Leaving Rangeley

It was sad to leave Rangeley and all the fun places and great times we've had here, both this visit and all the previous visits. We've coming here since Ryan was about 4 years old and he just turned 41. That's 37 years of fun and memories. But we are headed to the far east coast of Maine to make new memories.

 This is the Rangeley Overlook or the family burial grounds. Beautiful views.

  This is The Height of Land over looking Mooselookmeguntic and Cupsuptic Lake. The campground we are at is on Cupsuptic Lake which is in the fa right back in this picture.

This is one of the large tents in the campground that can be rented.

Very nice beach on this CG which is unusual for Maine.

There was a nice swing frame that held 4 porch swings overlooking the lake. Very nice.

As we headed out of Oquossoc and then Rangeley to FAAAAmington ( or Farmington) we passed by some wonderful places that hold lots of memories.

                                   This is the OG (Oquossoc Grocery), or as we know it---Roger's.

Bentley really enjoyed riding along on the dashboard and looking at everything as we went along.

Janance's Back woods shop. previously it was Nancy's Gifts in Rangeley.

The Rangeley Theater. They would often show Kurt Russell movies since he and his father and grandparents spent a lot of time here.

The old hardware store is now a restaurant "Forks in the Air", We didn't try this one, but we tried several others.

The Rangeley Lakes Historical Museum. They have so much information and pictures from Rangeleys history. A very interesting place to visit.

It's the Pine Tree Frosty where we get delicious soft serve ice cream. YUM!!!

                                                                      The Rangeley Inn.

As we drove through Farmington we passed downtown and Pins and Needles Quilt and Yarn shop. I didn't visit, but it's nice to see they are still there.

Farmington is a college town and many of the houses are used as college buildings like this one.

And on we go to Eastport, ME.

Rangeley's New Restaurants

It is just amazing how many new restaurants have opened up in Rangeley and Oquossoc since our last visit. Not only are they new, but they are excellent. We have eaten at several, but they are not open every night of the week, so we have to go through the web page to see when they are open on any given night.

One of the best is The Hungry Trout which we have eaten at twice, mostly because they were open. The first time we had the Seafood Stuffed Haddock with Lobster Sauce and it was terrific.Their menu is so good it is very difficult to decide. The next time I had an excellent salad and mac and cheese bites & they were great.

We also ate at the 45th Parallel in Oquossoc, a new place next to the farmers market. Excellent meal with a great menu. On the corner is a new place called Portage House which has food and brews. We probably won't be visiting that one.

In Rangeley there is the Blue Orchid which is Thai. We ate there years ago when they were up by Saddleback Ski Resort. Very good Thai food. A new one that we hope to try is Furbish Brew House and Eats. They are in an old B & B in downtown Rangeley. When we went by there were people sitting outside at tables on the lawn over looking the lake. They are also not open everyday. UGHH

There are the old stand bys like The Red Onion and Park and Main and Sarge's. Sarge's has really stepped up their game by offering live music entertainment on the weekends along with brews and food. The Pine Tree Frosty is still here with soft serve ice cream and lostah rolls.

You could not go hungry in this town for sure. All great places to eat.

On the downside---no moose around like there usually are. We saw a couple of turkeys, deer and one moose so far. I remember  the year we counted over 100 moose sightings. We passed by the clearing where we took a picture of Ryan, Greg and Alan standing in a field with a moose in the background. Thise were good times for sure.

Nice Time in Oquossoc

We went to the Gingerbread for breakfast on Sunday and it was packed. Lots of people getting together there before church, so we ended up eating out on the closed in porch. The food was excellent and they have brought their prices down to an affordable amount. When they first remodeled the old Gingerbread that had breakfasts for $2.99 to the new one with breakfasts at $13.00 and up it made it less attractive to eat there. Now they have lots of competition in the area for restaurants.

We also went over to the camp. It's like old home week visiting the camp because we all spent so many vacations at Ernie's Place. Things have changed somewhat, but other things are the same.

Established in 1957.

                                               
                                                   

                       The old slate wall was replaced this year by a new stone look wall.

                                        

Lots of fun times had here by all.

Back at the MH we had a new animal video for the kitties with birds, squirrels , bugs and critters which they thoroughly enjoyed. Bentley was the most excited, trying to get bhind the TV to get those birdies. Finny was really excited and Nickie lost interest.

Visiting with Family

On Saturday we were able to get together with David's sister, Ann and his nieces Michele and Julie. They came over to visit and Julie brought some great snacks to snack on while we waited for Glynda to arrive. She was flying into Portland about noon and we were all getting together for dinner. Michelle and Julie suggesting Bald Mountain Camps restaurant on Mooselookmeguntic Lake. Michelle had made reservations for 5:30 and it was another nice meal.

