I’d hoped to sleep in, but that didn’t happen. I woke up at 6 and decided to move the phone to it’s plug that was right beside the bed so it could charge when the electric came on at 6:30. I plugged it in and shoved it under the pillow, the sound machine still going, and went back to sleep. At 6:30 when the power came back on the phone bleeped and vibrated – which vibrated the pillow and my head and that was pretty much it for sleep. I got up and got moving a little before 7.
Most campgrounds have the sites around a loop which is one way. This campground was no exception. My campsite was the 1st site as you went around the loop. There was about 50 feet of “one way” between my site and the main road. Since I’d put the RV in “the wrong way” she was pointing in the direction of the wrong way on the one way road. In order to get out the proper way I’d have to turn her around – which would involved at least a 5 point turn, maybe more because backing up is difficult. On Monday when I went out I debating going the wrong way and just popping myself out out, but decided to follow the rules and turn the RV around and go the correct way. Well, that was a mistake because 4 sites down from me a guy had his big pick-up truck parked in the road a bit so he could hook up his ginormous 5th wheel (how he got it in there in the 1st place is a mystery to me!)! I didn’t see him there until it was too late to go back! Luckily with some careful guidance from the truck owner and going very very slow I got through, but it was not fun. I decided then that I’d just go the wrong way next time I went out! Even remembering that I debating turning around and going the correct way this morning, but in the end broke the rules and went out the wrong way!
My first stop was the scenic overlook where I had coverage for my phone. Since I was still eating my pop-tart for breakfast I decided it was kinda like an internet café! I spent about an hour checking e-mail & facebook. It wasn’t the best connection and I couldn’t make it post anything, but it was good enough.
It was 9 when I started making my way south to Freeport.
On Monday when I was walking I’d seen a large orange metal coil on the end of a metal stick marking what looked like a waterfall. At the time I couldn’t figure out why there was a metal coil to mark it. This morning I saw a few more of the same metal coils and it hit me – the metal coil was a spring and it was likely marking a spring where you could get water! Hysterical play on words! I wanted to get a picture but there weren’t anymore after I figured it out!
Amazing how I could be so far out in the wilds of Maine and have to get even deeper in the wilds of Maine to get out! Oddly enough Andover was the last time I had cell coverage today until I got to Lewiston. Most of the roads were very small 2 lane windy country roads. I think there are more frost heaves in Maine than in Alaska! My phone has a “shake to shuffle feature – if you are listening to it and you don’t want to hear a particular song you can shake it and it will go to the next song. This feature is VERY annoying when driving in Maine. See the phone is rather sensitive and when I’d go over a big bump, the song would change! Luckily the feature doesn’t work when the phone is locked!
I’d written down all the routes I needed to take on a sticky and stuck it to the dash, I had in my head that I needed to go to Lewiston to pick up 136, but in reality it was Auburn! Auburn is a large city and was very busy – I totally missed the turn so ended up going through Lisbon (Maine named all their towns after foreign places: Paris, Naples, Mexico, Peru…) and got on 295. Now for all you road geeks out there…umm…Russell….I have now driven on a portion of every Interstate highway in Maine! I395 outside of Bangor, I95 near Bangor and now I295 which goes up the coast from Portland to almost Augsta.
I arrived in Freeport about 11:45 and was thrilled at how easy it was to navigate in the RV. The RV parking area was well signed and easy to find! I was able to get around the main congestion of the town and found a great spot.*(see rant at the end) I quickly headed out to get my bearings and see what was here. It’s pretty much just LL Bean. There are some factory stores, but not much. Bar Harbor was definitely the spot for browsing in shops! Two of the shops here even are also in Bar Harbor! One of the other shops has a sister shop in Jackson WY that I visited there so there wasn’t much that was “new”.
There’s a café at LL Bean now! That’s where I had lunch! I got a great “veggie loaf” wrap and blueberry pop. Quite a unique lunch and very tasty! I gotta see if I can find the blueberry pop elsewhere. While I was eating I saw a car go by with a boat on top and thought about how most cars up here had boats on them but how I hadn’t seen many folks using the boats – this then made me think of the episode of the British comedy “Keeping Up Appearances when Hyacinth buys Richard skis for his birthday just so they can drive around town with them on the car giving the appearance that they are “ski people” which of course made me laugh – after that every time I saw a car with a boat on it I was laughing to myself at my own private joke!
