July 22, Day 3, Houston to Lincoln Maine



   We enjoyed our stay in our little cabin last night. We needed a good night’s rest as we were anticipating a big day for us, about 70 miles.
   We rode the whole way on US 2 and US 2a after the two split apart, until we got to the town of Houlden, where we turned on US 1.  We were amazed by how little traffic we had until late in the day when we got near Houlden, then had a fair amount of traffic the rest of the way to our motel. 
   Midmorning, Kay spotted a two-track with a gate across it,  and decided it was a good place to take a break as we hadn’t been seeing anything but forest on each side for a while.  After eating a snack, we heard a vehicle slowing down on the main road, and wouldn’t you know, they turned into the two-track.  It was 2 older fellows in a pick-up, and they didn’t seem to mind that we had taken a break there.  Jim even offered to unlock the gate for them but the one guy said that he would do it himself as often wasps would inhabit the pipe.  As he started to mess with it, a few wasps did come out, then more, and he ended up getting stung as we started to leave.  Jim remarked to Kay later that they must have been nice people, otherwise they could have let Jim unlock it without telling him about the wasps!

   Jim has been coming down with the cold that Kay had before we left on our trip, so he didn’t feel quite up to snuff—of course on a day that we had to go a little farther than usual for us.  At rest stop with a picnic table and a portable-potty, it became an actual rest stop—he laid down and took a short nap while Kay picked raspberries from a good-sized clump of raspberry bushes growing at the edge of the mowed grass.
   On the north side of Houlton, there was a little farm stand advertising new potatoes.  We didn’t want any new potatoes, but they also had raspberries so we got some of those.  We chatted with the woman about our trip, and she asked if she could take our picture. 
 We are staying at a motel a little ways north of town that was recently purchased and now run by Native Americans, and it seems very nice. 

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