LAB on the road

Day 17 – South to Pennsylvania

admin — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 12:43:19 +0000

We left around 8 and took a scenic route over to I-91. We crossed New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, and into Pennsylvania before stopping for the night. The roads were mostly good, but it rained on us most of the day. The trees are still pretty, but nothing like what we left in New Hampshire and Vermont. Wer stayed the night at the Tri-State campground in Milford Pa. Turnes out we stayed at the same campground our last trip to New England! Met a nice French/ Canadian couple at the campground and talked with them for about an hour. They live near Vero Beach in Fl, about an hour from Lake Wales. Been married over 50 years, and still out running around in their motorhome. Nice people, although a little hard to understand!

Day 16 – White Mountain National Forest

admin — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 12:38:19 +0000

Started early and spent the whole day driving the scenic loop around the park and exploring. We hiked to several different waterfalls, including the Basin, the Cascades, and the Flume. The pictures will tell a better story than I can, but it was pretty neat to see pictures posted at the trails of what they looked like in the early 1800s. Some of the trails were pretty steep, especially the flume gorge falls, but in the pics there were women in their fancy dresses at the same place, and we had the benefit of modern stairs, walkways, etc. Awesome.

The cog RR to Mt Washington was awesome. We had ridden one up Pikes Peak before, but it was neat riding the first one ever made. The winds at the summit were sustained 70+ mph with peaks of 120, so they would not go all the way to the top. We stopped 3/4 the way up. Still quite a trip and scenery. One section we went up was a 30′ tall trestle, with a 35 degree turn on a 37 degree slope. Dont you know that was fun to build.

We drove into Glen again and ate dinner at the Margarita Grill where we met several locals who gave us some good insights into a planned return snowmobiling trip.

Back to camp for the evening for our last night here. Tomorrow we head south.

Day 15 – Bar Harbor to New Hampshire

admin — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 12:24:23 +0000

We left Bar Harbor with intentions of driving across highway 2 from Bangor to Vermont and catching I-91 south towards home and avoiding I-95 thru New York and Boston. The drive took us around the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire. The road was designated as a scenic highway on the map. No kidding. This area was awesome, and the tree colors were prettier than Maine or any place we have seen. We decided to stop and spend a couple of days and explore the area, which was chocked full of waterfalls, mountains, trails, covered bridges, and more scenic drives. We stopped at Bretton Woods, right off highway 3, at the Living Waters campground for the night. We unhooked the Tahoe and went for a drive. We got tickets to ride the cog railroad up to the summit of Mt Washington tomorrow. The RR is the worlds first cog RR and Mt Washington is the highest peak in the eastern USA, at a little over 6,200 feet. We ate dinner at the Red Fox Inn in Glen, NH, then home for the evening.

Day 14 – Last Day in Acadia N P

admin — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 12:13:23 +0000

When we got up this morning, it was 56F inside the camper. The thermostat obviously has a problem and wont control anything. The digital display does not even respond to any action so we have no heat or air or anything controlled by the thermostat. Spent most of the morning reading on line about troubleshooting and such. Looks like the thermostat is at least one problem although we have not ruled out mouse related wiring issues!

We spent the morning troubleshooting the HVAC issue. Turns out we have a short or an open circuit in the thermostat wiring between the front roof unit and the thermostat. We ran a new wire inside the camper between the two and everything works fine. We can at least get home like this.

Took a drive out to southwest harbor for their Octoberfest parade and had some good BBQ and listened to a good band. Stopped and got a pound of lobster meat to take home. Came back to camp and built a nice campfire and visited with some other campers. Grilled hotdogs on the fire and watched the TN and Bama games on the satellite dish before turning in. And, during the game we caught the little mouse!! We have enjoyed Bar Harbor but are ready for the next stop along the way.

Day 13 – Into Acadia N.P.

admin — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 13:23:41 +0000

Friday October 7. We woke up to 39F outside temp, and no mouse in the trap! Another beautiful morning in Maine. Skies are blue and little to no wind. The high today is only suppose to be in the 50s, but should get into the mid 70s tomorrow. Hard to believe tomorrow is our last full day here. We started looking at maps this morning of how to get back without taking I-95 back thru New York and Boston, etc. I am sure we will not take 95, even if it means driving out of our way quite a bit.

We decided to drive into town for some lunch, mouse traps, and to drop off some mail. Afterwards we went into Acadia for several hours. The view from Cadillac Mountain was amazing still. We drove around the park loop and out towards Northwest Bay, before heading back. We picked up some firewood along the way and had a nice campfire back at home. We went out to dinner at the Trenton Bridge Lobster Pot. I had a giant lobster! Man he was good. Afterwards and back at camp we watched a movie and some TV, baited some mouse traps, and turned in for the evening. We are having some problems with the heater/ heat pump thermostat not working and having to turn the unit off to stop the heat from running. Pretty sure it may be related to our little mouse friend!

Day 12 – @ Bar Harbor

admin — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:39:06 +0000

We had another good day today. After a relaxing morning we drove around the island, stopping often to take pictures and look around. We walked out to the Bar Harbor lighthouse and took some pictures. Ran into a couple from Dawsonville, Ga. We eventually stopped at the town of Bar Harbor and walked around town. It was quite cool, 44F, and windy so we stayed inside stores and restaurants mostly. Angie had steamed clams for the first time and she loved them. We met several locals and enjoyed talking with them. We stopped and bought a “live capture” mousetrap on the way back to see if we can capture Mickey Mouse the easy way tonight. Also got some firewood and had a nice campfire back at camp before turning in for the evening. Suppose to be down in the 30s tonight.

