New England 10/8 Cadillac Mountain

About 400 years ago, the kings of England and France promised lands here along the northern Atlantic coast to different people. The English eventually prevailed, but the French did leave evidence of their presence. "La Cadie" became "Acadia". The people here were called "Acadians". When the French Huguenots left here and moved to Louisiana, "Acadian" became "Cajun". Cadillac Mountain is named for Samuel Cadillac, a Frenchman who gave up here, moved west, founded the city of Detroit Michigan, and later had a car named after him. (Yes, that car.) Another person given lands here was Champlain, who gave up, moved west, and had a lake named after him.

Cadillac Mountain is on MDI. At 1,530 feet, it is the highest point on the Atlantic coast until you get to Brazil. Last summer we were above 12,000 feet out west, and even back home in Pennsylvania we have Mt. Davis at 3,213 feet. Mt. Katahdin further north in Maine is 5,269 feet.

OK, so Cadillac Mountain isn't really very tall, but that's where we are. From October 7 through March 6, it is the first place to see the sunrise in the United States. And a bunch of people get up early to drive up there to do exactly that. Sunrise is around 6:30 now.

Did you notice that I said "drive"? Well, now that Congress has closed Acadia and all the other parks, you can't drive there. But you can still walk into the park or ride bicycles in. Not surprisingly, few people get to the top to watch the sunrise.

However, on Tuesday, Dottie and I went with Poppa to walk up the Southern Trail to the peak of Cadillac Mountain. Nana decided that a casual stroll around Bar Harbor was more to her liking. We took the car to Blackwood Campground, parked, and started up the 3.5 mile trail to the summit. The path started out through tall trees. The ground was a collection of granite rocks and boulders, with a web of tree roots running back and forth looking for dirt. Pretty tricky footing for the first mile.

Then the trees gave way to smaller scrub brush and the roots disappeared. Now it was just rocks and boulders, smoother walking for the second mile. The third mile got steeper, and took as much time as the first two miles. The last half mile has some big steps, while Poppa's steps were getting smaller. We had passed 5 couples and 1 younger guy on the way up. He and the last couple got to the top before us. Poppa's right hip was giving out.

Well, the view was great!

Video from the peak of Cadillac Mountain

(Hope that YouTube video works!)

To prove that we were up there:







Poppa didn't think it was safe for hime to go back down the rough trail, so we walked down the road that goes to the main Cadillac Mountain entrance. SLOWLY. Poppa called Nana and asked her to take the bus to the Blackwood Campground, pick up the car, and meet us at the Cadillac Mountain entrance. She got there at the same time we did, which impressed a woman walking down behind us - "Now, THAT'S service!"

We drove to Southwest Harbor and had lunch at the Drydock Cafe and Inn. The building was featured as the hardware store in the 1999 film "Storm of the Century", from a book by Stephen King. They have pictures of the fake snow blanketing the front during filming.

Our waitress, Annie, was born and raised in Southwest Harbor, so she claims the title "Maniac". Some towns here have a "Maine Street".

After we got back to the RV, Dottie and I asked if we could do the hike again tomorrow. I don't think it's going to hapen:




- Tigger and Dottie seeing the country with Nana and Poppa

New England 10/7 Gvt Shutdown is a PITB!

Meanwhile, back in Pittsburgh, Siggie doesn't seem to be suffering from stress:


We didn't leave him on his own for the month. Erin is taking good care of him:


Thanks, erin - hope he doesn't hog too much of the bed:



OK, back to MDI. We went back to Bar Harbor today and browsed through a museum dedicated to the Indians who used to live here. There is evidence that Paleo-Indians lived here as far back as 4000-6000 years ago! More recently, they made some beautiful birch-bark canoes, which have recently been reproduced:







Every village on the island has an Episcopal Church. Some don't have the traditional red doors:







Now the government shutdown is getting to be a real Pain In The Butt! We drove all over today to find the beginning of a trail that Poppa can use to hike to the top of Cadillac Mountain. This is the highest point on the Atlantic coast until you get to Brazil in South America. He doesn't want to miss the chance at this, but has to hike in from outside the park. So far, that wouldn't have been a problem, because lots of people are just parking outside the park and walking in. But on the news tonight there was a story about a woman who hiked in, fell, and had to be rescued. Thismight cause them to tighten up the closure before Poppa, Dottie, and I get started in the morning. Wish us luck and check your piggy banks to see if you can help with bail.

- Tigger and Dottie seeing the country with Nana and Poppa

New England 10/6 Whale Watch

On Sunday we took the bus to Bar Harbor. We walked around for a while, checking out the restaurants and shops. Poppa wants to have lunch here:




And he couldn't resist this fridge magnet:




Bar Island is very close to Bar Harbor:


At low tide, you can walk across a sand bar to it. Poppa might try that Wednesday when low tide is at 8:08 in the morning. If he doesn't get back across the sandbar before 9:30, he'll have to wait until 8:00 in the evening! Dottie wants to stay with Nana that morning, but I want to go with Poppa.

At noon on Sunday we went out on a boat for a whale-watching tour, and got to watch two humpback whales for an hour. Sometimes they were only 75 yards from the boat!

Unfortunately, Poppa's iPhone didn't take very good pictures. Still, it was pretty awesome watching them!


- Tigger and Dottie seeing the country with Nana and Poppa

New England 10/5 Mount Desert Island

Bar Harbor is located on the largest island on the coast of Maine. French explorer Champlain called it "Ile des Monts Deserts" or "Island of the Bare Mountains" because the mountains on the island are bare rock. It is known now as "Mount Desert Island", or MDI. There are 5 harbors on the island: Bar Harbor, Seal Harbor, Northeast Harbor, Southwest Harbor, and Bass Harbor. Bar Harbor is the most famous.

