By Max Mogensen,Staff Writer

RUMFORD – Max DeMilner is happy to be home.

Who could blame him? For the past 29 days, DeMilner has been riding his custom-made unicycle across New England, raising money to pay for college next year.

The trip began in May and took Demilner from Rumford to the western Maine foothills, through the White Mountains of New Hampshire (twice), through Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, over the Green Mountains of Vermont, and back home again on Saturday.

Home at last on Saturday, after a month of camping without a mattress, Demilner indulged in what most would consider common. On Sunday he made toast, he checked his e-mail, and he went to church to thank his fellow church members for their support.

And what was the greatest change? “Pillows!” Demilner said, “having pillows, many of them, and mine.”

It is easy to see why DeMilner now values his pillows. DeMilner’s 715-mile journey was punctuated by chilly nights, ticks, a lost tent, a flat tire and a month of seemingly endless rain. In fact, the elements never seemed to agree with Demilner.

“I had rain, then hail in Connecticut. I had to run for cover for about an hour,” he said.

The last day topped it off. Seventy-five miles, a broken crank arm and pouring rain. Actually, Demilner said, “it only poured for about eight hours, then it was just a heavy drizzle.”

But Demilner found spots of sunshine along his journey, as well. The people, he said, were surprisingly kind.

“The best part was being able to meet all these people, strangers, who were truly warm.” Perhaps that is to be expected, however. DeMilner admitted, “such an unusual sight, a unicycle, it just makes people smile.”

Through the lows (running the floodwater in Massachusetts) and the highs (accidentally climbing to the tallest point in Rhode Island), Demilner peddled, and reached his goal of $2,000. More than that, Demilner said, “I took a trip that most people only dream about.”