Broke backs

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - May 22 -- It's a toss-up of what hurts worse, our feet or our backs. Yesterday morning we spent a few hours in a cozy beach town in Maine, chatting with some locals in a bagel shop. Word spread quickly that we were attempting to travel to the Pacific coast -- a peculiar conversation piece when you can see the Atlantic out the window.

Once everyone in the bagel shop knew our story, they treated us with great respect. When I asked to use the bathroom, the manager said, 'Of course', almost as if she was honored I would urinate in her facilities. One guy said he'd drive us all the way to California for $1,000. We laughed and declined. A curious woman with her kindergarten-aged daughter clinging by her side asked a handful of questions, very curious of our adventure. She then told little Sophie to hand these gentlemen a $20 bill and wish them good luck. We were flattered by the generosity, to say the least. I offered to take over one of the worker's jobs of washing the shop's windows. She laughed and said, 'Sure honey!'. She told her coworkers to look at what the kid in the cowboy hat was doing. "How sweet," I heard her say as I got down real low to reach the bottom of the glass, trying to hide how much this made my legs ache.

Then we walked, and walked and walked some more. We approached a few people out in their yards and asked if there was anything we could do to help them out. Most were kind yet seemed a bit skeptical of our intentions. Denny and I have been brainstorming better ways to approach future folks. The rain drizzled down, but nothing too threatening. As we walked through a construction site, the head of the team stopped us. We thought we were in trouble. He asked us with a smile what we were up to. 'Holy s**t,' he said. 'That reminds me of the time I went to motorcycle from the tip of Maine to the keys in Florida when I was your age.' Our eyes widened as we prepared to hear tales of adventure and greatness. He proceeded - 'Yeah, and then once I got to Portland, I said f**k it, and I turned right back around.' We parted ways with handshakes and laughter.

The highlight of the day - $2 cheeseburgers from a local shop in Saco. Food has never tasted more delicious. The lowlight - a pair of high school kids yelling 'Brokeback Mountain' out of the car window as they flew by us. We walked in silence for a few seconds until Denny opened his mouth - 'You're not....ya know.....?' He asked with an attempt at a serious face. We laughed hard and walked on, sore feet and broken backs.

We found a nice place to camp by a river and, for a second night in a row, fell asleep before sunset.

-BT