Change of plans---Happy ending!

We left you in Augusta, Me with us on our way west.  We stopped back in Charlemont, MA at the same campground we visited on the way up to Maine.  Had an uneventful night, and started out the next morning for our next leg to Corning, NY.  We stopped in a rest area for lunch and as Jan was walking around outside she noticed a leak on the right rear of of coach.  Damn.  It is a hydraulic leak right at the bottom of our hydraulic tank on the right side of the engine compartment.  I peer around and it seems it might just be a loose fitting, but man, they are big!  There are two large, maybe 1 1/2" hoses going into the bottom if the tank and it is one of those fittings that looks to be leaking.  Well, I have one adjustable wrench that might just get on it, but I don't have room to move the wrench it is so tight in there.

This hydraulic system provides power to our cooling fan for the engine and also the power steering, kind of important.  We proceed to try a bunch of other tools that I can wedge on the fitting, and finally I kind of get a vise grip on and I really lean into it and maybe get it to turn a teensy bit, still leaking....

Hmmm, well we know that in Elkhart, IN is a RV shop with a stellar reputation, and one Karen has used and was pleased with, Elkhart Sales and Service, and that's not too far out of the way, is it?  Anyway I call and talk to PJ to see if we could sneak in and get taken care of, he explains that he doesn't do engine and chassis work, he sends it all to another shop a block away, would he like me to have him call and see if they could squeeze us in? Oh yeah!  He calls me back and gives me the info to contact Ronnie at Marv and Tom's Truck Service.  I call and talk to Ronnie and he says if I can get there Thursday morning he'd be able to fit us in.  Wow, super, except this is Tuesday afternoon and we are in NY state about 600+ miles away.  No problem we can make it work.

Now we had planned to stop in Erie to visit Jan's Uncle Larry and Aunt Laura.  Aunt Laura's health is failing and it was important for us to stop in.  Although we had to cut our visit time down, we still had a wonderful time seeing them and Cousin Mark and Barb as well.  It was a meaningful visit and we were sorry to cut it short.  They understood and sent us on our way.  Now we still had 350 miles to go, it was 2:30 in the afternoon, and we had to be there first thing the next morning.  Okay so Jan starts looking for campgrounds and she can't find anything that will accommodate our size!  On further inspection, we find the Ohio Turnpike operates several overnight spots for RV's in their travel plazas.  That is new to us, not that we've traveled the turnpike very often.  We decide we need to push to the very western edge of Ohio in order to be in Elkhart by 8 am.  So that's the plan.  We manage 450 miles with a 3 1/2 hour visit and pull into a travel plaza in West Unity, OH.  It is a cool deal, they only have 10 spaces, there is a meter that takes cash only, gives you a receipt, you have to park in a marked spot, you can plug into 50 amp electric, and since the spot is 40' long, yeah we fudged a bit on our 45', have to unhook the truck and park it beside you.  So for $20, you get 50 amp electric, and a secure spot for the night!

So we are off at 6am the next morning on our way to Elkhart.  We pull into Marv and Tom's at 8, unhook the truck, they have a tech on us by 8:15!  He also has quite a time getting to the fittings, as he believes also it is leaking from there.  He pulls out the biggest wrenches I've ever seen and really leans into it and it moves a little bit, he then tightens up another spot that seems moist, and he has me start it up and move the steering wheel back and forth to get the fluid moving, still leaking!  Now he searches around for another wrench that he can get into this very tight spot, finds a pipe wrench that seems to fit the bill, squeezes under and is just able to tighten it with all his strength!  It appears to be dry, but he wants us to go take it out and drive around making sure we do a lot of turning and bring it back to recheck, so we do, and it's dry, and we call it fixed!  Fantastic, and it is only 9:30am.  I go find the boss, Ronnie, to pay, and he amazes me by saying no charge!  But spread the word, so I am spreading the word, this is a full service truck repair facility that welcomes and understands motorhomes, the attention to detail and customer service are superb, we highly recommend Marv and Tom's!!!!

U-Turn and our mad dash westbound!

Well, maybe not mad dash, but we aren't fooling around.  When we left Harrington, ME, we began our westbound leg which will culminate ultimately in Durango, CO.  We will meander up through Michigan, into the UP, across Minnesota and North Dakota down through Buffalo, WY, Denver, and Pagosa Springs on our way.  But for Jan and I the best part is we have "west" in the window.

Before we left, for our last dinner in Harrington, we bought 2 huge 2.75+ pound lobsters with the express reason we wanted leftovers to make a lobster salad later.  And the fact that lobster is really cheap right now in Maine made it all the better!

Dinner is served!

Then the next day we met up with friends that we winter with in Florida, Bob and Harlean, that live in Augusta in the summer.  We had a wonderful visit, albeit too short, with two really great folks.  We got a bit of a tour around the area, ate at the very famous, Red Barn, and then went over to visit Scott, Harlean's brother and to see his cars.  The Red Barn is especially known for their Seafood Stew, and yes I'm using capitals.  We've had a lot of seafood stew over the years that we thought was good, but this absolutely sets the bar.  It is so full of succulent scallops, sweet shrimp, tender haddock, and of course, luscious lobster, and NO potatoes! There is hardly room for the delicious broth for all the seafood.  Incredible!

