Maine-ly a Disaster
I'm standing in line for the Amtrak for about the fourth time in the past 30 minutes. Brittany and I both waiting, counting, and double checking our assortment of pennies, dimes, nickels, and quarters. The clerk called us over, she had remembered me counting my pennies there within the last 20 minutes. The clerk announces the price and I begin sorting all of the loose change out on the counter in front of her. The total came to $362.63 for both tickets, Boston to Philadelphia. With having already checked every other available possibility to make it home in time the next day to make it to work we finally had our total and it was $361.63. I was kind of hopeful but at the same time scared because it was only a dollar but company policies are strict so she wouldn't budge. I then realized I'm surrounded by a couple of people in this room and a lot more just outside the big doorway. I screamed for a dollar as soon as I came to this realization.
After two flat tires from the treacherous terrain we had been driving on, dodging huge tractor trailers with full loads of trees, and getting drenched along with our tent and a lot of our supplies on our fifth night, we decided to spend our sixth and final night in the city of Portland. We pack up our campsite into my little Saturn. By the time we are done it is loaded to the max with wet clothes, food, supplies and there is a 30 pound trash bag on the trunk of my car that made the 40 mile drive down the rocky, narrow, logging roads to the closest dumpster without sliding off. The interior of my sedan began to emit an unpleasant odor.
About two hours into my drive to Portland, I faced multiple decisions. I found myself standing next to my car with the blinkers on desperately waving to passing vehicles for some sort of assistance. Our idea was to try and get a jump after we conversed with a mechanic friend over the phone. One car stopped and left, the second offered a jump but it didn’t work. She ended up being more helpful than we ever imagined. She let us use her AAA service and we waited for the tow truck, nervous and excited. The local mechanic the nice lady gave us was closed so we got dropped at the AAA car care center and was told by our drivers that my car was completely shot. We left the car there to be checked thoroughly in the morning by a mechanic.
As I woke with the rising sun the next day I was very pessimistic about what the mechanic from the AAA in Portland, Maine had to say about my recently purchased 2002 Saturn sedan. We get a cheap hotel and eat at the Denny's across the street before we rest up for the next day. Brittany finds an amazing spot to sit and eat lobster rolls outside on a beautiful day, we didn’t let a wrecked car ruin our plans. The sun was shining bright and it felt amazing. The sky was blue with a few puffy white clouds here and there and a few old light houses close by. The sound of waves crashing against the rocks along the shoreline which we were sitting right above was a very pleasant sound while sitting in the sun and enjoying a fresh, perfectly dressed and seasoned Maine Lobster Roll. The day was a success and we then began our journey back home.
If we didn't decide to go out and enjoy a beautiful Maine summer day by eating lobster rolls on the coast then we wouldn't have had any issues getting our train tickets home. I really didn't want to leave my car behind but I had to be at work and if I stayed I would've missed a lot of days and probably would've had to put half of what I bought the car for into fixing it. I decided it wasn't worth it and we decided that even though we were somewhat stranded in Maine we should still enjoy our last day the best we could.
I only got $100 for scrapping that car and it was one dollar short from getting me home in time for work. Luckily there are nice people out there with some spare change to help somebody out if they ever get into any car troubles or whatever may happen. I could have decided to stay with my car and get it better inspected and find out the actual price. I didn't have the time because it was labor day weekend and I had to be home for work so I finally made the decision to sell it for $100 and make my way home by one bus to Boston and one train to Philadelphia.