On Monday, Davin spent most of the day with us and then headed back to Massachusetts to work with his consulting customers. We needed some groceries and other stuff so we went to Rockland for the grocery store and the drug store but first we had to take a walk along the waterfront in Rockland – more awesome views. On the way back home we stopped at a roadside seafood stand for some fried clams. It used to be that you could stop by any of these stands – and there were a lot of them – and just buy a half-pint of fried clams but no more. We had to pay almost full price for a clam dinner to just get the clams and they were not cheap but they were delicious.

Tuesday morning it was raining. I love sitting on the porch watching the rain fall – reminds me of being a kid in Massachusetts. After lots of coffee and some breakfast we headed out for Rockland again. More food was needed. This time we went to a farm stand and a local fish market. We bought fresh corn on the cob, tomatoes, potatoes and haddock for dinner. Diane cooked us some great baked fish and potatoes and we ate lots of real fresh tomatoes – not those plastic ones you get in the grocery store.

Tomorrow it is off to Ludlow, Massachusetts to see my other sister DuAnne and her husband Dick and my Brother Len and his wife Joanne. We will be staying at Dick and DuAnne’s house – the house I grew up in – but still in our GMC. My brother Len is a home builder and remodeler – his web site is www.snug-a-bug.com. He is always pretty busy but we enjoy having some good New England seafood together in the evening so I hope to see him at least a couple of nights.

We will be leaving tomorrow morning and I decided to not reinstall the air dam until we are out of this very narrow driveway that may have taken out the old one. I’ll put the new one on when we get to Ludlow.

Share on Facebook

Since we visited here two years ago on our last cross-country trip we have talked about how much we enjoyed our time in Maine. We are pretty relaxed and Diane and Davin are entertaining us more than we expected but yesterday and today we pretty much took the day off. We got some chores done, I cooked some Mexican for them last night – pretty good despite the lack of choice on the Mexican sauces at the grocery store. Today we took a ride – the scenic route – to the local used book store, the Lobster Lane Book Shop. The place is amazing. The aisles are so narrow that they are mostly single-file. Every spot, including the floor and the rafters are packed with books. They are all in great condition, sorted into general subject categories ,and are almost all $2 or less each.

My chore this morning was to reconstruct my air dam/spoiler under the GMC’s radiator. Somewhere between Vermont state park and our arrival here my air dam/spoiler hit the ground and bent backwards. I remember hearing it hit a couple of times but, since the spoiler was mostly flexible 18-wheeler mudflap material I thought nothing of it. Once we parked at Diane and Davin’s I noticed the damage. At first I was just going to remove it until I could figure out a better design but then I realized that it is part of the seminar I am scheduled to do at the GMC Western States rally on our way home so I have to fix it.

Today Davin gave me some light 1 1/4″ galvanized angle iron and I cut and drilled it to fit the bottom of the radiator and the mudflap material from the old air dam. We went to the hardware store to get some new screws and nuts so I will work on installing it all tomorrow. Stay tuned – hopefully, I can remember to take photos.

Share on Facebook

Last time we were here we visited Acadia National Park and Cadillac Mountain and could see Bar Harbor but didn’t actually get there. Whenever I would tell people that we visited Maine they would mention Bar Harbor and ask if I had been so we had to go there. I would classify Bar Harbor as a sort of Carmel of Maine. Not a lot of art galleries compared to Carmel but lots of ice cream and other food. Bar Harbor has a 1-mile walking path that goes right along the edge of the water. It is supported by the city but is on private property and there are some very nice houses along the way.

On the way home we drove to the top of Mount Battie which provides sights like those you get from Cadillac Mountain in Acadia NP but of Camden instead of Bar Harbor.

Share on Facebook

Davin, my sister Diane’s husband, arrived last night from his consulting job in Massachusetts. First order of business on visits to the East Coast for me is to have some unobtanium sea food. Ipswich clams are very limited in their geographic distribution. They seem to occur in New England only but are the best kind of clams for steaming and frying. I had not had any steamed Ipswich clams during my visits for the last two years. I had concentrated on fried clams – much better than those clam strips that you usually get when you talk about fried clams. These are known in New England as fried ‘whole belly’ clams because the whole clam is fried as a single piece – delicious. I plan to have some of those soon but today we got some fresh from the guy who gathers them locally and they were very good.

