A Botanical Break

The afternoon was wearing on; and if The Fuzz and His Sweetie were going to make it to their next stop, they would have to get a move on.

And the next stop was...

The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens!

With this sort of thing what can be said?

So We'll just post some pix.

This was pretty impressive...

Quite possibly the best that The Fuzz has seen...

in his limited Botanical Garden Experience.

And there were a number of these Kinetical Stainless Steel Sculptures around the garden.

Wind Power,
Pretty Cool?

There seemed to be a lot of these little guys everywhere The Fuzz went.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie could have spent a lot more time here.

With only an hour till closing time, all they really got was a quick overview of it all.

Then it was back to their camp.

And Even More Touristing

If you recall, before The Fuzz and His Sweetie had left Freeport, one of the other campers had suggested Camden as a destination.  So that was where Our Touristers went next.

It was quite a bit different than Port Clyde.

There was no doubt a lot to see there, but it was getting on in the afternoon now.

Not really knowing what else to do, The Fuzz found the way to the harbor.

It was pretty crowded, but they lucked up and found a place to park.

"Crowded" also referred to the harbor itself.

There were a couple schooners there...

but they were tied up.

It was getting on in the day, and The Fuzz and His Sweetie were getting hungry by now.  And there was still another stop planned for the return trip.

So they found a Pub/Restaurant and grabber a bite and a beer.

Travel is filled with new experiences and this place was no exception.

This was the first time The Fuzz had ever encountered a TV in the bathroom.

Perhaps some of the patrons don't read so well.

After a nice lunch, the touristers headed back toward Freeport, and a stop at the Botanical Gardens.

More Touristing

Looking at their map, Our Intrepid Tourists had seen the Owl's Head Lighthouse.

That looked like a good pick for their next stop.

They had a nice ride on back roads across to the Owls Head Lighthouse at the Owls Head State Park.

At the parking lot, The Fuzz saw this sign.

But there were no Baby Seals.

It must have been the wrong time of year.

But...

On the walk out to the lighthouse, The Fuzz did get a shot of this Schooner in the distance.

It wasn't far to the Lighthouse.

And there was a nice view from it.

And The Fuzz got another shot of that schooner.

And unlike his trip this Spring, this time, they actually got up into the Lighthouse!

Here's a look at the fascinating lens.

This is the original lens, that was used when the only light was from a whale oil lamp.  That is pretty amazing, how these lenses could concentrate that light enough to be seen far out to sea.

Of course now it's electric.

And here's one last look from the Lighthouse toward Rockland Harbor.

But alas, still no crashing waves!

Touristing

After a light breakfast at Starbucks, The Fuzz and His Sweetie headed north out of Freeport.

They wanted to see a bit of the Maine coast with the surf crashing on the rocks, like in all the pictures.  A fellow at the campground told them to ride up toward Camden.  He told them they might even be able to see the schooners sailing into the harbor.

If they rode out to some of the headlands, they might even ge a look at that picturesque coastline!

So they plotted a course for Port Clyde.

That was a pretty nice place...

small and kinda quiet.

The Fuzz got a few pix of course!

There were other tourists around, but it wasn't all that crowded.

It was no surprise that Lobsters were the big thing here.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie got a couple of cappuccinos and headed out farther up the coast.

2nd Morning

The first day was spent taking care of some chores and getting in a few supplies.

The next was planned for a day trip up the coast.

But first they wanted to make an early stop at Starbucks.

On the way into town, this Photo Opportunity was too much to pass up.

The Fuzz really liked this place.

And here's a couple more.

Then it was time to be Tourists.

Morning in Maine

It had been quite a trip up here.  As The Fuzz and His Sweetie got near the coast, the fog got thicker and thicker.

It was the middle of the night, and The Fuzz could barely see the road ahead of them.

And it was necessary to look for the road signs.  But things worked out, and has been mentioned, they did find the campground, and their campsite.

Of course they were pretty pooped by then.

All they did was get the tent up and crash.  They'd sort things out in the morning.

When morning came, they finally got a look at the place.

It was pretty nice.

The campsite was overlooking this part of the bay below.

If you look carefully, you may just be able to make out some ducks splashing in the water below.

When the tide went out, there was no splashing.  This whole area was one big mudflat.

After their rest, and since it was light, The Fuzz and his Sweetie finished setting up camp.  They planned to stay put for the next few days.

Then it was back to the office to finish checking in, and settle up.

Since the office and camp store were the same, this was an opportunity to replenish the ice in their cooler as well.

While The Fuzz's Sweetie had been roughing it in her hotel, The Fuzz had been out in the woods, and a shower was in order.

Fortunately, this was available.

There was also a sack of dirty laundry.  And again here were the facilities.

Whilst the clothes had their bath, The Fuzz was able to hang out here at the WiFi "Hot Spot" and snack shack.

