APPROACHING DOWNEAST MAINE.
Day 4 – Today we plan to leave southern Maine & stay in the mid-coast region of Maine at Camden Hills State Park. We almost always camped at Camden Hills as a stopover on the way to our land, but then we discovered Belfast. Camden is a great city, but Rockland, Rockport & Camden are close together and are very much touristy areas. We’ve spent lots of time in this area and loved it, but the traffic & crowds make it difficult to maneuver sometimes. Belfast is further up the coast and just as beautiful, but it’s not as crowded & a little more rugged. We also found a great RV Park right on the Penobscot Bay, located just north of the city of Belfast. This is where we stay these days if we can get in. Camden Hills State Park is a large Park and it’s very nice with a wonderful drive to the top of Mount Battie and incredible views. It’s just north of Camden and is our second choice when we’re in this area. The Moorings Oceanfront Campground in Belfast, our first choice, wasn’t opening for the season until May 10th. Camden Hills is open year-round, so we knew we could stay there. Silly us for just assuming……
107 miles, (3:10), 38240-38347
We were up at 7:30 a.m.; the girls let us sleep in. It was 40 degrees and raining lightly. The campground was already muddy & they didn’t need more rain. We enjoyed last night & this morning at the campground. It was very quiet & it’s a good place to stay. After dumping tanks, we departed Wolfe’s Neck Oceanfront Camping at 11:25 a.m. It was 43 degrees with a little rain.
We’d decided to take the coastal route to Camden. Normally we avoid this route – up Route 1 – because of the traffic. But we’d found that this early in the year, there just aren’t that many tourists around, so far anyway. We stopped for lunch at a picnic area, then drove on to Camden. We pulled into the State Park driveway and went up the hill to the campground office. The road to the campground was blocked off near the office although the drive to Mount Battie was still open. We didn’t have enough room to turn around, so Rob had to unhook the tow car so that he could get us back on the right track. He talked to a ranger and she said that they’d be opening in a week; they were waiting for the campsites to dry. What was supposed to be only a 75-mile drive today was turning into a longer trek.
lick any picture below to see a slideshow.
Okay. Now what. Plan A: The Moorings, closed until May 10. Plan B: The State Park. Closed, too muddy. We got out the DeLorme map book, the Passport America book, and the All Stays ap, and while Rob kept driving north, I started looking at all the campgrounds I could find from our research materials from Camden to beyond Acadia National Park and Schoodic Peninsula. Nothing was open yet, although some places were opening within the next day or so. Then I started calling around to try to find a campground that was open. NOTHING, not even at Acadia, until a man answered the phone at a campground in Orland. Orland is about an hour north, then east of Camden. The research materials had said this place was opening May 1 (tomorrow). He said he was out in the campground working on getting the campsites ready & could he call me back when he got to the office. I said we were looking for a campsite for one night. He said he could probably have a site ready. A little while later he called back. Rob was still driving northeast. Yes, he had a campsite for us. YAAAA.
Tonight’s problem was solved, but it dawned on us then, that if places in Maine weren’t open yet, would places in Labrador & Newfoundland be open in a couple of weeks? (You might think, DUH – shouldn’t you have checked that already? And you would be correct. Except we were trying out not planning ahead and just winging it. Not sticking to a timeframe that we had to be somewhere. Staying as long as we like at whatever place we ended up at & liked. We may have to reconsider this new policy, eh?)
We arrived at Bucksport/Fort Knox KOA at 2:45 p.m. It was 53 degrees, the high for the day, sunny and breezy. The site he’d fixed up for us was one of their nicest campsites; he charged us for a cheaper site which was very nice of him. Still, it was $47.14 for one night, the cheaper rate. This is one reason we rarely stay at KOA’s. They are expensive and many of the amenities they offer are not necessary for us. Our campsite was a large pull-through with full hook-ups, a deluxe patio, cable TV, internet, etc. The campground when open for the season, offered a security gate, laundromat, playground, pool, mail service, privacy fence, train ride for the kids, rec hall, deluxe cabins, propane, bocce ball & horse shoes, fenced dog park, camp store, etc. This is why they charge extra, plus the KOA name. KOA members pay an annual fee & get a 10% discount. We were just happy to have a place to stay! We set up at Site #59 while the girls slept on the dashboard, happy to be out of the bedroom.
We went outside and considered sitting out in the sun with our books. No screened tent necessary – much too early & cool for the biting bugs. It was too cool for us, too, with the breeze blowing. Tomorrow we drive to our land in South Trescott, an unorganized territory. The closest city is Lubec which is just across from Campobello Island in New Brunswick, Canada. We’ll be leaving mid-coast Maine and arriving in the downeast region of Maine.
Bucksport/Fort Knox KOA: 32 Leaches Point Road, Orland, ME 04472; (207) 469-7739 or (800) 562-0532; www.koa.com/campgrounds/bucksport; bucksport@koa.com. Because the owner graciously allowed us to stay here before they were officially open for the season, we cannot review the campground when everything is busy. But our stay was great. Other than the owners and several seasonal campsites, we were the only people here. We are very grateful that he opened up for us. More information about this campground, and our opinion of KOA’s in general, is offered in one of the paragraphs above in today’s Blog post. We also want to say that we know people that stay almost exclusively in KOA campgrounds. They love them & think they are perfect for their camping experience. Would we stay here again? Certainly, particularly off-season when not crowded.