Friday, August 27, through Wednesday, September 1, 2010: At Contoocook, New Hampshire:
The trip here was longer than we usually like---262 miles---but uneventful (except that our GPS tried to get us to cross a covered bridge that was too small and had a weight limit far below our traveling home)


and, since we left Bar Harbor at 8:00 am, we arrived at Contoocook (pronounced just like it is spelled, with the accent on "too") comfortably before 2:00 pm. The park is quite nice, but, once again, there are too many (very tall) trees and not only will our rooftop satellite dish not work, but there does not seem to be a place to put our backup dish to receive a signal. Pesky trees! The night we arrived, we settled for sleeping through several episodes of "The Closer" on a DVD that we borrowed from Pat and Bill. Very relaxing.

On Saturday morning, Becky urged me to try to set up the backup satellite dish, even without an obvious location "with a clear view of the southern sky" as required by DirecTV. At the second attempted location, it actually worked on most stations. Hooray!


Saturday night the park threw a wine and cheese party for the guests. The cheese was good, and the wine was so-so, but it was fun anyway. And, of course, free.

Contoocook is near Concord (the capital) and we went there on Sunday to have lunch (at Uno's Chicago Grill, no relation to the Numero Uno pizza chain and very good) and to hit Camping World and Wal-Mart. It was a typical day for us, until we (and Daisy) joined our neighbors Brice (pronounced "Breeze") and Lisa, and their two boxers, Nicco ans Stella, for an after-dinner drink and some great conversation. They live in Manchester, NH. Brice is in the marble business and visits Italy a lot as the result. He gave us some suggestions for our coming trip to Italy (we're leaving for Rome on September 21). They left for home on Monday, as did nearly everyone else at the park---it's deserted now until this coming (Labor Day) weekend.

Tuesday was set aside to visit Mount Monadnock, a local (60 miles away) landmark described in the literature as "[T]he most prominent New England mountain peak south of the White Mountains and east of the Massachusetts Berkshires, and...the highest point in Cheshire County." Wow! It is a hunk of largely-bare granite, formed much like Sugarloaf in Rio de Janeiro, and is purported to be the third most frequently climbed mountain in the world. I cannot imagine why it is that popular. I was warned that it was a strenuous climb to the top, so, being the jock I am, I chose to sit it out and do crossword puzzles while Becky, Pat, and Bill did their stuff. They were back within the hour, having made it only half-way up, and complaining that it was the most difficult climb ever.


We salved our bruised egos by having a terrific lunch at Daniel's Restaurant in nearby Henniker. It was another place in a small town with a surprisingly creative menu and a wonderful staff, like several we've encountered on this odyssey.


This really is a country filled with talented and interesting people.

On Wednesday, we went back to Concord---mainly to see the capitol and its suroundings. The capitol is a beautiful, impressive old building.


The legislature is out of session, so there was nothing going on. But we had a long talk with one of the guards, who filled us in on what we needed to know. We also visited the chambers of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Very nice. Very reminiscent of their counterparts in Washington, D.C. I guess that was to be expected.


They even have manners in New Hampshire.


Interesting Data: The New Hampshire legislature is a part-time thing, meeting during the months of January through June only, with the members paid only $100.00 per year plus travel expenses. (The Speaker of the House and the Senate President, both of whom happen to be women, incidentally, get $200.00.) There are 24 Senators and 400 Representatives. That means each Representative has only 3,300 constituents (including children), unlike the federal types who represent more than 600,000 people each.

We were scheduled to leave here on Friday, but, due to the hurricane ("Earl") that is approaching the east coast, we have decided to head out on Thursday instead. We're not concerned that the hurricane would affect us directly, but traveling in the rain that will undoubtedly come to outlying areas would not be fun---or particularly safe. So we will head for Accord, New York, on Thursday.

