September 3-5, 2018 - Saco, Maine

September 3-5, 2018 - Saco, Maine


Monday, September 3, 2018
We do not have a long drive today, only 74 miles, but we want to be at our campground by noon, as we have plans for the day with some fellow Hearland owners.  

As we near the coast

To all Maine Points - that's where we want to go!

And there it is - Maine!

Drawbridge

We're here!

It was 10:02 when we left Epsom Valley Campground heading south on US Hwy 4 to Portsmouth, NH, where we took I-95 most of the way before taking I-195 where we exited right onto US Hwy 1.  From there it was just a short distance to Silver Springs Campground, in Saco, Maine and our home for the next three days.  It was an easy drive for us, but I can't say the same for the southbound lane on I-95.  Everyone was leaving Maine to head home after the big holiday weekend.  We were on I-95 for approximately 40 miles.  As I was watching the traffic and how backed up it was I noticed all of the RV's in the mix, so about 5-7 miles into this section of our route, I started counting the RV's. I stopped counting at 310 RV's so I could help Dean watch for our campground.  That is a lot of RV's in a short amount of time.  Best of all, counting them really made the time pass quickly.  

Traffic was like this heading south on I-95 all the way to our exit to I-195.  

As we pulled up to the office to check in, I sent a note to Jack and Lynette letting them know we would be ready to go around noon.  We had such an easy site to park in, even though it was a back up, and Dean pulled in just right the first time.  We unhooked and put out the slides, then hurried to change into different clothes (we typically wear older clothes when traveling.  Hooking up and unhooking can get messy sometimes, muddy, it rains, it's HOT - you get the picture).  

I had reached out to Jack and Lynette several weeks ago when I saw a post on Facebook they would be in Maine near where we planned to stop, around the first of September.  Once it was closer I sent another note and found our dates would overlap today, so we agreed to meet.  They are at a campground south of us about 20 miles.  They drove up to Saco, and together we rode in their truck to Portland, ME where we purchased tickets to sail on the Casco Bay Mailboat Run.  Since Dean and I didn't have time to eat lunch, once we purchased our tickets, we found a restaurant down the street.  We brought our meal back to the waiting area for the mailboat run where we shared a turkey club sandwich.  Wow, I'm glad we didn't get one for each of us.  It was huge but I was sure glad we had the opportunity to eat something.  

What a gorgeous day it was to get on the water and see some sights and enjoy the company of friends.  It was about a 2.5 to 2.75 hours boat trip.  It was the most perfect, beautiful day to be on the water. I've included a copy of the map so you can see the route we took - the hard black line.  

Map of Casco Bay Mailboat Run

Lynette & Jack

On the boat

My first lighthouse in Maine!

A couple of schooners were on the water.  They are so beautiful with all of their sails up.

Fort Gorges, octagonal fort built in 1858

So many sailboats on the water today

Waving to another mailboat - here it comes

and there it goes

Something I would love to do someday 

The mailboat made several stops to drop off mail, and at Cliff Island, we had an opportunity to get off of the boat for 20-25 minutes to visit the small store just off their dock.  Each stop we watched passengers getting off, and others coming on, but this was the only stop where anyone could get off to spend time.  Several people took advantage of it, including Jack, but the rest of us remained on the boat.

Off loading cargo at Cliff Island.  On the outside of the packing it indicated the product was a termpurpedic mattress!

Loved this little house!

We thoroughly enjoyed the ride, and the opportunity to visit and get to know Jack and Lynette better.       

Back in Portland we saw this cruise ship docked near where we parked.

As we left the terminal following our boat tour, a police officer was sitting in his car along the roadside.  Jack walked over to visit with him, and when he returned he shared he had asked if he could suggest somewhere to eat.  He recommended a Mexican restaurant called Tu Casa.  It was a small "hole in the wall" restaurant.  We typically find these to be the best places, hidden away; usually a place where locals hang out.

We found a table and waited for a menu.  When we received it, it was definitely different than any Mexican restaurant we have been in.  There were pictures of each dish and they did not seem to have the normal "Mexican" dishes.  Come to find out it was Salvadorian food.  While it was different we all agreed the food was pretty good, just not what we originally expected.  I was the only "different one" and chose a chicken taco.  It was quite large - a tortilla with lettuce, small fried chicken chunks, with a slice of avocado on top, and sour cream drizzled over the entire taco.  They did not automatically bring out chips and salsa, so Jack asked about it and the waiter said sure he could bring some.  They brought a plate that would have fed one of us in what we typically perceive of chips and salsa.  We wondered if we would be charged for these.  The salsa was in small condiment plastic cups like you would put ketchup in at a fast food establishment.  I was glad Dean isn't overly fond of salsa as we had to eat it sparingly to have more than a few bites.  The salsa was very good.

Everyone else ordered two tacos with rice and beans.  Dean isn't as fond of beans as I am so he shared some of his with me to add to my taco, and I added the remaining salsa to my taco as well.  I like lots of stuff on my tacos so as usual for me, I just had to "doctor" it up a bit.  

After our dinner, Jack and Lynette dropped us off at our site around 7pm.  They are moving on to New York tomorrow.  We thoroughly enjoyed our day with them.  We were so glad to have the opportunity to meet up with them and we wish them safe travels.  We were really tired after a full day, so other than unpack a few necessary things, we didn't do much else the rest of the evening, and there may have even been a pre-nap prior to bed time.


Tuesday, September 4, 2018
We needed to do some more paperwork this morning, that we were unable to complete over the holiday weekend.  We do almost everything online which is really great but there are times a phone call is so much easier - if and when you can reach someone!  

