Tuesday August 1st we took a scenic seventy mile ride from Medway to Greenville on lumber company owned tote roads. The first road was paved for about fifteen miles and the rest of the way they were dirt and stone. These roads go through some beautiful mountains with lots of lakes and rivers. We saw two more moose just east of Millinockett. We had to watch out for lots of log trucks traveling at pretty high speeds, but it was a great ride. We had lunch in Greenville and then returned to Medway.

Wednesday we went to the grocery store looked around downtown Millinockett.

Thursday August 3rd we left Medway and traveled to Houlton, ME and My Brothers Place Campground. After getting set up we went downtown and had dinner at Pizza Hut.

Friday we went exploring the back roads in the area and saw lots of large potato and broccoli farms. We also stopped at the Smith and Wesson factory to see if they had any tours, but there was no one in the office today.

Saturday we went to the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum in Littleton, ME.

This was a great collection of nicely displayed farm tools and equipment all inside two large buildings.

Sunday August 6th we took a day trip to Woodstock, New Brunswick where we saw the longest covered bridge in the world at 1,280 feet across the St. John River.

This is also farm country.

Monday we left Houlton and moved north to Presque Isle and Arndt’s Aroostook Campground. While registering we learned the owners were natives of Pennsylvania who had moved to ME. right out of college. Mr. Arndt is a environmental planner for the city who also guides bear and moose hunts in the fall. They have a very nice campground with a great view.

Tuesday August 8th we took a ride east to the border to Ft. Fairfield and Rt. 1a, then north along the border to the towns of Limestone, Hamlin, Van Buren where we merged on to historic Rt. 1, and traveled on north to the towns of Notre Dame, Grand Isle and Madawaska which is the northern most town in Maine. These are all very pretty towns located on the St. John River which separates the US. and Canada.

We traveled on west to Fort Kent and the historic Ft. Kent Blockhouse built in 1839 to protect local timber interests during a border dispute with Canada.

Fort Kent is also the northern terminus of US RT.1 which begins in Key West Florida.

We saw large potato and grain farms all along this drive along with a lot of beautiful homes in these small towns. Also across the river from FT. Kent in New Brunswick is a little town named Clair.

From Ft Kent we traveled south on Rt. 11 through beautiful mountain and lake country, especially Eagle Lake and on south to Ashland where we turned east and back to Presque Isle.

Wednesday we took a ride over to Limestone and their museum which advertised having the first air potato harvester. This museum turned out to be the beginning of a very nice display of early farm items. We met three women working at the museum who were potato farmer’s wives and we got a very interesting education on the evolution of potato farming in Maine.

After returning to Presque Isle we stopped at the launch site of the hot air balloon Double Eagle II which traveled from Presque Isle to France, the first Trans Atlantic balloon flight. When we returned to the campground we met our new neighbors Bob and Ruth Lee, fellow HR chapter 400 members who had just arrived and had a nice visit with them.

Friday August 11th we left Presque Isle and traveled south on Rt 1 along the coast to Eastport ME, which advertises being the easternmost city in the United States. This is a beautiful area with great views of the Bay of Fundy. Eastport is a deep water seaport with tides of twenty-five feet. The movie Murder in a Small Town was filmed here.

Saturday we drove around the bay to Lubec, ME. which advertises itself as being the easternmost town in the United States. Lubec ME is only about a mile across the bay from Eastport, but you have to drive thirty eight miles to get there. Lubec is much like Eastport but smaller and with land access to New Brunswick. We went over to Campobello Island and visited Franklin D. Roosevelt’s summer home located just across the bay from Eastport. We had lunch on Campobello and then returned to Lubec and visited the West Quoddy lighthouse.

Sunday we went back downtown to Eastport and watched the fishing boats come in and checked out some of the shops. The nice part of this area of the coast is that you have the beauty of the seacoast without the crowds.

Monday August 14th we left Eastport and traveled west returning to Hermon ME and the Pumpkin Patch RV Park where we met up with Lloyd and Bert Christiansen, friends from Iowa we have known and spent time with in Texas and Iowa at different times over the last couple of years. They were just returning to the states after spending the summer in Newfoundland. We had dinner and a nice visit with them catching up on their trip.

Tuesday we took a ride in town with Christiansen’s and stopped at Wal-Mart and stocked up on groceries.

Wednesday August 16th The Escapees New England Chapter #3 was having their fall rally at the Pumpkin Patch and we registered to participate. We attended the 4 o’clock social and dinner of hot dogs and clam chowder. Later we had a camp fire.

Thursday we did more sightseeing and then an Escapee’s potluck supper.

Friday we took a tour with the Escapees to Bob’s Sugar Maple House which was very informative. After returning to the campground we had dinner and entertainment at the clubhouse.

Saturday was the big Lobster Fest for Chapter 3. Early in the morning delegations were on there way to pick up eighty hard shelled lobsters, a bushel of clams and two bushel of sweet corn and by twelve-thirty everyone was enjoying a great feast. In the evening there was ice cream and Kangaroo Court where everyone had a good time.

Sunday August 20th was hitch-up breakfast of blueberry pancakes and sausage, after which most all the Escapees headed for home.

Monday the Christiansen’s went with us to Bar Harbor and the coastal area east to Machais. This is beautiful coastline and not at all crowded like it is south of Bar Harbor.

We stopped at a Chinese Buffet to celebrate Bert’s birthday on the way home.

Tuesday August 22nd Lloyd and Bert left for Indiana and their daughter’s house.

Sandy and I took a ride down to Rockland and stopped to see Gary and Millie Small who we had met in Tennessee last spring. This was another nice ride and a beautiful day.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were cleaning and maintenance days with a few short rides and some shopping.

Saturday August 26th we went the waterfront in downtown Bangor where they were having the American Folk Festival. There was entertainment and food and craft stands all along the waterfront. They had some really good entertainment.

Sunday we returned to the folk festival and listened to more entertainment, mostly bluegrass and country.

Monday August 28th we left the Pumpkin Patch and moved south to Freeport and L.L.Bean and the outlets. We also stopped in Yarmouth at DeLorme Mapping to see Eartha the huge globe on display in their lobby.

Tuesday PM we moved on south to the Boston area where we stayed at Normandy Farms Camping Resort in Foxboro, MA.

Wednesday we drove into the subway station and took the train into Boston where we got off right at the Boston Commons. We then took a trolley around the city which was very informative and gave us an idea of where we would want to go on our own. After our trolley ride we walked part of the Freedom Trail and had lunch at the famous Union Oyster House and visited Faneuil Hall Marketplace.

Thursday August 31st we left Foxboro and traveled to Farragut and a visit with the kids.