THE PUMPKIN PATCH

SIGN AT ENTRANCE

Time to set down my thoughts and photos of where I worked this summer. The Pumpkin Patch is a delightful campground just out of Bangor, Maine. 75 regular sites plus overflow sites (even they have 20 AMP electric and 4 of them have free cable TV) and then there are boondock sites. From mid-June until the end of September when I left we were full or close to it every night. If you go there, reservation are strongly recommended. This park is aimed mostly for seniors so there were not many children around & there is no pool or playground.

Since starting full-timing in 1993 and having worked there I can say this is one of the cleanest most kept up parks I have ever seen. The worker that cleans the bathrooms carries a toothbrush and single edge razor blade in his pocket. They are immaculate!! The owners Jim & Marilyn Carter also full time and they go out of their way to make your stay pleasant. In the office there is a board with tear-off directions to the places we all need to find such as nearest grocery store, Wal*Mart, post office etc. Everyone in the office was from around the area and could really tell you where to go & what to see. The campground is about an hour from Bar Harbor & Acadia National Park so it is easily reached on a day trip. Instead of about $75 or more a night for a campground in Bar Harbor the Pumpkin Patch is a steal at only $28.50 full rate with a variety of discounts available. In the office where I worked Nancy Gonzales can send you off for a day in Acadia with clear directions and recommendation of whatto see or do. Try it sometime, you won't be displeased. No, they did not pay me to write this park review (LOL)

THE OFFICE

PAT & NANCY

PUMPKIN CROP FAILED THIS YEAR!

VIEW AS YOU APPROACH

BEGINNING OF CAMPSITES

End of this blog for quite awhile.

COMMON GROUNDS

Hello again. Don't ask me how but when someone told us about the Common Grounds Fair in Unity, Maine, I realized I had heard of it long ago. I knew it was a fair with ecology as it's theme, all organic food. Off we went. It seemed we parked miles away from the fairgrounds and there was no shuttle. It was a senior rate of $8 to get in and $5 to park. By the time we got inside it was 1pm and hunger ruled. The food stands were so busy that each had 20 or more people in the line. Stumbulled on one with only 5 or so. Italian sausage sandwiches-all organic it. Cost us $18 for two sandwiches and 1 shared bottle of water. So before we ever saw a thing, we were down $39!

We always head for any ox pulls. Did you know that ox are only bulls? They are trained when very young to pull and as they grow the collars get larger? The ox closest to the driver is called the near ox and the other one is called the off ox. I have heard that when one of a pair dies the other cannot be trained to pull with another animal. In the days of the settlers, that ox became food for the table. Waste not, want not.

Glad we went to see the fair but it is not a fair I would repeat.

DEER ISLE

A week later, we traveled to Deer Isle and the little bayside town of Stonington. Again the trip took us on roads where all you see is miles of trees. I love going through the little towns though. We stopped at Penobscot Maine where I found a cemetary that an 1800s Alley is buried in. His name was Lemuel Alley and he drowned on the 4th of July when he was only 19.

We drove through the little town of Blue Hill where some of Dwayn's ancestors came from. All these places I talk about going through are usually less than 100 miles from the Pumpkin Patch CG where I am working.

Deer Isle is a small island and I think Stonington is the only town on it. We drove directly to the harbor. Of course all these small towns are fishing towns where the lobster boats leave from. No matter where you look on the waters you see the many colored lobster buoys bouncing up & down with the swells. Every lobsterman has his own combo of colors on his buoys so they are easily identifiable. Lobster boats are not big boats at all.

Of course it was lunchtime when we got to Stonington so the first place we visited was a resaurant. It was right on the bay with outside tables. Very nice & very touristy. The food was great but not a lot of it and we both discovered we were hungry after eating. We walked around town some. Here are a few pictures.

The first is a picture of a cormorant. These birds are like the anhingas in the south, they have no oils in their feathers so every time they get in the water they have to find a place to "hang out their wings to dry".

Granite abounds on this small island and there is a statue at waters edge to honor the granite workers. It is said that there is granite from this town in the Capitol Building in DC.

In Stonington was a great example of how Mainers love their flowers. They are so colorful.

Here are a couple harbor scenes.

