Coleman State Park

OUR LAST DAY HERE (THIS TRIP).

Day 39 – It was very humid & 66 degrees this morning. Fully cloudy. This our last day here. It’s been a wonderful ten days. Tomorrow we leave for Vermont. One thing I forgot to mention, and it’s not happy news: we found out why we haven’t seen any moose here this trip and why we only saw a couple of them in 2018. We saw a NH State policeman at Subway the other day and he was very talkative. We asked him where all the moose were, and he said that the ticks have really put a damper on the population, and that if you do happen to see one, it will probably be emaciated, and you’ll see places where it is bare, having lost chunks of fur. (In NY there’s been a “Deer Wasting Disease” talked about in the past couple of years. Maybe ticks are also causing that problem?) Bummer!

MORNING ON THE LAKE.

Day 38 – It’s supposed to rain late this afternoon. Very cloudy this morning with some wind, 60 degrees. We took the kayaks to Little Diamond Pond, the lake within walking distance from our campsite. No one was there. First time this visit here that there were no fishermen at the lake in the morning; no boats on the Pond.

KAYAKING THE RIVER, DAY 2.

Day 37 – It’s warming up. 50 degrees this morning, partly cloudy. We went back to the Magalloway River near Errol again, but launched at a different location. This gave us new territory to cover. By the time we got in the water it was almost 70 degrees. There wasn’t much of a breeze and it was a lot warmer today.

KAYAKING THE RIVER.

Day 36 – Dessert was NOT chocolate cake; we got too full on Scampi. We slept well. We do better when it’s cool. 44 degrees again this morning. We dumped tanks and filled with fresh water. All set for the rest of our stay here. Chores done, we waited for it to warm up. We are going to go river kayaking today on the Magalloway. This is a beautiful river which flows from the north into Lake Umbagog. The Androscoggin River flows out of Lake Umbagog at the town of Errol. Below the dam in Errol, it turns into white water and people take river rafting trips there. We prefer the calmer waters of the Magalloway. There are at least three boat launches for us to choose from and we’re going to the northern one. It’s located at Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge north of Errol off of Highway 16. It is about a half hour east of the campground we’re staying at. Highway 16 is also a popular place to spot moose, and we have seen them several times on other trips.

LAKES. NO MOOSE.

Day 35 – There are only four other campsites being used – middle of the week. It was 44 degrees outside this morning. We actually had to turn on the heat in the RV to take the chill out of the air inside. We’d intended to kayak on the lake, maybe earlier this morning when we’ve heard the water is like glass. At 44 degrees, we decided not to do that after all. We hung around for awhile, then headed out for a drive to Moose Alley, the area above Colebrook to the Canadian border on Route 3. In the fall there are so many moose to be seen that people are lined up in cars along the highway. This is summer & we haven’t seen a moose yet.

TREES AND CAKE.

Day 34 – Last night’s thunderstorms brought the loudest thunder we’ve ever heard. Wow! It rained very hard and the wind was strong. But this morning it was nice & cool again. We hung around for our coffee/tea time, then went into Colebrook, the closest town, and ran some errands: groceries, mostly produce, refilling the propane container, picking up our mail at the post office, and checking e-mail, phone messages, & posting the blog. It was muddy out; we did not see any moose. Yet.

LAZY, LAZY DAY.

Day 33 – Today’s the first day of summer. For a lot of people, it’s felt like summer for months now! Looks like it will be a warm day here. We do not have weather forecasts right at our fingertips here without a signal, but it’s 9 a.m. and already as warm as it was at its peak temperature yesterday. Campers have been clearing out; time to go home – or onward.

TRAVEL DAY: RANGELEY, MAINE TO STEWARTSTOWN, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Day 30 – We had a leisurely morning. Since our drive to the next destination wasn’t long and check-in time there wasn’t until after 1 p.m., we didn’t need to rush out this morning. We had to be out of our campsite at Rangeley Lake State Park by 11 a.m. By the time we packed up and visited the dump station, it was 11:30 a.m. when we departed. 70 degrees and sunny with a breeze. As we left the campground, colorful butterflies flitted in front of the windshield and a beautiful red-orange & black oriole hopped to the ground in front of us & then flew away. I went to take a picture but, oops, someone neglected to replace the memory card in the camera after HE took it out of the camera to download pictures. He was in the doghouse.