My friend Mitchell, who also lives in a bus, was coming to New England from Colorado. We met at a trailhead in Acton, Maine, and all the animals were so excited to see him, especially Sophie.
The trailhead lead to a nice path that the animals enjoyed, but there was also a small picnic table area. I had been painting a lot and was excited to have a paint day with Mitchell. I set up the paints while Mitchell made coffee. We spent most of the day painting, with little breaks in between to walk the animals along the trail.
This trail had signs saying it closed at dusk so we moved to a nearby trail called goat hill that was open 24/7 to spend the night. The first thing in the morning, we went on a hike. The air was thick with humidity, and it sprinkled a bit, but it was a warm day for autumn and made for a great hike. We stopped at a little apple orchard that was along the trail. I had been wanting to go apple picking and Mitchell had never been, so this was the perfect opportunity.
We picked a few apples to munch on and Mitchell was amazed by how juicy the fresh apples were. There was a corn maze off to the side that I wanted to try. We wandered aimlessly through the corn, and it was pretty cool for a while, but I was bored with it before we found the end.
We continued the hike, excited to see the beautiful view at the top of the hill, that a fellow hiker had told us about. We arrived to a thick layer of fog that gave off an ominous feeling. We couldn’t see a single thing. But the fog held a beauty of its own, weaving through the pines like a blanket.
It rained the rest of the day so I cozied up with the animals and had an art day inside the bus.
We spent another night at the trailhead and woke up to the police knocking at the door. They started off by saying, “Hey, we don’t actually care that you’re here, but we got a call and had to come check it out.” A dog-walker had called saying we spent the night. Apparently the cops had never had this happen before and they informed us that they didn’t actually know if we were doing anything illegal or not. They checked the ordinances but came up with nothing, and called the owner of the lot, who didn’t answer. They told us that we didn’t have to move, wished us a good day, and left. It was the strangest encounter I’ve had with the police and we found the whole thing very amusing.
It was a much sunnier day, so Mitchell and I decided to try the hike again, hoping we could actually see the view. We got Sophie and Maggie ready, and Thomas decided to come along this time too. He walked the entire three miles with us.
We stopped at the apple orchard again, and were smart enough this time to bring backpacks so we could carry a few apples out. Thomas weaved in and out of the apple trees, thrilled to be included.
The sky was clear as we reached the top of the trail and we could see the beautiful view. Fields spread out below us that eventually transitioned into colored forests of fall.
We relaxed in plastic chairs that were placed in little nooks of trees Then we hiked back down with Thomas following along the entire time.
That night there was a Halloween party we wanted to attend in South Paris, Maine at the Nomad Retreat Center where I had spent some time last summer . I hadn’t planned on dressing up, but at the last minute changed my mind. However I had no clue what to be. My clothing options were limited, but Mitchell had a flannel shirt and I decided a scarecrow would be simple and perfect. I bought a straw hat and a little face makeup from Dollar Tree. The costume came together perfectly.
Mitchell wore mostly black and had me paint his face like a skeleton. Our costumes were simple but we were both thrilled with them.
We arrived to the Nomad Retreat Center, which was decked out in Halloween decorations, and talked with other partygoers and ate hors d’oeuvres.
Everyone was ushered into the yoga studio to watch a performance by Cosmic Creation, a dance group. We watched in amazement as they each performed their routines. Then we all went outside to watch the remainder of the performance, which included fire spinning.
When they were done, we returned inside and spent the rest of the party twirling around on the dance floor. That night I stayed in my bus in the parking lot, and in the morning everyone who had also stayed hung out and had breakfast together.
Afterward Mitchell and I headed to Portland. I had already been there several times this year, but Mitchell had never visited before and I was excited to show him around. We explored the sandy beaches and many lighthouses.
Halloween day arrived and I wanted to pass out candy. I wasn’t sure how it would go, but I parked my bus on the side of the road near the sidewalk. I have a fold out table attached to the side of my bus that was the perfect place for candy.
Mitchell and I each sat on a side of the table, and it went amazingly. Every trick-or-treater that passed came to get candy, and many of the parents also stopped to talk about my bus. Halfway through Mitchell even had to go to the store for more candy. It was my first time passing out Halloween candy and I was so excited that it was a success.
The next day we decided to take the dogs rollerblading. Before I had Sophie, I often rollerbladed while Maggie ran next to me, but I was worried about taking two dogs at the same time, especially not knowing how Sophie would do. Mitchell took Maggie and I took Sophie, and it went surprisingly well. She ran along with me as we rollerbladed throughout the city.
We spent the remaining few days exploring the forts, beaches, and lighthouses of Portland. Mitchell liked the city as much as I did, other than the chilly weather that was rolling in. But we still had a blast.
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