If you look close in this last picture you will see there is a trailer truck at the end of the pier and it is being loaded with "caught today" lobstah and seafood. The small boatis a lobster boat. We watched several small boats pull up to have their catch of the day unloaded to the trailer truck People in Boston and New York were probably eating this fresh catch that night.

After sightseeing and an hour or so passing we decided that time did not make us feel full & oh darn, there was a small bakery. Their blueberry crisp was delicious. As we were leaving I noticed a sign that said Dough Floggers. The pastry was a long roll of a flaky crisp pastry. I asked about it. Remember when we were kids or mothers of young ones how when there was leftover pie crust we would butter, cinnamon & sugar it and bake it? That's what these dough floggers were only they rolled it in a rectangle & they rolled it up jelly roll style and sold it. I used to do that but before baking cut it into slices. Needless to say we bought one and it was mighty tasty.

Another adventure comes to a close. Not a lot of them left because, as I write this it is the 2nd of Sept and my last day of work is the 29th. On the 30th we will be heading home to AZ. I am ready as I have the whole new house to move in.

CADILLAC MOUNTAIN

After the whale cruise, we went into Arcadia National Park. It was well after lunch so we decided to go to a restaurant beside Jordon Pond that locals had told us was a "must do". They are most known for popovers which are baked there daily and the home-made strawberry jam that accompanies the popovers. I really do not remember the rest of the meal-a pasta of some kind but the popovers-that memory is a lasting one. So tall & crisp and when you broke them open they released steam and the air pockets were quickly filled with the delicious strawberry jam. I wish I had taken a picture of them & maybe one of us eating one to see if I could make you drool. (Smile here).

We from the west scoff at what the Easterners call "mountains", as they come across as only hills to us. Cadillac Mountain is less than 1600 ft and fits this description. I Have traveled to the top of Pike's Peak but never have I felt like being on top of the world as I did at Cadillac Mountain. The view from there is like a 360 degree postcard, water and islands and green all

around.

A TALE OF A WHALE

Another trip this week. We went back to Bar Harbor & took a whale & puffin tour. I am trying something new this time and will put pictures at the end of the text.

The tour started in downtown Bar Harbor-what a difference in the amount of people since we were there in May! We got underway (like the nautical term?) at 9am and returned after 1pm so it was a nice long trip. The boat we went on was a catamaran and goes fast, the wake was quite pretty to watch behind the boat. The tour guide was excellent, had been doing this type of tour for over 30 years. He can tell the types of whales from long distances away by the water that comes out of the blowhole-each kind has a different pattern.

First we went out to an island called Petite Manan to see the puffins. They are cute little sea birds that are normally not seen near the shore. The have big orange beaks and feet. Not only do they fly, when they go under the water for food, they actually fly underwater too using their wings the same as in the air. Petite Manan is one of only 3-4 breeding places one the Atlantic coast-surprise, this breed is called the Atlantic Puffin. They were all over the place swimming & floating around but any picture you see is a zoom shot because they stay away from the boats.

After watching them 10 minutes or so, we heading further out to sea, the beginning of the Bay of Fundy.

The whale is a magnificent mammal (it gives birth). There was a humpback whale named Arrowhead that decided to spend time with us. The other whales in the area besides the humpback are Minke & Right whales & of course the big Orcas. Arrowhead was about 45 ft long and weighed something like 60,000 pounds. That's a lot of body to keep fed. We got lots of pictures but mostly it was wanting to get a picture of the tail as it dived. I tried but got only water but you will see that Dwayn got a nice one. Might have been in the 80s in town but it was downright cold out to sea. Sweatshirt & jacket definitely needed.

Check out the pictures below & click to enlarge. I will add the rest of the trip in a couple days.

THE END OF A TALE OF A WHALE

MAINE BLUEBERRIES

I know, I know-it has been awhile. Our touring has slowed down some. Earlier this month we did another overnighter to Calais, ME & St Stephens, NB. We went because there was a Chocolate Festival in St Stephens. The home of the very popular Ganongs Chocolates is in this town. There are a couple short videos to watch and some displays to look at but-most of all, there a platefuls of the chocolates around the rooms for sampling. We tried our share and are proud to report we left there without buying ANY candy at all. In both Canada and Calais I was able to do some genealogy research as my family were all in that area in the mid 1880s. Do not find much, a great-grandmother's obituary & some middle names. Got some tombstone pictures in the Calais cemetery. Just a couple nice days. It is blueberry season now & we got to see some pickers in the field. The Maine blueberries are the small low bush type, tiny but so sweet.

