September 2! My birthday! And Humz really knew how to let me spend it: gallivanting all around the outlets in Freeport, Maine. All I asked for for my birthday after 2 nights of Wallydocking was a shower, but after being on the road for a few weeks, it was really starting to get cold, and I realized that I didn’t have any other coat than my winter coat, and would hence need a transitional coat. So I got 3!...Which is of course NOT the way of vanlife. I got a thin puffer, a wind-breaking shell coat, and we both got rain coats (which we have both never owned, but it was 60% off and figured we would need them once we get to Seattle.) Armed with my many coats, we also wanted to visit the LL Bean flagship, more like Megatropolis. We purchased some camping chairs, table, and campfire grill stand, all discounted due to Labor Day Sales. I also of course got a pic with the famous duck boot, which made me a little sad, since I had to leave mine in storage for our trip because they took up too much space in the van.

LL Bean Campus...While we were there you could enter a contest to win your own yurt!

Later we visited two more dog parks, Merrymeeting Dog Park in Brunswick, ME and South End Dog Park in Bath, ME, which had direct access to the water, more like mud, which Lucy took full advantage of. Luckily, we have a hand shower in our Travato for dog showers, accessed out the rear doors. I may not have gotten the birthday shower I wanted, but it beat having a muddy dog all over the place! We made up for my non-shower by getting a carnivore’s delight pizza from The Cabin, because when you’re cold and wet from giving the dog a shower, you just need some self-pity-pizza. I washed mine down with a whoopie pie, which I learned is “a thing” in Maine. We also booked a campsite for the following day so I could get my “Birthday Shower”. It was the best birthday I ever had, eating pizza with my crew, in our home on wheels, and sleeping in a Walmart parking lot…probably wearing at least 2 of my 3 new coats.

- Katharine