Tuesday, October 04, 2005
More on Maine
Down East (10/2)
We have arrived in Bar Harbor, Maine. We can no longer tell people we are going to Maine. We can no longer go east. We have been to the easternmost town in the USA. (Lubec: where I filed the last post). Everything is west and south from here on. We loved Lubec and Eastport, where we were camped—so quiet and un-touristy and with amazing views. I wrote about the wonderful library in Lubec. I asked how it was funded since it is such a small town. It turns out the library was built and operates from the bequest of one woman. From Lubec, we crossed the bridge into New Brunswick. (Campobello Island). Just over the bridge is the Roosevelt International Peace Park, where Franklin Roosevelt had his summer house. You can tour the house—for FREE. Also there is a huge nature preserve with hiking trails along the coast—and looking out to the Bay of Fundy. We wished we’d had more time for hiking. We found out there was a provincial park on the island and planned to move over there today—but it was closed beginning today. We are constantly under the threat of “winter” even though the weather is still fair and fine and in the 70’s. About 99 percent of the RV parks in the Northeast close on October 15. Maybe I’ve said that before.
Today we tore ourselves away from our beautiful camp spot in Eastport and came to the Bar Harbor KOA. This place has been the biggest challenge for leveling to date but our spot is close to a beach with awesome views and big rocks for sitting. Unlike the Great Lakes there is life on the beaches here but nothing like on the Puget Sound. Kit went bicycling and saw a man bringing in a truckload of lobsters in plastic bins pulled by a dinghy. I did laundry and enjoyed the ambiance. We are happy to discover it is quiet here. Like everywhere we go in Maine, we are finding lots of people from Washington. Tomorrow we explore Acadia National Park.
Maine joke: You can tell you’re a redneck when you buy your child’s Halloween costume big enough to fit over a snowsuit.
Acadia National Park (10/3)
Maine is so much like home. Have you heard that before? Actually we met a young woman from Connecticut on the trail who hiked out of Vancouver BC last year and thought it was a lot like Maine. I was not impressed with the Visitor Center for this park—worst acoustics of any building I have been in and too many people—even midweek in October. We wanted an overview of the park so drove the loop road today and took a couple short hikes. The first was up the Great Head from the Sandy Beach—a very short hike but took a long time climbing up the rocks and stopping for photos. The second hike was around Jordan Pond (which is really a lake)—a nice level easy hike (3 mi) for some good exercise. We did NOT rock climb straight up the mountain like Fred recommended. Tomorrow we plan to go back for some cycling. We DID drive through the town of Bar Harbor which was absolutely crazy with tourists—did not even stop.
We have arrived in Bar Harbor, Maine. We can no longer tell people we are going to Maine. We can no longer go east. We have been to the easternmost town in the USA. (Lubec: where I filed the last post). Everything is west and south from here on. We loved Lubec and Eastport, where we were camped—so quiet and un-touristy and with amazing views. I wrote about the wonderful library in Lubec. I asked how it was funded since it is such a small town. It turns out the library was built and operates from the bequest of one woman. From Lubec, we crossed the bridge into New Brunswick. (Campobello Island). Just over the bridge is the Roosevelt International Peace Park, where Franklin Roosevelt had his summer house. You can tour the house—for FREE. Also there is a huge nature preserve with hiking trails along the coast—and looking out to the Bay of Fundy. We wished we’d had more time for hiking. We found out there was a provincial park on the island and planned to move over there today—but it was closed beginning today. We are constantly under the threat of “winter” even though the weather is still fair and fine and in the 70’s. About 99 percent of the RV parks in the Northeast close on October 15. Maybe I’ve said that before.
Today we tore ourselves away from our beautiful camp spot in Eastport and came to the Bar Harbor KOA. This place has been the biggest challenge for leveling to date but our spot is close to a beach with awesome views and big rocks for sitting. Unlike the Great Lakes there is life on the beaches here but nothing like on the Puget Sound. Kit went bicycling and saw a man bringing in a truckload of lobsters in plastic bins pulled by a dinghy. I did laundry and enjoyed the ambiance. We are happy to discover it is quiet here. Like everywhere we go in Maine, we are finding lots of people from Washington. Tomorrow we explore Acadia National Park.
Maine joke: You can tell you’re a redneck when you buy your child’s Halloween costume big enough to fit over a snowsuit.
Acadia National Park (10/3)
Maine is so much like home. Have you heard that before? Actually we met a young woman from Connecticut on the trail who hiked out of Vancouver BC last year and thought it was a lot like Maine. I was not impressed with the Visitor Center for this park—worst acoustics of any building I have been in and too many people—even midweek in October. We wanted an overview of the park so drove the loop road today and took a couple short hikes. The first was up the Great Head from the Sandy Beach—a very short hike but took a long time climbing up the rocks and stopping for photos. The second hike was around Jordan Pond (which is really a lake)—a nice level easy hike (3 mi) for some good exercise. We did NOT rock climb straight up the mountain like Fred recommended. Tomorrow we plan to go back for some cycling. We DID drive through the town of Bar Harbor which was absolutely crazy with tourists—did not even stop.
# posted by Carol Harma @ 6:14 AM 
