BAXTER STATE PARK

On Friday we took off on another day of sightseeing with Connie & Pete. This time we decided to go to Baxter State Park. Baxter is one of the country's largest state park. Over 204,000 miles of wilderness with only two roads leading in or out and they are dirt roads. Many beautiful sights but this is more a hiker's park.

It took about 3 hours to complete the drive through the park. It was kind of interesting that here in the middle of tourist season, there were so few people. We did not see probably more than a dozen other cars the whole time we were in the park. We did see a cow & calf moose but too late to get a picture-they scrambled up on the road in front of us (thankfully a good distance in front) and took off on the other side. Saw a couple white tail deer also. There are black bear in the park but we did not see any.The unusual thing about this park is that NO pets are allowed into the park, so if you come-leave Fido at home.

Baxter Park is home to Mount Katadin, Maine's largest mountain. To any from out west who read this I want you to know what the east refers to as a mountain is really a large hill. I don't know the story behind it but Katadin is an indian name. See the rise in the distance in this pic?

Along the road we stopped at a pond that looked interesting. Lots of old downed branches. You might say, a photo op. As we went further we discovered a beaver lodge. Those furry little creatures work real hard fixing up their home & I imagine this one was decorated in the lastest beaver decor. 'Course I suspect that the decor has remained the same since the beginning of beaver time.

It is hard to imigine that there are so many trees in one place. By the end of the trip Connie was saying "trees, trees and more trees". So I thought that for the last picture on this page, I would show you the road and a sample of the scenery that was along the road for most of the time we were in the park.

UNUSUAL PHOTOS

While on our Camden trip I took a few photos that I think are interesting. What do you think?

Ever see a street crossing like this?

How about this Great Dane? At this pet store they even had dog coats shaped like lobsters!

Propane tanks are all alike. Or are they?

CAMDEN TRIP

Yesterday we took off for another day trip with our friends, Pete & Connie. Camden Maine is a small "tourist" town on the coast. Typical small New England town, where it seems you view the big white church steeple before you really see the town itself.

We walked down to the harbor where there were so many yachts, schooners, sloops & other boats. Lots of $ there.

We ate upstairs at a restaurant. Dwayn, Connie & Pete had seafood. I had chicken breast with a raspberry sauce on top. Great food & we were at the windows where we could watch the constantly changing harbor. There is a waterfall right in the middle of town and we also watched it from our table.

The day ended with us just letting the GPS unit find us a different way home. I am discovering that in Maine there are so many of what I call picture puzzle photo ops. You know, you think of what a pretty jigsaw puzzle it would make.

DWAYN'S MOM-CARRIE EDNA ALLEY SHARP

On the 15th of June we laid Dwayn's Mom to rest in the Washburn Cemetery extension. The services were well attended & well done. Dwayn got to see many of his cousins that he had not seen ,in some cases, 40 years or more. All his immediate family were there and many of their children. While his Mom is gone, the memories will continue on forever. She was a great woman.
The following morning we left Caribou, ME and returned to the Pumpkin Patch RV Resort in Hermon, ME where Pat is working this summer.

BRIDGES & FORTS

Betcha always thought Fort Knox was in Kentucky. It is but yesterday we went to Fort Knox in Maine. It was built during a time of peace during the 1840s so they had English & Irish stonemakers come help build it as there were not many stonecraftsmen left in America at that time. Here is an example of the excellent stone work. Spiral staircase. Each step is a single piece. I found myself thinking of the chambered nautilus seashell as I climbed the stairs.





Friends, Pete & Connie Bradish dropped in for a few days to visit & get caught up on cleaning & stuff. Dwayn & I call them "down days". So the 4 of us decided to do some sightseeing. Prior to the fort, we went to the Penobscot Narrows Bridge. This is a new suspension bridge over the Penobscot (where else) river that opened on May 19th this year. One of the towers has an observation deck and a high speed elevator takes you up 450 feet. The view is spectacular. Following are few few pictures.


Park service
Pete, Connie
Dwayn View of Bridge
Penobscot River 450 ft below.

Postcard picture of a
typical New England
town. Bucksport, ME

MOOSEHEAD LAKE

I was off today and the weather was "iffy" but we decided to take a 75 mile ride to the Moosehead Lake area. On the way we saw this covered bridge & decided to go across it. It is called the Low Bridge after one of the early settlers. Built the first time in the late 1700s it has been washed out twice. Last rebuild was in 1990. It is unpainted but pretty and you could hear a pin drop.

