Epilogue
I ask around with my friends and eventually am connected with a Dartmouth student who lives in Caribou, Maine. His name is Aryan, and he agrees to take my bike back to Dartmouth with him in one week when classes start. I originally planned to keep biking north, up to Gaspe, Quebec, then turn down the St. Lawrence River to Quebec City, then Montreal, and eventually back to school on the 15th. My Achilles has foiled these plans. I can barely walk. I begin hitchhiking back to campus. 16 rides later, I reach Boston, Massachusetts, where I get a ride back to campus with my friends Divik and Connor. Here is the overview of the people I met along the way; a log I kept in my notes app.
Train conductor: around Madawaska
Used to work in the paper mill in Edmundston
Carpenter: Madawaska to Caribou
Played loud country rock
Smoked with the windows up
Lunch with Aryan
Caribou down to Hwy 1
Born in India them moved to—>NYC—>LA—>Caribou—>India—>Caribou
Air traffic controller
Couldn’t really hear him, he mumbled. Soft spoken, nice. Gentle
Huge guy, probably 350+
HP technician: Presque Isle to Clinton
Porsche 911 turbo
Kind of goofy
Drives 4,000 miles a month for work
Hard life lost son: Clinton to Waterville
Took me an extra exit because the on ramp was closed due to construction
Parents addicted to meth, ran away at 15
Worked in Colorado
Joined military at 18, served in Kuwait and Iraq
Came home, started a family, had a boy named Gabriel
Gabriel died as a toddler. His death destroyed his relationship with his wife. They got divorced
Don’t tread on my tattoo on his hand
Showed me a picture of his ex wife, child, and him smiling together. Made me very sad. Sounded like he was about to cry.
One of those rides that changes your perspective on the world
Nail artist: Waterville to Augusta
She was going to target
Nice, soft spoken
Very smart, one of those people who you can tell is brilliant, just never had the inclination to use her smarts professionally
Took the wrong exit, so I got a driving tour of Augusta
Tax attorney for the state
Lives in Portland, works in Augusta
Commuting home in his Chevy Volt after a coworkers retirement party post work
Smart guy. Quiet. Reminded me of Gustavo Fring from Breaking Bad
Went to college in Rochester, NY. Dreamed of being a chemist, went to law school instead
We chatted about some law stuff and climate change
Originally from Presque Isle
I camped in a barn/ornithology lab on the outskirts of Portland
Crawled under the door
Flight instructor in Portland: north Portland to Airport exit
Heading to work, dropped me off at the airport exit
State Police
Made me get off the interstate on ramp
Offered to take me to the bus station, but I said I’d rather hitchhike
Overall, nice lady, but c’mon I wasn’t hurting anyone
Assistant principle at Biddeford High: Airport Exit to Biddeford
Works with kids who are struggling with school
Fun down to earth guy
Talked about phones in the classroom
Etienne USPS clerk: Biddeford to Kittery
From Boston, school in Quebec
Speaks French Spanish and English
Wants to be a firefighter
Firework salesman: Kittery to Seabrook NH
Coaches his sons middle school football team
One of seven siblings
His Subaru was about to fall apart
Truck driver: Seabrook NH to Lynnfield
Truck driver by trade, but was in his pickup when he scooped me
Had a thin blue line sticker on his truck and a bullet-shaped cap over his antenna
Talked about how much he didn’t like the cops his entire ride
We talked about America gaining class consciousness
Former biker (motorcyclist)
Told me to read Isaiah 53
Big things coming soon (like Doomsday/the reaping)
“I’m just a little monkey”
Two Rottweilers
Harassment charges dismissed (recently) because the “damn lady was insane”
Did a “lot of crazy bad things” back in the day before “finding Jesus”
“Does that school make you a communist?”…“Studying that you are going to be a communist”
Run in with the cops. They lied and told me hitchhiking is illegal in Mass (it’s not). Walked 3 miles then started hitching again
Pharmaceutical scientist: Waltham to Wayland
Stereotypical Asian dad
Very nice man, very inquisitive
I had to explain the concept of hitchhiking
Was happy I go to Dartmouth
Was sad I don’t play an instrument
