Tears Of Frustration Followed By Tears Of Joy

When I left you last, I was telling you the story of our time in Massachusetts.  Hard to believe that was in July and it's almost the end of the year!  So much has happened to us.  Some I'd rather forget...

Tears Of Frustration

We had some difficult truck issues.  Difficult to get a proper diagnosis.  Difficult on the wallet.  Difficult on the travel schedule.  Rainier decided he was done running.  We sat on the side of the freeway waiting for two tow trucks.  One for Rainier.  And one for Raven. 

Rainier is loading while Raven's truck waits behind her

Raven getting hitched up

Ron rode in the lead truck with Raven.  Rufus and I were in the following truck with Rainier.  The hazard lights were flashing the entire way down the freeway.  I can not tell you how unnerving that drive was!

The diagnosis was that we needed two new batteries.  NOPE...  The next driving day we made it less than 70 miles before we got the same engine codes.  To our benefit there was a truck pull-off along the freeway.  This time we decided to call a mobile mechanic.

 

We had plenty of time while waiting for them to arrive.  Compared to sitting on the side of the freeway, we had it much better this time around.  Our house was in tow again so we had the comforts of a toilet and a fridge.  We set up our canopy, I made us some lunch and we ate in the shade while playing a game of Spicy Farkel.

The diagnosis this time was that we needed new fuel filters.  NOPE...  The owner of the mobile mechanic business followed us on the freeway for a short distance before the codes came up again.  We learned that the codes pop up under load while going uphill.  At least we knew what wasn't the issue!  And we knew we could drive without towing.  We parked Raven at a nearby campground, Camp-A-While.  The owners were quite understanding of our situation putting us in a site that would be vacant for three days, just in case.  We only needed it for two days. 

we scored a nice pull through site among the tall trees :-)

By this time we were near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  Rainier had an appointment the following day at Hoffman Ford so off we went.  Rainier was in the shop for the entire day.  Mechanics took a while to figure it out but came to the conclusion that we needed a new inner cooler tube.  Thankfully Ron was able to get a close up look at the part and speak with the mechanic.  We kept our fingers crossed that the third time would be the charm.  This time the diagnosis was SPOT ON!  Rainier proved himself dependable the remainder of our trip :-))

Tears Of Joy

Time to go see Emmett!  YIPPEE!!

We booked seven nights at Cherry Hill RV Park so we could spend as much time as possible with Emmett (and his folks) :-))

and he also likes Opa's truck

Emmett likes Oma's cooking

        

but he LOVES slides :-)

and playing with Opa

One evening we piled into Jessica's car and went grocery shopping at Aldi's.  

I was quite happy sharing the back seat with Emmett!

My brother and sister in law live in Maryland.  When Jessica first moved out there, right after high school, she stayed at their house until she was able to afford her own place.  Last month we weren't in town long enough so I was very glad to be able to get the whole gang together for a BBQ!

my big brother, Rob, and me

After our family time in Maryland, it was time to head back to North Carolina.  We had more work lined up and we also wanted to see Ron's folks again.

From Flowers To Mosaics to Potholes In Shelburne Falls

With Maine in the rear view mirror, it was time to start heading west.  The line of cars and RVs traveling toward Bar Harbor as we left made us glad we were on the opposite side of traffic.  We definitely enjoyed our time in the area though!  Next time we'll plan on a longer stay (without moving the rig) and we'll time our stay better to avoid the holiday crowds.

We were on our way to see Emmett again but we wanted to add a few more states to our US map.  We've already added Pennsylvania, Vermont and Maine.   We decided to spend the night in New Hampshire and earn another new sticker. 

Rufus isn't a fan of fireworks.  In fact, loud noises of any kind startle him and he runs for cover :-(  We wanted a quiet place for the night.  Luckily we found an RV park that had a spot open for the one night.  Ugh, one nighters are getting harder...

Our next stop was at Country Aire Campground in Charlemont, Massachusetts.  Another sticker :-)  By this time in our travels Rufus had also developed a fear of drive days.  As soon as we started the motor he would begin shivering and whining.  He was a wreck!  We found a nearby vet and made an appointment for the next morning.  In the meantime, we went into the small town and found a very interesting sight.