Along the trip whenever we saw water it seemed there were flyfishermen hoping for a good day. Maine is very much into outdoor activities. This guy was giving it his best.

Greenville Maine is the lower shore of Moosehead Lake, I don't know its size but it may be or is close to being the largest lake in Maine. We drove for a couple hours and the lake was never far away.

Near Rockland Maine we saw Moose species A, she was alongside the road as we approached though she scurried back into the woods a bit. What a strange animal the moose is. It looks like God took leftover parts from making other animals and created the moose. They like to come out on the highways in the summer to escape the black flies that bite horribly (people too). You really have to watch sides of road when driving as a moose might suddenly bound up a bank & bang! Their legs are real tall so when you hit them, their heads may end up in your lap. Right through the windshield. We have only been here 2 weeks and already there have been 2 moose accidents.

Below are 2 other species of moose I found. By the way, what is the proper term for more than 1 moose. 1 moose-2meece? How about a pair of moose? My preference is, see that moose?-there is another one too. Grinnnnnn.

I GUESS WE HAVE FINALLY BEEN TO MAINE (GIGGLE, GIGGLE)

When you ask people if they have ever been to Maine they always respond with "Yes, we went to Bar Harbor", like THAT is Maine. Well, we have been to Maine because we finally went to Bar Harbor! It is beautiful though. This is Bar Harbor and the Atlantic. Pretty views, lots of tourists abound. We hope to go back in July or Aug and take a whale watching tour, then we can say we have watched whales from both coasts.

Downtown Bar Harbor is filled with plenty of the usual stuff, tourist shops and motels, hotels & plenty of restaurants. Of course the big thing here is "lobstah". We had lunch in the restaurant by the white van in this pictures. Being a weirdo and not eating fish or shellfish, I had a cup of ginger carrot soup & quiche. Dwayn had Atlantic salmon. Food was really good.

The next stop of the day was Acadia National Park. It is beautiful with the coastal views and greenery. Rockefeller was of great help in funding the carriage road that meand

er throughout the park. No motorized vehicles, but there are tours by horse & carriage or it can be biked or hiked. I think that people who hike get the most out of this park. This is going

under one of the carriage roads.

The ocean views are really pretty and there are pull off places as you travel along but not nearly enough of them. Below is one of the views.

Well, that's it for now. Until next time Ta-Ta!

IT's MAY

May Day found us "on the road again". We left our home around 7:30 AM and headed east. We have chosen the shortest distance between AZ and CT. I 40 is the way to go.

After a week on the road we got to Dwayn's cousin's house in CT. We enjoy spending time with them. 3 days later we had a long (1 1/2 hours) drive to Dwayns sister Claris' house. Mother's Day May 13th found us heading north to Maine. We arrived at the Pumpkin Patch campground,where Pat is working for the summer, in the mid-afternoon. We have a very nice site at the top of a row where no one can park on our passenger side, just a vast green grass yard (so what if it is the leech field?).

After a few days work Pat finally got a day off so we could play tourists.

THE END OF APRIL

See how quick April flew by, just a few sentences & poof-it's gone! Just a couple more pictures about the house and I can get us through May and into Maine.

This is how the house looked when it was finished. Yep, we know we have to do something about stairs, these are just temporary wood ones. The skirting is on the house now and we passed our final inspection.

This is what is becoming my favorite room The master bedroom. One of the reasons I like it is because there are windows on 2 seperate walls and that can help with a cross breeze. I hope to paint those white walls a dusty shade of the lilac color in the bedspread. We also need some sort of headboard but that too can wait. The shades of lilac & mint green go together so well. I sure would never have thought about that combination myself. I just loved the spread.

So Okay, enought about the house. We only got to spend about 10 nights in it and it was time to head east.

THE HOUSE

Forget the date you see. Go back to April 2, 2007. This is the day the house arrived. It is a 1279 sq ft double wide manufactured home.

In this photo the back half is on the lot and they are starting to bring in the front half. It took about an hour to get the back half in and about 15 minutes to get the front half in.

