Travels with haRVy

Happy to have a place to call home for a couple of days, we hung out at Lauri and Doug’s in lovely Castine today. This morning we walked over to the Maine Maritime Academy for Sunday Brunch. Just couldn’t pass it up at just $6 per person.

Another walk around town took us to lunch at BAH’s Bakery, a cute little spot we tried last time we visited, which specializes in homemade healthful delights. The apple-fennel slaw was to die for. We did a little gallery gawking and shopping to complete our town tour.

Back at the cottage we relaxed, took showers, did laundry, got caught up online and enjoyed the pleasures of having a house to lounge around in. We took Doug out to dinner at the local wharf restaurant.

Three meals out made today feel like a real vacation day – no food prep, no cooking and no dish washing!

Sorry I didn’t take any photos today. We shot all the highlights when we visited last summer.

Cool and mostly cloudy. Castine, Maine. ZERO miles

Morning visitors…gobble gobble

Jim gave me a tour of their vegetable garden as well as their extensive Christmas gift shop before we departed this morning. Last year they made and sold 5,775 wreaths! Here’s a couple more photos from the tree farm.

Narrow country roads with colorful leaves falling all around created a quintessential New England Autumn scene as we proceeded down Route 1A to the coast.

We hiked around and had lunch at Fort Point State Park near Stockton Springs and spent a pleasant afternoon touring the Penobscot Maritime Marine in Searsport.

It really wasn’t as cold and miserable as it looks here

While trying to decide where to spend the night, we realized that Lauri and Doug’s summer cottage in Castine was just an hour away. We gave them a call while on our way to make sure their driveway was available and found out that Doug was on his way over from Vermont. We got there just before a heavy rain began to fall. Doug arrived about an hour after us and we had a nice visit over tea in haRVy.

Foggy morning, partly sunny afternoon, rainy evening, warm. Newburgh to Castine, Maine. 70 miles

It rained a lot last night, but at least it was considerably warmer than the night before when temps got down to 39F degrees. We are grateful for our programmable diesel cabin heater, that’s for sure!

This morning it was a bit drier but still cloudy and gray with some fog so the foliage colors are a bit muted.

We made our way south on Route 95 for about an hour, but the monotony got to us so we exited onto a secondary road near Old Town (home of Old Town Canoe Company) where we had lunch next to the river.

The sun returned around 1:30 and it turned into a beautiful afternoon, warm enough to put my flip flops on again, which always makes me happy.

In Bangor we spent some time at Tim Hortons to update this blog and check email. The traffic, noise and confusion of this larger-than-expected city soon rattled our nerves. Luckily we had arranged a quiet campsite at Piper Mountain Christmas Tree Farm just twenty miles away in Newburgh. The several country roads we drove to get here brought us deeper into the beautiful foliage we’d been admiring from afar. It is a beautiful spot and for sale, if you happen to know anyone interested in purchasing a large home, acres of trees, and an historic cemetery. You can order their Christmas trees, wreaths, and gifts at http://www.countryspicechristmas.com.

Good ol’ farm truck – gotta have one

Our gracious Escapee hosts, Jim and Norma Corliss moved here in 1968 where they raised five children. Jim was anxious to hear about our travels in Newfoundland as he hopes they can take an RV trip there someday too.

This incredible property is for sale

Cloudy and cool morning. Sunny and warm afternoon and early evening. Island Falls to Newburgh, Maine. 123 miles