The nearby town of Shelburne Falls is home to Bridge of Flowers.  We truly enjoyed our walk across this unique former trolley bridge.  Bridge of Flowers spans the Deerfield River and also connects the two nearby towns.

as shown on their website

there are several benches for admiring the fragrant views

The bridge is open from April 1st to October 30th.  Their website has a long list of blooms listed by month that you can expect to see.  I honestly had a hard time deciding which photos to include.  We didn't see the 'no dogs' sign until after we were done crossing back over the bridge.  He's a good boy and there weren't too many visitors.  We don't let him lift his leg when it's inappropriate either...

Just down the river is another site worth visiting.  The "Glacial Potholes" began to form after the last glacier age when the Deerfield River first started to flow over these rocks, about 14,000 years ago. 

  
While walking through town I noticed a few mosaics.  They brighten up the walls around the small town.  There are 10 mosaics around town (I discovered this just today) that were created in 2009.  The mosaic artist enlisted the help of the local towns third graders to help decide the historic content of the art.  Here are three that I noticed on our short walk around town.

At the far edge of town is the Visitor's Center.  By the time we made it past it had closed for the day.  The reason we walked past is because there is a hidden geocache nearby.  The downstairs of the building was once the town's jail.  The cache is named Jail House Rock.  We found the log and signed it to earn our smiley and another Geocache Souvenir on our Geocache profile :-)  Honestly, we aren't too good about hunting them out.  We've found a cache in only nine different states.  But we did find some while we were in Japan!

the jail entrance is on the lower right side of the visitor's center

how bleak would this cell be?

two windows, maybe there are two cells?

Saturday morning finds us getting up a little earlier than we usually do.  The local vet was nice enough to squeeze Rufus in at 9:00AM.  Knowing where to go helped as we drove past it on our way back from visiting town yesterday. 

Trailside Veterinary Services took the time to see and diagnose Rufus when other vets in the area said they couldn't, on Saturday of a holiday weekend no less.  I brought Rufus there while Ron stayed behind and got Raven ready to travel.  I was immediately welcomed by the staff.  The friendly woman holding a cat turned out to be the doctor's assistant and not a customer as I had thought.

Once in the exam room Rufus became a bit nervous, as expected.  But he loved all the pets and attention from the doctor and his assistant.  Dr. Galusha took the time to listen to my concerns.  He asked plenty of questions about how Rufus has been eating, eliminating and behaving.  He came to the conclusion that Rufus is likely stressed by the constant moving around.  I suppose our dog is a home body too!  Best course of action is a prescription to help him calm down on drive days.  Half to one whole tablet every six hours as needed should do the trick.  We tried the half tablet first.  It helped, but we had to up the dosage to a full tablet the following day.  Plus we learned to give it to him about 30 minutes prior to departure.

All things considered we had a good visit to the area of Shelburne Falls.  Next time we come past this area I wouldn't mind spending an extra day or two.  Maybe get on a raft and cruise the Deerfield River. 

Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park

When we left our campground in Biddeford, Maine we had planned a stop at Planet Fitness gym in Bangor, Maine.  Lucky for us the parking lot was big enough to accommodate our ginormous truck and trailer combo :-)  Having a gym with nationwide locations allows us to workout and keep fit.  Sometimes it just feels good to get on a cardio machine and lift weights for an hour or two.   

We arrived at Timberland RV Park after the office had closed for the day.  No worries, they left our site number on their front door.  What I found weird was that even though I had made a four day reservation, they had us leaving in two.  I wonder why??  The site was very nice.  Long pull through with good spacing between neighbors, 50 amps and full hook ups.  Forgot to get a picture though.

After a good nights rest I went to the office to see why we had a shortened stay.  I left in a bad mood after speaking with the office people.  They had us moving to a different site in two days (tomorrow actually).  REALLY!!  That kind of stinks because we could be spending our day having fun and instead we're forced to pack up and move.  Maybe it's different for motor home moves but for us it takes a lot of work to hitch up, more so because of the Equalizer WD hitch.  So we called around and all of the local campgrounds were booked.  It was July 4th week after all...  Guess we'll make the best of it and see what's in town.

