Maine - what a beautiful state!

Although this is not the first time we've been to Maine, we're still amazed by the beauty and remoteness of many areas.  We had a wonderful 2 weeks "camping" at my cousin's house near Bangor and truly enjoyed the surrounding areas.  Here are a few of the highlights:

Baxter State Park and Mount Katahdin

We made it to the top this time!!!  After Hurricane Irene passed the weather was beautiful for our 2nd attempt on Mt. Katahdin (the 1st time was unsuccessful in 2008 due to the tail of a hurricane in the area).  On August 31 we made it to the top!  We went up the Hunt Trail (AT - Appalachian Trail) and down the Saddle.  As we started the climb the day was beautiful but quite windy compared to the weather forecast of 5-10mph winds (which brought back memories of the last time on the mountain with strong winds).  As we finally made it over the hump of large boulders to the Table Lands (nice flat area for the last stretch until the summit) the winds started to subside and by the time we made it to the top the weather was picture perfect!  Bright sunny skies, clouds off in the distance and little to no winds.  We ended up spending an hour on the summit enjoying our lunch and time with several others enjoying the day on top.  There were many people ending the AT on this day after being on the trail for 5 months.  I cannot even begin to imagine the feeling they were having at that time.  We overheard one couple saying it was not sinking in yet and probably would not until they started to use a flush toilet again.  How different life will be after spending 5 months in the wilderness and then back to reality again.  

Click here for more pictures of Katahdin and Baxter State Park

Acadia, Lubec and Quoddy Head State Park
We spent several days driving around the area to view the beautiful coast of Maine.  We took a trip to Schoodic Peninsula (the other part of Acadia not many people visit which is just as beautiful but without the crowds), the town of Lubec  (the eastern most town in the US) and West Quoddy Head (the eastern most point in the US).  Now we know 3 additional points we must make it to - southern most (Key West, FL), northern most (Northwest Angle, MN) and western most (Cape Alava, WA).  The hiking in Quoddy Head State Park was amazing.  First we took the inland trail which meandered through thick Pine forests and brought us out to the rocky and breezy coast.  The smell of Pine with the salt ocean air is something which needs to be bottled. 

Quoddy Head State Park

Green Point - Quoddy Head State Park

Hunting Camp

We took a 3 day trip with my cousin, Lamar, to a hunting camp he spends time at each year.  This cabin reminded us so much of the cabin we miss dearly near Hegins, PA (where we were engaged).  A great little place tucked away in the woods with total privacy and beauty surrounding it.  On the way to camp we took a nice drive around the area in search of moose - no luck.  :-(  We found out we're about 3 weeks early to see them roaming around as they are in hiding before the rut.   

We stopped at Moxie Falls where we took a hike to these beautiful falls while drinking our Moxie soda which is made in the area (let's just say it's a soda I don't really need to try again but Tom sort of liked it).

We also reached a point we didn't know was in Maine - the halfway point between the Equator and The North Pole - pretty cool!  It's amazing how much is out there to see and do which we have no idea is there. It's so wonderful to be able to see so many incredible things.  

We were scheduled to take a canoe trip down the Kennebec River but due to the amount of rain (although nothing like that in PA ) we were unable to float with the river being a tad too high for our comfort level.  We may have ended up in PA on a day trip!  Instead we spent time hiking around camp, relaxing and enjoying the quiet.  Lamar showed me how to make a cobbler over the fire using the hot coals on top of a dutch oven.  Now doesn't this look yummy!  

I even had a guided 4-wheeler tour with Austin.  He was the perfect guide and kept his eye on me to make sure I was ok! 

 

On Thursday we left our cozy home at Lamar & Betsy's and are now in Wells, Maine (approx. 30 miles south of Portland).  It's not quite the remote area up north was but it's pretty in it's own way.  We will have almost 3 weeks here to explore the area and perhaps even get in some beach time.  Til next time...happy trails!

 

TB Free survived Irene

home sweet home

All is well in Detroit, Maine (just west of Bangor).  We hunkered down next to my cousin's house and waited out the storm.  There was lots of rain on Sunday and the winds started in the afternoon.  We lost power around 5:30pm until 1am.  Even without power we enjoyed a wonderful surf-n-turf dinner lit by Coleman lantern. 

my cousin Lamar and our upcoming dinner

Our awesome dinner with Lamar & Betsy

This morning we woke up to beautiful blue skies and bright sunshine.  Jean, their horse, is even smiling this morning with her head poking out of the barn to get a little fresh air.  Although the storm was not too bad here, I'm hoping we don't go through too many of these! 

Jean

Tuesday we head up to Baxter State Park (moved back a day due to the weather) to climb Katahdin on Wednesday.  We'll tent camp in the park for 3 nights.  The weather looks great for the rest of the week so we plan to have a great hike and make it to the summit this time (we did not make the summit in Sept. 2008 due to the tail of a hurricane in the area producing crazy winds on the mountain)!

Til next time...happy trails!

Cape Cod/Nantucket/Boston/Irene

Gray's beach - on the Cape

Morning fog on the "pond" in our campground

view from our campsite

Cape Cod is such a beautiful area.  We've been here for 2.5 weeks and have really enjoyed the beaches, biking and just touring around.  We are both very shocked at how wooded this entire area is.  We expected more open space and sand and were pleasantly surprised at the beauty of the thick woods.  We biked many miles along the Canal at the entry to the Cape as well as on the Cape Cod Rail Trail.  What beautiful trails with views of many ponds (what we would really call a lake) and even side trips to a Lighthouse or two (just for you, MaryEllen!).  Lounging on the beaches has also been a favorite of ours but up here the water is a little chillier than back home...58 degrees!  Let's just say it's a quick dip in and out of the water. 

