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Published: October 3rd 2011
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We walked over the very short bridge, set our phones back an hour and walked into the customs building next to the road on the other side with much apprehension. Thankfully we were greeted with "Hi!" "Hello!" "Come on in!" by the 3 US border security guards inside. Their first question was "Where are you going?" To which I answered "......America...?" much to their amusement. Not really sure what they wanted us to say! After a few quick questions about where we were from, the explanation of our route and paying of the $6 visa waiver fee, we were in after an unexpected quick and painless border cross. We headed to a diner just across the border to have some lunch after spending most of the morning eating nothing due to pre-border nerves!
As we had had to come into America early we had booked a few motels along the way to Portland, so we headed to our Calais motel, after sinking in the small town American atmosphere. The next morning we headed back into Calais to get our bus to Bangor (the next town on in Maine on our way to Portland!) which was a small mini van type
bus that for $21, took you on a 4 and a half hour scenic route to Bangor. After arriving in Bangor we got a taxi to our motel, ordered some pizza and watched TV. These few days were definitely not very interesting! In the morning, as we had a whole day to kill before getting the greyhound to Portland the next day, we decided to walk into the town to have a look around. As our motel was near the airport, this walk took about an hour and involved a lot of walking on big main roads with no pavement, or sidewalk as I should say. The town was okay - and after a quick walk around, a drink in a cafe and a trip to the supermarket to buy dinner, we walked back to the motel. The next morning we taxied it back to the town centre (I think walking an hour with our big bags would not have been fun) to get the greyhound to Portland. We were excited to couchsurf again! We arrived in Portland and Alex met us from the bus and drove us to her house pointing out all the local landmarks. Alex is very
friendly and warm 70 year old lady who does freelance database design and computer repairs. She was very tech-savvy and lived in a very cool and stylish open plan converted warehouse. We had futon bunkbeds to sleep on and Alex also had screens so we could have some privacy as her place is so open plan. Her place is very set up for couchsurfers as she hosts most days during the summer. We also met her lovable but very loud and energetic terrier, Smithy. After talking for a while we headed into Portland to discover the town. It is a pretty little coastal town with a touristy little harbour. After a few hours walking around we walked back to Alex's place via Whole Foods to pick up some food to cook for dinner. Whole Foods is amazing - bit like Waitrose but pretty much an awesome supermarket - filled with everything organic, vegan, fresh and a bit posh and loads of fresh salads and soups to take away too. Alex said the locals call it Whole Paycheck. We spent the evening chatting to Alex and playing with Smithy.
The next morning we headed out again to the town and wandered
around. We came back for lunch and Alex gave us a driving tour of Portland and the whole surrounding area for the whole afternoon! It was really nice to see lots of sights and a few lighthouses too. We drove around the city, the peninsula and out to Cape Elizabeth which is beautiful.
Portland offered whale watching tours and after our unsuccessful trip in Cape Breton we decided to give it another ago, hoping this time we would see something! The next day we headed out on the boat - it was a beautiful sunny day and after sailing out to sea for about an hour and a half we finally got to see some whales! Sadly there are no pictures as I didn't have my new camera at this point, but it was almost better without it as I probably would have spent most of the time focusing on my camera and getting a good picture anyway! We saw lots of finback and minke whales. It was pretty amazing and so awesome to see them up close. When you spot a whale all you see first is the big spurt of water coming out of its blowhole and then them diving back under. The weather was perfect and we were both so happy to have seen whales up so close in the wild!
When we got back Alex kindly drove us out to the nearest Wal-Mart so I could buy a new camera, and luckily I found the one I wanted at a very good price compared to how much it is in England! We then headed back into town to take a few pictures of Portland before we left, so sadly no pictures of the first few days in the US but just a few of Portland.
The next morning Alex drove us to the station to get our coach to Boston, we said our goodbyes and off we went!
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