After eating our fill of clams we took a ride on Davin’s boat. Davin and I put the boat in at a ramp about a half-mile down the river and then picked up Carol and Diane at the dock in front of the house. We motored down to Friendship Harbor and saw some amazing scenery on the trip.

Later we had some freshly caught lobsters for dinner – forgot to take pictures of them but you know what lobsters look like.

Share on Facebook

Today I went down by the river in front of Diane and Davin’s home in Maine. The house faces the Meduncook River about a mile from where it flows into the Muscongus Bay. It was low tide this morning so I walked down to the river to shoot a couple of photos to show you where we are. Later I will try to get some at high tide too.

Today’s agenda was to be low key so we decided to visit the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay where Diane and Davin are members. We spent a couple of hours walking around and had a nice lunch when we were done.

On our way back home we stopped and looked around at Friendship Harbor and shot a few more photos.

Share on Facebook

Our first full day in Maine demanded a little sightseeing. The nearest sizable town to the north is Camden. We did not get there on our last visit two years ago and we needed some stuff – cold weather clothing (relatively cold that is), and some odds and ends – so we headed for the Reny’s store there. We walked and drove around, had lunch, and shopped a little – we are not shoppers. I took photos to show those of you who have not been to Maine or even to the Northeast what you are missing (in the summer). Enjoy.

Share on Facebook

Almost 3000 miles later we have arrived at my sister Diane’s home in Maine. This is the same place we stayed two years ago and we have really been looking forward to it. Lots of good sea food – lobsters, clams, and haddock – and lots of visiting, resting and relaxing. The trip was pretty easy – lots of ups and downs but nothing compared to the Appalacian Mountains in West Virginia and Maryland from last week – and the coach ran great, even got much better mileage than usual for some reason (slower?). We will be here for about a week before heading down to my family visit and high school reunion in Massachusetts. I will be taking some photos and posting between now and then so stay tuned.

Share on Facebook

We left Lewisburg and headed straight north to the Elmira – Binghamton, NY area and then headed northeast through Albany and into Vermont. We made it to the Bennington, Vermont area. In spite of both being from the Northeast originally, those were areas we had never been to and they were beautiful. I am sure that the really nice weather had a lot to do with our perception but if you folks from the West have never been to the Northeast you have to see the scenery we saw today – and it keeps on getting better. We are spending the night in Woodford State Park in Woodford, Vermont – quiet and peaceful but uneven and no hookups. We are lucky to have cell phones and internet.

Tomorrow we plan to make it to my sister’s house in Friendship, Maine -about 50 miles north of Portland on the water. This will be real R&R for us.

Share on Facebook

On Friday we returned to Lewisburg from Annapolis, had our last (late) lunch at “The Fence” – Carol’s favorite drive-in restaurant – with her brother “Buzz” and his wife Mary. A light dinner later and we crashed – need to rest up for a last visit with the grandkids.

On Saturday we went with Carol’s son Rick to the Sunbury River Fest and watched the Cardboard Regatta. Teams made boats from cardboard – seems it can have tape and be painted but other than that I don’t know the rules – and raced around a couple of pylons in the Susquehanna River. We ate some great hot sausage sandwiches (Carol had a hot dog) and fresh-cut french fries. There was a really nice car show at the River Fest too – only 3 pics but lots of cars. Later that evening we joined Carol’s daughter Laurie and her kids at the Winfield Fireman’s Carnival – a 45-year tradition. More hot sausage sandwiches and other bad food.

We said bye to the kids for another year – they are some great kids. We love them.

Share on Facebook

Last time we were here – 2 years ago – visiting Barb we toured Annapolis. This time we decided that Baltimore’s Inner Harbor would be a good destination. The Inner Harbor area is actually an urban redevelopment area that her former husband Larry had a role in as an engineer for the local power company. There is an aquarium, lots of office space, and lots and lots of restaurants. Based on the number of people there I would say it is a huge success. The weather was wonderful. Tomorrow we will head back to Lewisburg where the GMC is parked to see the grandchildren one more day and attend the Winfield Fireman’s Carnival. Sunday we will head out to Maine to visit my sister and her husband.

Share on Facebook