In 1986, when I was 11, my mom, my grandma Jack, my grandpa Dr. Ben and I drove up to Freeport from North Tarrytown NY so Dr. Ben could go to LL Bean. Dr. Ben was quite possibly LL Bean’s biggest fan. I think everything he owned came from there. Coming to “the store” was a religious experience for him! He was so excited to be visiting the store that when we arrived in Freeport late at night he had to go put his feet in the store because it was open 24 hours. We did, then went back to out hotel to spend the night. Back in ’86 not much was open 24 hours so LL Bean was a novelty in that respect. The next day we went and spent the whole day. I remember it being a sprawling campus of stores, but none of the buildings really matched each other, it was dark and dingy in places, and the floor was uneven, it was definitely rustic. Not so anymore. They have renovated every inch of the place and there seems to be more space than merchandise. Not only that but everything in the store is available on-line and in the catalog. The store was very similar to the LL Bean store at Tyson’s Corner, although getting to Maine might be easier than getting to Tyson’s Corner! ;-)
When we were at LL Bean in ’86 we purchased my sleeping bag, the same sleeping bag that I’m using right now! It’s as good as it was the day we bought it, well almost. When we were in Alaska the zipper broke (so now it’s more of a comforter than a sleeping bag!). One awesome thing about LL Bean is that if your stuff breaks they will fix it and return it - few years ago they fixed the zipper on my backpack, they no longer make the model that I had and I didn’t want a new one, it’s the same with the sleeping bag! I went to customer service to ask about getting it fixed and I told the gal that I’d bought the sleeping bag 20+ years ago when I came here and she was unimpressed.
It didn’t take me long at LL Bean and then I headed out to get some Gifford’s Ice Cream – Moose Tracks this time – and then go to the LL Bean Outlet and check out the other stores. By 3:30 I was pretty much done with Freeport. I stopped at Amatos’s – a little deli, pizza joint to get a sandwich to take back for dinner and then headed to the campground.
I think I can really pick ‘em! There are 2 campgrounds in Freeport – The KOA and Recompence Shores. I’m at Recompence Shores. It’s about 10 mins out of Freeport – it’s right on the Casco Bay! It’s in the middle of Wolf’s Neck Farm and close to Wolf’s Neck State park. It’s very quiet and strangely empty. There are close to 200 sites here and maybe 20 other folks here – all spread out. I pretty much have my area to myself. A few of the sites are occupied, there’s camping stuff but no cars and no people.
I think my site is supposed to be a back in, but I pulled in straight opting to back out. The site has 2 trees – one on each side of the RV that I was worried about being able to get right between, and going out there’s a weird angle if I was going forward. There’s a lot space to back out and turn so it shouldn’t be too hard – I almost practiced but decided not to. Not sure why I got the site I did, the one next to me is huge and I could have pulled in and “parallel parked”. There’s also a open field with sites around it – generally I wouldn’t be a fan of that but in a field there’s nothing to hit when backing up!
The campground does have wifi, but I have to go back up to the store and sit in the chairs – hopefully the battery on the computer will last! If not I can finish the job in the morning – there’s a large parking area up there so I could park and get the network!
*Rant of the day (and Public Service Announcement): Is there part of “RV’s ONLY” that is confusing? In Freeport they have tons of free parking. There is a small lot, maybe 40 standard parking spaces, that is labeled RV parking and “RV’s ONLY”. When I got there the parking lot had 3 RVs already in it and about 10 cars. There was just barely room for me and then just as I parked – going across 4 spots (parallel parked) some lady pulled in to the spot in front of me meaning that I couldn’t get out until she left. Late when I came back the other RVs were gone and more cars had filled in. Seriously people – read the sign. If you are driving a car, even if it’s a big “Suburban Subdivison” or a “Denali National Park” you can park it places that I in my RV cannot park. Not only that but you can back your car up easily if you have to, I cannot. You can also turn around, that is difficult for RVs, especially folks with trailers. Car drivers can also park in the free parking garage just ½ a block away, I cannot. So please DON’T park where it says RV parking unless you are driving an RV!!!!!
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| Maine - Day 13 Freeport & LL Bean |
1 comment:
Mmmmmmm, frosted cherry Pop-Tart....
I miss those.
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