Freeport and Kennebunkport

LAST DAY IN MAINE


How fun is this? We drove into Freeport, Maine not knowing what to expect and yes, we were wowed by LLBean! The town is LLBean. They have 3 huge retail buildings - one for hunting, one for clothing and one for home. We learned that they stay open 24/7 - 365 days a year. They have closed twice in about 50 years - when Kennedy was assasinated and when LL died. Pretty amazing huh? According to the employees we talked to it is a great place to work - they employ 8,000 people in Maine - one guy said LL Bean is Maine. Because they are open all of the time most of the big retailers we are familiar with have put outlets around LL Beans store. It is a shopping mecca. We camped compliments of LL Bean - since they are open all night - you can park all night in their parking lots!



Next stop - Kennebunk Port! Probabably the prettiest place we have been. Of course it didn't hurt that the weather was spectacular (blue skies and 70 degrees)! We walked for about two hours and we were rewarded when we spied the Bush compound in the not to far distance. A place any of us would like to hang out - absolutely pristine and inviting. We enjoyed seeing it. The church you see was built out of stone (that looked like it had been quarried from the rocky coast) sometime in the 18th century. The Bush family history is all over this church. You see George H. W.'s father was Senator Prescott Bush from Maine. The Bush compound has been in the family a long time. When we got back to the village we were very thirsty so we stopped in a harbor side cafe for icetea - nothing special from the outside - kind of run down. Turns out it is George W. favorite haunt. Lots of great pictures - obvious he drops in often. Great day for us!

Now onto Massachusets, Boston and points beyond! TTFN

Bar Harbor and Acadia Nat'l. Park

     Hi Everyone!  Here we are at Acadia National Park - across the country we have talked to people who say it is the most beautiful of national parks.  It has a lot - beautiful fall colors - the rocky coast of main - and sweet village called Bar Harbor.  We went to the top of the highest peak (probably a misnomer - at 1200') called Mount Cadillac.  It was windy and very cold but beautiful views. When we reached the bottom we came across this teardrop trailer with the entwined hearts on the back.  A couple from Ohio celebrating their 50th anniversary!!  They had a tandem bike like ours and the still vibrant and sweet.  Quite a challenge for all of us don't you think?

     After this we went on a great hike along the cliffs of the Atlantic Coast.  We have tried to show you how rocky it is - dark granite everywhere.
     With a couple hours of hiking under our belt we went into Bar Harbor a well known destination for all Maine visits.  Beautiful harbor, shops, restaurants etc.  We had a great time.  There was a ferry that made daily trips to Nova Scotia.  Boy were we tempted.  But the cold weather and closing campgrounds are driving us South!  (I haven't had to sleep in a Walmart parking lot yet! )
     Ta Ta for Now!  Miss Everyone much!

Finally! We took an extensive survey and
we arrived at THE BEST lobster on the East coast! Young's Lobster Pound is in Belfast, Maine. It is a huge barn lined with
picnic tables and two decks and a park also lined with tables. In the summer you can't get in without waiting. Of course we walked right in - they were waiting for us.

Then you walk up to a huge seawater vat and pick your lobster. You treat him real nice. 25 min later you are eating the freshest, finest lobster one can buy. (The price averaged about $8.00/pound. We enjoyed every bite - but I will say that is the only food we ate that day. Pretty rich food. We loved it!

Had a great time in Searsport, Maine - a shipbuilding village. Met a single gal from a wheatfarm in Montana. She was running an antique store - living in Maine for one year. It was fun to hear about her experiences - you learn a lot talking to people.

Vermont and New Hampshire

Hi Everyone! How much beauty can one see and still say, "Look honey, do you see those
hillsides? Aren't the trees amazing? (or) "Isn't this village just the cutest? Look at that white
church and that cool steeple." "Look at that house - can you believe it and that cool barn!"
Well, that's about it for New England.

