Bentley and His Great Escape

I woke up about 4 am and decided since I was awake I would try and catch a view of the sunrise at the campground. It was so quiet and still and no one was up--not even the campers dogs. I put on a sweater over my PJs and walked in the wet grass (so no one would hear me) down to the dock. I waited as the sun began to come up. David was still in bed. The view over the bay was beautiful.

 After a few minutes I got a text from David, "where are you"? "In front" I answered.
"Of what"? he said. "The light" I replied. There was a big light in the campground right in the roadway. A few minutes later he came out to join me. I walked back up to the MH and he was bringing me out a cup of coffee while we watched the sun come up. Just as he opened the door Bentley came running out like a bolt of lightening. He ran all around. Free at last!!!!Every time we got close, he ran some where else. That darn cat. There we were in the dark, & me in my PJs chasing Bentley around like a couple of idiots. He was so proud of himself, out smarting us. He would stop for a minute and try to eat some grass and run when we got near. DARN CAT!!!!! All we needed was for him to run under the trailer up the hill where we couldn't get to him and wake up every dog in the CG. We tried to sneak up on him numerous times and finally I was able to get him. No walks in the stroller for you today Bentley. He has become a little too brave. BAD KITTY. And he knew it too. He was laughing at us the whole time I'm sure.

After getting our coffee we walked back down to the water. The reflection in the water was so beautiful and still it was dark and no one up but us. THANK goodness after that episode with Bentley.

There was a LOT of activity in the water too. The fish were going crazy. You can see in this picture all the motion from the fish in the water. Good time for a fishing pole. There was a seal that swam over towards us also.  We had plans to go to Lubec and Campobello today. I hope we have better luck there.

Whale Watching

We boarded the Ocean Obsession at 1:30 for our whale watching, lobster trapping cruise.

There were about 30 people aboard and we headed for "The Old Sow" whirlpool.
http://www.oldsowwhirlpool.com   It was funny we were watching TV a couple of weeks ago and they had a program about it. It is more or less aggressive depending upon the time of the day (tide) and cycle of the moon. It wasn't too impressive when we were riding through it, but you could see it.

 After heading south from The Old Sow we turned around and headed north towards the end of Wilson's Beach and the lighthouse on Campobello Island.

There were these triangle markers on all the points of land that stood out along the coast.

 This is the Head Harbor Lighthouse on the northern tip of Campobello Island. When we were on the West side of it it looked like this.... The weather was clear and cool, but as soon as we went around to the other side of the lighthouse and harbor it looked like this.

  The fog was so dense we could hardly see the lighthouse. The wind was very cold. You can understand now why these lighthouses were so important. It was like night and day within just a few minutes.

 You certainly couldn't do any whale watching here although we did see an eagle before getting into the fog.

 As we headed back out near Indian Island and Cummings Cove we spotted seals, one which was perched on a rock in the water.

 We also had several whale sightings and some porpoises ran along with us. The crew of the boat had names for the whales since the whales seemed to hang out in the waters in this area, Gonzo was one name I remember. I tried hard to get pictures, but by the time I saw the whale come out of the water and aimed my camera he was gone. I did get some video, but they are too long to post here.

 On the way back they pulled a couple of lobster traps and talked about the process and how difficult it is for lobster men to get trained and a license to trap lobster. No wonder the prices are so high. There was one little boy about 5 yrs old that was terrified of the live lobster they pulled out of the trap. They do look pretty scary.

After the cruise we headed back to the car and then home. We spotted a couple of girls fishing on the dock. I guess even Mennonite girls like to fish.

A Day to Explore Eastport

The weather the next day was perfect. Bentley had a nice walk through the CG and he loved looking at everything EXCEPT the water. The beach, the lakes and the bay is scary to him, and he kind of hunkers down. He does the same with big dogs, but he is nice and safe in his stroller. 

We were in better shape the next day to explore Eastport. We decided to take a whale watching cruise on a lobster boat, so we stopped at the office to pick up our tickets. The boat was to leave at 1:30pm, so we would have the rest of the morning to explore.After getting our tickets we headed off to the breakfast Restaurant WaCo Diner. It is the oldest dinner in Eastport having been in business for 80 years. The breakfast was good and we were ready to explore Eastport.

After breakfast we went for a tour of Raye's Mustard Factory. David had ordered some Raye's mustard a couple of years ago and it was really good. Little did we know it was made in Eastport. What a coincidence. It was shocking to see the size of the operation. They make 33 kinds of mustard and they have 3 employees. It's the original very small factory from early 1900's. The equipment is the same original equipment also and it's amazing it is still in operation. And their mustard is great.

These are 55 gallon (empty) barrels that they store the mustard in. They shipped their mustard world wide.

After the tour we took a little walk about Easport. The town is very small and the buildings and houses are OLD. The SL Wadsworth building was established in 1818 and is now a hardware store with everything you could ever want cramped in there. It reminded me of the old Rangeley hardware store that is no longer there. Eastport is a quaint village.

This mermaid statue is fairly small, although you can't tell in this picture.

This statute is very odd, but here's the story on it.   https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/small-town-x-fisherman-statue

Before our cruise we went back to the MH to make sure the kitties were OK. Next up is our whale watching cruise.

Eastport, Maine

We left Rangeley for Eastport, Maine which took a little longer than we had anticipated due to the travel on some smaller, rougher roads. The campground is the Seaview which is on the Bay of Fundy facing Campobello Island to the west on the other side of the bay. Our site overlooked some of the other RVs and the water. It was a very nice and quiet campground with a very nice owner that gave us lots of information when we checked in. They were having a bring a dish the next night and a poker thing of some sorts the night after. We didn't participate, but others looked like they were having a good time. It seemed that many were seasonal campers.

Our site was very unlevel, but David backed up the MH a little farther up the hill and that helped a lot, although we were still downhill a bit. It was cool and rainy and we were both hungry and wet. Even though it was about 4:30 we decided to go eat since we had not had any lunch and we were starving. The lady at the CG office suggested for dinner the Eastport Chowder House. Evidently there aren't a lot of choices in this town. 1 for breakfast, 1 for lunch and 1 for dinner. LOL. Finding the place was a bit tricky even though it seems everything is on Water Street. Everything is on the water and the fog was extremely thick. We couldn't see across the bay. This sailboat was moored off the restaurant dock. We had heard that this town has big Pirate Festivals here--actually one next week and this dock could hold a LOT of Pirates.
               

                                         They even had some of their Pirate flags flying.

              This bright yellow Thunderbird was parked out front and it was in great shape and freshly painted.

The restaurant only had a few people in there because we were so early, but there was a group of locals, most likely fishermen having a big discussion in the bar area. I finally broke down and order lobster and it was excellent.

David had his favorite--fried Haddock and sweet Maine shrimp and it was good as well.

The clam chowder was done just right, thick and creamy. YUM

We went back to the MH after dinner to relax. Tomorrow is another day.

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.