap thing.

At any rate, I’m really glad I had the cruise control working because the drive from Winchester to Wells absolutely sucked.  I think the blame is shared by northeastern drivers (who have no concept of a speed limit or of staying in their own lane) and by the road planners (who’ve made entering and exiting major interstate highways ridiculously hard).

But after about 10 hours, I did make it to the Tallwood Motel in Maine, and I’m happily contemplating sleeping in a tiny room with a window A/C unit while I listen to trains passing about 200 yards from my window.  Most people would hate this.  I love it.

And tomorrow? It’s on to Acadia!  Haven’t been there in 50 years, and I can’t wait!