Bar Harbor is a cute little town full of retail stores, bars, restaurants and plenty to see as well.  We lucked out and got a street parking spot at the north end of town.  We put our quarters in the machine and off we went.  Rufus was more interested in all of the smells but we had an agenda.  We wanted to get each of the boys something to wear that said Maine on it.  We looked in all of the shops and remembered where we spotted the best deals.  Then we went back and made our purchases.  Again, no photos.  I really need to get better at that sometimes.

the one on the far left is named "Beth Said Yes!"

 

Now this is the place for Rufus.  The smells on the grassy area by the pier at the end of town were perfect for his nose.  We put our packages into the truck and headed to get something sweet to eat.

Rufus enjoys his vanilla ice cream :-)

On our way to Bar Harbor (for the second time as we found out the t-shirts we bought were too small for the grand-babies) we stopped in a small store across from the campground.  It's called Maine's Own Treats.  We bought a couple of jellies, some chocolate covered blueberries, honey and maple syrup.  Oh. My. Goodness.  It was all so tasty.  We had to visit a second time so we could buy a larger jar of their strawberry/rhubarb jam.  The 30 ounce jar we bought in early July is already half empty so I may just have to place an online order myself. 

it doesn't look fancy on the outside

but the inside is full of delicious goodies

shelf after shelf of goodies

You can find a limited selection of these same treats in some of the Bar Harbor gift shops.  I even saw a few of their jellies at the gift shop at the top of Cadillac Mountain inside Acadia National Park.  Trust me though, stop by the store for a huge selection and lower prices.  Win Win!  Their inventory isn't limited to food either.  They also sell knick-knacks, magnets, house hold items and handmade gift ideas. Plus, the store personnel are super friendly :-)

Had I known that the Acadia National Park pass was good for seven days I would have bought it sooner.  We could've had more days in the park.  Their website says to plan on 3 or 4 days inside the park.  Oh well, that just means we'll have to visit again :-)  We went there on our last full day in the area.  We started at Cadillac Mountain.  On our way to the top we kept spotting what looked like a cruise ship in the harbor.  There was never a big enough spot to pull over and double check.

view from the top shows what appears to be a cruise ship in the harbor

yep, definitely a cruise ship (zoomed in extra far)

We visited the Park on July 3rd.  We expected it to be super busy.  It really wasn't that bad :-)  We found a parking spot at the top of the mountain quite easily and explored the area for about an hour or so.   The views were incredible and hard to put into words.  You simply have to be there in person!

the fog rolling across the tops of the smaller islands is almost angelic

After we were done exploring the mountain top and visiting the gift shop we headed down the mountain to continue driving the Loop Road.

We stopped at Thunder Hole.  Unfortunately it was low tide so it wasn't really thundering :-(  We watched the tide coming and going and imagined just how loud it could be at high tide.  Oh well, maybe it'll be thundering next time we visit.

We continued driving and came upon a parking lot with a trail leading down to a rocky shore.  There was a large cave that we wanted to get a closer look at.  We both enjoy scrambling along the rocks.  Ron was a bit braver though and got a photo of the cave entrance.

Without a good way to go inside the cave, we had to settle for a photo.  Even Rufus likes to scramble on the rocks.

This same parking area is also a good viewing point for Egg Rock.

I'm sure the rookeries thrive because it's inaccessible to humans.

Our day was coming to a close.  It's time to say see-ya-later to Maine, for now.  We all enjoyed our stay in the area and we're definitely looking forward to returning.  Next time, we'll be sure to visit more of the beautiful Acadia National Park and it's neighboring cities and harbors.

We Finally Made It To Maine!

After our work was done in North Carolina we said our see-ya-laters to Ron's folks and headed towards the DC area.  Yep, Emmett was patiently waiting to see us :-)  We planned a quick 3 night stop on our way to Maine.  We knew we'd be seeing Emmett on the way back west so I was okay with this quick visit.

Saturday morning Emmett and his folks came over to our place at Cherry Hill RV Park to play in the water.  What fun!  Emmett would rather play with his water bottle but we all had smiles on our faces :-)

I think I was the most excited one at the splash pads!  I was really looking forward to it and even put on my bathing suit first thing in the morning :-) LOL

Sunday we went over to Mike and Jessica's apartment.  Jessica was out with friends for the first hour so we took Emmett across the street to the playground.  He sure enjoys slides with Dad and sticks of all sizes.   He's becoming more independent and he's developing such a cute personality!  My heart melts when he doesn't hesitate whenever I ask for a hug :-))

The next morning we hitched up Raven and steered North East to states yet undiscovered by both Ron and myself.  How exciting!  After two more one night stops we made it to Homestead by the River in Biddeford, Maine.  A smaller park but it's perfect for our nearby work in Standish.  We added an extra night here so we could explore the area.  Maybe we'd get to see something beautiful while out and about!