We've had a few problems with receiving our mail.  We keep getting mail that belongs to a fellow RV friend of ours who also uses UPS.  When we are in Oswego and we pick up our mail at Pittsburg I make sure to go through it before we leave (after having it already happen twice when I picked it up), but when we are in Texas, New Hampshire or any other state it means we have to mail it back, so I called to visit with the manager about it.  We don't get enough mail that it takes even a minute to look through it to be sure it is all ours before it is mailed to us and she assured me they would do that in the future.

It's also time to renew our vehicle/rv tags.  It helps to have a sister who is the County Treasurer.  I called and asked her to let me know when it is mailed so I will know when to have our mail forwarded to us again so I can coordinate it with a future stop.  For the most part this is not a problem but when we are expecting things like vehicle tags and medication, it becomes a little more serious.  The manager at UPS is really good about looking through our mail for us and giving me an idea of what is there and tossing things I don't want, to keep our postage costs down.  We appreciate that, so it's not all bad with our mail service.  Hopefully, getting the wrong mail, or possibly not receiving ours is only a hiccup that will be easily resolved by making them aware of it.

I also wanted to get another load of laundry done.  Our next stop is at a campground where we cannot make a reservation - it's first come, first serve - and while they have assured us we will be able to get a site, they cannot assure us we will have a full hookup site.  They advised me the earlier we arrive the better chance we have, but since it is nearly a four hour drive, we'll just hope for the best.  Based on that, I want to be sure we don't have to worry about doing laundry somewhere while we are there.

While I was working on various tasks, Dean found a car wash to clean Max up.  He sure looks better after a good bath:

After lunch, we decided it was such a nice day we would drive to the beach.  About 3:30 or so, we loaded up our chairs, our beach shoes, a couple of towels (not to dry off with, but to keep the sun off our shoulders if we wanted).  I try to be really careful in the sun since I've had a few basal cell lesions removed from my back and arm.  I like getting a little sun (as in early morning walks when the sun is low) but prefer not to be in the afternoon sun anymore than needed.  It was only $4 for us to enter the Ferry State Park.  I'm glad it was so reasonable since we were only on the beach about 45 minutes.  

No matter how much I moved, I could not get a  picture without a reflection on it somewhere - but the info is so interesting.  Take the time to enlarge this to find out about how this beach was used in the past.

The walkway from the forest to the beach

To our right

To our left - just a short distance away there is a sign staing this is where the State Park ends.

For my good friend Carolyn.  

This was for Kamron, my granddaughter.  I sent it to her because being on the beach reminds me of the time we spent with her and her parents in Cape Cod a little over 5 years ago.  She was a delight to watch as she played on the beach.  Taken at 3:45pm

Taken at 4:10 - 25 minutes, that's how long it took for the incoming tide to erase their names.

I can sit and stare at the ocean, watching and listening to the waves for hours, along with the boats and folks on the beach.  Dean enjoys it but not quite as much as I do.  We are going to have many opportunities to do this in Maine, so I don't mind that our time was shorter here.  Not only that the rock beaches in Maine are amazing as we watch the surf crash into them.  I'm looking forward to seeing that again. 

On our way back we drove along the beach road behind many oceanfront homes, and through several small beach communities.  

Old Orchard Beach

While we didn't see anyone today, you will often see kayaks or canoes making their way through these waterways.

We enjoy just riding and checking out the sights.  It was a very enjoyable afternoon without any rush, the best way to travel!


Wednesday, September 5, 2018

I mentioned to Dean yesterday that I would really like to get back to having our morning walks.  It's been over a month since we've walked according to my app "Map my Walk".  I have managed to reach 10,000 steps most days, and several I've gone as high as 14-15,000 or more, but it's not always the kind of walking I'd prefer to have for exercise workouts.  

While I was trying to get the blog updated for the past week (we've been so busy and I apologize), he said are you ready to walk?  Sure, I am!  It was an interesting walk through the park, since we are near the entrance.  We had no idea how large the park was as we started down the road leading to the park units.  It appears most of the folks here are seasonal owners. There were some really cute places and beautiful flower gardens.  We walked just shy of 8/10 of a mile but it's a start.  If we keep it up I hope we can work back up to a 2-3 mile walk each day.  This is a Passport America Park and it looks as if they only have 6 slots for short stays like we needed.  We are thankful we were able to get in and everyone here has been friendly.

This is our last day in Saco.  Today we are driving to Freeport Maine, home of LL Bean.  They have their main flagship store (men's, women's, children's clothing, fishing and camping equipment); a store for sports (bicycle, kayaks, canoes, etc.); and a home store.  After making our way through all of them, we stopped at Johnny Rocket's, across the road in a shopping center, where we shared a cheeseburger/fries.  We are really working at sharing meals and trying to keep our "food budget" in line.  We will be spending a lot on fuel this month as we travel in Maine, so we hope to offset it a bit.

Inside the store

Once we returned I spent the afternoon working on the blog.  I failed to mention we met our neighbors yesterday, Dennis & Sharon.  They are originally from Michigan, but now live in Florida.  They just returned from spending two months in Nova Scotia, Canada.  After visiting there several years ago, they now return every summer.  I was really excited to visit with them as we plan to travel into Canada as we move north.  After talking to them I am seriouslly considering changing some of our planned stops (I haven't made any reservations yet) so we can spend a few more days in Canada.  They are such a nice couple and we had a great time visiting with them.  

After dinner, Dean emptied our waste tank, put some water in our water tank, and unhooked the water and sewer lines.  I put away as much as I could so we can leave early tomorrow morning.  We hope to pull out by 7am.