We stayed a couple of nights at Hanover as the weather turned to custard and it seemed like a good enough reason to sleep in and lounge around. We did get physical – by going for a swim in the pool. We were the only ones using it. I guess it wasn’t warm enough for the other campers or maybe because the sign at the gate said “Warm Poo”. Guess someone needed an L for something.
We continued our travels on the 2. It is a beautiful scenic, cruisey sort of road offering no challenges for the navigator or driver so made for really pleasant traveling. J
The plan was to try and find a camp around Ellsworth so we could do some touring on the bike. I rang a couple of places and decided on one at Sullivan which was the cheapest but that was negated by the fact that we had to drive 10 miles out of Ellsworth to get there. We got the last RV site they had as they were fully booked as the weekend was the big Lobster festival in the nearby town of Winter Harbour. We were assured the site was level – yeh right!! We then discovered we didn’t have an adaptor to fit the campers 30 amp plug in so there went the air con. (Luckily it wasn’t muggy so it wasn’t needed.) The toilet block was an old shed that had been modified. The floors sloped and the shower boxes were held up by a couple of screws and were quite wobbly. Marty said one of the loos in the men’s wasn’t even screwed to the floor – he didn’t use that one! But it was ok really. We only needed a place to park when all said and done. And the camp owners were very nice. He rode a Honda Leadwing but we forgave him at least it wasn't a Harley.
First day there we headed east to a little fishing village called Lubec. We had been to Lubec in Germany so thought it would be fun to see this one. 
It was beautiful. It was a vibrant fishing village until the 60’s when Government Food Regulations forced the closure of the Smoked herring factory where most of the town worked. (Some little pencil head in Govt decided that the herrings had to be gutted before they could be smoked. Can you belive it?) The Historic Society is now trying to preserve the remaining 
buildings from this era. We went on a little tour and learnt a bit of the local history. I found it quite interesting. The smell of the smoked herrings was still very evident in the building we were in.
We carried on up the coast stopping at a Historic Site where you can see the Isle de St Croix. This the first European settlement north of Florida (the Spanish were first there) but the French learnt very quickly about the harshness of Maine winters. Next stop Calais. The Americans pronounce it Callis, the peasants. This was jammed packed with cars. After sitting for 5 minutes at the first set of lights and getting nowhere we turned around and headed out of town.
We went to Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge. We saw a couple of Osprey nesting and despite riding the bike around a hiking trail we never saw a moose. They had a moose head at the welcome centre so I got to have my photo taken with that.
Later I saw a church sign saying "If you love me obey my commandments” and I thought to myself, if you loved me you would show me a moose not a sign. I never saw a moose………
We traveled back to camp on the 191 another beautiful, low traffic road. Covered 250 miles for the day.
We decided to stay another day and ride around Mt Desert Island and see Bar Harbour. This is definitely the tourist end of town with half of New York there for the summer. We went down to one of the little fishing 
wharfs and had a chat with a fisherman who was banding his lobsters. The sea around the Island is covered with lobster buoys. There would be no chance of drowning as you could fling an arm out and be holding onto a buoy – no swimming needed.
While stopping to consult our very inferior map a guy on a Harley stopped to see if we were lost. He then told us we had to go to Acadia National Park and proceeded to take us there. The highlight of the ride here was the ride up Cadillac Mountain (1530 ft). 
As you get to the top you get 360° vistas of the area. It is absolutely beautiful. Once down we did the loop road through the park. This is a one way loop road virtually around the bottom of Cadillac Mountain, very scenic and a great motorcycling road. (Don’t seem to be any bad ones here).
We got back to camp had a cuppa and then headed off again to ride the Schoodic Peninsula. Part of this is a portion of Arcadia NP but much smaller than the main park. It is no less scenic. We arrived in Winter Harbor about 5.30pm just in time for the annual Lobster Festival street parade. As the road we wanted to travel on was closed we had no choice but to sit and watch. It was much smaller than the one we had seen in Madison but the participants were equally as enthusiastic. Half an hour later we were on our way again. Another 200 miles travelled.
The road was calling so next day we set off again. We decided to travel down the coast on the 1. What a mistake. The roads were very busy and there was no where to pull off and enjoy the scenery. We couldn’t get a camp for the night as they were all full so we went to the Wal-Mart car park in Biddeford and joined 10 other campers for the night. Thank God for Wal Mart. He can’t produce a moose but he does alright with Wal-Mart’s.
The next day wasn’t much better. Left Maine behind and hit the New Hampshire coast expecting less people. Wrong. It started well and we found a place to stop by the sea that didn’t want $10 to park. There was no shortage of takers for these spots as they are near little sandy beaches so on a 500 meter stretch of beach you have 2000 people. The coast is a succession of
holiday homes (beautiful, big and expensive) and endless shopping malls most containing designer label shops. One town we passed through has its mile long main street dedicated to designer shops. Another thing we noticed was the high number of antique shops. They are absolutely everywhere. Sometimes the building looks older and more decrepid than the antiques within. If you are not into antiques or designer shopping then there are the equally numerous Yard Sales to check out. Some of these seem to be a permanent fixture on people’s front lawns. Definitely something for every shopper. Before we knew it we had crossed into Massachusetts and parking was still short on the ground so we stopped in a Burger King car park and had a brew and a study of the map to see where we could spend the night. Decided on Wompatuck State Park on the south west side of Boston so it was pedal to the metal and we were off our adventures in Maine and New Hampshire at an end.
