Marblehead Lighthouse

After it cooled down a bit this afternoon (dropped down to 93 degrees...) we went for a drive to check out the area. There's a nearby wildlife refuge along the Portage River where we spotted a Great Blue Heron and a couple geese, but that was about it.

So we decided to drive on to Port Clinton and out to see the Marblehead Lighthouse on Lake Erie --

Compared to the lighthouses we saw in Maine, this lighthouse is not very tall, standing only 49 feet high. It was automated in 1958 and sends a light flash every six seconds.

The shore around the lighthouse is very rocky. It seemed to be a very popular fishing spot. People started arriving with lawn chairs, sort of setting up camp along the shore.

Looking back at the lighthouse from the shore. The sign said there were 77 steps up to the top, but since it was already after six o'clock when we arrived, the interior was closed.

It was much cooler by the lake with a nice breeze. We just sat for a while and watched the sun begin to set --

Maine Reflections

Impressions of Maine:
    
GREEN! -- lots and lots of trees. We saw NO old trees, everything looked like it has been harvested once maybe even twice.

Hard to find down towns in small towns... You'd see a township limits sign, then scattered houses and commercial buildings amongst the trees. The actual down town would be off the highway a ways, not easy to spot.

Many old and new "pushed together" homesteads. The house and garage and maybe barn would all be connected with a portion of a building (different roof heights) in between. Our friend Wayne said this came about following the publication of magazines from England showing the style. I had thought they were a practical solution to the bad winter weather.  Many of the older farms had originally had separate out-buildings that were moved together. I tried to get a good picture of one, but wasn't too successful --

ROCKS! I don't think I have ever seen so many rocky fields. Wayne said that many of the iconic rock fences most likely started out as long piles of rocks piled up alongside the edges of a field.

WATER & BOATS -- Rivers, streams, creeks, bays, lakes, ocean!

BIRDS -- I think Forry gained eight new life birds while we were in Maine. Like these Black Guillemots with their red feet --

Shingled houses, ranging in size from barns to beach shacks!

And of course, the ubiquitous lobsters! There must be thousands of lobster traps in the bays and along the ocean shore.

We truly enjoyed our two weeks in Maine!

FINALLY -- Heading West!

We only put on about 217 miles today, but we did finally start heading west!

In quite a contrast to our trips of the last couple of weeks along Maine's country roads and narrow coastal drives, our trip today was mostly on four-lane highways. In fact, we spent $16.65 on tolls today as we traveled through Maine, a small portion of New Hampshire, and finally to Wales, Massachusetts. We went from I-295 to I-495 to I-90 and finally a bit of I-84 before we turned onto State Highway 20 and then 19.

We are at Oak Haven Family Campground in Wales for the next three nights. I had to chuckle when I read a couple of the campground reviews where people complained about "parking in a grassy meadow." That makes Forry very happy -- he won't have any trouble watching the Mariners on satellite TV the next few nights!

It was HOT when we arrived and set up. Naturally, both the water and electrical hook-ups are on the sunny side of Auntie Violet! We opened all the windows and turned on the fans, but quickly decided we better go ahead and turn on the A/C instead! It's cooled off to 75 degrees now at 9 PM and it's actually quite comfortable.

We paid $3.839 a gallon today for diesel here in Massachusetts. Quite a change from what we were paying just a few months ago!

Port Clyde and PUFFINS!

We went to the little village of Port Clyde today for the Monhegan Boat Line's Sunset Puffin cruise.

 Our Captain telling us where to find life jackets --

Port Clyde is still pretty much a fishing village.

We were out for two hours, going by the Wyeth Islands (the painting family) and the island where Chief Justice Roberts has his summer home. We got a good look at the Puffins on Eastern Egg Island, but I was never able to get a decent picture of them... ;-(

One of the islands we went by had this colony of seals basking in the last rays of the setting sun --

It was a beautiful evening to be out on the water. The ocean was very smooth and the sunset was spectacular --

 

Remember seeing this lighthouse that Forrest Gump ran to in the movie?

The view of Port Clyde as we returned --

The group of us who went out to sea --

It was a lovely way to spend our last evening in Maine!

