First Lighthouse and First Bull Moose Sightings! And a Submarine!

Maine Vacation Day 1

When we do not need to make good time, we go “shunpiking” (local roads rather than highways,) so we can get a sense of the place.

So, after fighting traffic through some of the most touristy places on the Maine coast, when I saw a place on the map with the interesting name of Biddeford Pool, on an appealing looking little peninsula, we decided to take a detour.

It was certainly off the beaten track. And by off the beaten track I mean without a Gift Shoppe within at least 15 miles. At the end of the road, after miles of mansions, facing the ocean, was the East Point Sanctuary with views of our first Maine lighthouse.

Wood Island Lighthouse and East Point Sanctuary

Now lighthouses are a dime a dozen, but have you ever seen a Monumental Day Beacon?

Stage Island Monument, one of two nineteenth century Monumental Day Beacons in Maine. A structure for navigating during the day.

Bull Moose Sighting

So what if it was in a Cabella's. Given our track record of seeing bull moose in the wild (never) this may be the only sighting we get.

Submarine

Right at the border between New Hampshire and Maine, we unexpectedly drove past a submarine in a concrete cradle just at the side of the road. Did we just see that?!? We immediately made a U-turn, and went to the USS Albacore Museum. 

Who knew Russian subs were within 12 miles of the US coast during the Cold War?

Normally I am not at all claustrophobic. But I was starting to feel uncomfortable with the stuffiness in there. I cannot imagine living on land inside that sub with 44 other people (crew size), let alone under water with the hot, noisy engines running. These photos were taken with a wide angle lens so the space looks a lot bigger than it is.

Amusing story about how the sub got here. The story starts off - "They waited for the highest tide of the year, and started floating her in. It took longer than they thought it would, and the tide started going out"… For an abridged continuation of the story see USS Albacore/about, starting from the section “In May of 1985” …

On the Road Again! Hello Maine!

You may have been wondering why we dropped off the map …

Long story short, since we got back in March from our winter trip to Arizona, etc., Our V was in and out of the shop for months for repairs. Total incompetence at $175 an hour! But we did manage to get out of the house a few times since then.

Including...

Shavuot at Camp Moshava, Honesdale, PA. 

A wedding in Bethlehem, PA, a wedding in Lakewood, NJ, and a Bat Mitzvah in Trumbull, CT

A nice day in Long Branch, NJ.

A few fun days in Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware with two of our sons and our three grandchildren in June (plus a separate car, tent, screen room, lots of camping equipment, and a LOT of food). 

Last week was supposed to be a wedding in Montreal and a wedding in Staten Island, but turned into two weddings and a funeral (funeral in Toronto) and 1,200 miles driving in 3 ½ days.

And now we are in Maine! We hope to be here for about a month.

Great visits with family on the way up.

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Google Maps Overestimates our Abilities

Leaving Nashville Sunday morning. 865 miles to home. Google Maps lets us know it will take us 12 days to walk. That comes out to 72 miles a day.

Thanks for thinking we are in such great shape, Google, but I don’t think you took into account how much we carry on our hikes - water, trail mix, other snacks, lunches, cameras, phones, etc. Not to mention pushing or pulling Our V the whole way. We figure it would take at least 15 days.

We were in Nashville Thursday through Shabbos.

Full scale model of the Parthenon in Nashville. We never know what weirdness we will encounter on our travels. The rational for this Parthenon is that Nashville is the “Athens of the South”. No need for us to visit Greece now!

Nashville State Capitol Building

Hot Springs National Park Arkansas

Historic Fordyce Baths - One of the creepiest places we have ever been. In addition to the therapeutic hot spring water baths - “Mercury Treatments”, “Electric Baths”, and other state of the art medical treatments were offered back in the day.

Quapaw Baths and Spa. The baths we went to. Amazing therapeutic water. Cured my eczema, arthritis, acid reflux, and hangnail. And I am now 2 inches taller.

Little Rock Arkansas - We collect another state capital building

Rep. David Hillman stopped by to say Hi. Tour guide Nancy was excellent.

Statue of the Little Rock Nine. Tried to get a photo of the High School, but classes were letting out and the street was blocked off for the school buses

We are still walking...

Hope to be home tomorrow, Monday.

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Continuing Home - New Mexico to Oklahoma to Arkansas - 1,260 Miles to Go

Shabbos we were at Santa Rosa Lake State Park in NM. Its main recommendations - it was conveniently located on the route home, and our campsite provided an electric connection. Electricity was necessary over Shabbos to run the water tank heaters so our pipes wouldn’t freeze during the unusual cold spell. As an extra precaution, we poured antifreeze down the drains. Temps got as low as 13 degrees Friday night. B”H, our pipes survived.

As a bonus, I was able to use our crockpot and we had hot soup for Shabbos lunch.

We took a walk to the lake Shabbos morning. The lake was more of a pond. Formed by a dam, the water level is very low due to the extreme drought the Southwest has been experiencing the past few years. The story of the drought was one we heard over and over on our trip.

Unsightly bleached skeletons of trees that drowned when the water covered them and were left high and dry when the water receded

Sunday was a long boring slog from New Mexico through Texas to Oklahoma City on Route 40 (covering the same ground as Route 66, another repeating theme on our trips).

One bright spot (literally) on the drive, just off the highway before Amarillo, was Cadillac Ranch.

Cadillac Ranch is “public art installation and sculpture,” or looked at from a different angle, a bunch of heavily graffitied old Cadillacs buried nose deep in the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere, unpleasantly downwind from a stockyard.

Last time we were there, with Yoni and Aryeh almost 20 years ago, it was a weird, lonely place. Now it is still weird, but overrun with hordes wielding spray paint who are determined to leave their mark. However, the paint never even gets a chance to dry before the next horde adds another layer.

Some enterprising person has even set up a truck selling cans of spray paint. On a good day, they can sell up to 150. I asked.

Everything in the area is a canvas, not just the cars. The garbage cans were highly decorated as were some of the stalks of whatever had been growing in the fields. When we got back to Our V, we were relieved that it was still the same shade of unmarred silver as when we left.

Sunday night we boondocked at a Walmart, otherwise know as Wallydocking, just outside of Oklahoma City.

Monday, we saw the site of the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing and stopped for a tour of the State Capital Building. We have been “collecting” state capitals.

Onward through the rest of Oklahoma to Arkansas. The scenery changed from endless flat  fields to scenery similar to Appalachia. We pass lakes and rivers. We are not used to seeing so much open water.

Somewhere in the past two days we lost an hour. I am jetlagged. 

We are currently in Hot Springs National Park till Wednesday morning.

Thurs Feb 23 - On Our Way Back!

After over 4 months on the road, and almost 3 months just in Arizona, today we started on our way back East. 

We drove from Page, AZ to Santa Rosa Lake St Park. NM where we will be through Shabbos.

Photos from today:

On the Road Temps got down to 6 degrees on this leg of the drive. Much of the central US is having an unusual cold spell. We need to take steps so our pipes don't freeze and get to where it is warmer. 

Canyon de Chelly (pronounced "Shay"). The Visitor Center was closed. We didn't go far because we weren't comfortable with the road conditions.

Hubbel Trading Post

Window Rock

On the Road Again

Santa Rosa Lake St Park

550 miles today. 1,950 to go... Shooting to be back March 7th! Have a few stops planned for along the way.