Bob and Harlean enjoying their stew

They even have foot long lobster rolls with over a pound of lobster meat!  No, we didn't have one:-)
Then over to Scott's, nice to see him as well, and to see his collection of cars.  One of the highlights is his original 1969 Z28 Camaro that he bought new in Fargo, ND.  Absolutely beautiful!

WOW!

So after an all too short visit, we were off to Mass the next morning.  And that evening we enjoyed our leftover lobster salad, and some fresh corn we bought along the way.

Looks good, huh?

This morning we are going to Corning, NY, then the next day another quick visit in Erie, PA to see some family, and then we just keep rolling along for a few weeks.

A Big Thank You!

I just crossed 32,000 hits on my blog today.  In comparison to heavy hitting blogs it is kind of small potatoes, but for me 8,000 hits per year over the 4 years I've been doing it is fabulous.  Thanks to all of you!

A couple comments.

Jan and I are not happy with the photos recently.  Apple changed things around and replaced iPhoto with Photos and I am being a bit challenged.  I don't have a watermark program to use right now, and both of us feel the pictures are not looking as sharp and crisp as they should.  I am experimenting with a few alternatives now and hopefully I can get Jan's beautiful pictures to pop like they did before.

I started this to basically let my family and close friends be able to follow along and see where we were and what we were doing.  I find that even given my total lack of talent in writing it does give me enjoyment putting the posts and pictures together and I derive a lot of pleasure doing it.  Getting comments is the icing on the cake.  Keep it up!

Please feel free to use the link to Amazon on the blog site.  It costs you no more, and it might get me a tiny rebate for advertising them on my blog.

I am going to try in future posts to include a bit of personal reflection and outlook, and observation that comes from this lifestyle Jan and I so love.  

People ask us when we are going to give up this traveling and fulltiming life and settle down.  In fact right here at our present campground we met a couple that are here for 6 weeks, and they find it odd we are only here for a week.  What is really odd is that even before the week is up, we are both itching to move down the road.  For us at this time in our lives the thought of being locked into one place to live is almost incomprehensible:-)

Here's to you and thanks again from Jan and I on our nomadic highway.

Sunset Point in Harrington, ME

We have been enjoying our time here at Sunset Point Campground in Harrington, ME.  It is a small place, peaceful and quiet, right on the water, and they will even deliver hot fresh steamed lobsters to your site!  Folks are friendly, sites are big, only down side is several of the sites including ours have no sewer hook up, although they will come pump you out for free, which we will do today.

Our site

A foggy view from the campground

The weather has been a little iffy with some rain, drizzle, and the frequent phenomenon in Maine in late summer, FOG.  But nicely the picnic tables are even under cover.  

As we were planning what to do while we were here, we noticed on the map that there are other parts of Acadia National Park that we somehow in years and years of coming here never noticed, pretty observant, huh?  One on Shoodic Peninsula, and the other on Isle au Haut.

So we decided since we were fairly close to the part of the park on the Schoodic Peninsula, we would go explore.  And, of course, we found a little hole in the wall restaurant along the way, Chase's in Winter Harbor, and had a terrific lunch first.

Seafood chowder the way it's supposed to be!

Dynamite clam roll and onion rings!

Then on to the park, it turned out to be small and beautiful except the fog was gaining on us.  It is basically a one way loop road with a few short hikes.  

Beautiful views from the loop road

See the fog?

Here it comes

The path to the "view point"

A foggy view

We found a path to a viewpoint that was on the top of the highest point, but the fog beat us.  It was a nice short hike on a nice day, but the fog kind of destroyed the "big picture".

We had a little project on the motorhome which I will describe in another post, so that took a day, then the weather was a bit iffy, so we made a couple little trips here and there exploring, but the one big thing we wanted to do was go visit Campobello Island in the Bay of Fundy.  This was the island where FDR spent a lot of his life, as a child and also as president.  Not being a particular fan of his, we still wanted to visit the island and the surroundings with less emphasis on his home etc.  The island is in Canada, just over the border and there are actually two parks there, one is the Roosevelt Campbell International Park, a joint cooperation between the US and Canada, and also a second park, Herring Cove Provincial Park.  The island is absolutely beautiful, with beaches, bluffs, and 30 foot tides.  We started off with a couple mile hike to an overlook above Friar's Head, delaying our visit paid off as the weather was stellar, clear as a bell, and 70 degrees or so.

The beginning of the trail

Along the way

Through the woods

View at the top of Eastport, ME

Gorgeous

After our hike we worked our way over to Herring Cove, and it's huge beach.

Then we went south to the very point of the island, Liberty Point for our picnic.  Now I should mention, as we were driving up to the island in the morning we went along the coastline and through a little town of Cutler, and just as we came upon the harbor we spied a beautiful schooner that had just raised it's sails and was sailing out of the harbor.

Cutler harbor

The beautiful schooner

Our picnic spot was perfect, unlimited views, rocky shore, waves crashing, and nobody there besides us.  And we could actually watch the tide coming in, 30 feet is a big tide!

