Editor’s note: this is the fourth installment of Larry’s Blog about the epic motorhome trip he took with partner in crime Sue and Corgi dog Maggie May — 10 Weeks, 34 States, 14,000 Miles And Still Married. We resume at the 8,000-mile mark. Here’s Larry:
Finally, after 8,000 miles we arrived at the Maine Coast as close to the Canadian Border as you can be without actually traveling into Canada. Wanted to but we left our passports at home! And they were on the list! I blamed Sue but it was probably my bad.
Click on images to enlarge.
We were really looking forward to Maine and highly anticipated. All that water and the coast had hundreds of miles of broken terrain offering many choices to explore. Hey, the name of the game was to stay off of main roads and see where those side roads went. And it was very successful!
We arrived during some inclement weather with the wind blowing forty miles-per-hour, it soon cleared up and — while not warm — certainly decent weather for the time of year. We enjoyed exploring the nooks and crannies of the Maine Coast and continued to find great places to camp along the way almost right on the water.
Again, boat launch sites were our favorite, but exploring one peninsula while looking for a campground we could see from the mainland, we found a resort that catered to Vietnamese children adopted by US citizens.
It was closed but we were able drive in and park right near the water — our favorite. We were relaxing in the motorhome when we spotted a guy walking by, so I jumped out and started talking to him. Turns out he lived right near the resort and was in charge of the facility!
Asked him if it was OK to camp there on the grass and he said “Sure. You seem like nice people.” Talked fishing and area, turned out to be a super nice guy. We enjoyed the scenery and just stayed one night. Found a water faucet and filled the motorhome with water — our biggest need of the trip, as it turned out.
Our destination in Maine was Bar Harbor located on Mount Desert Island. Now, why would anyone name an island on the beautiful Maine coast Mount Desert, I’ll never know, but Mount Desert Island is a pretty big island and the Acacia National Park is located on it.
Look at the map picture and try to visualize just how much there is. Just driving around the island took pretty much of a day. And the food? Well, maybe the thousands (yep!) of lobster traps in the harbor would be a giveaway. Lobster is the prime tourist attraction there and we ate our fill, for sure.
We signed up for a two hour boat tour that was pet friendly, so Maggie got to go with us instead of being cooped up in the motorhome. Nice thing about being there after Labor Day is that the tourist crowds have thinned out. During the peak summer season the boat is packed, but on our trip it was maybe half-full! Easier to see the scenery.
The tour pointed out the mansions along certain parts of the shore and they were pretty spectacular. A while back there was a huge fire that wiped out many of them, but most got rebuilt. The view of Bar Harbor from the water was pretty spectacular. Lots of cliffs and inlets.
At one point the boat captain drove us over to a small island where he stopped the boat and drifted. He got out his jigging fishing pole and soon brought up a nice size fish. He killed it and then waved it over his head towards the shore where a nice size eagle was sitting. The captain then threw the fish back into the water and here came the eagle swooping down for his snack! Everyone on board got a big kick out of that.
Soon enough the boat trip was over and we certainly enjoyed the experience, well worth the money spent.
We didn’t camp at one of the expensive campgrounds, but found a nice little boat ramp away from the busy part of the island for our free camping spot. Hey, at eight miles per gallon in the MH we needed to save some traveling bucks! Plus we get away from the crowds.
Leaving Bar Harbor we discovered Boothbay Harbor. A popular tourist stop with great eating establishments and a great harbor. It’s hard to describe Maine so I’m going to post some pics that will tell the story. Maine was the best state on our trip and we’d love to go back and spend a month or two there.
Your right, Maine is the best. I looked forward to that state for 4 months while hiking north from Georgia on the Appalachian Trail in 1991. You would have capped your vacation trip if you had gone to Baxter State Park and hiked up Mt. Katahdin — it’s summit is the end of the Appalachian Trail. Please continue your enjoyment of “The Great State of Maine” by reading Louise Dickinson Rich’s books. Thanks for this nice post.