Last Stop - North Conway

We started our trip a day later than planned because of rain and we came home a day early for the same reason.  We started out Monday in Naples, Maine, and seeing that (a) the forecast called for rain and (b) we were less than four hours from home, we didn't see much sense to spending a damp Monday night at a campground - especially with a couple of dogs who would have to go out in the rain and mud! 

But not so fast!   We took the opportunity to spend a few hours in the North Conway area, something we haven't had a chance to do in a couple of years.  We shopped, walked along Main Street, had lunch, and vowed to make the White Mountains the destination of a future RV trip (or a future ladies' weekend) -- hiking included.   We have spent so many great weekends in the Whites over more than 30 years, that the short stop just whet our appetites for returning soon.

Crawford Notch - views obscured, but not forgotten from years past!

My one regret on this vacation was that I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the lupines that are so abundant along the roadsides in Maine this time of year.  It seemed that they were always on the wrong side of the road and only in places where we weren't able to stop.   SO - I was pleased to find that the ones in our yard were in full bloom as well, and took a few pictures on my rainy morning walk today (and daisies in the garden, too!).

 

More of Maine

Making our way west towards home, we stopped just outside of Bucksport to visit a gem we hadn’t read or heard about until we came across it (quite literally) on Route 1 on our way to Acadia on Thursday afternoon – too late in the day to stop. 

The Penobscot River Bridge and Observatory near Bucksport opened in 2006 to replace the previous aging structure.   The bridge consists of cables held up by two towers; the western tower has an observatory at the top, accessible by elevator, and providing 360 degree views of the surrounding area.  The height of the tower is over 447 feet – taller than the Statue of Liberty, but about 100 feet shy of the Washington Monument.

Out towards the Atlantic Ocean

That's our RV from 45 stories up!

At the base of the tower is Fort Knox State Historic Site.  Not to be confused with Fort Knox in Kentucky – the one with all that gold --- this one was built in the 1850’s to protect the strategic Penobscot River from British attack.  It was a delayed response to the American Revolution and the War of 1812 when British ships made their way up the river and gained control of the surrounding towns.  Fortunately, the fort never saw live action nor any enemy ships, but it did serve as an encampment for short periods of time during the Civil War and the Spanish-American War.  Both the fort and the observation towers on the bridge are built of Maine granite. 

My last picture of the day speaks for itself!

What is it?

When's the last time you saw one of these?

Acadia National Park - Part 2

We like to travel before the school year ends and the summer rush.  Even though this is the “quiet” time of year relatively speaking, Bar Harbor on Saturday morning was bustling.   We could only imagine the crowds on a warm summer night, or whenever the cruise ships from points south dock, spilling out tourists from around the globe.

We had to make our way through a crowd just to get this picture – the lobster is apparently quite the draw for photo ops.  

Chris posing with a famous lobster....

...and the crowds we had to fight to get our chance for the picture (you can see part of the lobster's ice cream cone under the "FUDGE" sign)

What struck us about some of the tourists was how the sophisticated, multi-lens cameras that they used to lug around have been replaced by cell phones. 

 

After an hour or two of touring Bar Harbor, we headed for the quiet side of Mount Desert Island, and drove along the perimeter on routes 3, 198, and 102.  These pictures are from the town of Bass Harbor.