A little background about where we were going. The cottage we were staying in was one of two on about 100 acres of land on the new Meadows River. It was north of and sort of a cross from the Brunswick Naval Air Station if you know the area at all. There is no electricity, lights were gas lights, the refrigerator was run on gas. The only reason there was running water was that the well was on the hillside above the cottages. No phone, but cottages have efficient fireplaces for those occasional cool summer nights. The cottages are barely in sight of each other and both had views of the water. There is a road down to a sort of boat ramp that was shared. It was a very calm and relaxing atmosphere.
In preparation for our vacation we had brought the Hobie cat trailer in to get any work done that it might need for the trip to Maine. Saturday morning all is ready. We start to drive out of the driveway looked back and noticed a wheel coming off the trailer. We back into the driveway and fix the problem. We're back on our way and on the Maine Turnpike. I touched the brakes and the pedal goes all the way to the floor. I watch traffic, start downshifting, and pull into the breakdown Lane. Eventually coming to a stop. Turns out one of the rear brakes was dragging slightly, heating up the brake fluid until it boiled. After a couple hours on the side of the road we were able to take the brake drum off. Nothing wrong so we put it back together and continued. Our friends are now towing the trailer with their bigger car. Lastly on the trip we noticed the water temperature getting high. We put a little stop leak in and topped off the water. And we're on our way, again.
After getting there and unpacking we noticed we are missing $100. We looked everywhere and can't find it. Monday morning we follow the landlady to the garage she uses to get her cars repaired. We fill the mechanic in on what happened and ask him to check the brakes and the cooling system. Our Landlady takes us back to the cottage. The mechanic will call her when the car is ready and she will come and pick us up and bring us to the garage.
We don't have any further problems but here we are in what feels like the middle of nowhere. No electricity, no phone, no car, and missing money. Several days later we get picked up and brought to the garage. The mechanic had just left in the tow truck to pick up another car. No one there can find the repair slip. So we wait, and wait, and wait. The mechanic finally shows up and we asked for our bill. He then proceeds to tell us everything he did. He took the back brakes apart. They checked the radiator and topped it off. Bette and I were seeing dollar signs -- here we were tourists in the middle of nowhere, at his mercy. So we ask again what it is going to cost us. The mechanic looks at us and says in a thick Maine accent ”well... I didn't find any problems so I can't really charge you for anything”. Bette and I were flabbergasted. We profusely thanked him, got her keys and left. Bette was driving, it was her car, several miles down the road I looked over at Bette and suddenly started laughing. Above Bette's head was an oval of greasy dirt the exact shape of the mechanics head. We both got a good laugh from that. There was still a slight outline of dirt years later when we traded in the car.
From there we drove to a local hotel where we knew they had a phone. Called my mother and asked her to check to see if she can find the missing money. She couldn't. We decided to spend the rest of the week and a half and enjoy our vacation as best we could. And we did.
The rest of the week and a half there were no problems and no problems driving home. When we got home we looked for the missing money. And sure enough it was exactly where we had thought it was. In the back of my mind I still wonder if it was the missing money or if my mother had left the money where we told her to go look for it, thinking we needed it more than she did.
All in all I have to say we had a very good and memorable vacation that year. Though we never did trailered anything up to vacation again.
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