We take each day as it comes. We often drive in the direction of the only campground that is still open in the area. The last one was in Stowe, Vermont - the famous ski resort where Billy Kidd (Olympic skier that we were all in love with back in the day) grew up and learned to ski. It was surely a quintissential NE village. We had a blast. I kept trying to take a picture of this church steeple because it surely is the highest one in New England. We stayed for two days enjoying the sights and sounds.

We then took the back roads heading for New Hampshire. We stumbled apon Bath - a rather famous small village with the longest covered barn in NH. We enjoyed it so much and stayed for quite awhile. (Check the next blog for more pictures of Bath) We met an artist that had moved to Bath (close to our age maybe younger) from Orange County, CA. He was a very neat guy who had moved with his wife after a tour to view fall foliage. He couldn't say enough about the lifestlye - country living - quiet and peaceful and close community. It sounded idylic.

Enjoy the covered bridge!  Jon especially wanted you to see the interior construction. Oh - by the way the bridge
was built in 1832. If it was hot or snowing the folks parked their buggies inside while shopping or at church.

Free Icecream!!

Hi everyone!  As far as travel logs go - this event is hard to beat. Free icecream at Ben and Jerrys first ice cream plant! We ferried the motorhome across Lake Champlagne - and found ourself in Vermont the home of Ben and Jerrys. Of course their story is great (college drop outs) who took a five dollar online course in ice cream making. The rest is history.
They employ thousands in Vermont and support most of the small dairies in Vermont. They pay them a premium for their milk if they won't use growth hormone.
They made believers out of us!
The tombstones are flavors that didn't make it so they have a graveyard for dead flavors.
By the way that's not us eating the 24 scoops in a bucket!
Sweets for the sweet! Love to all!

Whiteface and Lake Placid Olympic Village

WE HAD SO MUCH FUN DISCOVERING LAKE PLACID!. IN RETROSPECT WE SHOULD HAVE KNOW IT WOULD BE A FULL BLOWN VILLAGE RESORT - AFTERALL THEY HAVE HOSTED TWO OLYMPICS HERE (1932 AND 1980). THE VILLAGE IS ON ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL LAKE AND IS FILLED WITH SMALL SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS. THE STREETS WERE FULL OF PEOPLE ENJOYING ONE OF THE LAST FALL WEEKENDS IN NEW YORK.
WHITEFACE SKI MOUNTAIN HAS 3400' OF VERTICLE WHICH REALLY SURPRISED US! THE MOUNTAIN IS NOT MUCH HIGHER THAN THAT. IT WAS JUST VOTED #1 SKI RESORT IN THE EAST.
AS USUAL THE PICTURES DON'T QUITE CAPTURE THE HEIGHT OF THE TWO SKI JUMPS. WHEN WE FIRST SAW THEM IN THE DISTANCE WE WERE SHOCKED AT HOW HIGH THEY LOOMED IN THE SKY. YOU CAN SEE HOW SMALL THE CHAIRLIFT LOOKS NEXT TO THE JUMP. ONCE YOU GET UP THERE YOU TAKE A CHAIRLIFT UP TO THE TOP TO GET A FEEL FOR THINGS.
SIMPLY UNBELIEVABLE.
THE PICTURE WITH THE POOL IS THE OLYMPIC TRAINING CENTER FOR
AERIALS AND FREESTYLE JUMPING. REALLY FUN TO SEE.

THEY DEFINITELY SHOULD HAVE A SIGN THAT SAYS, "DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!"
WE FOR SURE WON'T.

A WALK IN THE WOODS

This blog is for our grandchildren.
For years Jon has been telling the grandchildren stories about Billy and Bobby Beaver and their adventures in the woods. He has never really been able to show them a beaver or a beaver pond or the result of their night time work (with those big teeth). Well, kids (both little and big) here is the biggest beaver pond we have ever imagined. The damn you see here is a tiny portion of a very long damn that Billy and Bobbi have built to make this pond. Isn't it beautiful? The tree will be finished off tonight and dragged over for reenforcement.
We found this pond while walking in the Adirondack forest near Lake Placid, NY. The picture of me is by the wildest white water I have ever seen. It is not captured in the picture but in about a mile the river drops 700' and some of the waterfalls were to scary to even look at. Beautiful.
Next blog Lake Placid, New York!

