MAINE AGAIN! NEW HAMPSHIRE and VERMONT

26 June 2012: We came out of Canada and it was rain all the way through Maine until we reached Hampden, where Lisa lives with her famlily. Lisa is Ruth Murray's daughter from Wales, and Ruth was with them! We had missed Ruth's husband Wilf by a few days, he had already flown back home to Wales.
We were delighted to meet Lisa's family: her husband Jon, and sons Liam, Jacob and Christopher. Their second son, Ethan, was away having fun with relatives in California.

Lisa and two of her four boys, Christopher and Jacob.

Back: Ruth Murray, Jacob, Liam, Jon; front: Lisa and Chris. Liam, age 17, is off to BYU in the fall and wants to go on to medical school. Go Liam!

27 June 2012: It is going to rain all day so we decide to make it a driving west day. Before we leave, we help with the chickens.

Jacob feeds the chickens

Ruth gathers the eggs, with which she makes delicious quiche.

Jacob, his grandmother Ruth, and Sheila after chicken chores are over. 

Our new friend Jacob waves goodbye.

We drove west on Rt. 2 through Maine:

Note the flags flying from the telephone poles.

We saw this in many Maine towns that we drove through.

Beautiful scenery

We went out of our way to see a covered bridge,
since many were destroyed in the recent winds and floods

We continued on RT 2 through NEW HAMPSHIRE

A few years ago we were in New Hampshire with Sheila's father and were lucky enough to have a clear view from the top of Mount Washington, notorious for its high winds, low temperatures, and low visibility. We had gone up in a service van, but since we are not faint of heart we decided to drive up even if we couldn't see anything once at the top.

We tried to earn the "Our Car Drove Up Mount Washington" sticker, but the road was closed due to perilous gravel conditions caused by the rain. Not that we could have seen anything!

and VERMONT:

Montpelier's beautiful capitol building

Next door, the town band practice on the veranda.

Sheila and Thom enjoy listening to the band in Montpelier, Maine.

CANADA

25 and 26 June 2012: We arrived at the passport control in St. Stephen after lunch. Our first stop was to get Canadian dollars, and our second stop was at the New Brunswick information center. The first news was that the ferry we had planned to take from St. John to Digby was not running that week, it was in dry dock maintenance. But we were given lots of ideas of things to do and places to see on the drive around to Nova Scotia, so we were looking forward to the drive.

Going over the border into Canada

We drove to St. John, the only city on Fundy Bay, and camped in the city's Rockford Park. It rained all night, and was still raining in the morning. We tried to dry the tent under a pavilion, but the air was so wet that even with a good breeze we couldn't get it dry. We packed our stuff away wet as loosely as we could. We were heading for St. Martin and didn't want to be delayed.

Sheila tries to dry the tent.

We brave the rain to visit Reversing Falls, where the tide comes in so fiercely that it goes uphill. The tide was going out when we visited. At low tide you can walk across the ocean floor.
At high tide the water is 40 ft. deep.

Then we get on our way to St. Martin's to cycle the Fundy trail.

But the rain gets worse.

 After making several enquiries we learn that it is going to be bad like this for at least three days and probably a week. We really have been looking forward to seeing the maritime provinces, and so we are willing to motel it and dine in instead of camping and picnicking, but then we think: will we even be able to SEE anything?

We made the decision to turn around and start west. We will go back to Canada another time.

MAINE

We did stop in Maine.  We arrived on the evening of the 22 June 2012, and camped in Wells. It rained all night, but was over by the time we got up in the morning. Our tent is comfortable and waterproof, so all is well.

23 June 2012: our objective is Acadia National Park, but we stopped to smell the roses along the way. Or were they lupins, plentiful in Maine and probably considered weeds. They grow along banks and especially around ponds.

The lupins were past their prime, but were lovely to see everywhere.

We found that Maine had many charming church buildings, and of course is famous for its timber, moose, seafood and seaports:

"Montpelier," the home of General Henry Knox,
who helped Washington win the Revolutionary War.
He was asked to bring a cannon to Boston, and he took fifty.

If you have wondered how we get so many photographs together, we use the 10 second timer on the camera. It works most of the time. Other times a kind passerby helps us out.

The western side of Acadia National Park, on Mount Desert Island (named by Champlain).

We camped in the park at Seawall. Again, it poured all night but we were alright, especially since we did not have to pack up the tent - we stayed two nights there. And it was nice all the next day. Showers were out of the park at a local supply store on the coast:

We preferred to change in our shower room.

Hardly roughing it. We have a queen size air bed and have two rectangle sleeping bags that zip together that have a sheet "envelope" inside that Sheila made. We have two camp chairs; we put tennis balls on the feet of the chairs so that they could go inside the 6-man size tent. We have our pillows with us! Of course, the car is packed to the gills in the trunk and the back seat.

24 June 2012: We set out to cycle the loop around the east side of Acadia National Park, but Sheila's back tire was puncturing and there was probably something wrong other than the inner tube. We drove the loop instead.

Thunder Hole, Acadia National Park, Maine

Sheila at Thunder Hole

The rugged coastline of Acadia National Park

John D. Rockefeller liked to visit Mount Desert Island, and built carriage roads so that he didn't have to be with motorists. This is one of the gate houses to a carriage road.

