Evans Escapades in New Hampshire and Vermont–It Was a Long Day

 

We decided with our time constraints of needing to be back in Texas in a few weeks,

and ALL the THINGS left to see and do between here and there,

that the best way to get a quick peek at New Hampshire and Vermont

would be to just do a day trip from where we had the motorhome

parked at our Thousand Trails Park in Wells Maine. . .

 

400 miles, and 12 hours (not all driving time) later

we can tell you beyond the shadow of a doubt. . .

New Hampshire and Vermont are beautiful,

and at some point, we must come back and explore further. . .

first stop. . .the New Hampshire State House in Concord New Hampshire. . .

second stop. . .VERMONT State House in Montpelier Vermont. . .

an hour and a half drive between the two. . .miles of beautiful scenery. . .

even the fog and the haze

lent itself to the beauty. . .

but absolutely no trip to Vermont would be complete with a tour Ben and Jerry’s. . .right?

and the samples. . .yum!

 

A friend on FB said this sample looked like manna from heaven. . .

to which I replied. . .it is just like manna. . .’cause I no longer keep it on hand,

I hafta go out and collect it every time I want some. . .

and of course, you must go check out the FLAVOR GRAVEYARD. . .

the were a few of our faves. . .especially the Wild Maine Blueberry. . .

The Kancamagus Scenic Byway (say that three times fast)

in the White Mountains of New Hampshire

was highly recommended by a friend of the family. . .

we like to have NEVER found it. . .good grief. . .

 

I left the map at home (go figure) so we asked a couple of people. . .

seriously, they gave us that deer in the headlight look,

as if they had never heard of it. . .finally, a sweet little teenage boy

at the diner where we had lunch explained where we needed to go. . .

and oh boy. . .wow. . .

was it ever worth it. . .the White Mountains of New Hampshire. . .just beautiful. . .

with a little fall color just beginning. . .this is going to be glorious in a few weeks!

it was getting late in the afternoon by this time,

but we wanted to do one hike to the Sabbaday Gorge Waterfall. . .

so, so beautiful. . .pics can’t do it justice. . .

you gotta go see it for yourself. . .

 

Not wanting to be out after dark,

we missed a lot of opportunities and adventures

of the Scenic Byway. . .so we must return at some point. . .

 

If you are in the area. . .check it out. . .

and show us what we missed. . .

 

‘til next time,

Janice and Dave

Winding Up the Acadia Experience

On Thursday, we wanted to do one last hoorah. . .

I guess that’s what you could call it. . .

which started out with an early, snacky lunch

of fried clams and fried scallops at Lunt’s in Trenton. . .

so great. . .if you haven’t tried fried scallops. . .you gotta!

then on to see two last bridges. . .

it was a pretty intense little walk up the Carriage Road. . .

uphill both ways of course. . .breaks were a necessity!

we didn’t see them all. ..

but I just had to see the Waterfall Bridge before we left. . .

the bridge itself, is, of course beautiful. . .

but I wanted the postcard shot. . .

now I guess the views on the postcards I saw were taken in the spring,

when the waterfall was at it’s maximum self. . .

unfortunately. . .in August. . .it’s just a trickle!

this is “THE POSTCARD VIEW” I was looking for. . .

just wanted you to see how it could’ve been. . .

too bad we missed it!  boo hoo. . .

the Hemlock Bridge just happened to be on the way to the Waterfall Bridge,

so, of course I need to add a photo of it to my collection. . .

loved these rounded caps of granite. . .

amazing, considering this bridge was built in the 20’s with no heavy equipment. . .

and then. . .one last trip into Bar Harbor. . .one last harbor view. . .

it’s very doubtful we will ever bring the motorhome this far north again. . .

so, if we ever return to this part of the country,

it will most likely be on a Fall Leaf Peeping Cruise. . .

and then. . .since our early lunch was just a snack,

we decided to have a late lunch at the West Street Café,

which is highly recommended by the Ollie’s Trolley folk

as being the most reasonably priced and delicious place

to have a lobster dinner in Bar Harbor proper. . .

 

We had a bowl of lobster bisque instead and baked halibut, which was fabulous!

 

Acada National Park and Mount Desert Island has been fabulous. . .

we highly recommend a trip here for everyone. . .

 

On Friday, we polished and cleaned the motorhome and jeep

so they would be all purty for our road trip back to Wells Maine . . .

 

Our time here has come to an end. . .we head South (Texas bound) on Sunday. . .

and although it will take us another two months to get there. . .ultimately, that is the destination!

 

‘til then. . .lots more fun stuff to come. . .

Janice and Dave

 

Evans Escapades at Bass Harbor

We had been told that the Lighthouse/Nature Harbor Cruise

out of Bass Harbor was the best one in the area. . .

but first. . .lunch at Thurston’s in Bernard. . .it was so far off the beaten path,

if we hadn’t been told about it,

we certainly wouldn’t have known to look for it. . .

Thurston’s is a lobster pound. . .so nothing fancy,

you pick the size, they pull it out of this tank,

and away you go to goodness. . .

Now unfortunately. . .we made the mistake of choosing to have steamers. . .

which are steamed clams. . .yuck! 

