The Bubbles and Jordan Pond Trail

T0day dawned cool and windy with high thin clouds.  We headed out around 10 (not bad for us) and it was 59* and really windy!!!  Thought we would take it a little easy today because tomorrow we will be hiking with Wendy & Dan and we didn't want to wear ourselves out.  After some discussion, we decided on The Bubbles.

This is a pretty easy trail, taking us only 30 minutes to reach the North Bubble summit.

Seriously?  How many times will I take a picture with my hand in it?

Jordan Pond was filled with whitecaps today.

 It was incredibly windy, very difficult to keep standing.

There is blue sky in the background but I have on three layers of clothes, including long underwear.

From here we hiked down for 15 minutes, then headed back up to the South Bubble.

This trail was even easier than the other one but it still took 15 minutes to reach the top.  The North Bubble is visible in the background.  We found a place out of the wind, had a snack and soaked up a little sun before we headed down.

It was all downhill from here, taking us 25 minutes to reach the car.

We drove to an overlook on the road up Cadillac Mtn. and ate lunch.  It was so windy that it blew our park pass off the rear view window and it nearly went out the other window.  Yikes.

We drove back to the Jordan Pond House and walked around Jordan Pond before having our annual popovers and tea.

Rock bridge at end of Jordan Pond

Stretching out and soaking up some sun

New wooden bridges at other end of the pond

Wendy and Dan moved into Cottage No. 8 this afternoon; we played SkipBo after dinner.  Bill and Wendy each won a game.

Thanks for stopping by.
;o)

Bar Harbor or Bust!

Today we headed north for our annual visit to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.  This will be our 11th year enjoying the bountiful beauty of Maine.  Generally, we stop at the L.L. Bean outlet in Ellsworth and shop for half an hour or so.  However, for the past few years, we haven't found any real bargains and it's been a waste of our time, so we decided not to stop there this year.

Instead, we spent our time visiting the Penobscot Narrows Bridge Observatory.  As senior Maine residents, the fee was only $2.50 each.

These photos were taken on our trip in 2011 and it shows the old Waldo/Hancock Bridge that has since been taken down (the smaller, green one in the background).

This one shows the three floors of observatory windows at the top.  Thankfully there is an elevator that travels to the bottom of the windows, with only three flights of stairs to climb.  That was done in order to provide an unobstructed 360* view.

At 447' high, it is taller than the Statue of Liberty and the Bunker Hill Monument AND it's the only bridge observatory in the US.

Looking up toward the top, it's very impressive.

Not a single cloud in the sky!

The views were spectacular on this picture perfect day.

Paper mill/power plant

Town of Bucksport

Fort Knox is on the promontory on the left

Looking the other direction

Where are we supposed to look???

(Selfies are difficult with so much sunlight streaming through the windows.)

Looking toward the other obelisk and the road. 

One of us needs longer arms...

Looking toward the road from which we came.  158,000 cubic feet of rock was removed from this wall.  I think they removed the rock in order to make the large sweeping turn.

Next time we might check out Fort Knox; I vaguely remember visiting there ages ago with the kids.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Another One Bites the Dust

Another project from our "to do" list has been completed.  The shed is all clean...woohoo!!!

This cooler needs to find it's way upstairs

Now the trick will be to keep it clean and organized.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Fancy Meeting You Here

Another beautiful day and a nice bike ride to Bug Light Park in So. Portland.  I'm sitting on "our" bench, waiting for a sailboat to clear the lighthouse so I can take a picture.  In my peripheral vision, I see people coming toward us from the other direction and I'm hoping they pass us before I lose my great picture.

Next thing I know, the bikers are stopping right next to us and I'm thinking..."Geez, it's a big park, can't you find anywhere else to park?"  I look up and am totally surprised to see Paula and her friend, Ann.  I look at Bill and ask "Did you call Paula and tell her we were riding to the park?".  "No", he replies.  I look back at Paula trying to figure out what is going on.  

Come to find out, she and Ann were together to do some sewing and it was such a nice day they decided to go for a quick ride outside, before settling themselves inside to sew.

What a nice surprise; great to see you both!

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

A Good Day's Work

I was supposed to spend the afternoon with Suzie at the campground but she was sick, so we rescheduled for Friday.  That left Bill and I with an unexpected day together with no plans.  Very unusual!  We decided to clean the shed, which has been on our "to do" list for a while now.

We started with this...

And ended up with this after about four hours...

