MaMaLiRZ

WIth one last look in her rearview mirror, beep of her horn, and our final waves complete, I headed in to check us into the hotel. The idea was to drop everything excess in our room then head out. As the kids managed their luggage, I walked the dog.

As I walked the dog along the swath of grass between the hotel and the Tesla charging stations, I requested a ride-share. Everything was coming together. I mean if there are charging stations, we must be in the 21st century where ride-share apps work. Success will be ours.

The ride share accepted the request and was looking for drivers. And looking, and looking, until it timed out. I tried again with a different one, only to have the same outcome.

Uh oh, I was thinking as the conversation with Nancy popped back into mind.

Okay, not to worry, maybe its just a bad time of night. Lets wait a bit and try again. We used our time wisely and walked to a nearby diner for dinner. Efficiently using time, I called the ride just before paying the bill. Night had begun to fall and for all intents and purposes, it should have been the sweet spot between dinner reservations and nightlife. However, the results were the same. No drivers in the area.

On the walk back from the diner we stopped at the KFC for a few chicken tenders. Anyone who knows my youngest knows that he is always hungry five minutes after he finishes a meal. I ordered tenders, and tried one more time to request a ride. I can’t lie, each attempt brought more and more frustration.

Again, I was informed by the app that they completed a chargeback because there were no available drivers. I didn’t want Nancy’s warning to be right, but the nagging suspicion kept tapping my shoulder.

Night had completely fallen at this point and I needed to squall my frustration, I called the end of the evening for the kids. I took them back to the room and allowed them their electronics while I went to the front office of the hotel to work out how to salvage the trip.

Did I mention earlier that in addition to the ride-share issue, cell phone service was also intermittent at best? Only in Maine is AT&T the cell provider of choice.

The front desk attendant heard the distress in my voice and I’m sure saw it in my actions. She went to the back room and pulled every taxi service card that they had. Not only that, but she handed me her phone and gave me a gentle smile of, “you’ve got this”.

I must have called ten taxi services, each one recommending another, so I would call the other, yet all were unavailable. Finally on number 11, I was offered a ride to Acadia for me and the boys, $120. I accepted the ride in a brief moment of elation, a small victory. That was at least until I hung up and realized I had agreed to paying someone $120 to take me 10 miles away, ONE WAY. I just couldn’t do it. I called back almost immediately and cancelled. I was no closer to a solution.

Sitting down in the lobby, I closed my eyes. A small tear trickled down my cheek. Frustration, anger at myself, deviation from wants, losing perspective, all escaping in that tear. Self-doubt is an ugly, ugly monster.

Resilience. Breath. Think.

Remember the slash? Yeah. We were in Ellsworth, not Bar Harbor. In general that is a bad thing. Still too far away from Acadia, and no rental companies open until Monday (the day we return home), however it leaves one more option open to explore.

There is an airport IN Bar Harbor, not the slash, but actually Bar Harbor. Maybe there are rental cars in Bar Harbor’s airport? I wipe the enemy from my cheek, and sat up straight. My internet recognizing my need decided to work and I rented a one-way rental from Bar Harbor first thing in the morning with a return to Bangor on Monday. YES! Yes! YES!

I called the only available taxi back and scheduled a pick up for the following morning. He still overcharged me for the trip, but this time only for me and not the kids and dog. Apparently we don’t pay for the ride only, we pay extra per person in Maine. Regardless, I picked the car up in the morning and returned to the hotel to load up.

…To Be Continued…