Exploring........

7:48 am - Monday - May 14th - Southwest Harbor, ME - 47º F, 92% humidity, wind 10 mph out of the south by southwest.....heavy cloud cover with a forecast high for today of 53º F.  Looks like a 60% chance of rain on Tuesday.

We were up and at them just before 7 am on our first full day in Southwest Harbor.  We wanted to take a walk around the campground to get a feel for it, and get oriented, then walk into town to explore our home town for the next 5.5 months.....

Site Map of Smuggler's Den

.....there are 125 individual sites with 55 of them being full hookup, but only 3 pull through sites.  The rest range from water/electric only for tenters, or popup tent trailers to dry camping sites.  They have around 13 cabins, or park models as some call them.  It is much larger than I originally thought......our walk around the perimeter of the park was close to one mile in length.  They have a large group area with a number of RV sites which have water/electric and many others for dry camping only.....

 Cabins/Park Models

.....everything appears to be well maintained without any apparent deferred maintenance.....every single picnic table we saw had a fresh coat of paint, and had no structural issues....

....there is a family cemetery on site with graves dating back to the 1700's....I'm going to have to find out more about that.  

Once we had completed our tour of Smuggler's Den we headed into town.  According to the owners the local supermarket is about 1/2 mile from the campground (it is), and downtown Southwest Harbor about 1.5 miles from the park (it is).  Initially the highway plunges downhill for about 1/2 mile before it begins to level out....right at that point is where Food Mart IGA is located....

......we spent quite a bit of time checking the store out as this is where we will do most of our grocery shopping for the next 5.5 months.  Their prices are reasonable for a resort town, they have a very nice selection, and the employees are very friendly and helpful.

Next we walked another mile into town where we found most of the small shops, and eateries still closed, but getting ready to open over the next 2 weeks......

.......in all, including our 1 mile walk around the campground, we walked about 4.6 miles on our walking tour.  We did not get all the way to the harbor as we just ran out of gas, and knew we had the 1/2 mile hill to climb on our way back.  We were back home by 1 pm....I spent the rest of the afternoon with the Tournament Players Championship on in the background while I worked to set up our living environment for the next 5.5 months. Tiger started the day at 8 under par, but 11 strokes behind the leader (Webb Simpson) who was at 19 under par.......at one point Tiger got to 14 under par with a share of 2nd place, and only 4 strokes back of the leader before he faltered, finishing 7 strokes back.  A good day for Tiger in his attempt to comeback and win again on the PGA Tour.

In the interim I got my bike stand set up, three of our bikes assembled (the tandem will have to wait), all my tools out, and the Sea-B-Que ready for use....I grilled some carne asada around 6:30 for use in TLE's famous street tacos.

After 6 plus years of travel we find ourselves in a place where our Verizon phones do not work well......we get about 4 bars of 1x (the dreaded 'extended service'), which is not adequate for anything beyond phone calls, texting, and e-mail.  Fortunately, along with my job title of Ranger, I get unlimited use of the Ranger Iphone which is an AT&T phone, and has unlimited data.  When home we just turn on its hotspot so we can access the internet on our phones and laptop, so problem solved.  

For our first two days here the temps have been quite pleasant during the middle of the day, and I can be outside in a t-shirt, shorts and flip flops, but after 3 pm it begins to get quite cool and I must add layers of clothing, plus put on shoes.  No complaints here.....we would rather be cold than hot, so it's all good!

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Three thousand three hundred eighty-nine.....

6:53 am - Sunday - May 13th - Southwest Harbor, ME - 45º F, 93% humidity, wind wind 1 mph out of the southwest....partly cloudy with a forecast high today of 55º F......my view from our site for the next 5 months.......it's going to be a beautiful day in Southwest Harbor......

We were up a little after 6 am Saturday.  Our intent had been to sleep in and leave Portland around 10 am, but let's face it......we were excited to be at the end of our 3,389 mile journey and almost 4 weeks of continuous travel and site seeing.  Over the last two plus years we have spent more time stationary than moving....by far.

It was particularly cold overnight and when we awoke the bedroom temperature was around 53º F.....the first time it has been below 60º F on our journey to the northeast.  Needless to say, we had all three gas furnaces rocking to take the chill off the Newell interior as quickly as possible!

