June 9

Fort Kent

Matt saves the canoe for the second trip.

We stayed two nights at the site. It has several casual areas in a grassy picnic spot to pitch a tent and costs $4 per person. We stayed 2 days, ate the local food, did laundry and got on the internet. It was Friday when we brought our duffel to Dinah's combination Laundromat and restaurant. Good combo. We started our laundry and had a short conversation with a guy there. He told us we could cross the street to the university and got free internet access. We did, checked email, posted our progress to the Northeast Paddlers Message Board. Back at the laundry, the wash cycle was done, so we loaded the dryers and went down the hall to the restaurant. Man! Everything was home-made and we had a terrific meal. It was all served cafeteria style and the lunch lady's eyes lit up when I ordered the blueberry cheesecake. After lunch we went back to the laundry and began folding our stuff. Promptly at 2:00, a stream of Hispanic men came pouring through the doors with their duffel, chattering madly in Spanish. After all the French, this new language seemed way out of place. They filled the place, each to their own washing machine. They were full of exuberance, but Dinah ruled with an iron fist and they stopped short of horseplay. I think it was a game with them, bowing and scraping before Dinah.