August 10th thru 17th

Wednesday August 10th, 2011

We thought we would never get out of campsite #86!  They should never have put a 40 foot camper on this site.  We had to drop the car, and thanks to a very kind man, he helped us push back bushes to make sure we weren't hitting a large branch.  Put some new scratches on the camper  , but Chuck thinks they will wax out.  We loved the campground, though, and hope to return again.

 

We stopped at a Walmart and ended up spending about 2 hours there stocking up and finding some "old People" kayak seats.  We finally settled on padded boat seats (more later).  Then we got off the highway to get gas and got stuck in construction, which was time-consuming and hard to navigate through.  We drove only 123 miles…oh well, before we stopped at what turned out to be a cruddy campground with a big puddle out our door.  The toothless attendant said we couldn't stay there if we didn't have a current rabies certificate for Daisy.  Fortunately, I found the receipt from her last vet visit that I had scanned into my computer.  Not surprising that August 10th was not our best day….it was the 2nd anniversary of the disastrous surgery that nearly killed me.

Thursday August, 12th

We left the ugly campground hoping to find a nice place to stay and go for a paddle to try out our new "old-people-seats" before the day's end.  The Vermont Mountain Region is beautiful and Rt. 2 winds along various rivers.  We saw numerous moose and elk-crossing signs, but one was special

 So you tell me!  If you see a moose are you going to brake, or just barrel on through it?!!

Some of the roads were very humpy-bumpy and even steeply banked, which made our top-heaviness evident.

We stopped at a tiny town called Danville.  It was just like a page out of the early 1900's.

When I went inside the general store, complete with snow shovels, I discovered it was also the post office and the craft store; a big yellow dog lying on the old scarred oak floors in the middle of the food aisle.

 It also had a lunch counter, so I texted Chuck, who was still in the RV, and told him to come inside and have a bite to eat.  I asked the proprietor what is a "grinder" (on the menu).  I was imagining ground beef or sausage, but he said it was a hoagie.  Chuck read the paper while we waited for our food and I chatted with a local couple a few seats down.

We pulled into Pleasant River Campground at about 3 PM, and it was a pleasant surprise.  The owners were very nice and they had a nice big spot for us in the trees.   And to our delight, they said they would take us and our kayak up the Alder River for $20.   Just what we were looking for!
The campground had lovely trails which we assume may be snowmobile trails, but forgot to ask.  Daisy enjoyed a nice walk after dinner.  We decided to stay there two nights.

Friday August 12th, 2011

At 11:30 the campground owner shuttled us up river about 7 miles.  We always feel just a little anxious when we're dropped off in the middle of nowhere, with spotty-at-best cell signal, no idea what this river will hold (and will our old-people-seats work out?).    At least we don't have to worry about alligators and poisonous snakes, like in Florida and South Georgia.  It was a cloudy day, 72 degrees and threatening rain (yes, I packed our jackets), so there was no one anywhere nearby, but here goes!  The Alder River turned out to be more swift and wider than any we had experienced.  There were even some mild rapids where we shouted "yahoo" as we had learned from the guide on the Nantahalia River years ago. 
There were also some shallow areas where we struggled to get over the rocks and chuck cracked his paddle pushing us off one area.  Fortunately, it held out for the balance of the trip.  Since then, he's JB-Welded it.  Even after stopping twice for a rest and once for lunch, it took only 3 hours and we were disappointed when we came to the turn in the river that would take us to the campground.  The old-people seats turned out to be just the ticket.  It was much easier to paddle sitting higher and the lumbar support kept our butts from going numb. 

