Acadia National Park - Part 1

Today we toured Acadia National Park along the park loop auto road on the eastern peninsula of Mount Desert Island.  Considering how close it is to us compared to some of the national parks out west, I’m almost ashamed to admit that it’s been 32 years since we last visited here!

The weather was more October-like than what we would expect in early June, but that didn’t interfere with our sight-seeing – although the views from the top of Cadillac Mountain were a bit disappointing due to the low-lying clouds. 

Among the highlights of the loop were the “Wild Gardens of Acadia”, with neatly bordered paths among native plants and flowers – Jack-in-the-Pulpits, Ladies Slippers, Cinnamon Ferns, and others.  In the midst of our meanderings in the flowers was yet another surprise --- former coworkers that we hadn’t seen in at least a decade, who just happened to be visiting at the same time!  It’s funny to think that if we had been just a minute or two earlier or later, we never would have known that Elaine and Bob were also visiting Acadia.   It also makes me wonder how many places we’ve been where we just missed seeing people that we know!

     


















 

Dramatic scenery and wildlife were abundant throughout the park.

Outside of Bar Harbor

Today we took our time up the coast, stopping at the Maine State Prison store, the Owl's Head Transportation Museum near Rockland, and Camden for a walk down its scenic Main Street.

1926 Snowmobile

The Transportation museum has a sizeable display of old vehicles, including automobiles, motorbikes, and a replica of the Wright Brother's plane that flew for several seconds over Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in December of 1903.

Camden Harbor

I took a number of pictures but have had trouble uploading any because we're at a campground outside of Acadia National Park with limited Wi-Fi - and barely any TV reception.  Horrors!  Such is life when we're roughing it! 

We'll be here for another couple of nights, so our updates may have to wait.  I'm finding some success this morning by logging in before any other campers seem to be awake.  

Variety - Wildlife Refuges, Globes, and Retail

Just a couple of miles from last night's campground, we found the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, which provided us with a short guided hike through a preserved marshland.  Rachel Carson is mostly known for her 1962 book "Silent Spring", which led to the banning of DDT -- the "silent" referring to the steadily declining bird populations.  The site we visited is one of several parcels belonging to the Carson NWR along the Maine coast.

We continued on the coastal route towards Freeport, but as in the past, we relied on the AAA Guide for information about the towns we drove through --- Kennebunkport, Saco, Old Orchard Beach, etc.  When we got to Yarmouth, we were excited (no exaggeration - we're admitted map nerds) to read that we were close to "EARTHA", the 41.5 foot rotating globe at the headquarters of DeLorme, the company known for publishing maps and those famous detailed atlases of our states.

Me at Hudson's Bay (on the third floor of EARTHA)

The gift shop was full of maps and globes and fun puzzles and games, so we couldn't leave without at least buying a Maine Gazeteer.

John with his brand new Maine Gazeteer (in front of the second floor of EARTHA)

Then it was on to Freeport, which has changed  immensely since we first saw it 32 years ago.   We recall that back then, L.L. Bean was the only game in town - open 24 hours.

 
Now Freeport has become a factory outlet Mecca with just about every brand name you can think of -- Ralph Lauren, Orvis, Talbots, Patagonia etc.   The saddest thing I think, is that the town's beautiful old Carnegie Library is now the home of the retail outlet for Abercrombie and Fitch.  I suppose it's better than tearing down the venerable century-old building, but, really --- Abercrombie and Fitch, the purveyors of the vapid and self-obsessed?  Such is progress!

Maine 2015

This year, we've decided to head "Down East" - a shorter trip, but then again we don't have to spend days driving through the plains states to get to our destination.
Our intent had been to tow my VW Golf so that we'd have the option to park the RV for a couple of days and tool around in a car for a change, but alas the Golf is just a little too tall to fit into our enclosed trailer. 
I'm glad that John likes to take the scenic route - once we got to Hampton, NH, we followed the coast up to Wells, Maine instead of taking I-95.

Hampton, NH

 The weather promises to dry out and warm up over the next few days, but this evening we're nestled inside with the heat on, protected from the dank upper 40's outside.  AH, there's nothing like roughing it!
Sea-VU Campground lives up to its name, but I wonder if we'll see any of tomorrow's sunrise, or if it'll be as gray in the morning as it is this evening.

The VU from Sea-VU RV Park

Home

The hills of Vermont greeted us as we entered the state on Route 4 from New York...

....downtown Randolph was a welcoming sight....

We got home to intermittent rain, but can't complain because the weather for the last three weeks has been in our favor.  

Now it's time to unpack, do laundry, catch up on mail, and get back to our duties and routines as we settle into Home Sweet Home.  

P.S.  Gracie and Abby are adjusting comfortably to being back in the familiarity of their backyard.

Rolling Home

After a couple of days visiting a good friend in Michigan, we started the last leg of our trip, which brought us through Ontario from Sarnia to Niagara Falls.  Our border crossings into Canada from Port Huron Michigan and back into the States at Niagara (Lewiston NY) were fortunately uneventful.

We're back to familiar scenery and countryside, and were happy to avoid the worst of some heavy rains in the area before arriving at our campground for the evening.

Campgrounds, RV Parks, and RV Resorts

To decide where to stay on any given night, we use a combination of the KOA (Kampgrounds of America) guide and the Good Sam RV Park guide - a book about the size of the New York City phone directory. We're driven mostly by location based on our day's journey, and then start looking for reasonably rated campgrounds in the area, but our search is usually "blind" when we're in unfamiliar territory.   

On most days, I'll call ahead right after lunch to find out about availability and make reservations if required.  To book a site, the questions they ask are pretty routine: size of vehicle, tow vehicles if any, number of adults and children, number of pets, credit card info, and phone number.   I should have known something was up when I called the Sunny Brook RV Resort in Michigan yesterday and was asked the model and model year of our motor home.  We arrived to find a gated community - a lovely setting, but with clear rules about the types of RV's that would be awarded admittance ("...must be 25 feet in length or more, 10 years or newer or in new condition...").  

No repainted school buses here; in our road weary and dead-insect-encrusted Class B+ Cruiser, we felt like the poor Vermont relations of the shiny Class A motor homes lining the man-made lake on the property. 

  

The lawns and flowerbeds were meticulously manicured; the clubhouse immense.   It was like a country club without the golf.  I wasn't even sure if the dogs would be allowed to pee anywhere on the premises!   

Still, it proved to be a lovely, peaceful night.  For once, we didn't have to spend the night within shouting distance of freight train tracks or interstates!