Picnic

What a coastline!

So as we are looking around, what do we see off in the distance?  Our schooner from earlier.

What planning:-)

Also off in the distance we had a view of West Quoddy Head Light, a lighthouse on the easternmost point of the United States.

West Quoddy Head Light

We explored the island some more and decided since we were so close we should go over and see the light.  We made our way back into the US, and I should mention or question, I guess, one thing.  When we stopped at Canadian Customs, we were treated courteously and nicely, we were asked questions politely, and then welcomed to Canada and told to enjoy ourselves, BUT, when we come back into our USA, as citizens, we are treated with contempt, asked questions in a condescending manner, and basically scowled at.  What a welcome back!

Anyway, we drove over to the lighthouse, keeping our eye on the towering storm clouds.

Funny, the easternmost point is called west?

That point of land in the distance is Liberty Point
where we had our picnic lunch

Sure enough as we left, about 3 miles down the road we were in torrential rain.  How's that for timing!?!

A quick post from Acadia National Park

Yesterday was an incredible day, blue skies, perfect temps, and a slight breeze.  We took advantage of it by running down to Jordan Pond to get a jump on the  3.2 mile trail around the pond.  We wanted to be ahead of the throngs of people later in the day and we wanted to get back between 11 and 11:30 when the Jordan Pond House restaurant opened to get our popovers.  It worked perfectly!

The trail begins

Raised logs for about a half mile

Looking back to the Jordan Pond House

The "Bubbles"

What a day!

The far end of the pond

A cute bridge

Making our way back

It was a fantastic hike around the pond, not many people, but boy, no one is particularly friendly up here in New England?  Hurt most of them to even say hmmm, let alone good morning.  Oh well, we didn't care, we were loving being out and enjoying nature.

Then back to have lunch outside overlooking the pond in a lovely meadow.  We had a delicious meal with the famous popovers and fresh homemade jam.  In addition Jan had a cup of seafood chowder and lobster and crab cakes, while I had a bowl of lobster stew and a side salad, all topped off with fresh blueberry lemonade!  Sweet!

Jan's lobster and crab cakes

My lobster stew, salad, and half eaten popover

We relaxed outside for awhile then drove up to the top of Cadillac Mountain, and then around the loop road.  When I was a kid a million years ago, my family found a little no name beach back then, Jan and I found it again on our honeymoon, so we decided to take a look for it again.  It's named now, Little Hunter's Beach, but it was as beautiful and peaceful as it ever was.

"Our" little beach

So now we are paying for the gorgeous day yesterday with drizzle and rain, so we are taking it easy today, and will be heading even farther east tomorrow.

Good bye and even more food!

Just before we left Boothbay for our long, long, 45 miles to Camden Hills State Park, we went on line to search for restaurants in the Camden area.  We had to leave Boothbay by 11am and we couldn't check into Camden Hills until after 1pm, so you know, we had to eat:-)  Turns out the highest rated restaurant was a little hole in the wall take out joint called Mount Battie Take Out which, conveniently enough, was right near the State Park.  Looked a little questionable, but we gave it a go.  It was delicious and reasonable!  Shrimp and scallops for Jason, scallops for me, and an incredible haddock sandwich for Jan.

So we checked in to a very nice state park, and popped up to the top of Mount Battie to see what we could see.  Fantastic!  Weather was awesome and the views spectacular.

Jason and Jan

Jason and yours truly

Camden Harbor

So we only had one more day and we had to get Jason back down the 95 miles to the Portland airport for his flight.  He was studying the computer for awhile and announced he'd like his last meal to be at a little place he found on line, McLoon's Lobster Shack in South Thomaston, ME.  Okay we can work that out.  We'll head down there for lunch then go up and around to get to Portland so as to avoid Rte 1 in the summertime.  Yeah, the traffic is nuts!  So we drive way, way down south to a little spot right on the water, very picturesque, and as it turned out excellent.

Trying to decide

Pretty busy

Well, Jason must have decided since it was his last meal in Maine, he'd do it up right:-)  He ordered lobster stew, grilled clams, corn chowder, and strawberry shortcake!  I had, yes, another lobster roll, and Jan had a crab cake sandwich.  It was excellent.  In fact Jan and I went back the next day for another lunch before we left for Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor.

The grilled clams.  We had never heard of this before.
They put these little necks or cherrystones right on the grill.
Then when they opened they served them with melted garlic butter!
Yeah, they were oh so good.

Lobster stew full of lobster!

Another lobster roll:-)

Delicious crab cake

Savoring the strawberry short cake

After our great lunch we had a long drive down to Portland, stopped at a huge farm stand for some fresh veggies, dropped Jason off in the rain, what timing, huh?  Then we headed back north to the motorhome.  We had a great time with Jason and it gave him some much needed time off from the heat in Atlanta.  Jan and I are now in Trenton, ME, just up from Acadia National Park and are planning to go do a 3 mile hike around Jordan Pond, and cap it off with some famous hot popovers with home made jam at the Jordan Pond House afterwards!  Hey somebody's gotta do it!