Just back from up in Down East Maine. This time we decided
not to aim for Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, though it is a favorite place. The plan was to find the places we’ve missed.
Regardless, our first night was in the big parking lot of downtown Freeport, adjacent to the LL Bean warehouse store, where space is available free for any RV, large or small. In fact, this time of year there was so much space we over-nighted close up to the visitors center/rest rooms building. I should mention the rest rooms were open, though a sign posted on one of the doors said otherwise. I suspect it meant to refer only to the visitors center itself. Pays to pull on the door handle. LL Bean open 24 hours. Got a nice shirt, and a sleeping bag zipper problem was resolved.
We pulled out next morning for Bath, and the Maine Maritime Museum, a first class learning experience for anyone interested in the New England commercial sail boat industry of the last two hundred years. In fact, this is the very place where the mammoth but quickly obsolete Wyoming was built, in 1906, I think.
After a stop at a Shaw’s super market for supplies we followed signs to and through Boothbay Harbor, a very busy in the summer town, out to Gray Homestead Oceanfront Campground (pix #2). On the coast off yet another cove, it has full hookups and accommodates the big boys, starting at $36 per night. There’s sea breeze, moss and lichen and roots coming out of the ground everywhere, and little pine cones began dropping on our
burro the second night. We had Lob-stah, in town, and traveled all over the area.
Our brief coastal experience done, we turned west. After doing the Cumberland County Fair, which featured ox and draft horse pulling contests, we found Sebago Lake State Park (pix #3). No hooks ups, but not far from water spigots, at $13 a night, very clean showers and rest rooms. Don’t try driving out of the campsite area at night. It’s a maize. We intended to go farther north, up to Baxter State Park where I had tent camped many years ago, but it came time to go home before we knew what happened. Must do Baxter another time. Must also return to Portland, a gem of a city.
Once home this, our first extended trip with the
Burro (my year-long restoration project,) made it clear changes were necessary. We never used the large dinette table, and, my small fold-away table over the front gaucho seating was unsatisfactory. It was a pain to open up, and impractical for seating. The other big thing was our porta-potty leaked. There must be a missing rubber washer connecting the two halves. I need to add a hook on a cabinet for the garbage bag. My other half would probably add to all this...
we need a bigger rv! Yah, well....
My plan is to make the stove cover do double duty as a dining table in the center of the room. It will hang off the cabinet door. This will give two people plenty of seating room facing each other at either end while dining, with every need at arm’s length. We have very long arms. I probably will remove the front mini-table and re-make that space into mini-storage space.