On Saturday we drove around the island to get familiar with it. After lunch, Poppa got to know someone else's dinner:




Have you heard about the government shutdown? One of the things affected is the National Park Service. Unfortunately, one of the biggest attractions on MDI is Acadia National Park. Perhaps the most frequently taken tourist photograph this week is of the Park Closed" signs:




So far, the closing of the park consists of putting up roadblocks and signs at the many entrances. People just park outside and walk in. Maybe the shutdown is just the government's way to get Americans to exercise more. If the park was open, we would have parked at the lighthouse instead of walking half a mile to visit it:



This is the Bass Harbor Head Light, and here is the lighthouse keeper's house:





- Tigger and Dottie seeing the country with Nana and Poppa

New England 10/4 Freeport to Ba Ha Ba

Today we drove from Freeport to Bar Harbor. Poppa put three more "R"s in the box just saying "Ba Ha Ba".

Remember when Poppa said Maine might be the "Mother May I?" state? Well, we saw more rules today when we got on the Maine Turnpike. Among other prohibited things are "Animals, driven, ridden, or led". That means you can't have an animal in front of you, under you, or behind you. Yes, the sign actually said that! Can you imagine how desperate a bureaucrat would have to be to dream up a rule like that?

We saw another sign that said "WARNING: Moose crossing next 17 miles". Poppa was really nervous that a moose would be in front of him, under him, or behind him and he'd get arrested.

Acadia National Park is one of the major attractions here, and it is closed due to the government shutdown. The local sentiment about this was shown in the sign on this Inn just before we drove onto the island:


(Click on the picture so you can read the bottom left corner.)

We have spent many days at KOA campgrounds, and had the first bad experience when we pulled into the one at Bar Harbor. The lot we were given, #104, sloped a lot from back to front. After putting the automatic levelers down, 3 of the wheels were off the ground and the RV still wasn't level. The front two wheels were WAY off the ground. Poppa went to the office and told them the lot was not acceptable. They suggested that he move the RV left or right, forward or back to get it more level. There was no success with that, so back to the office. "All of the other lots in that area are already reserved, but we can put you on an ocean front lot. Oh, yeah, it doesn't have a sewage connection, and it will cost $88 per night instead of $62."

We're going to be camped for 6 nights, so the sewage connection we were counting on would be important. Poppa said %&#@, went online, had Nana call Hadley Point Campground. They could give us a lot without sewage for tonight, then one with for the rest of the stay. Done deal, four miles down the road, and the lots are level.

Tomorrow I'll tell you all about Ba Ha Ba.

- Tigger and Dottie seeing the country with Nana and Poppa

New England 10/3 Bath, ME

Oops - yesterday's post was titled "10/3 Portland" and should have been "10/2 Portland"

Today is Thursday, 10/3, and we're going to Bath, ME.

We walked around a neat old shopping area on the Main Street and then walked around looking at some old houses - kind of boring. There was a neat looking church, so I took this picture across a park:




I promised Nana a picture of at least one of the old houses, so here it is:




Finally we go to the interesting part of the day - the Maine Maritime Museum! This is on the grounds of the old Percy & Small Shipyard, where they used to build wooden ships.

O.K., this is a bad picture of the lower part of a triple-expansion steam engine, but I wanted to show Karen and Joni where it was built:



Now here's the cool part of the tour. They built the largest wooden ship ever in America on the lawn here and slid it down into the water in 1909 - more than a hundred years ago. There is a sculpture that is the same length, width, and height as the real ship, on the same lawn where the ship was built:



The white stuff at the left shows the shape of the bow (front) of the ship; the white stuff at the right shows the shape of the stern (back) of the ship. The six flag poles show the location of the six masts (it was a sailing schooner, designed to carry coal). The flag poles are 70 feet shorter than the masts were! To get an idea of the size of this ship, here is a picture of Dottie and me sitting on the frame of the bow, the left of the picture above:



We're the really small dots in the lower right corner of the picture!

Here is a model of the ship:




Dottie and I crawled into this lobster trap - I wouldn't want to meet a lobster that fits in here:




Right next to the museum is (are?) the Bath Iron Works, which still make ships for the U.S. Navy.

- Tigger and Dottie seeing the country with Nana and Poppa

New England 10/3 Portland

On Wednesday we set out for Portland, but stopped first in Freeport since Nana hadn't been there with us a couple days ago. We stopped at L.L.Bean and saw their trademark shoe:



Look closely to see Dottie and me.

Nana and Poppa aren't very good shoppers, so after a quick stroll through the store we skipped all the other stores and outlet, heading for Portland. First stop was Gritty's Brew Pub for lunch. Poppa liked these paintings in the brew pub:







Dottie and I posed on an old signal buoy:




It's a good thing this guy put out the "<-- Food Truck" sign. Otherwise, who would have guessed it was a food truck?




After walking around the port, looking at shops, browsing through fish markets, we headed for the Portland Head Lighthouse:








Here is the lighthouse keeper's house:




Longfellow visited here:




The lighthouse is pretty tall:




Nobody knows why this ship wrecked here, because visibility was good. Fortunately, everyone survived:




The coast is pretty rugged, with lots of granite:




Did you know roses have hips? They're all over the place:




- Tigger and Dottie seeing the country with Nana and Poppa