Acadia National Park -- Desert Island

Not too many people in the western United States are aware of Acadia National Park in Maine. In fact, I only know of two, maybe three, of my acquaintances or friends who have ever visited it (even though it is on the list of most visited parks in the US). The closest comparison I could have would be with Olympic National Park, but even that doesn't come very close.

Acadia was established in 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson and now encompasses more than 49,000 acres. It covers nearly half of Mount Desert Island, a scattering of smaller islands and the Schoodic Peninsula (which I'll talk about tomorrow). We started our trip yesterday at the Hulls Cove Visitor Center.

 

The first thing we noticed as we entered the park would these huge blocks of quarried granite that served as barriers along the edges of most of the roads through the park --

The blocks are as big as those concrete barriers we see along the highways. I wish I would have started counting them as we drove. There must be way more than a thousand of the things!

We took the 27 mile Loop Road around the Desert (pronounced dessert) Island portion of the park. The first stop was at Sand Beach, the only sandy beach we've seen in Maine.

The sandy portion isn't very large, but it was packed with people (on a Monday!). The right side of the beach is more typical of the rocky coastline we've seen --

The Loop Road follows the coast around the peninsula with lots of turn-outs for looking at the gorgeous views --

I was impressed by how luxuriant the growth was on top of the rocks. There sure isn't much topsoil there!

We followed the loop up to Cadillac Mountain, the highest point along the East Coast. At 1530 feet, it is not even as high as the hill above the house at our ranch...

But, we certainly don't have this kind of a view at the ranch!

The top of the mountain is all granite. It has a pinkish cast due to the pink feldspar --

From another of the scenic overlooks, you can look down at the town of Bar Harbor and many of the nearby small islands at low tide --

More Lobstahs!

We had parked last week near a Commercial Pier in New Harbor, Maine. I had noticed a boat similar to the one we had gone out on earlier unloading their lobster catch into some plastic boxes. Later I was looking down over that pier and saw this fellow doing something along the edge of the dock --

I realized that there was a long line of those plastic boxes floating in the water along the dock. They were hooked together by a long rope strung through their handles --

The young man inserted his metal hooks into the rope handles on the ends of the boxes --

I followed the line up to this post and pulley --

That was being used to hoist each of the boxes one by one out of the water --

As we watched, they hoisted twenty full boxes of lobsters --

Into the back of the waiting truck --

And then we watched the fellow in the truck shovel a pile of shaved ice over on top of the boxes --

According to one of the fellows we talked to, the boxes full of live lobsters which had been kept waiting in the water beside the dock until they had a truckload, would now be delivered directly to area restaurants.

A Visit to Beau Chemin Preservation Farm

Today was an absolute delight! We had a chance to visit with long-time friends Jo and Wayne at their farm, Beau Chemin Preservation Farm, near Waldoboro, Maine. Our lives intersected in the arena of rural health care many years ago. 

The house is a combination of very old with some new. The original house was moved up onto the top of the hill from where it had stood at the bottom of the hill. The planks of the floors are original boards more than a foot wide! Jo had a quiche in the oven when we arrived -- made from their own duck eggs. The three kinds of egg-laying ducks they have are some of the endangered domesticated species they are trying to preserve.

After a few hours of visiting and catching up, we went for a walk along the ridge and down to a pond at one side of their property.

Their poodle, Mutton, enjoyed the walk as much as any of us!

It was quite hot today, but it was a great deal cooler walking through the woods. I could hear several frogs along the edge of the pond, but couldn't spot a single one. And they sounded like they were BIG ones!

Looking across the pond to some of the trees -- and snags -- on the other side:

These are two of the endangered sheep varieties on the farm. The lady with the horns on the right is a Suoy, believed to be one of the earliest known sheep. These sheep are not sheared, their wool is pulled or plucked for spinning --

I tried to get these three kids and the momma to turn around so I could get a picture of their cute faces, but they definitely were not cooperating with me.

This "frog" is actually an oven, designed to be a community baking oven. Made by Wayne, it will be put into operation as soon as its door (which is being custom made) is delivered. In the background you can see some of Jo's flower cutting garden. Out of the picture to the left, are the raspberry and other berry bushes that will be sold towards the end of July as U-pick berries. Listed on the Maine web-site of organic gardens, Beau Chemin Preservation Farm is a favorite family summer excursion.

This will definitely not be a late night. After hiking down the ridge to the pond and back up again, we are both ready for bed!