You can click on the picture to make it larger and see the tool used to get the blueberries in. It is sorta like a rake/shovel combo. They walk along with it at ground level sorta scooping the berries in. The ideal day is a windy one to blow away the weeds and stuff. After they fill a container it is taken to a winnowing machine that sorts the rest of the weeds & stuff from the berries then they go into, I think they said 26 qt boxes. These pickers get paid by the boxes they pick. Used to be mostly teens doing it but of course like everything else now migrants come in & pick the crop. So, again the kids miss the oppotunity to learn 1. about the past & 2. job ethics. It is backbreaking work no doubt but most of us survived it. Mine was potatoes.

OUT DOWNEAST

Interesting term, downeast. We have all heard it but did you ever wonder the meaning? It all has to do with Boston and the prevailing winds back in the days of the big sail ships.

On Monday & Tuesday, the 16th & 17th, we took a little overnight trip to Eastport, Maine. Eastport advertises itself as the eastermost city in the United State but-Lubec, Maine advertises itself as the easternmost town in the US. I guess it is semantics. Lubec is more due east. When in Eastport we stayed overnight at a bed & breakfast. This was a first for us. Pleasant experience it turned out to be. We stayed at a place called the Kilby House. Wish we could say we had a water-view but wanted a private bath. Out in the hallway of this 2 story home there was a water view. The gentleman that owned it said he bought it in a forclosure sale & it looked like it was falling down. He has totally refurbished the house and has period antiques as furnishings.

EASTPORT KILBY HOUSE VIEW FROM HALL

BED WITH DOOR TO BATH SLIGHTLY SMALL CLOSET

We went touring the small town of Eastport. Have you ever been to a mustard factory? Rayes has been open since the 1800s. It even made an issue of Martha Stewarts magazine. They have about a jillion kinds of mustard there. It is made on a grind stone and mustard seeds from Aroostook county Maine (where Dwayn was born). As a boy working on the local farms, one of the chores was pulling the mustard weed out of the growing crops. Funny, huh? While wondering the little shops in town I discovered I was an artisan. Note the price! What a surprise to me.

RAYES MUSTARD PAT, THE ARTISAN

The following day we left Eastport and drove to Lubec, Maine( remember the most easternmst TOWN,ourstination was Campobello, the summer white house of FDR. No border problems as you can still go over with picture ID only. Also while there we went to the East Quoddy lighthouse, it is accessible at low tide only and we were at high tide so only a picture.

LUBEC TO CANADA "THE COTTAGE"

(RIGHT TO LEFT)

EAST QUODDY LIGHTHOUSE

OK, enough for this time. I wish there were a better way of putting these pictures in. Everytime one is added it is at the top and you have to drag it down & rearrange everyting again.

BRIDGE TO CANADA

CASTINE

On the road again! This is a view of the road we took heading southeast towards the Atlantic. You go for quite sometime before seeing any signs of human habitation.



In the town of Castine Maine the merchant marine acadamy is located. This is the USST Maine, the T standing for training. We were pretty lucky as the ship had just returned form a two month cruise a couple days before we arrivied and was leaving in a few days for an overhaul. It is one mighty good sized ship.The other picture is of a classroom building on the grounds.


We had a great lunch in this restaurant on the water. Castine is another one of the quaint New England towns. To our surprise, the was only really one "tourist type" store in the town. They do like the tourists though and there were plenty of restaurants.


There are obviously a number of types of boat in the waters near her. The first shows from barge to sea kayaks. Sea kayaking is a big sport around here. We could haved rented a couple next door to where we ate but we are not senile yet! The middle picture is one I caught just before the 4 masted schooner sailed out of sight.




The waters are so blue in this area and it was a beautiful sunny day as we wandered around the town.




On the way home we came across ths rock wall. That is another thing New England towns are known for. When the land was (or is) cleared they have to have somewhere to put the rocks so they became property line wall. Rocks seem to breed in Maine. Dwayn says you clear a field in the spring & there are more there the next spring. We are really enjoying the summer here rediscovering Maine. You know how it goes, when you live therre you never seem to go exploring. We are surely making up for it this summer. Until next post, so long.