Harbor Seal in Chatham

Nantucket was a great day trip by ferry although we certainly could have spent several days touring the island.  We took our bikes on the ferry so that we could quickly see as much of the island as possible and to get out of the busy downtown of Nantucket.  We biked to the east end of the island past Sankaty Head Lighthouse and into the little town of Sconset for lunch.  As we were enjoying our lunch we were approached to be in a commercial for the Steamship Authority (the ferry).  They had watched us ride into town and since we didn't look like most of the tourists in town (not quite as fancy :-) ) they were interested in filming us on our bikes.  We were a little hesitant that this may be a scam but we grabbed our bikes and met them on a beautiful small road next to the ocean for our hour-long photo/video shoot.  We rode our bikes back and forth on this road as they filmed in several ways and then also walked our bikes a time or two.  We're to look on their website next spring for the commercial.  This hour of fun also paid for our ferry ride back to Hyannis.    

Brant Point Lighthouse

Nantucket

our awesome film crew

 Boston was let's say...an interesting day.  We took a trip with our neighbors (and new friends/card buddies), Joe & Barb, to the big city.  Let me start by saying DON'T DRIVE IN BOSTON!  The best part was we were able to start our day with touring Sam Adams and having a few samples.  From there it went a little downhill as we had a very difficult time negotiating the streets and traffic and deciding we didn't want to pay $26 to park for 60 minutes!  We did get to see a lot of the city from the car but were more than thrilled to be out of the city and back to our cozy campsites.  

Irene is the talk of the campground for those of us living in the trees right now in our homes on wheels.  Do we stay...do we go west...what do we do?  We've made plans to head north tomorrow (Saturday) to my cousin's house near Bangor, Maine.  We feel we should be pretty safe there as the winds will not be as bad as they are expected closer to the coast.  We expect to have lots of rain and wind but are hoping for the best and can take cover in his house if needed.   

Next week we plan to camp 3 nights in Baxter State Park and climb Mt. Katahdin, the end (or beginning) of the AT (Appalachian Trail).  Til next time...happy trails!

A day in a life...

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

From Ford dealer...

Our day started with driving an hour from Delaware Water Gap (leaving the beautiful Poconos) to Goshen, NY/Healy Ford to work on TB Free and it's little battery problem.  Thanks to the wonderful guys there they replaced the alternator and sent us back on our way in the afternoon.  

to Woodstock...

Peace!  posing at the monument on the original site w/an actual attendee of Woodstock

Since we had many hours to spare we took a drive to Bethel Woods, NY (as suggested by a friend - thanks, Bill!) to see the original site of Woodstock, the most famous rock concert in history.  

to a Wal-Mart parking lot...  

What should have been a 4 hour drive from the dealer ended up 6 hours but only to find ourselves still 2 hours away from Cape Cod due to a constant torrential downpour.  So....we had no choice but to park the rig in a Wal-Mart for the night (not a word, Dwight & Mel!).  

TB Free (left) - Wal-Mart truck (right)

Now we sit with our coffee and tea blogging from the parking lot - who would have thunk it!  

Catch you on the Cape.  Happy trails!  

 

 

Living the Dream!

It's hard to believe it's been almost 2 weeks since our last post.  I know, many of you are wondering what in the world we are doing that we can't post more often.  Hey, we're busy!  We've got lots of trails in the Delaware Water Gap area to cover, lots of biking trails to cover and don't forget the Delaware River.  We've spent most of our days hiking this incredible National Recreation Area to see the many beautiful waterfalls and lush forests.  We even had the pleasure of seeing a black bear on one of our hikes on the New Jersey side.  What a rush!  Unfortunately he didn't hang around long enough for a photo shoot.  :-(

 

 

 

Dingmans Falls w/Brenda & Joe

We've also spent time on the McDade Recreational Trail on our bikes.  This isn't like the Rail Trails we are used to back home (as we quickly found out when we had to push our bikes up some pretty big hills).  Take me back to my mountain biking days!  This trail runs 31 miles along the Delaware River with great views of the river and lots of variety in the woods.

We had a great float 10 miles down the Delaware River one gorgeous day.  It was nice to see the landscape from a different perspective.  We were fortunate enough to see 4 Eagles during our float - what majestic birds.  The river was crystal clear and the perfect temp for a swim along the way as well as for a picnic waterside.  

Deer, deer and more deer!  We see deer daily, many times in our campground and even right next to our site.  We also see groups of deer every time we drive down to the trails or to the store.  They are not afraid of anyone.  We actually are now bored with them and don't even stop to take pictures (we already took more than enough!).  These guys pictured above are part of a bachelor herd of 10 that we see almost every day either lying down in the woods by the road, grazing in someone's yard or just hanging out by the road.  They are amazing!  They were a little nicer than the bear and did allow us a wonderful photo shoot. 

We truly feel we are living the dream and remind ourselves of this almost daily!  We're not taking for granted what we are doing as we know we are very fortunate to have this opportunity.  Ahhh...home sweet home! 

Til next time...happy trails!