ODB, SEE, and MME

ODB and Sarah Elizabeth Evans

Norway, ME

We’ve had a fine weekend here in Norway, Maine, where Old Danny Boy spent time with his friend Sara, her four kids (#5 is on the way), and her partner Mike.

ODB met Sara while driving the 40 Royal route as a rookie bus driver. It was 1985. Sara, then an 11-year-old girl, was taking care of her younger brother and her mother, making sure they got off at the right stop and had all their things. Sara’s mom had big problems with alcoholism in those days, so Sara stepped up to be the one in charge.

The family rode the bus system daily. In short order, the bus driver and the girl in charge became friends.

As she grew up, Sara moved back and forth between different foster homes, group homes, and periods be being back with her mom. But she always rode the bus, and the friendship between the bus driver and the girl endured.

Now, 27 years later, the mom still rides the bus, ODB still drives the bus, and they talk when time permits. Mom has been sober for years and is doing well.

Sara moved to Maine in 1994, but she and ODB have remained friends and correspond often. I met Sara on our first Major Motorcycle Pilgrimage Across America in 2008. We came out again in 2009. So this was our third visit. It is a joy to give her children rides. We put 150 miles on the dial and never left the area.

Lewiston Falls

Today, ODB and I head down the road 170 miles to Ashland, Mass to visit his friends there. We depart Ashland Wednesday AM for the ten-day ride home.

There weren’t any motel’s available in Norway as it was NASCAR weekend at the local speedway. Therefore, we’ve been staying in nearby Lewiston, the city Sara and family lived in for years before moving to Norway.

Here are some Lewiston landmarks.

I’ll be back with a report after Wednesday’s ride.

(Google Map Update)

Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul

One of Lewiston's many closed mills