Tuesday, August 17, through Thursday, August 26, 2010: At Bar Harbor, Maine:
It was an easy 200 mile trip up to Bar Harbor (pronounced Bah Hahbah), the home of Acadia National Park. We are statying at a very nice RV park ("Narrows Too"). The only drawback is that we are so far north and so close to Canada that our Verizon cell phones and internet access goodie don't work very well. For internet, we need to go to the nearby McDonald's and use their high-speed wireless. We went into the harbor area soon after arriving. No surprise: There were a zillion people there, and the usual array of hotels, restaurants, and shops. But the harbor area is very picturesque, with lots of islands, yachts, and other scenery. There was a huge cruise ship (the "Caribbean Princess") anchored offshore.


Its thousands of passengers flooded the harbor area, no doubt to the pleasure of the local merchants.

The next morning, we went to the park, a dazzling 42,000 acre preserve, containing, among other attractions, Cadillac Mountain, only 1,530 feet high but it nevertheless has the distinction of being "the tallest mountain on the Atlantic coast east of Brazil" according to the literature.


The park is actually very pretty and quite a treat. We had lunch at the restaurant on Jordan Pond, a lake located in the hills of the park. Very nice.


There is a lot of history to the creation of the park, including the donation of 10,000 acres by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., along with his donation of a lot of money to construct the extensive carriage road system in the park. (Motorized vehicles are banned from the carriage roads.) Bar Harbor was the summer playground for Rockefeller and his wealthy pals, and they, and a lot of locals, all contributed to the creation and expansion of the park. That history, with the resulting high quality of the facilities, makes it quite distinct from the other national parks we have visited.


Early on Thursday morning, Becky and Pat bicycled to the park and the harbor, and Bill and I picked them up and had breakfast at the harbor. At that early hour, the place was blissfully free of the tourist horde. On Saturday, we returned to the park to attack the carriage roads on bicycles. I don't understand the geometry, but somehow every inch of the road was uphill.


After about two miles, I gave up and went back to the visitor center. The key to my decision was that, at one point, Pat had to get off her bike and walk it. Pat's legs are as strong as those of a Chicago Bear running back (though much shaplier) and I figured if she couldn't make the hills I shouldn't even try. An hour later, Bill joined me at the visitor center and told me I was the smart one for quitting when I did. The girls arrived a half hour after Bill.

A very popular food item here in the northeast is the lobster roll. It consists of a piece of toast, folded over to simulate a hot dog bun, and filled with pieces of lobster bathed in a mayonnaise-like sauce. I tried one the other day, and was seriously disappointed. The lobster was too chewy and the sauce was too bland. So much for local favorites.

Our neighbors at the RV park have a delightful part-Rhodesian Ridgeback who bonded quite well with Daisy (and vice versa).


Acadia NP consists of several distinct parts. The main part of the park is on Mount Desert Island (where Bar Harbor also is); a second part is on a different island whose name I have forgotten; and a third part is on the mainland (the Schoodic Peninsula). We went to the peninsula on Sunday. It was mostly coastline, with pink granite everywhere, all carved by glaciers. Beautiful.


One thing tourists are urged to do is walk from Bar Harbor to Bar Island, which is about 1/3 of a mile across the bay (with no bridge). You can only do this at low tide (Duh!), and we did it on Tuesday. Yawn.

Saturday, August 7, through Monday, August 16, 2010: At Moody, Maine:
It was a short, sweet trip from New York through New Hampshire and into Maine. Moody, which is really part of the town of Wells, is on the coast, just 16 miles from the New Hampshire border. The RV park (Moody Beach Outdoor World) is not very large, but it is well located and seems just fine---except that it has too many trees so our built-in satellite dish doesn't work. And it doesn't have a pickle ball court.

Clearly, this is a resort community---as are all of the surrounding towns---with all of the usual crowds. This area has, though, a distinction: The traffic is horrible. The road passing through and connecting all of the towns is U.S. Highway 1, which, having just one lane in each direction, is completely jammed at most times of the day. Along the way, there is nothing but a continuous series of hotels and restaurants (and, of course, a few Dunkin' Donuts shops). Late on Saturday afternoon, we all rode our bikes a few miles to the beach in the town with the lovely name of Ogunquit. The crowd of tourists there made Provincetown, Massachusetts, seem like a ghost town by comparison. But everyone is civilized and patience makes everything tolerable.


