Escaping the Heat

Once again,it’s July and we decided to escape the heat. It seems to us that global warming is a reality, but maybe it’s just our age. Anyway, we decided to give Colette a modest haircut and head north. The destination is  Nova Scotia, perhaps Newfoundland, and maybe Labrador if there are any roads. This cruise began a little later this year due to Jan’s reunion with her Decatur friends in Asheville. While she frolicked with her friends, Colette and I camped and hiked in the Pisgah National Forest. The campground is just outside of Asheville and has great hiking and mountain biking trails. It was warm in the mountains but nothing like the temperatures of July and August in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. So, we believe it will be necessary to reach Nova Scotia before finding cooler temperatures.

Before we headed North, we veered a little further west to see a dear friend, Jill Cochrane, and her beautiful mountain home in Waynesville, North Carolina. She treated us to a delicious lunch and wine. Despite the heat wave gripping the South, at 3000 feet on her deck it was comfortable and we had a great visit and meal. For me, it was a special treat since I had eaten microwaved Asian noodles everyday while in the mountains. The visit also provided a special challenge for our RV. The drive to her home is very narrow and steep and her driveway has to be at least sixty degrees elevation. We surmounted the grade, parked at the top, and very carefully made the descent backwards on to the narrow mountain road. Thus far, we have not been thwarted in our ability to maneuver the RV towards great food and in this case great company as well.

After camping near Waynesville we truly began the journey. We decided to use the interstate highways to make our way to the Maine coast and then explore more slowly.We traveled to the Shenandoah Valley, camped there, and then made our way to the Promised Land State Park in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. The state park’s name was very appropriate during this period of heat as we have never seen so many people on the beach of a lake. Our campsite was in a more isolated area near another lake; however we were able to get a satellite signal and watch the determining stage of the Tour de France. Imagine, camping and satellite tv. Something is not right about that. You should either “get away” and camp or stay home and watch tv? At our age, we will accept it and not debate the irony.

The only incident, thus far, involved getting the first dent on our RV. Despite skills developed over the past few years, I managed to “softly” back into a barrier at a gas station. There was merely cosmetic damage and I placed a duct tape bandage over the wound. Let the healing to the vehicle and my pride begin! As to the road travel, we know that Connecticut has the highest gas tax in the country but their roads are reasonable. Perhaps, Pennsylvania and New York should consider raising taxes and improving their roads, especially their bridges.

We made it to Saco, Maine and immediately noticed there was more French spoken in the campground. We also noticed that the French manner of camping more closely parallels ours. They had fine tablecloths and wine glasses on their picnic tables; however, we do not use the picnic tables as we locate a nice restaurant at midday and eat there before going to the campground. If you are on the coast of Maine, you have to visit the lighthouses. There were so many lighthouses with such a  bewildering string of lights along the coast that colored lights were tried early to distinguish the lighthouses but the light’s range was reduced dramatically. Therefore, the Coast Guard created light patterns peculiar to each lighthouse and they are  now listed in an official nautical guide. We saw two on our first morning. The oldest and most photographed is the Portland Head lighthouse in Fort Williams Park. It offers a beautiful view of Casco Bay with another lighthouse looming in the distance.

From there, it was up the coast to Freeport where LL Bean has completely transformed this town. We visited the store over 35 years ago when there was a dirt parking lot across US 1 and a large simple wooden retail store open 24 hours a day for 365 days a year. Now the store hours are unchanged but the structure has been renovated beautifully with glass, stone, and wood and expanded to include separate home departments as well as bike, water, and ski buildings surrounding their usual hunting, fishing, and clothing retail space. Instead of a parking lot across from the complex, there are now high-end retail stores  ranging from North Face to Brooks Brothers and numerous boutique shops. After a few purchases—LL Bean for me and ,of course, shoes for Jan but not from LL Bean— we had our usual fine dining experience in Freeport and then headed up the coast hugging US 1 to our campground on Lake Pemaquid.

After leaving our campground, we decided to make the circuit of Penobscot Bay. It is a large forested bay with rocky beaches and charming villages. Most of the villages border the bay and exhibit well cared for homes, the most beautiful being those of Vicorian design surrounded by flowers and adorned with colorful hanging baskets.The more interesting villages were Rockland, Camden, Castine, and Deer Island.One could have spent a week visiting all the art galleries and antique shops; however, we limited ourselves to two, Castine and Deer Island.They were a little off the tourist path, smaller, less crowded, and more “original.” We never see other RVs on these back roads as most of the class A units are too large and tow cars. We can handle spaces of 2 car lengths and only carry bicycles.It occasionally makes for interesting driving and parking but thus far we have not been thwarted in our explorations. We had lunch on the waterfront, crab cakes, lobster roll, and a bottle of nice wine. Also, Colette provided us the opportunity to interact with a number of locals. One man who was involved in the marine industry for all of his life now supplied marinas with their fire “engines.” These are the pushcarts in the golf carts that marinas use in emergencies and he had worked with to of the marinas in Charleston. The other local was a woman whose dog of 14 years had died last week and she and her husband were trying to decide to get another dog at their advanced age. Of course, Jan shed tears with her. After our encounter and Colette’s good behavior, she was off to convince her husband that they needed another dog. I guess this falls under the heading of missionary work for the dogs of the world . We worked our way back up the narrow county and state roads to intersect with state highway 3 into Acadia National Park where we will spend a few days exploring Bar Harbor, and biking, and hiking in the park.

By the way, the heat seemingly dissapated as we crossed over into New England. Daytime highs are 70’s and we are wearing light jackets.

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