Another successful repair under our belts!

Our customer came by when we were on site and told us about Sebago Lake, the second largest lake in the state of Maine.  It was literally right down the street from the school.  When our repairs were complete, we took the 15 minute drive.  What an impressive area!

we are at the furthest southern tip of the lake

WOW!  That was the first word out of our mouths.  We felt so small when we saw the lake map on the marque board.

Sebago Lake is used as a fresh water source for the city of Portland and bodily contact is prohibited in this particular area so no wading allowed.  That's okay, we still got to explore a length of abandoned railroad track.

 

    
 










The tracks took us a short ways away to a small fishing dock.  The water was so clear and calm.  If we had a kayak, this would be a good launching point. According to Wikipedia, Sebago Lake has a shoreline of 105 miles.  A power boat would be perfect to get to some of the farther away remote areas.

The following morning was our play day :-)  I studied the informational pamphlets that the campground owner shared with us and decided on a plan of attack.  First up was a life size Chocolate Mousse Moose.

Housed at Len Libby Chocolatier is Lenny, the worlds only life sized chocolate moose.  It's quite a sight.  Lenny is displayed in a diorama depicting a Maine cabin with a lake backdrop.  Along with Lenny are his three chocolate bear friends, Libby, Cocoa and Chips.

Ron and I bought some tasty treats for ourselves.  Ron also bought himself a new coffee mug which he's been using every morning :-)

Next up was Fort Williams Park located in the coastal town of Cape Elizabeth.  Gorgeous!  The weather was perfect for flying a kite and a few families were out doing just that on the large grassy fields surrounding the 90-acre park.

our first view of the most photographed lighthouse in America

The Portland Head Light is the focal point but there is so much more to this park.  We could've easily spent more time here!  We ventured to the off leash dog area and found a building that was an artillery in a previous life.  The old abandoned bunkers were gated but we could still view some of the interior spaces.  We took a long walk along the shoreline and found other equally impressive views of the iconic lighthouse. 

getting a goofy shot of Ron :-)

-

while he gets a goofy shot of me :-)

  
As much as we enjoyed the lighthouse and the off leash dog area, we still had one more stop to make before leaving this part of Maine.  LL Bean has it's flag ship store just a little further north.

front of the main store

We both wear our LL Bean fleece lined jeans during the winter months and we wanted to see the campus where it all started.  It's actually a group of stores, each specializing in something.  There's the main store which sells clothing, fishing and hunting gear, camping gear and pet items.  They even have an indoor archery range.   We enjoyed perusing through everything but our only purchase was a pair of sunglasses.  

there's quite an interesting story behind these two moose

Across the way is the bike, boat & ski store which sells biking clothes, bikes (of course), and similarly related items.  We didn't see ski apparel so I assume the selection changes with the seasons.  There's a home store that we didn't visit.  The discovery park in the center of the campus was showing a family movie while we were there.  People had brought their lawn chairs and were enjoying the movie.  How cool is that?!  Yes, leashed and well mannered pets can come into each of the stores.   

Our final stop for the day was Jameson Tavern.  According to their website, the tavern was built in 1779.  It was originally a home, then a tavern, then an inn, then back to various family homes before being purchased in 1981 by the current owners.  It is also said to be haunted.  Thankfully, neither Ron nor I had a ghostly encounter! 

Rufus was welcomed to sit with us.  Lucky for us the wind had died down and the patio seating out front was perfect.  We aren't lovers of lobster (oh well, more for you) so we each had a burger and french fries.  Ron enjoyed his locally crafted Shipyard Lager on tap.  We left stuffed and Rufus also enjoyed his taste of the burgers :-)

By the time we got home it was nearly bedtime.  Tomorrow we'll be heading to another bucket list place for us: Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park!  Next posting I'll share photos of that portion of our Maine exploration.

As always, click on the photos to see a larger view.