TRAVEL DAY: WELD, MAINE TO OUR LAND IN MAINE.
Day 70 – It continued to rain lightly into the night. It was 56 degrees & partly cloudy when Rob got up at 6 a.m. I got up at 6:50 and we quickly made our morning beverages and packed up the RV. We knew it would be a long day. Better to get an early start. We mapped out our route for today; we’re heading to out land in Maine. Hoping for no bugs and that bug season is over, the temperatures are so much cooler there.
We departed Mt. Blue State Park at 8:25 a.m. It was 59 degrees & partly cloudy. The haze of the previous days was gone. It’s going to be a beautiful day! The girls gave us no complaints when we moved them to their travel room. If they’d known how rough the road was going to be and how long the trip would take, they would’ve done tons of complaining.
We drove from the campground back the way we came to Route 2 in Dixfield, heading east on Route 2 again for quite awhile. Route 2 has become our Route 66. It was scenic. There were lots of “watch for moose” signs, but again, we saw no moose. We drove through the western Maine mountains area and into central Maine. Plenty of farmlands & marijuana dispensaries – we still haven’t gotten used to that. One of these “dispensaries” had a HUGE Adirondack chair out front with the back looking like marijuana leaves. We stopped at a rest stop on the Kennebec River – pretty. There were signs letting drivers know to watch out for Amish horse & buggy rigs. Logging trucks went roaring by. We got on I-95 in Newport for a little bit until Bangor when we got off on 1A and headed south to Ellsworth (above Acadia National Park). Traffic increased dramatically near Bangor & Acadia; vacation time is here. Click any icture below to see a slideshow.
There is an App for checking gas prices everywhere. We checked and stopped to get gas in the RV before getting on I-95; the gasoline was cheaper there. The space between gas pumps was narrow, and Rob wanted to make sure the steps up to the RV door didn’t get in the way of any vehicles in the next lane, so he turned off the switch to the automatic step lowering mechanism. Smart move. But when we got back on the road, we noticed the GPS wasn’t working and the car towing brake controller wasn’t working. We stopped at the next rest area and Rob checked to see if we’d blown a fuse. Nope. Having the GPS go out wasn’t concerning, but the car towing brake controller was important because it shows if there’s a problem with the towed car brake system. Nervously, we drove on, Rob figuring he’d check further when we stopped for lunch in Ellsworth.
We make a habit out of stopping at Martha’s Diner in Ellsworth anytime we’re going by. They have the most incredible homemade Crab Quiche. It’s a small, popular diner. They are almost always crowded, but they’ve been around a long time and have always been able to move the people in & out fairly rapidly without sacrificing service and quality. We can usually be in & out in about ½ hour. Rob checked some other places in the RV that might have caused the problem with the GPS and brake controller. Nothing appeared to be causing the issues. We went to Martha’s and got in line to be seated; it was a little after noon and the line was a little bit out the door. As our place in line approached the entry to the diner, there was a sign that said, “Closing Today at 1 p.m. Serving Breakfast Only Today. Sorry, short-handed today. Line Cook Wanted. Closed on Tuesday’s until further notice”. Uh oh! This didn’t look good. We debated whether to leave or not, but the Crab Quiche is THAT good. Getting a table wasn’t the biggest problem, nor was ordering. Evidently there was only one cook doing it all, and it took forever for our food to arrive. It was excellent, service was perfect, and the food we got to go for dinner came right out. But it was over an hour before we got back to the RV. The kitties had long since taken their lunch break & wondered where we went.
Back on the road, at the entrance to Acadia National Park, we headed east on Route 1 towards our land. At this point we were pretty much ready to be there and relaxing. Just two more hours. We encountered road work which was VERY much needed on Route 1. At one point we were directed to a dirt road that had the RV swaying so much we thought we might roll over. Parts of the highway were incredibly rough; hopefully the road will be fixed there, also.
The scenery was gorgeous, the sky clear with a few clouds, and it was high tide. We arrived at our land at close to 3 p.m. The temperature was 70 degrees, very pleasant. We noticed immediately that there were mosquitoes and the large biting horse flies. Disappointing, we’d hoped that bug season was over by now, one of the reasons we left here in the first place. There were lots of mushrooms growing – we’ll check with the local mushroom expert to see if this kind is edible before picking. And there was evidence that someone had been here, which was what a neighbor had reported.
We set about unpacking and hooking up to electricity, water, and septic. We found many other things in the RV weren’t working either. No lights, no fans, the refrigerator didn’t come on, etc. It appeared we had a major electrical problem. Rob continued checking out possible causes. Then he found it: so easy, the switch to the power had been turned off when he turned off the power to the RV steps at the gas station. Phew! This one had us worried.
There were a few bugs in the RV and I went around zapping them with the Mighty Bug Zapper, something all RV’rs should have. It broke. Great, another problem. LOL. When it rains, it pours. Nevertheless, we are glad to be here, cats included, since they always relax readily when we arrive here. We had Crab Rolls and homemade Blueberry Pie from Martha’s Diner for dinner. Oh, and we have internet & phone connections again. The Osprey were flying back and forth, calling to each other. Tomorrow is another day.