Dover-Foxcroft, Peaks Kenny, Stephen King
On Wednesday, May 2nd, I packed the dogs and luggage into the car and headed north to Dover Foxcroft, Maine. It's just south of Bangor (home to Stephen King). The ride was pretty uneventful, the dogs were great and I was asked to call the owners of the Peaks Kenny Motor Lodge when I hit Dexter, Maine. So I did. The wife said she'd meet me at the motel. Hmmm.
I get to Dover Foxcroft, which is a beautiful little town and drive through downtown, then out again to the motel. It's only 3.3 miles from downtown, but out in the woods. Way out in the woods.
As I pulled into the driveway of the motel, I saw an old, huge white Cadillac with fuzzy white dice hanging from the rearview mirror. The "open" sign was technically in room #1. There were a total of six rooms, all in one building, a typical old motor lodge.
No one else in the parking lot but me and the owners car.
I felt like I was walking into a Stephen King short story:
"Single woman stays in rundown motel with two small dogs. All alone. Nothing but the woods surrounding them. The dark woods. . . ."
I met the owner's wife and she was cheery enough. Handed me a key for room 3 and I asked to be put in room 1 so that it would be easier for Bandit to go outside. She said it was a handicapped room. I replied that he *was* handicapped. After all, he's blind. She laughed at that. Then she handed me a remote control for the TV. I'm thinking, why isn't the remote in the room?
She tells me to call if I need anything and we walk out of the 'office' together. She practically runs to her car and quickly drives away. Okayyyyyy.
I open up the room. It's typical motel. Two double beds, color TV hanging from the ceiling. The bathroom is huge. No shampoo or conditioner or tissues. No biggie, I'll go shopping. There is however, soap and a small tube of toothpaste. The towels looked like they came from someone's home, but were clean.
I'm cracking up, laughing to myself by this time. So I get my cell phone out to call my mom. No signal. I look for the phone in the room.
There is none.
So how in the heck am I supposed to call the owners if something is needed?
I drive back into town, do some shopping, get some dinner for me and the dogs and head back to the motel. It's getting dark now. We eat, watch TV and go to sleep.
About 2 am, Bandit gets me up to go out to pee. Hey, he's an old man now. So I take him and Guin out. There are no lights where the dog run is. Thank goodness there's a full moon. As I'm waiting for them to pee, I hear a loud tromping in the woods to my right. Very close by. I freeze. Whatever is out there freezes. I beg the dogs to hurry up then run them back into the room. I didn't know Bandit could run that fast, LOL.
The next morning we get up and go to the SeDoMoCha Middle School for my first talk. I chat with one of the women who booked me, as well as the principal. I told the principal about my bad experience at Greely Middle School the week before. He was incredulous. "Does that teacher realize kids put worse things online?" He asked me. "He needs to quit teaching."
Thank you very much for verifying that that school overreacted to my presentation.
Everything went well, the kids were great, I had about 25 of them come up to me afterwards with questions and comments. It was wonderful!
Had lunch, then headed to the Foxcroft Academy (high school) for the afternoon presentation. This also went very well and they gave me not only my check, but a basket of goodies. I was thrilled! A local Bangor TV station shot the entire presentation and you can view the video on their web site.
I went back to the room and found Bandit and Guin snoozing. I changed into more comfy clothes and took them for a ride to the lake, which was beautiful. I was surprised to see so much ice and snow still around.
Took them back to the room, then did my night time talk for the public. Not many people showed up, but those who did were enthusiastic and asked loads of questions.
I went back to the motor lodge. I was still the only person there. It was spooky as hell. Oh and I found the phone. It was located in a "snack room" at the other end of the building, next to the "office." The snacks? When I bent down to look in the machine, there were three bags of Cheez-Its and a couple of those peanut butter/cracker sandwich thingies. Lord knows how long they've been there. The soda machine was out of order. Of course.
That night, it got windy. So there was lots of banging on the roof, by my car and out in the woods. I snuggled with Guin on the bed and Bandit slept next to me on the floor. He doesn't like getting up on the bed anymore. We tried to sleep.
Friday morning, we got up early, I packed and we were home by noon. I ended up crashing with the dogs for a nap.
