The 2014 Maine Moose Adventures began this evening around 6:00pm!

Mostly everything followed the typical pattern: a long drive with relatively light traffic except for the usual insanity in Connecticut. I-84 through Connecticut, in our experience, is just insane regardless of time of day or day of the week. We attempt to avoid the Hartford craziness by taking I-691 and I-91. It helps a little bit.

As always, we stopped for a late supper at Rein’s Deli. We indulged in chicken pot pie, a bagel with veggie cream cheese, and a plate full of potato pancakes. A backup on the Mass Pike delayed us about twenty minutes, but we still made it to the Kittery rest area by midnight.

The night was perfect for sleeping, too—not cold, not hot, certainly less humid than usual. Even in cramped quarters, with lights shining in the windows and trucks grumbling past, we both enjoyed five reasonably solid hours of rest. It’s always a pleasure to fall asleep to the piney scent of balsam that seems to pervade the entire state of Maine—and to wake up to it a few hours later, even stronger in the misty morning, knowing that the best adventures lie ahead.