Day 11 – Drive to Bar Harbor

admin — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 11:38:05 +0000

October 5. We got up rather early after both sleeping well. Angies cold is nearly gone while mine lingers. We pretty much drove US-1 all the way from Wells, Me to Bar Harbor. It was only about 200 miles but took most of the day, partly because of the speed limit and the scenery, but mostly because we stopped at the LLBean store in Freeport to look around and to eat lunch. It is like the whole town is name brand stores. Crazy I am telling you. We ate lunch at this 1972 era Tavern where the documents were signed that separated Maine from Massachusets and established it as a state. The drive on to Bar Harbor was gorgeous. Town after town dots the highway along the ocean which spectacular views all the way. We crossed the Penobscot Narrows bridge as we got close to Ellsworth. It is quite spectacular. We had talked about this bridge earlier on the trip, but thought it was from some other state and some other trip. There is an observation room in the top of one of the two towers that we did not know about before. They say they view is wonderful, but it was late and we were close to our destination. Maybe another time. Hopefully the pictures tell the story.

We got checked in at the Narrows Campground. The wind had really picked up the last several hours of our drive and was really howling now. They put us in a place with no sewer hookups. Thankfully we figured it out before setting up camp so we moved to another site and set up. We are getting pretty quick at the set up and break camp task! We decided to stay in for the evening. Ang made us a great meal with steak, moms squash casserole ( thanks mom), rice, veggies, and bread. We were settling in for the evening, watching TV, etc, when Angie spots this little mouse run across the floor. She had seen it another time on this trip, but we both dismissed it as a shadow, etc. We sat and watched this little guy for what must have been an hour. We can only imagine he is a Tn mouse and a long way from home. I guess we will have to buy a trap tomorrow. Apparently my shoe throwing and mouse catching skills are no match for him! It was a great day and we are glad to be here in Bar Harbor!

Day 10 – Rainy day in Maine

admin — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 11:16:16 +0000

We both slept poorly again. At least the rain on the roof all night was nice when you couldn’t sleep! Hopefully these colds will run their course soon. Today is our last full day here in Wells, Maine. We drive up to Bar Harbor tomorrow. I think it is only about 150 miles along the scenic route. We passed by a lot of neat looking antique shops yesterday that we want to go explore today when the rain slows a little. Also we want to find a place with internet so we can upload some pics while we can still remember where they are from!!

Well, I wrote that in the morning and now the day is done. Turns out we didn’t go look at antiques because it rained all day. We went and did laundry and were able to upload some pics to our site while we waited. Then we headed south to Kittery Maine exploring and then into Portsmouth New Hampshire. We found a Batteries Plus to get a charger for my little camera since I left mine in the shop at home. Kind of a slow day which was fine with us. Then back to camp for the evening. Ready for the rain to be over and to move on north tomorrow.

Day 9 – Lighthouses along drive to Portland

admin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:14:26 +0000

Today was the day with the least chance of rain in the forecast while we are here south of Portland so we had decided to go exploring along the coast today. Angie was awakened from sleep by a yapping dog around 7 am which was not a good way to start the day. She has decided I have actually had a cold, not sinus, and that I have given it to her. She had a fitful night too. We cleaned up the camper and fixed breakfast and headed out around 10 to parts unknown. We traveled north hugging the coastline and passing thru small towns along the way, snapping pictures of homes and the shoreline. We went thru Kennebunkport along the way. It was a neat little town with shops and restaurants and B&Bs.

Our destination for lunch, and really the purpose for the stop in southern Maine, was the Lobster Shack at Two Lights. I had seen it on some food network show. It sits right on the ocean at Two Lights lighthouse and has wonderful seafood. Actually, there are two lighthouses there, only one has been converted to a private residence now and one is still in service. The food was worth the drive up here!! What a wonderful lobster roll and lobster stew!.

Afterwards we drove a short distance to Ft Williams and toured Portland Head Lighthouse. It was quite picturesque, especially with the sun gleaming down and lighting up the surf and the twon of Portland in the background. We drove on into Portland and explored the waterfront. We even went aboard Portlands only floating restaurant for a cold drink before exploring some more. The drive back to camp only took about 45 minutes, even with the stop for a movie and an ice cream! We watched the movie Source Code back at camp and both enjoyed it. By the time it was time to turn in, the rain had already started. Suppose to rain all day tomorrow, then be clear for the rest of our time in Maine! Temperatures have been mild and nice, with highs in the mid 60s. We haven’t been able to post up our pics on Zenfolio in a few days because we dont have a high speed internet connection here. Hopefully we can find one tomorrow and work on that during the rain! Goodnight!

Day 8 – Connecticut to Maine

admin — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:53:15 +0000

We awoke to cooler temperatures and decided to ditch the shorts and opted for jeans for today. After making coffee and checking the final Bama/ Gator score, we left the truck stop at 8 and headed north. The only big city today to dodge was Boston. Since we planned to travel thru New York and Massachusetts and the other 7 states on a weekend, it was not too bad for traffic but the roads are mostly bad around the big cities. We decided to bypass Boston around the western side. It rained on and off most of the day but we made good time thru Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and into Maine. We arrived at the Moody Beach campground in Wells, Maine a little before noon. It is one of the free campgrounds included in our package we got when we bought our camper. We got a nice level and shady spot and will be here three nights. We set up camp in the rain and then rested a while before going exploring. The row of little villages along US 1 here are all pretty and obviously tourist places. We drove along the Atlantic Ocean for miles looking at the storm driven waves crashing the shoreline and the miles of closely spaced homes right against the shore. We found a nice place on the ocean for dinner and started our seafood diet for the next week. I had clam chowder and a lobster roll while Angie had lobster bisque and clam strips! Yum!! Afterwards we drove around explroing some more before coming back to camp to watch a movie “The River Murders” and then off to sleep ( no sudafed!).