Sheila looks at the sun through a Solarscope with the help of a park volunteer.

A Solarscope can only look at the sun.

Sheila and Thom atop Cadillac Mountain,\

 the highest point along a 25-mile swath along the east coast.

The spectacular view from the top of Cadillac Mountain.

Bar Harbor is a third in from the left on the mainland.

You may think from some of our travel photographs that we have had lots of places to ourselves, but we often wait to take a photo so that cars or people are not in the way! Here are all the people on top of Cadillac Mountain, along with an indication of some threatening weather.

Bar Harbor, Maine

Bar Harbor, Maine

Bar Harbor, Maine

25 June 2012: We left Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island and headed north to Canada. Our last stop in Maine before going over the border at St. Stephen was St. Croix Island International Historical Site. St. Croix Island was where a French group of artisans, soldiers and others tried to start a permanent settlement in 1604. It did not last, but was the jumping off spot for settlements which did.

Sheila's back wheel gets filed, a new rim strip, new tire,
and new inner tube before we leave the island.

St. Croix Island

The historical site had many nice statues commemorating the events that happened there.

And so, on to CANADA!

MASSACHUSETTS

21 June 2012: We started the day at the doctor's office for Sheila's twisted ankle, but were east of Boston before noon. We are skipping Boston this trip, since we have been there many times before (just like we skipped Washington DC and other parts of New York City). Today we stepped back in time and visited the Revolutionary War historical sites of the 1700s, and the inspiring countryside of literary greats of the 1800s. Together they comprise Minute Man National Historical Park, between Concord and Lexington, Massachusetts.

We want to put in a good word for the Visitors Centers that we have been to. They all do a great job of telling about the historical site, and often there is a good film to summarize everything.

Hartwell Tavern, where a lot of revolutionary ideas were brewed.

Biking was easier than walking for Sheila, so we took the bike path of Battle Road from Hartwell Tavern to Meriam House, passing Patriots' homes along the way. What is new in this photo? Certainly not the 1700s house! Thom is transporting Patrick's bike to Colorado for him via our car bike rack - thanks, Pat!

Sheila on Concord's famous North Bridge. Temperatures soared to 96 today.

Thom at the statue of the Minute Man, Concord, Massachusetts

Thom meets a live Minute Man at Battle Green, in nearby Lexington, where the "shot that was heard around the world" was fired by... no-one knows if it was the British or the Colonials who fired the first shot, but eight Colonials were killed. In retaliation, Colonials gathered together and, outnumbering the British 4 to 1, bombarded the British with musket fire for 16 miles as the "Redcoats" marched back to Boston along what is now called Battle Road. The film had a bit of a different take on the story...

On the lighter side, here are some of the homes of the great literary figures of the 1800s who gathered in Concord.

Known as "Hillside" when it belonged to the Alcotts, and renamed "The Wayside" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, who had the tower added that he called his sky-parlour. Children's author Harriett Lothrop (pen name Margaret Sidney) bought Wayside, and preserved it as she lived there.

Sheila at Louisa May Alcott's "Orchard House"

The Ralph Waldo Emerson Memorial House

For ourselves, we housed at billeting at Hanscom Air Force Base,Lexington for the night.

22 June 2012: Before heading north we went back to Walden Pond, which was closed the day before. Walden Pond is where Henry David Thoreau spent two years in the little hut he built himself for, I think it was $28 (fully furnished).

Less is best.

Sheila with a replica of Thoreau's little home, and his statue.

Walden Pond as Thoreau remembers it.

Would he be turning in his grave now? Actually, there is just one beach area, but lots of walking trails round about, and swimmers crossing the whole lake.

After Walden Pond, we headed to the north coast of Massachusetts. Our friend Jean Strong is from Marblehead, and had recommended that we visit there. It was as charming as Jean promised it would be.

Town Hall, Marblehead, Massachusetts.

The cemetery dated from 1630 and many of the homes were dated from the 1700s.

View of a back harbor from Fountain Park.

From Marblehead, we drove to Salem, Massachesetts. In its day, this merchant shipping town was the busiest in the US. So many ships from Salem were in foreign ports that the people there thought Salem was a country. Before the 1900s, 90% of the federal government was funded by duties paid by merchant ships coming back to the US with items from all over the world.  

Customs house in Salem, Massachusetts. Nathaniel Hawthorne once worked here.
He was a disgruntled government worker.

We visited the Salem Maritime National Historical Site. This is a replica of a merchant ship typical of the ones that sailed as merchant ships and also privateers during the Revolutionary War (equipped with guns).

We avoided the famous witchcraft side of Salem, but it is alive and well in everyday living in Salem. The sign says, "City Wide City Pride - sponsored by the Witches Education League."

From Salem we went to the far east coast of northern Massachusetts to Gloucester, once one of  the busiest fishing ports on the east coast. The town has lost thousands of men over the years, but you will remember the little crew made famous by the movie "Perfect Storm." 

From Gloucester we went around the tip of the peninsula and made a stop in Rockport, Massachusetts, before heading north. We camped the night in Wells, Maine; it rained all night!

Sheila and Thom in Rockport, Massachusetts.