Mainly Maine

From Kennebunkport we traveled to Eileen and Carl's house, arriving around lunch time; we emptied our freezer drove the RV to nearby Auburn for a service and went to Pedro O'Hara's for lunch. We I think the name tells the story! This was a nice day, hot but not humid which we spent catching up on one another's news. Carl and Eileen had been our last guests in St Augustine and left the morning of the “great flood”. Overnight 9" of rain fell, we could hear the downpour but felt secure in the condo; we woke to water in the kitchen and dining room, the garage looked like an indoor swimming pool complete with a Blue Bug! The roads were flooded and the forecast was for more rain and flooding so Eileen and Carl departed for Maine. We were happy that we did not own the condo, it was very damp when we handed back the keys and flew off to Ireland two days later.

To welcome us to Maine Eileen bought six lobsters (what else in Maine?) so Eileen, Adele and Tom enjoyed a lobster fix over the next few days; lobster rolls, lobster dinners and a lobster picnic yummy! Carl took us out in his boat on Annabessacook Lake, just across the road from their house. Eileen, Adele and Tom enjoyed swimming from the boat, Tom (not a great lover of being in the water swimming – rather be on the water sailing) floated off at one stage; unfortunately he has a shoulder injury so he had to suffer the embarrassment of having Adele pull him back to the boat. Of course, Carl could have just coasted over but they all had a laugh at Tom’s expense! Eileen and Carl’s house is in very close proximity to the lake where we saw several loons and could hear their plaintive, beautiful yet haunting cry as they called to one another at night.

 

What a change in weather the next afternoon - wet, rain pouring from the roof of the house – it was the first real heavy rain we had seen since the “big flood” in St Augustine. We kept our selves busy making cards and watched a movie starring John Travolta on a motorbike adventure from St Louis to Los Angeles - very funny! The garage called to say that they had discovered a wheel brake-seal problem and informed us that it would be Monday before the RV would be ready for pick up.

Carl had often promised Adele he would take her to North Maine Woods where he goes hunting with his buddies, on this visit she held him to it. Sunday Eileen packed a picnic and we went on safari into the North Maine wilderness hoping to see Moose. Adele owes Carl big time after this; it was a wonderful memorable day, we drove north through Dexter to Greenville a lovely little town at the bottom of Moosehead Lake where we watched water planes landing and taking off, there was also lots of boating activity. The town also had lovely shops to browse; Carl bought an anchor for his boat and Adele a beautiful T-shirt.

Then came the safari part - we drove into the woods on the logger trail, bumpy dirt roads. We stopped and had our picnic lunch and then started Moose hunting - by car! The first one we saw was at the side of a river with her calf in broad daylight. The scenery here was spectacular and we had an expert guide in Carl. We drove to Kokadjo on First Roach Pond and even further north to Ripogenus Lake and Dam. The dam is in a beautiful white water gorge, it was a little late in the day for us to see rafters; this is also the beginning of one of the many Penobscot River branches. Still in search of Moose we drove even further north to the Telos checkpoint – we were almost to Canada! All the while we were driving through land privately owned by the logging companies who allow free access to the public.

 

Wildlife sightings included a partridge with her chicks - in fact we waited while the chicks crossed the road. Dusk was now falling and we spotted another moose, then a beaver swimming across a pond; the road was partly flooded because of their dam. Then we saw another moose dash across the road in front of us and yet another moose in a river as night fell. There were rabbits galore dashing and darting hither and tither, Carl had to be careful not to run over them. We finally got back to the Barth home at midnight – in all Carl had driven 400 miles. What a day? Memorable and exciting!

The RV was not ready for pick-up Monday morning. Finally at 4pm we received a call to say the repairs were completed. We collected the RV, went out for a steak dinner together and stayed another night. Tuesday morning it was raining so we delayed our departure until after lunch by then the rain had become a drizzle and we hoped the weather would improve.

It did!