                                                            Michelle, Ann and Glynda

                                                             Julie and David

                                                                     David and Ann

Back at the CG we had a nice night with the kitties. I would have posted on my blog before this, but the CG internet is not very good. I'll post more when I can.

On To Oquossoc--Maine That Is.

We  left Friday for the Cupsuptic CG in Oquossoc. The route took us through Eastern NH via Conway, North Conway, Berlin and Errol. It took us right along the White Mountains which was really beautiful. There were so many twists and turns and ups and downs it was like riding an amusement park ride. We haven't been though this area in many, many years and it was in a car back then.

Finally we arrived in Maine coming in on Route 4 rather than our traditional route which is Highway 17.

This is a new CG for us and we kind of knew where it was, but since we were coming in from the opposite direction it sort of snuck up on us. We actually didn't see the entrance until we were right on it. I yelled "turn here!!!". David turned, but it was a bit too late. He turned in, and almost hit a clump of trees at the entrance, but Didn't quite get IN the CG. As a matter of fact the car was still sitting on Highway 4 and we couldn't back up with the tow car attached. He said "quick, jump out and unhook the car" Well, that was easy for him to say. I jumped out and started unhooking and he came out too as trucks and cars pulled up behind us on the highway and stopped to go around our fiasco. Other campers even came out to watch us unhook the car. I don;t know how they even knew we were there because the entrance wasn't visible from the CG. Nothing like having an audience while you are sweating bullets trying to free the car.  Finally, I drove the up to the CG office and waited for David to back up the MH and drive in. Evidently he couldn't see behind him to tell if it was safe to back up, which I didn't know. Anyway, he pulled in behind me and we shared our lovely story with the office. We did notice there was a new American  flag flying at the entrance the next day for all to see where the entrance was. As we backed into our site the same 4 nosy campers were standing in front of us watching us back in. Geez- didn't they have something else to do besides stare??????

Anyway, we got into our site and all was well. Bentley went for a nice walk around the CG. It was a very nice CG on Lake Cupsuptic/Mooselookmeguntic with a nice beach and dock. They rent boats, canoes, and kayaks. The CG was packed with camper too. I guess because it was the weekend.

 

The weather was beautiful with a high of 72 and a low of 45--great sleeping weather.
After setting up and sitting outside of a bit we decided to go to dinner at The Hungry Trout. We both had the Seafood Stuffed Haddock with Lobster Sauce and Rice Pilaf and Fresh Vegetables. It was DELICIOUS. The restaurants in Rangeley have come a long way.

First Stay in New Hampshire.

Leaving Vermont and heading for New Hampshire. We didn't have far to go, but we couldn't check in the CG in Meredith, NH until 1pm. It was about a 3 hr. drive, but seemed longer due to the twists and turns and ups and downs of the hills. The landscape was beautiful though and bright green, probably from all the recent rains. By the time we arrived and were checked in it was mid afternoon. After taking a run to pick up a few things we decided to look for a place to eat lunch/dinner. We were starving and had trouble finding a place. Finally we pulled in to Town Docks Restaurant. How can you pass up a place that has "darn good food" as their slogan?

 We went in and it was not quite what we had expected. It was causal extreme. The menu looked good and we both ordered fried haddock and French fries. It was  OK, not spectacular.

One of the reasons to stop in Meredith, NH is to finally go to Keepsake Quilting. I get their magazines regularly and drool over them. They always seem to have such nice kits and projects in there. The shop is right down the road in Center Harbor and I've always wanted to visit, but it's not in a convenient location when traveling. This trip we wanted to stay in New Hampshire, so Meredith is was.

\We drove to Keepsake Quilting and the shop was really huge. It covered one whole side of the shopping center and was quite picturesque. It was a newer building and very nicely organized and fresh looking. Batiks were together, children's, whites and colors and notions were scattered about. It was a great shop. When we pulled up there was a U Haul truck unloading tons of fabric.

    They were having a big sale tomorrow. $10 per pound (about 3 yards) for fabric. We wandered through and  looked, but unfortunately I couldn't find anything that looked interesting to me---too bad too at that price. And they had lots of fabric.

                                      Emptying a truck load of just sale fabrics.

                                    Sale fabric extended the entire length of the store and inside too.

     We went back to the CG and took Bentley for a nice walk. This is a very shady and quiet CG. You really feel like you are in the North woods here with the trees and smells. The front desk lady was a little nuts with the strict rules, but it was still a nice CG and we enjoyed it a lot.

                            It's so woodsy you can't even see the MH through the trees.

Tomorrow we head for Oquossoc, Me.