By 8 am we were ready to roll, but I wanted to top off our 180 gallon diesel tank so it would be near full when we arrived in Southwest Harbor where we will be parked for close to 5.5 months before we roll our wheels again.  A full diesel tank reduces the chances of condensation building up in the tank over a long period of time, especially if you are living in an area prone to higher humidity.  We took on 50 gallons at $3.29/gallon and were on our way northbound on I-95 once again.

The northbound Interstates are toll roads here in Maine.  Unlike New York where you pay for exactly what you use after you have used it, here in Maine every time you enter the Interstate you pay.  On this day we paid $3.50 to enter I-95 south of Portland, then another $3.50 when we switched to I-295 for about 40 miles, then another final $3.50 when we came close to Augusta and rejoined I-95......so $10.50 in tolls for the day.  It's only $1 for cars, so when we do travel south to Portland in the future it will cost us $3 each way.

The drive north was unremarkable except for the noticeable lack of Rest Areas.  Usually, first thing in the day, we pull into a Rest Area to brush our teeth, take a walk, etc. after 40-50 miles, but on this day the first Rest Area was almost 90 miles into our 183 mile day.  Otherwise, the roads were in excellent condition.

We knew the elevation of Southwest Harbor was around 52', but we spent most of our day alternating between 200' and 500' elevation until the very end as we made the gentle descent into Southwest Harbor and our home for the summer......Smuggler's Den Campground.

 Getting close!

Because of our very early start we arrived at our final destination around 12:30 pm and were met by Todd and Rain Holbrook who own, and run this seasonal campground (opens May 25th, and closes October 22nd).  We had really enjoyed our interview with Rain and her mother back in August when we were still at Yellowstone, and were pleasantly pleased to find both Todd and Rain just as we expected.....welcoming, low key, helpful, patient, and understanding.  I think we are about to have a great summer!

We will be the only Workampers at Smuggler's Den this year.....all other workers are locals who love working at this family owned park every summer.  We feel blessed to be chosen as their only onsite workers.  Todd showed us to our site, and one can immediately see why this is a worker site as you can only get into it when the sites across the road are empty.  I had to pull into the site directly across from ours and then back the trailer as far into the back of the site as I could before we unhooked it, and then spent about an hour maneuvering it into the corner of the site using the Trailer Valet.......I am so glad I bought it!  We don't use it often, but when we do it makes things so much easier!

Once the trailer was positioned TLE helped me back the Newell into the site.....there is a wooden deck (in very nice condition....painted baby blue) that Todd will help us move into position once the Newell is parked.......

By the time we finished getting the Newell hooked up, and our quite full black and gray tanks dumped it was after 2 pm.  As soon as I saw the site I knew using my rooftop crank up Winegard satellite dish would be fruitless, but I tried nonetheless for about 20 minutes without success, so it was time to deploy our Winegard Carryout dish, which we bought a few years ago when we were in Cape Blanco with a similar problem.  We have only had to use it a few times in the intervening years, but are so glad, once again, that we bought it.  Within minutes after I had it set up and connected to the Newell we had DirecTV.........

Winegard Carryout dish at the back of our site

....by the time I was done putting things away it was after 3:30 pm and time to sit down and relax, and maybe catch a quick nap.  

The temps here in Southwest Harbor have been averaging in the mid 50's the past couple of weeks, and there is a hint of warming over the next two weeks into the low 60's.....Spring has been slow in arriving here in northeast Maine.  Thankfully, the overnight temps are in the low 40's, so not a big temperature swing.

For those who are interested in where we are in Maine, and our proximity to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, here is a Google map for your reference.....

We are on Mount Desert Island

......there is a lot to explore, and we have over 5 months to do so.....time to get started!

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The 'Maine' objective of our trip.....

6:26 am - Saturday - May 12th - Portland, ME - 37º F, 79% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the west by northwest......partly cloudy skies with a forecast high today of 54º F.  We roll our wheels in less than 2 hours......Southwest Harbor, ME here we come!