We had two (no three) New York experiences that I want to share with you.
First, we knew that we wanted to see the area around the St. Lawrence Seaway so we headed North once again to see the final journey of the water from the Great Lakes. 30 years ago my sister Carol (who was living in NY at the time) took me to see some of the homes (often mansions) that were built on these islands during the industrial revolution. The area is called 1000 islands but there are actually more like 2000 - some are Canadian and some are U.S. The owner of Waldorf Astoria built the largest  ( the castle you see at the bottom) for his wife. She died before it was finished so he never went there again and left it unfinished. It's one of the largest castles in the world - the children had their own huge castle on the property to be used as a play house.The whole thing is now owned by the parks department.
Their are teeny, tiny homes (one called Tom Thumb) and everything in between. We love to kayack and this is one place you could never completely explore. Also it is a shipping lane and I wouldn't want to be in a kayack as one of these giant ships went by!
The second thing we experienced was the first noreaster of the season - it rained for about 60 hours with out let up. As we traveled across the state we saw the affects (including snow). We were pretty tired of the rain so to celebrate I baked a chocolate cake - really fancy and we celebrated the fact that we kept our sanity after hours and hours of wind and rain!
Jon and I continue to enjoy the large old homes that are everywhere and even more the barns. The picture of us is in a huge barn turned into a winery. After we had visited awhile our hostess took us upstairs to show us the construction - this is a Sears mail order barn. How did they mail all those huge rafters? It was beautiful and we didn't know they had mail order barns along with the homes that are so well documented.
We are soooo ready to get to the East Coast waters - so on tomorrow a beautiful drive through the Adirondacks - destination Lake Placid! TTFN

Niagara!

One simply cannot visit Niagara and not be in awe. Much like Rushmore it doesn't matter how many pictures you see it remains what it is - stunning, incredible,powerful, inspiring. One feels so small next to these huge and massive bits of creation.
      We loved learning what we didn't know about the Niagara Strait (it is not a river). It drains all of the great lakes into the Atlantic Ocean (Everything that the Mississippi does not drain) The strait connects Lake Eyrie with Lake Ontario and then ultimately from there out to the sea. Cool huh?
The other unexpected was how both Canada and the U.S. have turned this magnificent sight into huge concessions - carnival like - casinos, every restaurant imaginable, gift shops etc. Blocks and blocks of this on both sides. I don't know why but both sides had stores with large gorillas as enticements to come in. Go figure! Well I guess that is what free enterprise is all about. Over 12 million visit every year- we heard so many different languages one couldn't count them.

The most amazing story of humans going over the falls happened in 1960. A family in a small boat capsized - the driver of the boat died. The 11 year old girl was rescued before going over the falls by people on shore. A nine year old boy in a swim suit and small life jacket went over the falls and survived without injury. Their are pictures before he goes over and afterwards being picked up with a smile on his face by the boat "Lady of the Mist". He and his sister still talk about it from time to time. They say the Lord had a plan for their life. I should say so! In the last decade two men have gone over the falls trying to take their life but both survived. One then changed his story (trying to capitalize on his failure) and said he was a dare devil just out for adventure. So there ya go. Moral? Don't try it.

Oh - Jon wanted me to add . . . about 71 million gallons flow over the falls every minute - and there is no way to turn off the spigot. Just think - night and day - for eons. Can our finite little minds even grasp how much water in one minute? That's why it is such a spectacle - that's why we all love to stand and look at it. A wonderful reflection of our creator!

