Back in the States!
The drive through southern New Brunswick to the northern U.S. border was easy and eye-pleasing. Beautiful rolling forests with many trees showing fall colors. I might just need to get me a dash cam and see if I can capture some of the beautiful sights I come across since I can’t pull out every time another scene of nature catches my eye.
I returned to the good ole USA at the Calais, Maine port of entry. And was lucky to get the nicest (and cutest!) border control agent. She noticed the Samaritan’s Purse decal on my trailer window and commented that she loves Franklin Graham’s organization and still listens to some of Billy’s sermons. Really a nice lady. She welcomed me home and we wished each other blessed days. Nice way to arrive back in the States!
US Coastal Route 1 winds its way down, well, the northeast Maine coast. It dips inland and climbs and falls through beautiful hills, forests, past rivers, you get the idea. Nice drive. I eventually checked into an overpriced and narrow site at the KOA near Bar Harbor. Leaving the trailer behind I grabbed some good chili at a pub in town and then drove through Acadia National Park. I’d been there before so I didn’t spend much time; just wanted a refresher of how pretty the park is.
After a rainy, windy night I first stopped into Martha’s Diner in Ellsworth for an awesome country breakfast before heading across US Highway 2 through central Maine into northern New Hampshire. On my previous trip up here a few years ago I’d driven the Maine coast so I wanted something different and that would position me well for Vermont. Great drive—again! As I was about to pass through the town of Bethel I saw Sunday River Brewing standing by the roadside. So I did what I do, nearly locking the trailer wheels to stop in time! With just 45 minutes left to drive I had their IPA and Porter and then headed on. Both were good beers. An hour later and more awesome scenery (I’m running outta adjectives) I pulled into a nicely wooded KOA at Twin Mountain, NH. Drudged through the chore of laundry (my next rig will have on-board washer & dryer) and, well, began writing this post. Forecasters are predicting possibly severe storms tonight so I might pull the slides in before hitting the rack. More tomorrow …
Into Vermont
Light & moderate rain last night made for a wet departure, disconnecting power & water. But the day was spectacular! Blue skies, changing colors in the trees, great drive continuing across US Route 2 and eventually onto Vermont Highway 100, heading south. This road is rated by NatGeo as one of the best drives in the US. They got it right. It’s a wonderful road! I followed Route 100 to Rochester where I hung a right toward Brandon where small Foley Brothers Brewing is located. As I started to make a tight right turn down the one lane side road that leads to the brewery I noticed a semi-truck & trailer backing up the driveway to the brewery. Sensing trouble navigating around him, I backed up onto the state highway. That’s always fun. A mile down the road I was able to loop back on another side road, park the rig in a small turnout and walk up to the brewery.
These guys make good IPAs. I liked them all (in sample sizes): Big Bang, Citrennial, Pieces of Eight, Fair Maiden, and Skeleton Crew. While small and with little seating, it’s a really cool, authentic location. Wanting another but deciding against it, I figured the remaining 30 minute drive to the campground was gonna simply wind down the day’s trip. The B in the dash had other ideas…
Major construction in downtown Brandon prevented me from making the turn onto Highway 73. So the B in the dash figured she’d take me down a freaking dirt road into a dead end. The homeowner at the end of the road said the navigation apps have been doing this quite a bit the past week. Nothing like backing 57′ of truck and trailer about a half-mile to a point where I could jockey the trailer into the weeds to finagle a seven-point turn. That’s always fun. Trust me, I cussed that B in the dash!
Having recovered from that blunder, she pulled the same BS again a few minutes later! This time I stopped before getting in too deep. Another homeowner came out as I was attempting to reverse direction and guided me to a reasonable exit path. He, too, said the nav apps seemed to have become particularly evil the past week or so. I might be investing in Garmin’s RV product… Anyway, I got to the campground, grilled some precooked (and not very good) ribs, and watched the recap/analysis of the Judge Kavanaugh hearing. Lindsay Graham hit it outta the park: what a perfectly spoken assessment of the circus the dems have made of confirmation hearings.
More Vermont Wandering
Took a full day and just drove around central Vermont. I headed up Equinox Mountain Skyline Drive but unfortunately it was cloudy at the top so the viewing was petty limited. Back down, I drove more of Highway 100, visited a general store and a couple breweries; Long Trail, a large operation and Killington Beer Company, a more-to-my-liking small place on the road to the ski mountain. I especially liked their and the seasonal pumpkin ale.
The weather lady said fall colors are a week or two behind schedule this year otherwise I’d have been right in the thick of it. Nevertheless, this is gorgeous country and hopefully I’ll see more color in upstate New York. Anyway, I couldn’t believe the day went as fast as it did but after a quick bite at Hop’n Moose in Rutland I was back at camp and fell asleep watching a crappy downloaded movie on Netflix. Heading to Schenectady for a week of base camping and day trips to the Adirondacks. Might even make a side trip to Rhode Island to check the box for having visited that state, too.