We continued our travels on the 2. It is a beautiful scenic, cruisey sort of road offering no challenges for the navigator or driver so made for really pleasant traveling. J
The plan was to try and find a camp around Ellsworth so we could do some touring on the bike. I rang a couple of places and decided on one at Sullivan which was the cheapest but that was negated by the fact that we had to drive 10 miles out of Ellsworth to get there. We got the last RV site they had as they were fully booked as the weekend was the big Lobster festival in the nearby town of Winter Harbour. We were assured the site was level – yeh right!! We then discovered we didn’t have an adaptor to fit the campers 30 amp plug in so there went the air con. (Luckily it wasn’t muggy so it wasn’t needed.) The toilet block was an old shed that had been modified. The floors sloped and the shower boxes were held up by a couple of screws and were quite wobbly. Marty said one of the loos in the men’s wasn’t even screwed to the floor – he didn’t use that one! But it was ok really. We only needed a place to park when all said and done. And the camp owners were very nice. He rode a Honda Leadwing but we forgave him at least it wasn't a Harley.
First day there we headed east to a little fishing village called Lubec. We had been to Lubec in Germany so thought it would be fun to see this one. 
It was beautiful. It was a vibrant fishing village until the 60’s when Government Food Regulations forced the closure of the Smoked herring factory where most of the town worked. (Some little pencil head in Govt decided that the herrings had to be gutted before they could be smoked. Can you belive it?) The Historic Society is now trying to preserve the remaining 
buildings from this era. We went on a little tour and learnt a bit of the local history. I found it quite interesting. The smell of the smoked herrings was still very evident in the building we were in.
We carried on up the coast stopping at a Historic Site where you can see the Isle de St Croix. This the first European settlement north of Florida (the Spanish were first there) but the French learnt very quickly about the harshness of Maine winters. Next stop Calais. The Americans pronounce it Callis, the peasants. This was jammed packed with cars. After sitting for 5 minutes at the first set of lights and getting nowhere we turned around and headed out of town.
We went to Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge. We saw a couple of Osprey nesting and despite riding the bike around a hiking trail we never saw a moose. They had a moose head at the welcome centre so I got to have my photo taken with that.Later I saw a church sign saying "If you love me obey my commandments” and I thought to myself, if you loved me you would show me a moose not a sign. I never saw a moose………
We traveled back to camp on the 191 another beautiful, low traffic road. Covered 250 miles for the day.
We decided to stay another day and ride around Mt Desert Island and see Bar Harbour. This is definitely the tourist end of town with half of New York there for the summer. We went down to one of the little fishing 
wharfs and had a chat with a fisherman who was banding his lobsters. The sea around the Island is covered with lobster buoys. There would be no chance of drowning as you could fling an arm out and be holding onto a buoy – no swimming needed.
While stopping to consult our very inferior map a guy on a Harley stopped to see if we were lost. He then told us we had to go to Acadia National Park and proceeded to take us there. The highlight of the ride here was the ride up Cadillac Mountain (1530 ft). 
As you get to the top you get 360° vistas of the area. It is absolutely beautiful. Once down we did the loop road through the park. This is a one way loop road virtually around the bottom of Cadillac Mountain, very scenic and a great motorcycling road. (Don’t seem to be any bad ones here).We got back to camp had a cuppa and then headed off again to ride the Schoodic Peninsula. Part of this is a portion of Arcadia NP but much smaller than the main park. It is no less scenic. We arrived in Winter Harbor about 5.30pm just in time for the annual Lobster Festival street parade. As the road we wanted to travel on was closed we had no choice but to sit and watch. It was much smaller than the one we had seen in Madison but the participants were equally as enthusiastic. Half an hour later we were on our way again. Another 200 miles travelled.
The road was calling so next day we set off again. We decided to travel down the coast on the 1. What a mistake. The roads were very busy and there was no where to pull off and enjoy the scenery. We couldn’t get a camp for the night as they were all full so we went to the Wal-Mart car park in Biddeford and joined 10 other campers for the night. Thank God for Wal Mart. He can’t produce a moose but he does alright with Wal-Mart’s.
The next day wasn’t much better. Left Maine behind and hit the New Hampshire coast expecting less people. Wrong. It started well and we found a place to stop by the sea that didn’t want $10 to park. There was no shortage of takers for these spots as they are near little sandy beaches so on a 500 meter stretch of beach you have 2000 people. The coast is a succession of
holiday homes (beautiful, big and expensive) and endless shopping malls most containing designer label shops. One town we passed through has its mile long main street dedicated to designer shops. Another thing we noticed was the high number of antique shops. They are absolutely everywhere. Sometimes the building looks older and more decrepid than the antiques within. If you are not into antiques or designer shopping then there are the equally numerous Yard Sales to check out. Some of these seem to be a permanent fixture on people’s front lawns. Definitely something for every shopper. Before we knew it we had crossed into Massachusetts and parking was still short on the ground so we stopped in a Burger King car park and had a brew and a study of the map to see where we could spend the night. Decided on Wompatuck State Park on the south west side of Boston so it was pedal to the metal and we were off our adventures in Maine and New Hampshire at an end. NOTE: We still haven't worked out how to get the pics in the right place when we post our blog. They start out ok but always move when they are in space. So sorry to those of you out there who really care.................
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