USA – The Maine Event

Portland

Our good friends, Pat and Alaina from the band Tennis, were scheduled to play a show in Portland, Maine.  So, we contacted them and told them we were in Maine and we would wait a week (in the area) to see them at their show.

Melissa and I found a campsite at KOA Holiday in Saco, Maine. The cost per night was a little more than we like to pay for a campsite, but it included full hook ups, Wi-Fi and we could drive our RV all the way through the campsite without having to unhook our tow dolly.

The first day we ended up staying in the middle of the campground in a spot that had no trees and the sun was beating down on us constantly.

The next morning we went to the manager and asked to move to another site that was located in the woods. They happily helped us out and found us a great spot.

Since we had about six more days until the show, we ordered a We Boost 4G-XRV cell phone booster package and had it express shipped to our location.

We also got a sponsorship from DoItYourselfLettering.com and they sent us some additional lettering for our Prius and they also sent it express mail.

Cape Elizabeth

While we waited for our deliveries we traveled around in our scout vehicle and ended up in Cape Elizabeth. We walked the shoreline exploring the tide pools, then headed for the local restaurant. I ended up buying my last lobster roll. It was my last lobster roll mostly because it was so expensive and it really wasn’t worth the money I paid for it. It was a tourist trap, but the scenery and the restaurant was really great.

Since we were going to be in one place for a while, we decided we needed to do quite a bit of chores, like fixing the tail lights on our tow dolly and our Prius.

We also got our RV windshield repaired. It was great, because our insurance sent out Safelite windshield repair for no money and no deductible.

It had been quite a while since I’ve been to a sandy beach, so we went to Old Orchard Beach to check it out.  Sorry to say, but there were absolutely no waves for me to surf.

We also drove out to Biddeford Pool to look at the beautiful mansions on the water and we went on a short hike there as well.

The next day we basically chilled out and then went for a long hike out at The Scarbrough Marshes. The flies and mosquitoes were out in full force. I think I got more of a work out doing the mosquito swatting aerobics than the actual walk, which was over 4 miles.

The next day was the day we had been waiting for. Our friends, Pat and Alaina were finally in town and they were opening for The Shins.

Melissa and I drove the Prius to Thomson’s Point in Portland. We went to Will Call and got our VIP backstage passes.

It was a real bummer because it was raining pretty good, but it didn’t seem to bother any of the locals. Tennis came onstage and they had to play with rain pouring and draining off of their impromptu tents. They really didn’t seem to mind and Melissa and I danced with the crowd to get the full experience.

We were in shock, because halfway through their set, they saw us in the crowd and once their song was over, Alaina stopped and talked to the audience.  She literally pointed us out in the crowd and told the audience that we were her heroes since we sailed across the Pacific ocean twice.  Everyone in the audience turned and looked at us.  We didn’t know what to do, so we just waved at everybody and smiled. It was a pretty surreal experience.

After their set, we went backstage and hung out with them for the rest of the night. We could hear The Shins playing in the background but we didn’t care, since we were with our good close friends.

We talked about the times when we sailed together, our families, and future trips that they were going to take on their new sailboat, “Scout”. It was a great night and we were so happy that we could meet up with them while they were on tour.

The next day it was time to leave, but I wanted to finally put the finishing touches on our solar panel, so I spliced some wires together and finished off my project.

Bar Harbor

We headed further up the coast of Maine and ended up just outside of Bar Harbor in a little National Park campsite called Seawall Campground.

It was foggy and beautiful. The coastline is so rugged and full of contrasts. Rocks jut out of the ocean and trees fill the shoreline. There were trails everywhere. Melissa and I tried to explore everything we could.

Around every corner it seemed as if there was a different landscape.

This area was amazing, however it was very damp and foggy most of the time. We noticed that Bar Harbor was a little more sunny, so we had it off in that direction for a day hike.

After parking our car in Bar Harbor, we walked across the rocky and sandy shore at low tide to the island of Bar Island.

Dino wanted to take some pictures so we snapped off a few for him.

Hiking up to the summit of Bar Island, we found these amazing fields of Lupine.

We eventually meandered back into town and ended up in a local coffee shop. I had some amazing coffee and pilfered their Internet for a while.

On the way out of town and back to our campsite, we ended up going on the National Park Trail and it was well worth it.  It is a driving trail but it offers numerous places to pull over and go on hikes and see such sites as thunder hole.

When we arrived at camp, some neighbors introduced themselves to us. They had traveled all the way from Australia and bought an RV in Texas and they were traveling the United States and Canada as well. They invited us over to their campsite for some amazing ribs with there secret rub.

We laughed and had drinks and became fast friends.

The next night we decided to host them at our RV for a good old fashioned Mexican dinner. I played a slight joke on them by having them open a trick envelope full of rattlesnake eggs. We all got a great laugh out of it.

Check out our Next Blog Post Canada – Eastern Canada