Category Archives: Maine

Leaving Maine

July 26, 2007

Lobster traps, lobster traps everywhere. I spent Tuesday exploring Deer Isle, little island due south of Bangor, Maine. After a good breakfast at the Pilgrim’s Inn I started my drive around the island, camera in hand. It was foggy most of the morning which made for quite beautiful pictures, even though I wouldn’t have minded a little sunshine on the rocky coastline from time to time.   After lunch at a little local place I headed towards Acadia National Park. The 50 mile drive took me over 2 hours, stopping taking pictures. At this point I am suffering from lobster trap fatigue. They are everywhere piled high like the garbage in NYC.

Lobster traps in Stonington, Deer Isle.

Lobster traps in Stonington, Deer Isle.

I took a drive through the western portion of Desert Mountain Island. The weather changed constantly, sunny inland and totally foggy by the water.  Nevertheless, Maine is beautiful. I will have to come back to spend more time actually hiking in Acadia.

kids clam digging, Deer Isle.

kids clam digging, Deer Isle.

Spent the night at a Motel 6 in Bangor, clean and quiet.

I had a very late start on Wednesday. I felt very tired despite a good night’s sleep.   Started heading west on highway 2. Passed thru a lot of small towns/villages. If I had stopped at every possible photo op I would have never made it to Bethel, just 170 miles west of Bangor. The landscape, including the old cars and other junk in the front yards, reminded me very much of upstate New York.

I drove thru Rome, past Peru and took a break at the Belgrade Lakes. Wow, that place is beautiful and so peaceful.

Road sign

Road sign

I spent the night in a motel just off highway 2, very clean and extremely quiet, the humming of the fridge was the loudest sound around.

Contemplating if I should drive to Paris or Sweden before I head over the border to New Hampshire. Hoping to get out of New England soon, feels like my back yard and I would rather spend more time in the mid west & west.

Road sign

Road sign

So far, the hardest thing has been to let go, not following a schedule. Making sure to have a place to sleep at night is still a little stressful. I picked up a directory for Motel 6 as well as a directory of the KOA campsites. I am not camping until my cold is gone.

Sign at bookstore near Whallonsburg

Sign at bookstore near Whallonsburg

Off to breakfast. Not sure when I’ll be able to send this update.

OK, I made it to Burlington, Vermont. I didn’t go to Paris, instead I visited Berlin and Milan in New Hampshire. Driving thru the outskirts of the

Fire engine

Fire engine

White Mountains was nice. The mountains don’t seem very high. They are, however, very rugged compared to the rolling hills of Vermont. Didn’t pass thru too many small towns in NH, more winding mountain roads. Drove thru a covered bridge crossing into Vermont, very neat.

I drove the last 40 miles to Burlington on the interstate. It was nice going 70+ mph (65 is speed limit) after driving on average 45 mph for the last days.

I am staying at the Econo Lodge, the first and last time, I hope. Couldn’t get anything else that would not have broken my bank. It is time to start camping.

Off tomorrow to the Niagara Falls, hopefully I find a place to stay. Not sure if I even make it all the way. It is a very long drive from Burlington. Can’t wait to get to Michigan in a couple of days.

Sorry this e-mail went on a little longer than planned.

Good night.

P.S. Let me know if you prefer not to receive any further travel e-mails.

P.P.S. I need a name for the truck. Have to call it something when I talk to it. It’s a white Dodge Dakota. Suggestions please.

Maine

The other day I was rummaging through my bookshelves when I came across a booklet with collections of e-mails I had written during my first road trip in 2007.  That 10 week, 12,000 mile trip was the inspiration for my extended road trip in 2010.  These e-mails were only shared with a small circle of friends back then.  Now that I have this blog I thought I’ll share them with the rest of you.  Just reading a few pages made me nostalgic for the road.  One of these days I’ll be back in my camper traveling the little roads of this country.  By the way, I didn’t have a camper back in 2007.  Only a truck, which my boss loaned me, and a tent.

July 24, 2007

Wow, after a weekend in Provincetown I finally arrived late last evening at the Pilgrim’s Inn in Deer Isle, Maine. What a beautiful little place.
Leaving the Cape yesterday took a little longer than expected due to a flat tire. The hole was tiny, but in a bad spot. It got plugged, however, the mechanic suggested that the tire should get replaced. After a quick phone call to the NJ dealer it was decided to put on the spare, which is not a donut, but a full size tire. Found a very nice mechanic in Chatham who switched the tires, for a mere $10. I would have never figured out how to remove the spare.
Off I went, it was after 2 PM and I still had 7 hours ahead of me. Unfortunately, the weather was less than nice. North of Boston it started to rain, heavy from time to time. The pick-up handled it nicely. Due to the time of day and the weather I missed the beautiful Maine coast. I am glad that I don’t have any further reservations, it is too stressful trying to be somewhere on time.
I passed South China on my way to Belfast, only in Maine.
Today I will take it easy, walking around Deer Isle

Deer Isle Maine - Mill Pond

Deer Isle Maine – Mill Pond

and driving up to Bangor, where I’ll stay in a motel over night. Not sure yet if I skip Acadia Nat’l Park altogether and save it for another trip or if I just drive thru it. It is still misty and rainy and I don’t feel like setting up tent under those conditions. I tested the tent when I was in Provincetown, easy set-up and the tent felt almost larger than my NYC apartment.

Don’t know when and where I have internet connection again, but I’ll try to stay in touch.

Thanks for reading to the end.

P.S. I am considering to get “Depends” sounds better than having to find a rest stop. The side of the road is OK, but not when it is raining Emoji