Denise Goldberg's blog

A coastline beckons
Rocks and crashing waves, an enticement for bicycle and camera

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

You're leaving when?

Changes...

I made my decision to wander in Maine before my brother received his bad news just a week ago. (You may remember that I dedicated last September's trip to him as he fought his battle with cancer.)

As the days moved by, the timing of my planned trip started to feel really off. I thought and I thought. I agonized, and I thought some more. What should I do? Ever since I heard Neal's news, I've been fighting with myself over my plans. Should I leave the plans as is and potentially need to cancel at the last minute, or need to come home in mid-trip to be with family? Or should I change the dates?

Plans can be changed, vacation dates can be moved, but I need to make that decision now. Why? Because I have B&B reservations, and B&B reservations typically come with a very restrictive cancellation policy. Of the four B&Bs where I have reservations, two have a 14-day cancellation policy, and two have a 10-day cancellation policy. At first I was just going to leave the reservations as is, knowing that if I needed to be with my family during my planned vacation that I would lose my deposits. But as the days creep by, it just feels like my timing is really off. When I compared the cancellation policies and today's date, I realized that if I cancel now I will only lose one deposit.

I finally decided this morning to try to move my trip out further into September. Time for the telephone... I canceled reservations at two of the B&Bs, and I moved the other two. One of those was the reservation where I was already inside of the 14-day cancellation window, but the B&B owner was wonderful and just moved my reservation without charging me for the canceled reservation. How nice! I don't know if that was because I started the conversation by acknowledging that I knew they wouldn't refund my 1-night deposit, or if that's an unstated policy if the reservation is moved as opposed to cancelled. No matter the reason, that made my day! And I was lucky to find four consecutive days available at the B&B I chose in Bar Harbor. I'll be staying in two different rooms, but my original reservation had that quirk as well.

I suppose that given my brother's life situation that my vacation isn't really important. It may be selfish, but it still feels important to me. It's well past time for a break, a calming wander on my bike, a canvas of ocean and rocks waiting for capture by my camera.



My moved Maine trip is still not too far off, beginning on September 18th instead of the original September 2nd start date.

My changed plans leave me with a trip that is two days shorter than the original. I'll still be covering two distinct sections of the Maine coast, one that is new to me, and one that is quite familiar. And yes, I'm still looking forward to my trip.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Pieces of the puzzle

...are falling into place

Vacation is just three short weeks away, and the pieces of the puzzle are very nicely falling into place.

My destination hasn't changed since I made my initial decision just a little over a week ago. Where am I going? I'm heading to coastal Maine, starting in the west in what is referred to as Mid-Coast Maine, and going as far as the Schoodic Peninsula in Downeast Maine. It's an area that is very do-able as an out-and-back self-contained (bicycle) tour from home, but I've decided to do it (mainly) as a series of day rides. That way I'll be able to focus on the areas that interest me most instead of spending a great deal of my time on the bike in "transportation" mode.

I've made reservations at B&Bs, and I've perused maps and potential bike routes. From a biking standpoint, there's a mapped loop ride that I want to do that starts in Rockland, some wandering along the coast from Camden to Castine, an out-and-back ride from Castine to Stonington (that I'm adapting from a published loop ride of Deer Isle / Stonington), and riding in Acadia National Park, both on Mt. Desert Island and on the Schoodic Peninsula. Then there's a new bridge in Bucksport - the Penobscot Narrows Bridge - that has an observation tower that my camera is screaming to visit, and there's walking to be done along the coast, and...