It was an amazing process to watch. However at this point I was terrified that one side was going to smash into the other. There was 6-8 friends over watching and we all hollered out. After a rebuke by the driver, we all shut up too.

Next came the process of putting the two halves together. This is a picture of how well they placed the house. See the stake? That is where the north back corner was to go. They got it within an inch!

Now I call that pretty accurate. The next day they came and got the house leveled. Next came the inside and outside job of "marrying" the 2 halves together. The roof line is joined and inside the ceiling line is taped, textured & painted. Also the house get the utilities connected. Wow, it comes together fast. We also had our first county inspection & passed without question.

A couple days later the carpet got laid & we were told we could move furniture in. Now we had to collect it all as we had stuff stored at friend's houses and at 3 stores. Now it looks like a house but with nothing personal in it, sure could not be called a home.

RARE SIGHTING

This photo was taken at the front door of the visitor center we work at. We have been working here for 6 seasons and this is the first time I have seen the cows and calves on the front lawn. All told there were a couple hundred bison there.

The problem being is that some of our visitors do not think staight and try to walk up to these animals. We had a park ranger around almost all day for crowd contol as the animals came about 9AM and stayed until about 4PM. Talk about a photo op!

BEAUTIFUL BLACK HILLS

This is what makes us love the hills. Not bad for a sunset picture, eh? We arrived back here a little over a week ago and started work the next day. After two months of doing what & when we wanted, we were pretty pooped after 3 days. I know, whine, whine!!

While working last Friday we had about 200 bison cows and calves on the front lawn of the visitor center. We had people walking up the back road and entering through the side door which is seldom used. It was necessary to have our rangers there most of the day, as the animals are more predictable than the tourists. This is our 6th year here and we had never seen the cows and calves in this area before. It is a rarity.

HOLLAND, MI

From Ionia we went to Holland, MI which is known for it's Tulip Festival in the Sring. While there we toured a Dutch windmill and watched dancers perform a Dutch dance in their wooden shoes. I asked if the shoes were comfortable and was told they wear from 5 to 10 pairs of socks to make them tolerable. I only knew that they looked mighty uncomfortable.

We spent the night of Aug 21st in a delightful Corps of Engineers park at Coralville Lake, IA. Right on the water. Golden Age passport applied so it only cost us $8.

Tonight finds us at Offutt AFB Famcamp just outside Omaha, NE where we spent the next couple days.

Leaving NE we headed north towards South Dakota. Did not realize we were going to be in IA again. We traveled this part of out trip using our new GPS Microsoft Streets and Trips. Ia has been the most expensive of the states so far for diesel.

We are currently in Mitchell South Dakota. Diesel fuel here is (only ?) $3.19. The end of our truly great 2 month "vacation" is upon us At this time next week we will be working at the Custer State Park Vistor Center. One of the reasons we stay here at RonDees RV Park is that not only is it a Passport America park, it has good free wi-fi. In fact this year there are 5 unsecured networks available. Well, it keeps us busy and out of trouble.

ANOTHER RALLY

It must be catching because we soon found ourselves heading north agin into MI for yet another Chapter 6 rally. We really enjoy this group. Before going there however, we stopped in Van Wert, OH to visit long time friends and North Ranch neighbors, Joe & Jan Tenpenny. Spent a pleasant 3 days there. No pictures though.

The Chapter 6 rally was held in Ionia, MI about 20 miles from Grand Rapids. We "adopted" another daughter there which was great because she is also a friend of many years now-Donna Holcomb. We are becoming a big family now. Besides our 3 natural kids we have another 4 daughters and 3 sons.

The tour here was of the Frederic Meier's Gardens. I have added a couple pictures here of a beautiful flower & unusual tree.

MAKINAC ISLAND

Had a long way to travel today so we set out around 10 AM. After all, it was 54 miles from Sault St Marie to St. Ignace, MI. We were in the campground by noon. Knew it would be expensive in the area and then we stayed at a KOA. You know what that means-keep on adding. We had wi-fi though.

In the PM we took a boat ride over to Mackinac Island. No motorized vehicles allowed there. Once you hit the town there is only 3 ways to sightsee. Walk, bicycle or take a horse drawn buggy tour. We opted for the latter. After seeing a movie starring Christopher Reeves in the 80's I had always wanted to see the Grand Hotel. Well, the picture you see is the closest we got. They charge a $12 admission fee just to get on the grounds. There is no doubt that it is beautiful though. Had a great day and then left the next morning.

