"I dunno. When you go into a situation with negative energy, it's exerted. People can feel that. If you're bringing positive energy... Like it sounds cliche but-
"No, it doesn't," Jesse cut in before I could ruin my own wisdom. "It's completely true. It's all about being positive."
"Ralph," whispered Tiffany, standing next to Jesse. "Listen, I want to help. Can I please go to an ATM and give you guys money?"
Josh overheard and interjected, "Oh no. Please, please. That's honestly amazing that you would do something like that for us but please."
"That's one of the most incredible gestures of kindness I've witnessed. But please, we don't need it. We're just happy to talk to you and enjoy all the amazing conversation," I backed.
Jesse Kendrick was a US Navy soldier who protected people like Josh and I. Originally from Colorado, we met him outside the bar Josh and I were in. His accomplice was one Tiffany Furlong. She helped me rember her name saying, "Just remember it's one of my favorite movies, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' and you've known me Furlong time."
As brief as the moment was that we spent together, it left Josh and I absolutely brimming with happiness. The energy we were describing was in relation to sleeping in a renowned homeless area around the town.
Tiffany turned to me and said, "If I give you guys a bunch of food, could you give that to some of the homeless? I just want to help."
I should've said yes but just the sentence itself inspired me to do something.
Shortly before in the evening, Josh and I also met two cute girls listening to a street performer playing on a hurdy gurdy. Katie and Amy had already befriended the charming old man named Robert cranking the lever of the old instrument, producing melodies. For over an hour, we talked to the two ladies that had traveled from Boston for a night of drinks and leisure. Amy wanted to stay and hangout but Katie was more inclined to head home, understandably. Still, it's nice to know Josh and I have good wing men in each other ;). Or maybe we don't because Katie was trying to dip out.
Slowly pedaling into Portsmouth, still reeling a bit from Mike's departure, I wanted something to make me feel better. What better than ice cream? Probably alcohol. BUT I wasn't really up for that.
Josh and I went to a thrift store... and made friends
In front of Clarke's Ice Cream, I went to pull the handle but the door wouldn't budge.
Closed.
A man passed by curiously looking at my bike and I.
"Hey man, where you coming from?" he asked.
Enter Ross. A twenty-seven year old man with a short, blonde buzzcut, blue eyes, and a soul full of wanderlust.
"Coming from Philadelphia, on my way to Wells for the day," I replied.
"Wait, wait, wait. You're not even taking a day here to look at things?" he asked with surprise.
"Uh...no?" I spoke unsurely.
"I've been to 16 different countries and all of the states in the United States except for two. I can tell you this wholeheartedly, Portsmouth is one of the best towns east of the Rockies," he stated, eyes gleaming.
What exactly do you say to that? After this, he told me all about the things to see in the area: recreations of Columbus' original ships from his exploration of America, a truly encompassing museum experience called Strawberry Bank (the old name of Portsmouth before the 18th century), and an array of places to consume alcohol.
We were staying.
Josh and I finally left Portsmouth today around six to go meet up with our CouchSurfing host Nell, in York, ME. And that's when the day truly became a joy.
At her house, she had already made a large batch of nachos covered with fish (weary of Josh's pescatareanism) and other vegetables. Her bubbly friend Colleen was just leaving the house to watch a movie with a friend. All smiles.
Nell graduated from college a year ago and has had her fair share of travel experience. She's been to Utah, and did a farming program where she was provided food, and housing for work. We bonded over some of the books by Edward Abbey and discussed the magic of the desert despite our love of the ocean. She also spent a semester in Thailand, which sounded amazing.
"So, I was thinking we could take the Beach Cruiser down to Wiggly Bridge and watch the sunset," she proposed.
"Oh man," I said, imagination spurred. "That sounds awesome."
"For sure, let's do it," chimed Josh.
We were a bit late for the sunset but the bleeding reds and oranges of the leftover sun beams were just as good. Instead, we took a small tour of the surrounding area, which is what we'll be biking tomorrow.
"So, this is the Cape Neddick Lighthouse, one of the most popularly photographed lighthouses in the world. Actually, when my family was blessed enough to go on a vacation to Paris a few years back, they saw a poster with this lighthouse on the front. It read, 'Come to Maine'," she shared.
Disclaimer: Neither Josh nor I took this photo. It's from the web.
From there, we went along the Maine coastline through several towns. It had the heavy lingering feeling of Cape May, Stone Harbor and the Jersey coastal towns or... home. We empathized with each other about the cold, lonely winters, and the lively, crowded summers.
After riding around the area in a loop, we went to Nell's place of work for a drink, the cleverly named "When Pigs Fly". Nell works at the place with her mother, which sounded like it could be problematic but the two get along great. In the short time we saw them converse, they were very encouraging of one another.
At the door, a friend of Nell's named Annah, let us in. Annah and I would sped the next hour and a half talking to one another. What an absolute pleasure. Her presence made me feel totally comfortable sharing a lot of things I wouldn't normally, especially upon first meeting. And I only had one drink so let me crush the assertion that I was drunk.
Annah lived there in Maine, briefly going to school in New Hampshire before the everpresent and popular educational costs became too fucking great. It's a goddamn crime people like Annah can't go to college because of the debts that gradually (and shittily) build up.
Anyhow, Annah told me about her adventure through Vietnam with her boyfriend, from Ho Chi Mihn all the way to the northern point via train. A total time of 32 hours. She also rode her bike north through the entire state of Maine (600 miles) in about six days. Hell, we should recruit her for our trip. She was also planning a trip to Denmark with her boyfriend Mark.
Mark came over to us as "When Pigs Fly" was closing down, finally done dishing food out to the customers. Mark had also done his fair share of cycling, going all the way down to Connecticut in the span of a few days. Another impressive feat. Mark, Annah, and their other friend (unfortunately Josh and I didn't get to formally meet him) were more than encouraging of us. I even heard the word inspiration in there. Exciting stuff. The icing on the cake was Mark and Annah giving us a gift of two bread loaves, homemade by the restaurant.
My God, I love everyone. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my soul.
Pictures of today's day off...
We entered Maine today!
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