Having had mussels before, we thought this would be similar. . .yuck!

they were highly recommended by one of our friends. . .ha! 

No. . .just teasing. . .we really did want to experience Steamers. . .

and now we have. . .that’s all I can say about that. . .

the view from the lower dining room of the Mountains of Acadia,

almost. . .almost made up for our poor menu choices. . .

no big fancy yachts or sailboats here. . .

this is a working mans harbor. . .

speaking of working men. . .here’s our ride. . .

with the Swan’s Island Ferry in the background. . .

get loaded up with about 50 other folk, and away we go. . .

First thing. . .beautiful Bass Harbor Lighthouse. . .

and from the other side. . .

Double Breasted Cormorant. . .best pic I’ve ever gotten of one. . .

the harbor seals. . .

and gray seals. . .

were everywhere. . .

each time we would see wildlife. . .Captain Eli would bring the boat to a crawl

and do a complete 360, so everyone on the boat had a chance to see. . .

we saw several eagles. . .on rock ledges

in the trees. . .

and even Double Eagles out by the salmon farm. . .

I guess they are hoping a few of those little suckers escape. . .

and again. . .Coastal Maine

With 7 to 9 feet tidal changes at high tide

the water will be up to just under the pink on this wall of granite. . .

the white boulder in the pic on the right is a glacial erratic. . .

because a million/gazillion years ago. . .

this entire area was covered by an ice sheet a mile thick. . .

I don’t know. . .sometimes you just listen, and say. . .

hmmmmm? ? ?  maybe it is so. . .

each lobster boat has an assigned buoy color. . .this is Captain Eli’s assigned buoy,

so we stopped to check one of his traps. . .

this one was the only one large enough to keep. . .

is is a male, as determined by it’s little swimmers

located right above his thumb there. . .

female swimmers are much wispier we are told. . .

throw back the babies. . .

and on the way back to the dock. . .

we see this adorable little Junior Lobsterman

out checking his traps with his Mom. . .

Captain Eli explained that Lobster license in the State of Maine

are hard to come by. . .however, if you are in the lineage of

lobstermen, at the age of 7 you can automatically get your

junior license, which must be maintained on an annual basis. . .

I guess that’s what this little guy is doing. . . 

I leave you with one last Eagle Eye. . .

watching you watching me. . .

‘til next time,

Janice and Dave

Evans Escapades in Acadia National Park–The Park Loop Road

This is our last week here,

so we wanted to make one last loop

around the park, and get those pics

we felt we had missed. . .

Sand Beach in morning light. . .

a reflection of The Beehive

Otter Cliffs as viewed from Sand Beach

Otter Cliffs as viewed from Thunder Hole. . .

Coastal Maine – being there just never gets old

love watching the water and hearing the sound of the waves

Otter Cliffs in the early morning sun. . .

no matter what time of day we have been there,

there is always someone climbing

up and down the Otter Cliff face. . .

Dave would so love to join them. . .

ummmm. . .not happening Babe. . .sorry!

I was utterly intrigued by the Cobblestone Beaches. . .

and by the story that ships would come and load tons and tons

of cobblestones to take down to Boston and ports beyond. . .

in fact. . .the cobblestones of any street you see in the

New England Area probably came from the beaches of Maine. . .

and when the surf comes in and out. . .

the cobblestones roll, and make the most amazing sound. . .

everywhere you go along the beaches,

you will see these little rock pile creations. . .

Dave loved them so much,

he created a couple of his very own. . .

Iconic Acadia National Park. . .

this is the shot you see in the calendars. . .just beautiful. . .

Sand Beach as viewed from the Ocean Walk. . .down by Thunder Hole

a pretty little waterfall just down from the Park Loop Road. . .

and we got in a few more bridges to add to my collection. . .

Triad – Day Bridge connects the Triad Mountain

to the Day Mountain Carriage Road. . .

Bubbles Pond Bridge

very, very popular place to bike. . .

no parking to be found. . .I jumped out to get the pic

while Dave circled the parking lot. . .

glad we got to see it. . .

Duck Brook Pond Bridge. . .also easily accessible. . .yaaaa!

a view of “The Bubbles” from Duck Brook Pond Bridge

and a pretty little bubbling brook,

which flowed under Duck Brook Pond Bridge. . .

reminded us of the beautiful streams

found everywhere in the Colorado High Country. . .

a huge surprise on our way back into town. . .

these wild turkeys crossing the road

probably half a mile from Bar Harbor. . .

and our last stop of the day. . .

Porcupine Islands as viewed from the Compass Harbor Overlook. . .

and the last treat of the day. . .

a late lunch at Jordan’s with RV friends Paul and Margery,

whom you will remember we also met up with in Niagara Falls. . .

We’ve had a great time comparing notes with them these past two weeks,

and although we haven’t done any touring together,

several afternoons we’ve had what Margery refers to as

our debriefings. . .LOL. . .

we’ve usually gone different directions during the day,

so we compare notes, decide if it was, or was not worth repeating. . .

I can honestly say, there have been very few duds in this part of the country. . .

We’re gonna miss Margery and Paul when they leave in a couple of days,

but think our paths will cross at least one more time in Cape Cod. . .

yaaa. . .a last supper there. . .ha ha!

‘til next time,

Janice and Dave