Much better but we still have the other half to clean, maybe next week!

We put a couple of wheelbarrows full of junk in the trailer for the dump and a bunch of stuff into recycling.  I also posted some items on FB for sale, two of which are sold but haven't been picked up yet (or paid for). 

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Spur of the Moment

I spent most of the morning having coffee with Lt. Dick Bond at Springvale Station.  He is on the verge of retirement after 42 years at the SFD so I thought I should pay him a visit before he leaves.  The only problem with visiting is that I can never get away when it's time to leave.  I didn't get home till sometime around 11:00.

We had been talking recently about how we haven't done much of anything this summer, between me working and Bill in the clinic.  Bill suggested we load up the bikes and take a ride from Scarborough to Bug Light in Portland, so off we went.

When we left the Wainwright Fields, it was mostly sunny, breezy and about 82*.  It's a 5.5 ride, completely paved and takes us about 35 minutes.  We find it very picturesque, with views of Portland and Casco Bay.

Looking at Casco Bay Bridge across the Fore River

Admittedly, this doesn't look like much but whenever I ride along this section of the trail, I am reminded of my good friend, Anna.  She always wanted to "live on the water" and after her divorce, she fulfilled some of that dream by renting an apartment in the building behind this photo.  As it turns out, she met her current husband, James, and lived for several years on a sailboat On The Water.  She always said you must be precise about how you state your intentions to the Universe.  Sadly, she is now totally disabled by Alzheimer's Disease and is living in a facility; however, I never fail to think about her and the great times we shared.

The trail takes you behind the Easy Day, a new venue which houses a bowling alley, bar and lounge inside, as well as an outside patio.  Bill's son, Scott, manages the inside bar.  There are nice views of Portland and the Fore River.

The trail goes through Mill Creek Park with nice gardens, a pond and lots of ducks!

There are pretty pink water lilies here, trust me

From here, it's a short distance to Bug Light Park.  I have decided...I love this little park.  It has great views of Portland, the harbor, Fort Gorges and several islands in Casco Bay.

Eastern Prom

Portland

Bug Light, Casco Bay Ferry, Little Diamond Island

Fort Gorges, Little Diamond Island, Great Diamond Island, Peaks Island

It's such a beautiful spot!  We spent about 30 minutes or so just sitting and enjoying the scenery and salty smell of the ocean.  I planned ahead; we even had a snack!

We try to take a picture of ourselves, which with the CamMe app, is so easy we took two!

 

Bill did a great job of framing the lighthouse between us.

We stopped a couple of times on the return trip, mostly for me to take pictures.  I love this little respite for those walking with their furry friends.

They provide water, treats and poop bags.  The "dog's" name is Panini.

Wish we lived closer to Bug Light, we would spend a lot of time there.

haha, as it turns out...the last time we made this ride was September 1, 2013 and it was almost the same time of day.  Weird!

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Puppy Parade Transport 8/3/14

Last year, or maybe it was the year before, I signed up with Martha's Mutt Movers to help transport dogs from point A to point B.  The drivers and the coordinator are all volunteers!  When you sign up, you can indicate how far you are willing to drive.  I signed up from Portsmouth, NH to Augusta, ME.  Transports are regularly posted, with each leg listed and volunteers sign up to fill a specific leg.  I think I have transported three times, the most recent being Sunday, August 3rd.  

Bill joined me this time as we picked up five puppies in Portsmouth and delivered them to a rescue at the Yarmouth info center.  They were all very good travelers and slept most of the way.  One of them, Daisy, preferred to ride shotgun, rather than in a crate.

It makes me feel good to know that I helped get some dogs to a better life, maybe even saving their life in the process.

The pictures aren't great, but you get the idea.

A car full of crates full of puppies

The puppies were crated and weren't supposed to be placed on the ground.  The crates all had puppy pee pads in them and I gave each of them chew toys, which kept them busy until they fell asleep.

Frick & Frack

Cap't. Jack

Cap't. Jack was a cute little guy with only one eye.  The woman who drove the leg prior to ours said he was very noisy the entire time she had him, not very happy about being crated.  Guess he wore himself out!

Then there was Daisy.  She started riding in Bill's lap but I was concerned that she might pull his tube, so we stopped and switched drivers.  She didn't seem to mind, as long as she had a lap underneath her.

Keeping an eye on my driving

Possibly her first "selfie"

snug as a bug in a rug

141 miles round trip; looking forward to our next one!

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)