Then Later that day they made a trip into Freeport for supplies, and just to check things out.

(They did not stop at L L Bean)

Check out this guy!

To the North Country

When we left Our Fuzz, he was trying to keep from getting eaten by bears in New Jersey.

The campground did fill up for the weekend, but by Sunday evening it was clearing out again.  There was one other camp, just out of sight, down the hill.

But by now His Sweetie was back.
The plan was to pack up and shoot up to Maine the next day.

They had reservations at Recompence Shore Campground, near Freeport.  But it was a pretty long ride up there.
In fact it was a really long ride up there.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie planned a route that was a little less direct, but hoped to avoid the worst urban areas.
And of course to see a bit of the New England countryside along the way.

Well, they did miss one turn, and have to "recalibrate" onto some back roads.
(It should be noted here that these two old timers refuse to use those newfangled GPS things)
The result was that although they did see (and enjoy) a good bit of New England, sundown found them still a pretty good way from the destination.
Now this is the sort of thing that drives The Poor Fuzz crazy.  But he is learning to deal with it a bit better these days.
After all, we all just need to "take the adventure that comes to us."*
And things did work out pretty well for these two.

It was late when they finally got to the campground, and foggy as hell.
But there was a box outside the office- "Late Arrivals".
Well The Fuzz and Sweetie were certainly "late".
(it was after 23:00)
But in this box was a packet with their name, and all that good stuff.  And somehow they found their way to their campsite.

And in the morning...

* C. S. Lewis

Camping in New Jersey

Not having been eaten by a bear himself, The Fuzz settled in for a few days.

Camp life is not so bad.

Here's a look at his quarters.

After spending many years in small back-packing tents, The Fuzz an His Sweetie sprung for this nice big tent.

Of course there is no question of back-packing with this thing.  But it sure is nice to have all that room- especially when it rains.

As for food, the 1st night's meal was a quick stir-fry with some left over tater salad, and quite tasty, actually.

On the 2nd day, other campers began to move in for the weekend.  Apparently that is when this campground gets the most use.

Since he had nothing else to do, other than reading, The Fuzz decided to take a short hike.

He headed up the trail toward Headley's Overlook.

It wasn't Mt Mitchell, but there was a nice view from the top.

The Fuzz used his nifty Sundial-Compass to keep track of the time and direction.

As you can see, it was around noon.

[XII + 1 hour for Daylight Savings Time]

And the trail was pretty as well.

And then it was back to the camp, for a couple more days, to wait for His Sweetie to come and rescue him.

Alone with Bears and Booms

When we left Our Fuzz, he was out there in the New Jersey Woods...

Alone!

Well... Let's hope so!

His Sweetie helped set up the tent, and then cut a trail for her hotel.  Then The Fuzz finished setting up camp.

He would be here for the next few days.

But there was a complication.

There were a lot of these kind of notices posted around the campground.

The Fuzz had not counted on this!

And it was a little disquieting.

The Fuzz has had some unpleasant experience with bears while camping back in the North Carolina mountains.

He did not enjoy this.

But this was New Jersey for cat's sake!

They have bears here?

All the warnings said to lock your food up in your car.

What car?

His Sweetie had the car at the hotel.

Why did she have the car?  There were no bears there!

Well there was nothing to do for it now.

He could at least hang the stuff in a tree.  That is supposed to help... right?

The grub was in a plastic tub and cooler, neither of which qualified as the "air tight" container recommended on all the postings.

And he had no suitable sack.

But there was the bag the tent was packed in!

So he packed that full of what ever he could, and hung it from a nearby tree.

He couldn't do much with the cooler but tie it shut.  That might keep any raccoons out, but not bears of course.

There were some scented candles in the gear tub, so he tied them on the cooler hoping the stink would not be something preferred by bears.

Then he had some dinner, washed up really good, and settled in for the night, hoping for the best.

Then about 01:00, he was wakened by a loud crash.

His first thought was that the bears were raiding the campground dumpster.

Undoubtedly he would be next.

But that sound was instantly followed by loud BOOM, and a flash of light!
Bears don't do that, do they?
Then all was dark and quiet again.

Of course by now The Fuzz was wide awake.
He got up and started banging pots (which is supposed to scare off bears (although The Fuzz has always had some doubts about that) and lit all the lanterns.
He sat up for a good hour waiting...
and waiting.
But nothing more ever happened.

In the morning, one of the caretakers came through.  He was a bit curious about The Fuzz being there with no car and all.
In the course of the conversation he mentioned the road being closed.  It seemed that there had been a wreck, about 01:00 that morning.  Some drunk had run off the road and knocked down a power pole.
Then The Fuzz realized that the Boom and flash were consistent with a transformer blowing up.

He was just glad there were no bears!