The temperature Friday morning at 7:14 am in Lynnfield, MA was 60º F....the warmest morning temperature we have had in almost one month since we left Fontana, CA.  We only had about 96 miles to go this day to Portland, ME.  We were on the road before 10 am merging on to I-95 northbound.....the traffic was light going north, but 'stop and go' going south into Boston.  

It was only a few miles to the New Hampshire state line, and then only another 15 miles before we crossed into Maine for the first time in our lives.......

.......we crossed the Maine state line within 30 minutes and by 12 pm we were exiting the turnpike just a couple miles shy of Portland, ME....there is a Cabela's at exit 42 where you can park an RV for free overnight.......

.......I-95 from Boston to the New Hampshire border is a free road, but as soon as you enter New Hampshire it becomes a toll road.....it cost us $5 to travel the short 15 miles through the lovely state of New Hampshire. Then we entered Maine where we were required to pay another $10.50 from the state line to Portland......

......we found a nice, long pull through site behind Cabela's right near their dump station, changed clothes, extracted the VW from the trailer, and then headed directly over to the Portland Head Lighthouse.  We drove surface streets to avoid paying anymore tolls this day.  With 25 minutes we arrived at the lighthouse which is located on the grounds of the former Fort Williams, and now named Fort Williams Park.......

.....the Portland Head Lighthouse was commissioned in 1790 by then President George Washington and is the oldest operating lighthouse in Maine.  It began its life with an 4th Order Fresnel lens being illuminated via whale oil, which was later replaced with a 2nd Order Fresnel lens.  In 1958 it was replaced with an Aero Beacon, and now has a DCB-224 Aero Beacon.

   

.....this rugged, rocky coastline is exactly how I imagined it would look.....

  

......on the other end of Fort Williams Park is the site of the old Goddard Mansion which stood adjacent to Cape Cottage Hotel (a summer hotel) owned by Goddard.  The hotel is no longer there, and only the native stone walls of the mansion still exist......

.....the mansion was acquired by the Army in 1896 and used to house married enlisted men on the base.

We both remarked how nice it was to be breathing sea air again after three years in which time we have spent most of our time at elevation.   Breathing all that fresh ocean air activated our appetites, so we jumped in the VW and headed into downtown Portland around 1 pm to Becky's Diner (Yelp gives them 4 stars on over 500 reviews!).  This fine little diner was featured a few years ago on Triple 'D', which was the reason we chose them for lunch........

......we both ordered a cup of coffee, and I a cup of haddock chowder followed by another lobster roll.......

.....TLE ordered their Crab Swiss Melt.....all the food was scrumptious.....just perfect for a coolish day!

We were back home by 3:30 pm relaxing and looking forward to arriving in Southwest Harbor sometime Saturday afternoon.  I was telling TLE that at the beginning of our 3,000+ mile trip to Maine I was a little anxious about such a long trip taking us so far from our familiar stomping grounds.  I always wonder what might go wrong on such a long trip....after all it is not if things will go wrong, but when.  As of Friday nothing has gone wrong after traveling 3,206 miles.....nothing except the oil temperature wire that I fixed in Oklahoma City.......

.....since we had the radiator cleaned in Albuquerque on our 3rd day out from Fontana the engine, oil and tranny temperatures have been the best they have ever been.  In that distance we have used only 3 quarts of oil, plus we have been averaging right at 7 miles per gallon.

The sun is shinning, the road beckons.......life is good!  It has been two months since we left our winter jobs at Desert View, and we are very excited about our upcoming summer adventures....stay tuned!

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Boston.......

7:14 am - Friday - May 11th - Lynnfield, MA - 60º F, 62% humidity, wind 12  mph out of the west by northwest.......clear blue skies with a forecast high of 64º F.  We roll our wheels in 2 hours.

One of the reasons we stopped here in Lynnfield, MA was so we could spend a day in Boston.  TLE did all the leg work as far as figuring out which train to take into Boston, where to park, and what to see.....I added in Fenway Park as a must see location near the end of our day, but I get ahead of myself......

