Bonus Day in November

We've enjoyed several awesome weather days in the last couple of weeks and today was another one.  Beautiful blue skies and a temperature in the low 70's!  We donned our shorts and headed into Portland to walk around the Back Cove.

This stately tree sits up on the hill, watching over the cove.  It must have been spectacular when it's leaves were in full color.

Our only complaint was the wind, blowing at 19 mph. However, the sun was shining and we were getting some exercise, so it was all good!

We had lunch at The Miss Maine Diner, then headed home.

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

Let's Go To The Beach

It was so nice today that we took Tessa to the beach for the first time.  Well, technically, we don't know for sure that it was her first time, she did come from So. Carolina.  It was her first time to the beach in Maine. 

Her first footprints in the sand at Drakes Island.

She did get her feet wet but she's definitely not a water dog.  She was kind of like...whatever.

We walked a half mile down the beach, then back.  She was great meeting other dogs and couldn't resist saying "hi" to everyone she met.

Who would think there would be a beach day in November?

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;o)

Gardens Last Hoorah

I cut the remaining garden flowers today.  Only the daisies had outlasted the cool nights.

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:o)

Adventuring is Exhausting

 After breakfast at L130 in Shapleigh, we came home, reorganized and headed to Bailey Island and the Land's End Gift Shop.  I wanted some new placemats and that's the only place I have found the ones I like.  It's only a 90 minute trip up the coast, past Brunswick, then down one of the many fingers of land the poke into Casco Bay.

Photo from easytravellife.com

One of the coolest things about this ride is the trip over the cribstone bridge between Orr's and Bailey Islands.

Photo from enjoytravellife.com

We parked in the small lot across from the gift shop.  I went in to find the placemats and Bill got Tessa out of the truck.  As far as we know, this is her first visit to the ocean.  

While she did get her feet wet, she didn't venture very far into the water.  I'm sure it was cold!  She did enjoy wandering around the seaweed and the rocks and smelling all the new smells.  

Who's a good girl?

We wandered around a little, followed the path to the other side of the gift shop and took a couple of pictures.  It was a beautiful day, full sun and the temp was 59*, although with a light breeze, it didn't feel that warm.  

We headed back to the truck and headed home. Thankfully, adventuring finally wore Tessa out!  WooHoo!!!  She hardly ever sleeps in the truck (or the car).  This was a treat.

It was not easy finding a bathroom in the area but BIGS, the Bailey Island General Store, had a decent port-a-potty available for the public.  We tried to get Starbucks iced coffees in Brunswick but it closed at 2:00.  All the Wendy's in the area were closed, like in closed permanently, so we ended up grabbing a bite and iced coffees at McDonalds since it was already after 3:00.

We got gas at Sam's for the bargain price of $3.35/gallon (thanks Joe Biden) and were home by 5:00.  

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

  

Autumn Splendor

We went adventuring today since it's the ONLY day we can travel to see the fall colors before a big storm comes on Friday and blows all the leaves off!

We left around 11:00 heading to Bridgton, ME.  We stopped at the Sokokis Lake overlook, probably the best color we saw all day.

Rather than leave Tessa home alone all day, we took her with us for a nice field trip.  The couple of times we took Titan, he got carsick, so we were hoping the ride wouldn't bother her.  She isn't great in the car, doesn't really settle down but she got very unsettled and started whimpering at one point.  Bill thought maybe she needed to go to the bathroom.

We found a good place to stop next to the Denmark Municipal Building to get her out and sure enough, she peed and pooped.  There happened to be a port-a-potty there, recently cleaned, so we all got to go to the bathroom. ;o)

In Bridgton, we took a left onto Rt 302 and headed toward Fryeburg.  We had no idea that we were so close to Shawnee Peak Ski Area.

Pleasant Mtn overlooking Moose Pond

Initially we drove past this area but turned around in order to check it out further.  We drove up the road to see the ski area, much less impressive than Loon Mtn. but decent.  We were able to pull off along the side of the road to take these photos and had a snack bar while there.

Went through Fryeburg, on to No. Conway.  We got lunch at Burger King, then drove through town (big mistake, but the side road was closed due to construction), which took waaaay too long, to the Mt. Washington Valley overlook.  

The table we wanted, in the grass, had two little yappers at the table next to it, so we took a table near the parking area.  Tessa was tied to the table, we put down a towel and she got a nice Kong bone full of cheese, while we ate our luckwarm burgers and fries.  For some reason, it was very hazy and although there was some nice color in the distance, we couldn't see it very clearly.

We came back along the West Side Road into Conway, then picked up Rt. 153 through Effingham toward Province Lake.  From there through W. Newfield, picked up Rt. 11 through Shapleigh into Springvale.  We got iced coffees at McDonalds on Main Street and arrived home at 4:30.  

It was a really nice day, temps around 70*, mostly high thin clouds and we avoided the heavy traffic areas.  We saw some nice color but nothing like the spectacular ride we took in 2019.  

Overlook past the Kancamagus summit toward Lincoln 10/9/2019

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

 

Someone's Not Happy

Bill was eating ice cream and Tessa was very attentive, waiting to lick the bowl.