At Ogunquit is a local community theater. Playing currently is "Sunset Boulevard" starring Stefanie Powers. (Remember "Hart to Hart"?) She wouldn't remember it, but I met her about 40 years ago, when she was still married to Gary Lockwood, at lunch aboard the boat belonging to Dolores Michelmore (the mother of a good friend of mine at UCLA) at Marina del Rey in California.


On Sunday, the girls rode their bikes to some of the local towns while Bill and I mostly relaxed. We were able, though, to set up our backup satellite dish (attaching it to our picnic table, since I still have no tripod) so we won't suffer through another week or so without TV.

Monday was spent in getting some maintenance done on our truck, in Dover, New Hampshire---the nearest GM dealer. The service manager (Craig Cann) was a delightful chap. Very helpful and friendly, and a third-generation United States Marine (Retired) to boot. He also has a son on his way to the Marines and a son-in-law who is a career Air Force officer. Thank you for your service, Cann family. Overall, it was a very nice experience; not inexpensive, but not infuriating like the usual interaction with a car dealer. That afternoon, the girls took the shuttle to the beach, and we later returned there---to have dinner at a cutesy local spot that took forever to serve Becky and me while Pat and Bill got their meals almost instantaneously. Strange.

On Tuesday, we went on a search for a summer home that Becky's family had rented in 1965 on Sebago Lake (about 45 miles away). With but a little help from some locals there, we found it. It's a nice home on the lakefront.


Becky was thrilled to have found it.

On Wednesday, the girls rode their bikes to the GM dealer (just to have a destination in another state) and we picked them up there. That evening we went to York to attend a free outdoor concert at Ellis Park---just off the beach. A number (15) of senior citizens (most of them from New Hampshire) have assembled a "big band" group to play there regularly during the summer. It was fun. The only drawback is that I was not attired properly for the weather. (Have I mentioned that we have finally escaped the heat of the past few weeks?) As the sun set slowly in the west, the temperature plummeted quickly in the east. After a half hour, I was freezing, so I repaired to the car to escape and listen to what I could hear of the music. I remember only the strains of "Tequila" coming through before I fell asleep.

On Thursday, we ventured to Kennebunkport. It's much like all the other local seaside towns with the singular distinction that there is an absolutely shameless amount of wealth represented by the homes that one sees there.


Standing out above the rest is the Bush (41) compound located on Walker point. It is an indescribably breathtaking---and magnificent---setting. Good for him! We were able to capture only a small part of the property on film.


Friday was a day to go back to York, etc., for a better look. Nice towns.

On Saturday we headed for the Boothbay Harbor area---200-mile round trip---said to be the inspiration for Cabot Cove on Angela Lansbury's "Murder She Wrote" TV show. We were looking for two homes that were once owned by friends from LA, Jack and Linda Hathaway (since divorced). We found them!!! They were beautiful.



And the surrounding area was as charming as you can get. On the way, though, we had to go through Wiscasset (the self-proclaimed "Prettiest Town in America") which had one of the now-familiar 3-mile backups on U.S. Hwy. 1. In this case, it turned out that the sole source of the backup was one intersection that had a very popular food stand ("Red's Eats") on one corner---with about 100 people waiting in line. Every driver stopped on his way by to gawk.


Sunday night was our time to splurge. At the suggestion of Steve Meadow, we had dinner at The White Barn Inn in Kennebunkport. They wouldn’t let me in without a jacket (which, of course, I no longer have). They let me borrow one of theirs. Ties were optional. The place was terrific. And so American. Our waitress was from Austria (of French and German origin). Our busboy was an obviously Asian fellow, from Turin, Italy. But the piano player played a lot of Gershwin, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Lerner & Loewe, Jerome Kern, and Andrew Lloyd Webber (who is not American, but should be). Our filets were so tender they didn’t even provide steak knives. That’s confidence. An altogether lovely meal.


On Monday, we mostly relaxed and prepared to go on to the next RV park.