Maine Coastline, Lobster Country

Our Message this morning following the week long theme of The Power of the Cross, was on Genesis 22. It gave me a new sense of power behind Abraham's obedience!

Last week we decided to take a trip out another peninsula beside the one that Bar Harbor is on. The tip of this peninsula is Schoodic Point and some of Acadia National Park. It was a sunny day though the visual distance was rather limited because of fog. We enjoyed the heat from the sun and the cool breeze very much . You'll notice that I did not say COLD breeze! But it has changed some since then, and not for the better. We are hoping these next two weeks are warmer!

One of the roads along this peninsula, to get closer to the bay, was just a gravel one way . It was beautiful and we were glad that we did not meet anyone on this road! There are homes in this area, some smaller and very old which have been restored and added on to in order to connect to a garage or carriage house . And some are much larger . The rock in much of Maine is granite, with a lot of pink and then some black rock that is from infusion of lava from thousands of years ago, which formed layers in the granite. I will show you a layer in another future blog, as this is just cut pieces used a steps.

Lobster fishing is the second largest trade of the area , second only to tourism! The lobster fishing is very restricted and each license issued to one person with one boat. The limit is nothing under 3 inches or over five inches, with the measurement being from eye socket to the starting of the tail. They can not keep any that still have the eggs attached as they are carried for the full term during procreation. All others must also be put back to keep the procreation going so we will not risk losing the supply. The small will only mate with the small and the large with large. They do not intermingle. So it is a lesson all of it's own. When the season began there were so many lobster within about 60 feet of shore that you could almost walk on them, according to our tour guide yesterday. But they are not that near shore now and not as plentiful. And guess what!! It is not much cheaper eating them in a restaurant here than in Ohio!

Another day we drove down Rt. 1 southeast of Bangor, because a massage therapist here at the campground told me of all the smaller more interesting towns along there. Yes, the campground has the therapist come in once a week, for three weeks at least, and I took advantage of it for $10 for each ten minutes. It is the same cost back home and I sure needed it!

There are many interesting homes and businesses along Rt. 1. As you can see, Inns are very prevalent because of the tourist trade in this part of the country. The actual towns were so interesting that I did not take pictures while going through them. But I will do so if we go down there again. We did stop at a couple antique shops and they were as different as night and day, one being like our back home antique malls. The other one had everything from soup to nuts and barely room to walk through. I am sure that the rust and dust was helping hold it up!

We passed the General Henry Knox Museum from the Civil War on that trip. Gary went back down the highway to Ft. Knox where there had been a reenactment today. The actors were just leaving so Gary missed it all. And the Ft. Knox Observatory was closed! Needless to say, he was disappointed.

On the way back up Rt. 1 we took a side trip to see Owls Head Lighthouse which is an active U.S. Coast Guard station. It had a great view and was a good hike for us. So we do get some walking in. Across from the lighthouse was an island where there had been one of the three one-mile markers used by the Navy to estimate speed by prop rotation. The only thing left of these markers is the four rocks where the last one stood up until a year ago.

We also stopped in Rockland, ME to see the Farnsworth Art Museum, which is housed in a library and partly in an old church converted to be safe humidity and temperature for many paintings, drawings, and sculptures of both past and present famous artists. Gary took these pictures because he liked them , but we can't tell you now who the artists were. We don't remember and did not write it down.

Mr. Viencik, we thought of you when we saw these .

Three of the main artist's works in the museum were of N. C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, and Jamie Wyeth. Jamie lives in Maine and is only two years older than we are. Imagine that! We missed a Museum in southern New Hampshire where more of Andrews pieces are, as we were only in the north of NH. It is the Museum of the Currier and Ives. Well, maybe next time.

The Farnsworth Homestead was right next door to the library. Mrs. Farnsworth and her daughters donated all of this for the museum in honor of her husband who was an integral part of the Rockland community.

And last for this time; since author, Stephen King, lives in Bangor, Maine, Gary decided to go past his home for pictures while on the way to the post office. He did this for someone we know who reads all of his books. We really haven't toured downtown Bangor to find out what else is there. We probably will do so before we leave. We may even learn of some places in Maine that inspired some of Kings books.

Travel safe until next time.

Pumpkin Patch Campground, Hermon, Maine

We arrived at Hermon, Maine just outside of Bangor on September 8th at Pumpkin Patch RV Resort . But the weather has not been conducive to much sight seeing. We were out one day to Bar Harbor checking out what we would like to go back and see again. It was fun being back near water again. You could see a sand bar in the bay where people were looking for clams. It is also very much a touristy shopping and eating area . There are campgrounds, motels, and Bar Harbor Inn where you can dine in style! We also got to see these small boats taking passengers out to the Caribbean Princess for a cruise while fishing boats were coming into the same bay. Then you see privately owned yachts and sail boats moored there also. But more to our style of sightseeing, there are Whale Watching and Nature Cruise boats. Not sure yet which we will go out in. We checked out some of the stores and walked the sidewalks and rubbed elbows with a lot of tourists speaking many different languages.

We also spent a day shopping. Ah-h-h-h, a Mall and other big stores. We had almost forgotten what they are like. We even checked out a BIG Goodwill Store and a Salvation Army Thrift Store. The Goodwill was so busy we almost thought we were in the Mall on the day after Thanksgiving! I've never seen one so big and so busy.

And Richie, we even got our lobster which we had already removed the claws from, getting ready to eat. Hope to have some more! We have also been able to have corn on the cob often since leaving New York. We are loving it!

Route 2 from Twin Mountain area to Pumpkin Patch was a real trip. The road has been neglected for too long and they have widened it in the past without putting down a good base. It is like our Ohio Rt. 14 to Cleveland. But they are straightening out some of the curves and widening it . So we had to wait our turn to go through the construction which was fine, except for the narrow bridge . Note the truck in the right of this next photo just coming into the construction in the background, then again as they come on through . It took quite a while to get them all through before we could take our turn . Gary was worried about getting through the bridge. But I told him, "If the log trucks can get through, you can too" . However, we did the entire trip in the one day and arrived at the campground ahead of schedule. We beat the rain by one day! We were so glad that we were not setting up in the rain.

Tomorrow we will go out again sightseeing as the wind from "Ike" has died down and the rain appears to be gone for a while. Hope there is not any more hurricanes to send after affects our way. Then we can enjoy the fall colors and the ocean some.

We also wanted to show you how nice the campground is . There we are a little left of center. The one with the jeep in front of it. Donna, you wondered why we would stay near Bangor. As an after thought, I guess this would be why, in addition to saving at least $200 to $300 for the month. The campgrounds near Acadia and Bar Harbor are much more expensive. So when we are not busy getting more settled in the newer motorhome, we can always drive to see the sights. And I noticed that the gas is $3.49 a gallon when I was out today.

We finally got rid of the dinette benches today and the new chairs had arrived last Friday. Now Gary has a bee in his bonnet to get rid of the cabinet/end table in the bedroom. It is of very little use as is and it takes up so much space. We did get him a desk for in there. So now there is no excuse for not getting busy with his art!

They have craft night here at the campground every Monday night, which excited me. Thought it would finally get me started on the right track, and it is. But we were there all of an hour and a half. Hardly worth all of the packing up materials. But they do have some good activities here!!

You all take care and we will be back with you again soon.