Dwayn has always wanted to cross the Mackinac Bridge. Such stories we had heard! Winds blowing cars off it into the waters below and that if your were afraid they would provide a driver to get you across. What a build-up. To us it was just another bridge although quite long.

From this point on we just headed direct to CT where we had a pleasent week long visit with family. Currently we are at Dwayn's cousin Winfield's house. The two were together a lot when boys and almost inseperable as teens. Winfield married (follow this) Dwayn's brother Dale's wife's sister. Have great hook-ups including wi-fi. We leave tomorrow starting our trek back west. The end is coming up but we have had a great couple months.

Next entry may not even be made until we get back to Custer State Park. Maybe earlier.

LONG TIME

It has been quite some time since we were last online. After leaving the Da Yoopers Toutist Trap we continued on to Sault St Marie, Mich. We stayed at the Kawadin casino there and with the player's card you get 2 nights free, electric only. Our buddy Dan was with us there. That afternoon we went to town and took a boat tour of the locks. Interesting going through them. You are going from Lake Huron into Lake Superior and the difference is 31 ft. The huge barges use this all the time. I knew they are big but never imagined how really big they are. Wow!

The following morning we took a ride to Sault St Marie, Ontario. Just to say we had been there. I had a pasta dish for lunch and when I took a bite,it was fishy. Those you you who know me know I do not eat fish or seafood. Got curious and tasted the small piece of meat (?). Not meat!! Dwayn said it was anchovies and they are to him about the strongest fish there is. The young waitress replaced my pasta with what I thought I had ordered and it was much better. Dwayn & Dan Clifton kept laughing at me and the faces I made.

In the early PM we said a farewell to Dan and got him on his way back to southern MI. We then decided to go back to the locks to watch one of the barges go through. At least there was some shade there as it was miserably hot. If I had thought a barge was big before, it was super apparent standing within 20 feet of one. After a refreshing ice cream we headed back to the rig.

DA YOOPERS

Our goal after driving the 67 miles was a place called the Da Yooper Tourist Trap in Ishpining, MI, they even advertise "free bathrooms". It is sorta of a joke in MI that the people of the upper peninsula are called Yoopers and those that live south of the Mackinac Island bridge are trools. The Yoopers supposedly are dumb and backwards. Not true in reality. After leaving there, we spent a quiet night alongside Lake Superior in a town called Musining.

What is a rally? It is a group of friends getting together for good times. This rally in Norway, MI was just that. We went to a free water-ski show, took a tour of an Iron Mine & played bean-bag baseball. It was guys against the girls and the girls won-big time! 14-8. There were two craft sessions. One was a beaded bracelet with Swarvorski crystals and the other was a painted bookmark. Pat did them both. And, of course, there was the eating.

Have you ever had a pastie? I had not. It is a Finnish meat pie with a variety of fillings. The standard filling is beef, potatoes, onion and rhutabagas (turnip). They were taken warm into the mine for lunch. We enjoyed them. After a hitch-up breakfast on Sunday (first doughnuts since last July) we said our farewells and went our different ways. We drove a whole 67 miles. 

CONVERGENCE OF THE MISSOURI AND THE YELLOWSTONNE RIVERS

This picture shows where the Missouri and Yellowstone river meet. There is a nice Lewis and Clark interpretive center located here. A couple miles away we visited two forts. One was a military fort during the "Indian uprisings" and the other was a trading post for the fur trade. Did you know it took 13 beaverskins for an indian to purchase a rifle?

From Williston we continued our trek east. Hot, you betcha!! Low humidity means nothing when it is 100 degrees. We ended up spending another 3 nights at the Grand Forks Air Force Base. Full hook-ups, 70 channel cable TV and they accepted the Golden Age Passport which means that it only cost $6 a night. We restocked at the exchange and commisary,as supplies were getting low.

Onward we trek!! Crossed Minnesota and spent the next night in western WI. We are learning as we go that even if a campground advertises WI-FI, you can not always pick it up. Frustrating!!

The following day we moved into Norway, MI for an Escapee Rally. We were the second people there. The following day, three more people joined us. Now there were plenty. So good to be around fellow Escapees again, we visited until late at night.