Finis!

 

Fort Popham at the mouth of the Kennebec River

A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.

John A. Shedd, "Salt from My Attic" (1928) 

On Sunday, July 28, my friend Fred and I awoke early on FISHCAKE and had a quick breakfast of blueberry pancakes and coffee.  Then I started the engine, slipped our mooring off Fort Popham and headed out the mouth of the Kennebec River through dense fog and the rough chop that is so common there.  Rounding Cape Small we were overtaken by a large lobster boat heading toward Bailey’s Island, and gladly shadowed that beamier guide as her wake knocked down the seas and smoothed our ride.  By 10:30 in the morning we had arrived at FISHCAKE’s home anchorage in Falmouth, and were soon calling Allison from the Portland Yacht Club docks.  I had cruised to West Quoddy Head – America’s easternmost point – and back again.

A busy six months!

With my return from West Quoddy Head, Allison and I have completed the series of trips comprising our  journey to America’s corners.  Over six months from January to July, 2013, we visited many wonderful places in America including these noteworthy geographic points:

• Madawaska, Maine (“Northeasternmost Town of the United States”) – January 24;
• South Point, Big Island of Hawaii (southernmost point in United States) – February 3;
• Border Field State Park, California (southwesternmost point in United States) – April 21;
• Chena River State Recreation Area, Alaska (north of Fairbanks) – May 3;
• Peace Arch Park, Blaine, Washington (northwesternmost point in United States) – May 17;
• Key West, Florida (southernmost point in contiguous United States) – June 27; and,
• West Quoddy Head, Lubec, Maine (easternmost point in United States) – July 19 & 20.

These travels took us to America’s extremes geographically, culturally, ecologically and climatically.

The Ruth Glacier in Denali National Park

Our journey was much more than a race to tag the corners.  Allison and I explored some of America’s biggest cities and tiniest settlements.  We saw the tops of America’s highest mountains and the bottoms of its two great oceans.  We traveled by foot, ski, snowshoe, car, boat, plane, train, trolley, monorail, cable car and other conveyances.  Most importantly, our search for treasure in America’s corners was wildly successful; we found and experienced great beauty, wonderful people and much that is thought provoking and “out of the box.”  Things like the fur clothes worn by native Alaskan children, places like Waimea Canyon on Kauai – the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific” – and sounds like the songs of humpback whales.  We did not see all of America, but we certainly saw a lot.

San Juan Island, Washington

Allison and I have completed our journey, but will continue to search for out of the box treasures throughout America and the world.  We will also continue to share America’s treasures with you through America Out of the Box, which will remain online.  I will post new accounts of our trips to America’s corners until each of them has been covered.  And as we undertake future trips in America, we will share those with you here as well.  Our journeys in America Out of the Box are only beginning!

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed

 by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did.

 So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.

 Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Mark Twain



Safe in harbor  . . .  for the moment!