Stonington, Maine Sept 18, 2019

It was another scenic drive from Sullivan to Stonington.  Stonington is just as you would picture a coastal Maine town to be.   Bobby and Valerie have a home with a view of Penobscot Bay. The Greenlaw Campground where we will stay is just a mile away.

This is a view of the surrounding area from Caterpillar Hill before crossing the bridge to Deer Isle

                      We set up at camp, then drove to their house.  Sorry the truck hood and antenna also got into the picture!

This view of the bay is from the front door.  The home was built in the 1920's and the stained glass is the original piece.

                           This is the same view, but from the loft on the third floor.

                  And another from the lower level of the back yard.

On the second level, Bobby has his vegetable garden.  There is another sitting area on the third level within the rocks.

But, it will need new chairs since this one collapsed when Bobby sat in it.  Thankfully Valerie heard his cries for help and assisted in getting him out of it.

Bobby has claimed the mud room as his to display his fishing gear.  The wooden fish on the wall was carved by Valerie's father.

Valerie was busy in the kitchen.  We were treated to seafood chowder and freshly baked baguettes that Bobby has learned to make.  Can't you almost smell the bread?

Valerie doesn't particularly like her picture taken, but she did hold up this eagle that her dad carved so I could get a picture of it.  You can see the beautiful tongue in groove paneling in the loft and one of the cozy arm chairs.

                                             Here is a duck he carved.

                                             and one of a wooden Indian.

Valerie heritage is part Abenaki Indian.  In the loft hangs an authentic ceremonial deerskin dress and artifacts from the tribe.  She has worn this dress at various pow wows in the past.  Behind Bob is another area of the loft that has two twin beds on either side of the room and a desk.  After the house tour and the scrumptious meal, we played several games of cards before heading back to the camp.













 





 



Schoodic Peninsula Tuesday Sept 17 2019

Today's adventure was a return to Schoodic Penisula, a second part of Acadia north of Cadillac Mountain.  We've been here twice, and it still inspires awe, although not quite as dramatic this visit  because the seas were a lot calmer, and not crashing over the rocks as in the past.  Nonetheless, it is a majestic vista...hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

 

Acadia National Park and Mount Cadillac Monday Sept 16 2019

Bob thought he knew the way to Schoodic, but we were actually heading to the Bar Harbor part of Acadia and Mount Cadillac.  That's ok...we wanted to see this again, and also made a side trip to Lamoine before stopping for lunch.

At  1530 feet, the mountain is the highest point on the North Atlantic seacoast, and the first place to see the sunrise from October thru May.  

The views are spectacular

                       The park loop has many turnoffs to allow viewing the scenery.

From there, we went to Lamoine State Park which was a lot less crowded...

                             if you didn't mind sharing the coast line with seagulls.

Lunch was at Ruth and Wimpy's...we ate here on our last visit in 2010.  Nice to see a mom and pop kind of place was still in business.









Sullivan, Maine Sept 15 2019

The ride was again bumpy until we got around Bangor, but then not too bad the rest of the way into Sullivan.  Our three night stay is at the  Acadia Seacoast Campground, right on Flanders Bay.

Across from the bay is a view of Cadillac Mountain in one of the three parts of Acadia National Park.

We are situated at a tidal basin in a southern part of the Bay of Fundy.

Our site is described as waterfront...

But, that depends on what time the tide is in!!

Doesn't matter...still makes for a pretty sunset.

 

 

 

Last Day at Moosehead Lake - Saturday Sept 14, 2019

(Remembering Uncle Joe and Carolyn today).  We had checked the weather forecast for our three day stay. There was a good chance of rain today, which is why we went on the cruise yesterday.  And the report was accurate.  We woke up to 44 degrees with a "feels like" 39.  It rained and drizzled most of the day and was windy and down right chilly!  It was a good day for a little sight seeing in a truck with the heater on!

So we drove west past Rockwood and stopped at the dock across from Mt Kineo.  There is a boat shuttle that you can take to the state park on the rock island, but it is a primitive area with only hiking trails.  Legend has it that one of the earlier settlers died trying to cross this channel on snow shoes when it was iced over.  He was found upright with just his head sticking out of the frozen lake.

We pulled into a turnoff to get a view of the Kennebec River which flows from Moosehead Lake.

                                 The stormy day made for an angry river.

At another turnoff, we took a road 5 miles to Indian Pond.  Again we wondered what we had gotten ourselves into on this two way lane!

But the potholes and ruts were worth it.

                                  The pond is popular for small bass fishing.

And a 14 day stay is permitted for primitive camping at $5 per person each night.

We thought we might get lucky and see a moose within this boggy area, but none appeared.  Tomorrow we will head down to coastal Maine where we will stay for a week.

 



 

 



 

 

Cruise on The Katahdin Friday Sept 13, 2019

Instead of the seaplane ride, we opted for the 3 hour cruise aboard a 1914 steamboat (now diesel powered), The Katahdin.

  She sets sail from the marina at Greenville Junction.

     The harbor looks very picturesque.

                                We sighted another seaplane taking off.

                            This is Kelly's Landing as seen from the lake.

Moosehead has about 4000 miles of shoreline; about 80 islands; is the largest lake in Maine; and the largest mountain lake in the east.  Its shape is said to resemble a head of a moose, thus its name.

In the far distance, looking ghost-like is Mt Katadin, Maine's tallest mountain at 5127 feet.  The Penobscot Indians gave it the name, which means "greatest mountain".  For some reason, the steamboat was named after the mountain.

A five hour cruise would go to Mount Kineo, a 700 foot rock that juts out of the lake.  At one time, it was a popular resort.  Now part of it is a privately owned golf course, and the rest a state park accessible only by boat.  An 8 hour cruise would take you to the headwaters of the lake.  We were halfway through our ride at this point, and the boat turned to go back to port.

The captain announced that anyone who would like to steer the boat could come up to the wheelhouse to do so on this leg of the journey.  So, I did!  It was actually very hard to keep the boat going straight.  The captain warned me it would keep trying to veer left.  One of the crew took this picture.

Here is where Bob and I sat on the second level at the stern under Old Glory.  It was truly a glorious day and memorable trip, especially since I had misgivings since it was Friday the 13th.

Back on land, we stopped at Moosehead Traders, a shop with wonderful handcrafted furniture and décor.  I sat on this moose's lap 9 years ago.  It was totally coincidental that our outfits were so similar!  We again bought some Maine t-shirts, as we did on the last visit.

And we ended a perfect day with a warm campfire before heading in for the night.