Next up - OPSEC (Operation Security) Conference. Going from 800 students to a bunch of military professionals. What a switch.
Here are some photos of the motel - tell me if you don't see a Stephen King short story here, ha ha:
Now some photos of the lake:
I get to Dover Foxcroft, which is a beautiful little town and drive through downtown, then out again to the motel. It's only 3.3 miles from downtown, but out in the woods. Way out in the woods.
As I pulled into the driveway of the motel, I saw an old, huge white Cadillac with fuzzy white dice hanging from the rearview mirror. The "open" sign was technically in room #1. There were a total of six rooms, all in one building, a typical old motor lodge.
No one else in the parking lot but me and the owners car.
I felt like I was walking into a Stephen King short story:
"Single woman stays in rundown motel with two small dogs. All alone. Nothing but the woods surrounding them. The dark woods. . . ."
I met the owner's wife and she was cheery enough. Handed me a key for room 3 and I asked to be put in room 1 so that it would be easier for Bandit to go outside. She said it was a handicapped room. I replied that he *was* handicapped. After all, he's blind. She laughed at that. Then she handed me a remote control for the TV. I'm thinking, why isn't the remote in the room?
She tells me to call if I need anything and we walk out of the 'office' together. She practically runs to her car and quickly drives away. Okayyyyyy.
I open up the room. It's typical motel. Two double beds, color TV hanging from the ceiling. The bathroom is huge. No shampoo or conditioner or tissues. No biggie, I'll go shopping. There is however, soap and a small tube of toothpaste. The towels looked like they came from someone's home, but were clean.
I'm cracking up, laughing to myself by this time. So I get my cell phone out to call my mom. No signal. I look for the phone in the room.
There is none.
So how in the heck am I supposed to call the owners if something is needed?
I drive back into town, do some shopping, get some dinner for me and the dogs and head back to the motel. It's getting dark now. We eat, watch TV and go to sleep.
About 2 am, Bandit gets me up to go out to pee. Hey, he's an old man now. So I take him and Guin out. There are no lights where the dog run is. Thank goodness there's a full moon. As I'm waiting for them to pee, I hear a loud tromping in the woods to my right. Very close by. I freeze. Whatever is out there freezes. I beg the dogs to hurry up then run them back into the room. I didn't know Bandit could run that fast, LOL.
The next morning we get up and go to the SeDoMoCha Middle School for my first talk. I chat with one of the women who booked me, as well as the principal. I told the principal about my bad experience at Greely Middle School the week before. He was incredulous. "Does that teacher realize kids put worse things online?" He asked me. "He needs to quit teaching."
Thank you very much for verifying that that school overreacted to my presentation.
Everything went well, the kids were great, I had about 25 of them come up to me afterwards with questions and comments. It was wonderful!
Had lunch, then headed to the Foxcroft Academy (high school) for the afternoon presentation. This also went very well and they gave me not only my check, but a basket of goodies. I was thrilled! A local Bangor TV station shot the entire presentation and you can view the video on their web site.
I went back to the room and found Bandit and Guin snoozing. I changed into more comfy clothes and took them for a ride to the lake, which was beautiful. I was surprised to see so much ice and snow still around.
Took them back to the room, then did my night time talk for the public. Not many people showed up, but those who did were enthusiastic and asked loads of questions.
I went back to the motor lodge. I was still the only person there. It was spooky as hell. Oh and I found the phone. It was located in a "snack room" at the other end of the building, next to the "office." The snacks? When I bent down to look in the machine, there were three bags of Cheez-Its and a couple of those peanut butter/cracker sandwich thingies. Lord knows how long they've been there. The soda machine was out of order. Of course.
That night, it got windy. So there was lots of banging on the roof, by my car and out in the woods. I snuggled with Guin on the bed and Bandit slept next to me on the floor. He doesn't like getting up on the bed anymore. We tried to sleep.
Friday morning, we got up early, I packed and we were home by noon. I ended up crashing with the dogs for a nap.
Next up - OPSEC (Operation Security) Conference. Going from 800 students to a bunch of military professionals. What a switch.
Here are some photos of the motel - tell me if you don't see a Stephen King short story here, ha ha:
Now some photos of the lake:
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