When we returned to our campsite, we discovered new neighbors in a tent.  Yikes, they had a huge pit bull dog who wanted to eat Daisy, and we knew we'd have to let him have her if he escaped that leash he was lunging against.  Additionally, the five campers looked like mutants from the hills, and were scary even sans-dog.  The teenage girl was sitting at the picnic table as we approached, and she had to know her jeans were showing her whole naked backside!   We would have left the next day, even if we'd planned to stay longer.  That dog was truly vicious with his hair raised as he lunged at us.  When we were nearly out the door with daisy for a trail walk after dinner, we saw that monster with the pale yellow eyes come flying by our camper.  He was off his leash!!.  Thank goodness we hadn't left just a minute earlier.  Most campgrounds will not allow the large dog breeds with reputations for being dangerous.

Saturday, August 13th

We traveled more bumpy, curvy roads to Bar Harbor Maine.  We saw scores of antique stores all through Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.   Hadley Pointe Campground, Bar Harbor, where we had reservations for five nights, turned out to be the least favorite of our sites.  All the campers circled around a big field where children and families played various games, which was a nice view.  Chuck pointed outside  and said "now, that's America".   We could not get level, so the campground greeter, Walt, suggested we pull out into further into the field, away from the shade trees.  

We regretted that we were taking up part of the play area (though there was plenty left) and apologized to the families next to us.  They said they didn't mind at all, and about 30 minutes later came bearing gifts….delicious candy cotton martinis.  We got all set up and went out to our lawn chairs with our Bose   and turned up the Buffet tunes (via Pandora Radio).   Turns out they have parrot heads in Maine, too!  They asked us to turn it up and later asked us to join them around their campfire.  We had so much fun learning the Maine vernacular such as cucca suckah, which is Maine-speak for poop sucker,  or the honey wagon that pumps out holding tanks. We got lot's of laughs over that one, trying to pronounce it.  We also learned a new phrase; "drier than a popcorn fawt" (fart).  We danced and sang and had a wonderful time, until Walt came by and told us to quiet down. 

Sunday, August 14th, 2011
Sadly our new friends left and we hugged and promised to try to get together again next summer.  We were tired and needed a break from sight-seeing, so I put some comfort food in the crock pot and washed three loads of clothes while Chuck removed and modified the screen door that wasn't closing properly.  Later we attempted to find the  to beach that was advertised to be a five minute walk.  After 15 minutes, we could see the water in the distance and turned back, as we weren't up for a long walk.
Monday August 15th

It was a dreary, mostly rainy day so we went for a long drive around Mt Desert Island.  We ate lobster rolls at a restaurant on the water and shopped around the busy Bar Harbor town for a bit.  Then we drove to toward Northeast Harbor and spotted Bear Island, where I had the most wonderful time last year.  Christian and Holly and the kids go every year and I got to join them on the private island for a very special vacation.  It felt a little sad to view it longingly from a distance of about 1700 feet.  In Northeast Harbor, we went to the Dockside Restaurant for a snack of their homemade onion rings (bad, bad, bad!).   When we returned to the camper, we took Daisy for a long walk.

Thursday, August 16th

We woke up to constant rain which lasted all day.  We didn't have "real" rain gear, only nylon, slightly rain-proof jackets, so we mostly stayed inside, played cards and drank bloody marys.

 Wednesday, August 17th

Finally, it was a gorgeous sunny day, so we (Daisy too) headed for Acadia Park.  We discovered that everyone in the Northeast had the same idea.   The traffic throughout the park was heavy.  At the visitor center we hoped to get a trail map so we could decide which trails to hike, but it would have taken 30 minutes in line to get one.  So we bought our park pass and played it by ear.  We drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain to discover a traffic jam at the top.  We later heard that they closed it temporarily because of the heavy traffic. We walked all around the summit and saw breathtaking views of the ocean and ponds and a cruise ship in Bar Harbor. 

 It took some doing after that to find a parking spot at Thunder Hole, but it was worth it.  The crashing waves against the rocks are quite a sight to behold.   It took a few hours to complete the park loop, making various stops when we could find parking. 

 I was disappointed that we didn't get to hike a trail, though.  Back "home" for a rest then out for dinner at a good water-side restaurant where we dined on lobster at sunset.  We went for a long smokey walk back at the campground where the woods were thick with campfires.