 Boston bound on the Purple Line into North Station

We left the Newell around 9 am to drive a few miles over to the Wakefield Train Station (MBTA*) to catch the 9:46 am train into Boston.  There are about 200 parking spaces allocated for those using the train, and we managed to snag the last one.  The total round trip cost to ride the Purple Line into and out of Boston was $27.  The train arrived promptly at 9:46 am, and we were disembarking the train at North Station just 30 minutes later........

 The entrance to TD Garden where the Celtics play basketball is located inside North Station

.....I did not know this, but the TD Garden entrance where the Boston Celtics play their basketball games is located in North Station.....that is about as simple as it gets!

We bought a couple of cups of coffee at a Dunkin' Donuts inside the station and sat down to get our bearings before beginning our walking tour of Boston.  Many people here at the Elks Lodge suggested we follow the 'Freedom Trail' and that is what we set out to do as we walked down Causeway Street toward Boston Common where the 'Freedom Trail' visitor center is located....

 Boston Common 

......you can pay to be part of a guided tour ($10/person for Seniors) by a person dressed in period costume, or you can pay $3 to buy the map and guide yourself......we decided upon the later.....

From the beginning of the 'Freedom Trail' to the end is 2.5 miles.......every 100-200 feet was a historical landmark.....I didn't take pictures of all of them........

 There were many red brick churches along the route......a lot......

 First public school

 Old City Hall

 Old State House

Beautiful building

 Feneuil Hall was closed for construction, however Quincy Market was open!

 Of course.....located inside Quincy Market

 Freedom Trail markers

 The Paul Revere home

 TD Garden from the bridge which crosses the Charles River

 This red brick line guided us along the 'Freedom Trail'

.....we gradually made it to the USS Constitution aka: Old Ironsides around 12:15 pm....this was one of the highlights of the walking tour for me.......she was nicknamed 'Old Ironsides' due to the tendency of cannon balls to bounce off her oak plank sides......

 Can you imagine how loud it was when those cannon were being fired?

 'Steerage'

......you would have had to be pretty short to effectively maneuver below deck.....very, very low overhead....at least for moi......

 USS Constitution

.....we also visited the USS Constitution Museum........

 A scale model of the USS Constitution....fully rigged

 The Charles River

.....we decided not to go up to Bunker Hill as by this time it was after 1 pm and we were both getting hungry, so we headed back to Quincy Market to get our first Lobsta' Roll and Clam Chowda' of the summer.....we chose 'Boston Chowda' which gets 4 stars from Yelp....

 First of many lobsta' rolls and clam chowda' this summer

......we walked outside to find a bench to sit on and enjoy our purchases.....OMG....everything was so delicious!

At this point it was about 1:30 pm....too early to head back to North Station.....we decided on the spot to walk over to Fenway Park (2.5 miles away, and then 3.0 miles back to North Station from there).  We are walkers, as you know, so walking almost 6 miles round trip does not phase us at all.  We walked steadily arriving at Fenway Park off Ipswich just about 2:20 pm.....

....we walked the streets around the entire stadium and then went into the Bleacher Bar to get a brew and snap a few pictures of the inside of Fenway Park......you can pay to take a tour of the inside of Fenway Park, but it is $20/person.....I think the Bleacher Bar was a satisactory alternative.....

 Taken from inside the 'Bleacher Bar'

 'Big Green Monster' in the right of the picture

 Having a brew before we begin our 3 mile walk back to North Station

.....once again, this was another big highlight for me.....have always wanted to visit this iconic ballpark!

When we exited the Bleacher Bar it was 2:40 pm, and we had a 3 mile walk back to North Station.  We didn't have to be there by any particular time, but we did want to get on the train before rush hour began.  We figured we would arrive at North Station around 3:40 pm, and that is exactly when we arrived.  We went to Gate 5 and stepped right on to the train back to Wakefield.....no waiting....we had perfect timing!

We were back in Wakefield and in the VW by 4:20 pm, and home by 4:30 pm.....really tired, but with big grins on our faces.....in all we covered over 10 miles walking around Boston.....

See the red arrow with North Station in Red above it....that is where we began our walk, and ended our walk

......TLE used a red marker to trace everywhere we went (see above).....I'm tired now just looking at this map!  

Thanks for stopping by!

*MBTA = Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

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