Lose Ends

3500 Miles - 23 days and we feel in many ways like we are just getting started! There have only been a couple of days that we feel we have driven longer than we wanted - Jon says the motor home is so easy to drive that he takes short naps as he's going along! We took a little time to reflect on favorite things this morning. Favorite meal? Michaels in Rochester, MN. We had our first Walleye - Michaels is a very old Greek restaurant (family owned for three generations) in the heart of downtown. Jon's three highlights are - everything about the Black Hills, Mackinac Island, and he says "I really liked Chicago" The buildings, the water, Shoreline park, the museums - hmmm I'd say we are having a great time. As for me? I still think of those leopard boots in Wall, SD at Wall drug - that pretty much says it all!

The picture of the doorway is in Mackinac - I just thought it wa picturesque - it is the main entrance to one of the old houses - a side entry filled with red geraniums. Jon keeps telling me to document the fall color but of course that would be impossible - so the tree is one of the first nice contrasts that we saw in Northern Illinois.

Two other things worth noting: the Great lakes are great! Water water everywhere - they always look like the ocean - I know the facts are that they were formed by the ice age but I say God must have really enjoyed creating these huge bodies of water for our pleasure.
Much of their shorelines are filled with residential homes - people with huge yards - one can't help wondering about the summer fun and their winter weather.

Secondly, we keep remarking on a big difference between the West and everything East of South Dakota. The whole land is under cultivation. There are not vast empty expanses of desert or mountains. There is farm after farm after farm.  Everyone seems to have a red barn (I have always loved red barns), nice looking large homes (usually old) and the crops look mostly to be corn and soybeans. Here's another thing we keep laughing about - in regular residential areas peoples yards are usually minimum of an acre - sometimes they look larger). WE think their prized possesion must be their riding lawn mower. They look beautiful and everything is still very green. Also remember they don't have to water their lawn - right? Because they are so large almost no one has a fence makes it all very beautiful to look at. Big homes, large lawns and no fences - who came up with the idea of large home on tiny lots and lots of fences? Crazy huh?

Finally, Jake needs to know that Scruffy is our mascot. Many "old people" have their dogs
traveling with them and if they are small they sit up in the window. We are so glad that
we fit in because of Scruffy. Thanks Jake for sharing him with us - their will be more pics of
him along the way. Love to all. TTFN

Mackinac Island, MI

Wow! We have had a great couple of days thanks to our friends Brian and Jeanine. They told
us about Mackinac Island (on the Mackinac straits between Lake Michigan and Lake
Huron. In the late 1800s about the time the car was being invented they outlawed cars from their island - as a result there are only horses and bicycles. What fun!
The first picture is a view you see coming in on the ferry - I think every building goes back to the mid 1800s . The second building is the Harbor View House where we spent the night - it use to be a private home. Not too shabby - huh?

T he Island is made up of Market Street - mostly fudge shops - it also has a Fort
dating back to the French and Indian war - the British won this battle and owned the
Island for awhile. Then someone realized that it wasn't too strategic and decided it wouldbe better for tourism than war. The third thing that they are most famous for is the Grand Hotel. We are sitting on the 650' porch where all the social life and flirting took place. It is considered one of the ten greatest hotels in the US.

We rode our bike around the island and up to the Fort - which is beautifully maintained
Then back to market street to find a place to watch the Michigan/Michigan State game
with the fans from both schools. We had fun and Jon wore his BSU sweatshirt and of  course everyone knew Boise State. It's crazy but we are really famous. Although really they want to know about the blue field. Is that all we're known for? A guy from Ann Arbor asked us how many fans our stadium would hold - after he told us that in AnnArbor it's close to 120,000 fans. We just smiled.

Our next big destination is Niagra falls, we will cross into Canada and see it from their side first. The weather has remained spectacular and we are starting to see some gorgeous color. How many times can one say amazing and mean it.?

Well, ta ta for now or as Tigger says TTFN. We miss you all and really wish you were
with us.