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"Thank you." Mattie handed the gas station attendant a tip as she got back to her car. The young man pocketed the bill, nodding to her amiably as he pulled the squeegee one last time across the back windshield, then pulled out the nozzle from the gas tank, and screwed on the cap. She hopped back in the car, and he shut the door for her. That was one thing about New England that she'd had to get used to. In Virginia, everyone pumped their own gas, but in the northern states, attendants handled everything. She pulled out of the gas station, thankful that the weather was so pleasant. Now that the three hour trip to Bangor had gone so smoothly, she felt her excitement grow as the next leg of the trip approached.
She glanced at her watch. Nine-thirty in the morning. She was making good time. She'd have to remember to set her watch ahead when she reached the border. She headed back to the interstate and continued her journey. Only two more hours to go now, but this stretch concerned her somewhat. This length of interstate looked to her to be more isolated, as it went from the pretty-well populated city of Bangor to the small town of Houlton, where the US Border Patrol connected to Canada, and there didn't seem to be much of anything in between the two. She hoped, for once, that there would be semi's on that route so she wouldn't feel too isolated, and she turned the radio back on and searched for a station, finally finding one without static. She hummed along to Let the Sunshine In from the musical, Hair, and tried to concentrate on the road as she headed ever closer to Canada and Clay.