"Tell him I want some ice cream"

waiting, waiting, waiting...

Unfortunately, Bill had topped his ice cream with chocolate sauce, so Tessa didn't get to clean the bowl and it was obvious she was ticked off.  She gave us the cold shoulder until we went to bed.

So sad ;o(

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;o)

It's Acadia Time...Day Five

Up before 8:30 to bright skies and blowing winds.  

It was warm enough this morning that I was able to sit outside with my coffee.

We had talked about going for a bike ride on Schoodic but decided it was too windy and it would be chilly, so we decided to hike Homans Path, to Emery Path, then back to Sieur de Monts.  

We left Edgewater at 11:07, 59* winds @ 11mph.  We drove the long way around, through the park to Rt. 3, then back to Sieur de Monts where we actually found a parking place fairly quickly.  Parked at 11:48, warmed up to 63*.  

We used the bathroom, then headed along the Jessup Path to the Tarn, where we realized we had gone the wrong direction.

The Tarn

Sooo, we checked our map, turned around and walked the right direction to the Homans Path trailhead.

The path was predominantly granite steps uphill for .4 of a mile.  

We were pleasantly surprised to see this on the path.

I felt like this tree was still reaching for the sky, although it had seen better days.

Look at that beautiful blue sky.  What you don't see is the wind...

Then we came across this

Next stop...the end of Homans Path at 1:04, 63* winds @ 14.

There was a beautiful view of The Great Meadow and the Porcupine Islands.

We sat here and ate our snacks before heading down the Emery Path.  Two bald eagles were soaring nearby.

Titan is always with us.

The way down started with this nice flat section, then the steps returned.

Looking back from where we came.

Another look back...

Then we were done, reaching the Sieur de Monts spring and the Emery Path trailhead at 1:36.

As we reached the parking lot, a ranger was excorting a cormorant through the driveway toward the grass.

We've never seen anything like that before.

We left the parking lot at 2:10 and drove to Charlotte's Legendary Lobster Pound in SW Harbor where we sat outside for lunch.  Bill had the clam roll and I had the shrimp roll.  They were yummy.

From there, we drove on to the beach at Seawall.  We sat at one of the picnic tables, ate our chocolate chip cookies from Local 130 in Shapleigh and read for about an hour.  It is such a beautiful, quiet place.

We left at 4:42 and drove back to Edgewater, arriving around 5:20. 64* winds @ 11.

We got most of our stuff packed, ready to leave in the morning.  We ate late so had cheese and crackers for "dinner".  

Another trip to Acadia in the books.

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

 

It's Acadia Time...Day Four

Up at 8:30, sunny and windy enough to create whitecaps on the water.  

Only 55* and windy.  We both slept well but got cold overnight, having left some of the windows open. Although I always prefer having my coffee on the deck, it was just too darn cold, so I sat inside instead.  We had bagels for breakfast and moved at a snail's pace getting ready for the day.  We didn't leave until 11:41...61* sunny & windy.  

We arrived in  SW Harbor at 12:03 and found a parking space without any hassle.  We wandered through town; Bill bought a really nice print from J.K.Putnam, a photographer I've been following on FB and IG and we bought some Christmas gifts.

We ate lunch at Eat-a-Pita/Cafe 2, sitting in the outside patio, enjoying the sun.  The temperature had climbed to 64*.  Bill had a portabello panini and I had the caprese panini, which was very heavy on spinach.  I forgot the usual food photo...

We left there at 1:56 and drove to Seawall, arriving only ten minutes later.  We parked along the rocky shore, took a short walk to the end of the path, walked back and got our chairs out of the car.  We picked a fairly flat spot, sat and read for an hour. It was perfect when the wind wasn't blowing and tolerable when it was.  64* winds at 20mph

High tide but the wind was blowing out keeping the water at bay

We only discovered this area a couple of years ago but it has become one of our favorite places outside the park.

We left at 3:35, drove into downtown Bar Harbor and scored another parking place (4:15) across from the Village Green.  We were able to walk to Acadia Perks and get iced coffees and a whoopee pie.  Beedandy has some specialty soaps here, which we spotted on one of the shelves and now I wish I had taken a photo ;o(. The problem now was finding a place in the sun, out of the wind, to enjoy our afternoon snacks.  The Ivy Manor has a courtyard, live entertainment and a sign that says "public welcome", so we took a seat in the sun, started enjoying the music and eating our shared whoopee pie.  

Although the public is welcome, outside beverages are not.  While we weren't technically asked to leave, we were told our iced coffees had to go.  So we left, stood on the sidewalk and ate our pie.  

We checked out Bark Harbor, wanting to bring something back for Tessa.  We decided on a moose shaped treat.  

We spent another half hour or so browsing in and out of the various stores, including looking for sock liners at Cadillac Mtn Sports. No luck.  

Reached the car just as our paid parking expired and drove to Pat's Pizza, where we had a thin crust, sausage, pepperoni and bacon pizza.  Got back to Edgewater at 6:52.  The temperature had dropped to 57* and the wind had died down some.

I worked on the blog and we watched "Major League".

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)