Still in Maine :)

   Well, sadly I'm still struggling to load pictures on the random computers I end up using. Right now We're at "The Cabin" in Andover, Maine. The Cabin was bought in the early '90s by a newly retired couple named Margery and Earl (trail names Honey and Bear) who have now spent so much of their retirement running a backpacker hostel that they might never get to rest.
   As she encourages me to eat some shepherds pie leftovers or the moose tracks ice cream they recently bought too much of, Honey (who must be almost 80) explained, "We've tried to shut it down a few times, but people just keep showing up!"
   It's a beautiful house, though, and I'm happy we're taking a zero here. There's a greenhouse attached, movies to watch (plenty of complimentary microwave popcorn!), and a large dining room for busy season. Right now there are only 4 hikers here, us included, so we ate breakfast in the breafkast nook with Honey and Bear: pancakes, sausage, eggs, and OJ, all prepared by Honey, for only $5: A hiker's dream :)
   We chose a private room upstairs for $35 flat. The basement houses the 'hiker bunkhouse' ($20/bed), complete with living room setup, movies to watch, a full kitchen, and a washer/dryer. They've even got boxes of clothes for hikers to wear while their clothes are in the wash! (I picked a very loud pair of tie-dye skinny jeans and a blue t-shirt, appologies now for not posting the picture, which would surely make your day)
   Maine continues to be challenging and beautiful. We've encountered our first couple of 'notches,' which are just steep valleys between mountains, called 'gaps' in the south.

{Reminder: The Appalachian Trail was never meant to be thru-hiked! When all the little trails were connected into one contiguous trail, it was mostly for organizational and preservation purposes. The idea for the trail sprang up in 1921. It wasn't until '68 that the trail was completed and named the first National Scenic Trail. And still it took a decade for the National Park Service to START getting involved, helping to protect a 100 foot wide 'corridor:' 50 ft to either side of the trail. So when Earl Schaffer became the first person to through-hike the trail in 1948... no one believed him.}

   Lysandra's feet still hurt pretty often, but two days ago we did our first 13 mile day! What can I say? Girl goes from claiming she "can't" hike a mountain to covering 3 in 13 miles: she's badass. 'Nuff said.
   While I'm doing my best to empathize with her foot pain, my natural reaction is to be more solution oriented. The 'solution' I've been pinning my hopes on for a few days? Screw lightweight shoes: Lysandra is getting new boots. So this morning we woke up and ate the homemade breakfast that was put in front of us, before catching a shuttle (courtesy of Don, Honey's 58 year old son) to Bethel: bustling metropolis to the south; I think they have a traffic light!
   First thing I hear the clerk say when I walk into the outdoor store in Bethel? "You have no idea how many times I've seen that exact same outfit."
   About an hour later she's tried on every boot in the store and settled on a hefty, durable-looking pair of Merrels. I also chose to Boot Up; my trail runners, which were not new to begin with, are toast. Luckily the lightest weight boot in the store was on discount by the front door. They had one pair left: my size, exactly :) This afternoon there will be a lot of moose tracks ice cream eaten, many movies watched, many calories gained (curiously, after walking past actual moose scat day in and day out, eating a free bowl of 'MooseTracks' is no less appealing). Tomorrow we continue walking.