Well we're in Wells

Wells, Maine. Leaving St. Paul I had a hard time calculating how long it would take to get here where my friend Jim Smith and Joan have a house, having moved from CT in the last year. We first arrived in Elmhurst IL to visit Kelli's brother Jeff. We spent the next day there and intended to go to the art institute but there was a long line to get in and it was raining. We got wet and then got in the car and did driving tour of the north side. That evening we intended to get on the road to get past the big city and avoid rush hour traffic. The storms that moved in eliminated that plan. It rained so hard we could not leave the house for dinner and the water level in the street was nearly up to the floor boards of the car. So we moved it to higher ground and bedded down for the night. Next morning we were on the road at 4:30 and put in a 12 hour day landing in Buffalo,NY for the night. Next day was another 12 hours on the road with bad traffic only around Lowell, MA as we arrived there just in time for the Boston commuter escapees. Telling ourselves we were early on our schedule helped us endure that and before we knew it we were in Maine. We spent the night in Kittery, just over the line from Portsmouth,NH. Next morning we bumped around downtown Portsmouth which is a very charming town with a lot of quite interesting history. Like they hosted the peace negotiations of the first major war of the 20th century between Russia and Japan. Apparenly it has also become quite an east coast Mecca for fine dining. We had a great lunch at a nice little Italian place after passing up the long lines at all the lobster roll shops on the street. Arrived at Jim and Joan's later that day. Dinner at Billy's chowder cafe. Ever had a haddock Reuben? I have. Wells' beach is long and wide and that evening very bracing with a strong cold wind. Today Jim and I got a very nice 50 mile ride in, including a climb up Mt. Agimenticus. Short and steep. Reminded me of a 1/20th version of Mont Ventoux which was last year's challenge. We did a mini tour of the roads between Wells and Portsmouth. Sunday we start a more extensive 4 day trip, fully self-contained up through Portland and ending,near Bar Harbor where Kelli and Joan will meet us for a night at a B&B. Updates are planned