Maine Day 1 - Travel

The alarm went off at 4am. It was early but I was ready to go! I got up and finished my last minute packing and was out the door by 5:15. I expected to encounter traffic since it was a weekday morning so I was very pleasantly surprised when there was none and I arrived at the airport at 6:00! I was unable to check in at the curb so had to drag my bag to long term parking and onto the bus and into the airport to wait in line. The good news was that I was pretty sure it weighed less than 50lbs which was the size limit for Cape Air. I zipped right through security and was at the gate at 7 am.

The flight to Boston was uneventful. Shorter than I anticipated. I was just getting settled in and the pilot announced that we’d begun out descent!

In Boston I ended up having to go to the ticket desk and then back through security – a minor frustration because I’d repacked things after clearing security.

I grabbed some lunch – despite it only being 10:30 – and enjoyed watching the airplanes land, then made my way over to the gate. I was able to get a front row view of them prepping the planes.

Cape Air flies small little Cessna 402s – they seat 9 people. It was fun watching the flight crew – many of whom were as tall or taller than the planes – stow baggage in the wings and front compartment. I watched them put my bag on the plane! (this is where is helps having a very large very purple bag!) Watching people getting off the planes was like watch a clown car – hard to believe they fit that many people in there!

There were only 6 of us on my flight. I was the 2^nd one on so I got to sit right behind the pilot! Practically in his lap! I’m sure I bumped his next with my bookmark a few times! There was barely any room! I had my book with me but that was all I could have carried on. I wish I’d been 1^st on though because then I could have sat in the “passenger seat” and had a better view of the flight operations.

The Cape Air planes share the same runway with the big guys! As we were taxiing for take off there was a giant American Airlines jet in front of us. We could have driving our plane under it!

Take off was really fun – I basically had a pilots eye view! It was a crystal clear day and you could see for miles! It was pretty amazing! The flight took about an hour and while you could see land the whole time we were mostly over the Atlantic. Flying over the coast of Maine is very cool! There are islands and boats and all kinds of stuff to look at!

The landing was almost as cool as the take off! We taxied to the “terminal” and then unloaded. We claimed our “wing” check luggage as we de-planed, but we were told that we had to get checked luggage by the curb. So we walked through the airport – basically a trailer – and outside there was a wooden window in the fence that the used to put our checked luggage on as she pulled it from the nose compartment! It seemed a little silly, why we could have just claimed it planeside but whatever!

I called for a taxi then sat in front of the terminal trailer to wait. It only took a few minutes. The taxi driver said that he is usually waiting whenever a plane arrives but we got in early. He was a great guy – we chatted it up the whole way to Leisure Maine.

When we pulled into Leisure Maine they had the welcoming party ready! Bruce, one of the 3 main employees greeted me by name and we put my luggage right into my motorhome.

We went inside the office – which I think used to be a house, it’s a family run business – and I got to meet Diane finally! She and I have been emailing since May and it was great to put a name with the emails! She was so nice, like my new best friend! Both Bruce and Diane were very anxious to do whatever I needed to make my trip good and Diane even gave me an extra special map that she doesn’t get too many of because it was the only one that had my campground on it!

Bruce and I did the paperwork and talked about the RV I was getting – he was just thrilled that I knew what I was doing, mostly, more than most folks anyway! They rent many different models of RV so they made their own training DVDs that are unique to the individual RV! I watched that in the RV which was perfect because for some of the stuff I could go look at it when they were telling me about it.

The RV is great! It’s a bit longer than the one I had in Alaska but it’s nicer. It’s got a little slide out and two twin beds in the back. It has a couch that folds out into a bed but it faces the door so when you sit at the couch you can see out.

Like all RVs it has quirks – we discovered that the grey tank (sink/shower water) has a pump to dump it, just press a button, but the black (toilet) does not. In order to start the generator I have to have the engine running because the battery wasn’t giving it enough umph.

Finally about 4:00 I’d finished all my “motor home school” stuff and paper work and I was set to go. My 1^st stop was Hannaford’s Supermarket. It had a nice big parking lot and I could park away from everyone – I take up 2 parking spaces! When I got in though I was so hungry and thirsty I just couldn’t think straight. I was also anxious to get to the campground so I wasn’t terribly productive. Spent $70, but still don’t really have “food”. Hard to figure out what I can get since many things involve buying large packages of things and using just a little. I got some “uncrustables” and “bagelfuls” – frozen thaw and eat sandwiches, and cereal and milk, and some snacks so I didn’t do too bad!

Next I had to navigate my way thought Rockland. This is practice for tomorrow because I’ll be driving up the coast and encountering many small towns. It wasn’t so bad. I’m glad I have driven an RV before! It was only a short way to my campground for the night – The Lobster Buoy.

The campground is right on the Atlantic so my 1^st item of business was to go for a swim. Well, it was low tide and the beach was mostly large seaweed covered rocks! I walked down the beach and back and then made my way down to the water and wadded it. I ultimately wadded in to about my waist – the bottom interestingly enough was sand/mud, the shore is all rocky! They said that it’s the Atlantic, but it’s very calm. Nothing at all like the surf that pounds the beaches in Ocean City or Virginia Beach.

I already had some mechanical trouble! Before I went to the beach I turned the water pump on so I could use the water to flush the toilet and I noticed that the water pump was running even when I turned the water off. It’s supposed to be “on demand” and only run when water is running. I wasn’t sure if it was a difference between this RV and other RVs or what. I switched the pump off and continued settling in. It was very quiet and I heard water dripping. I went to investigate. There was a cascade of water flowing from a panel right by the door. I’d been told I didn’t need to worry about that panel so I wasn’t sure what was going on. It was right behind the sink so I investigated inside the RV, no water on the floor. I called the Leisure Maine people (they’d told me over and over that if there was any problem I should call day or night!) and talked to one of the owners. It took me a minute or two to explain what exactly was going on and at one point I was on my hands and knees crawling under the RV – of course I’m on a grassy site and it’s been raining the last 3 weeks and I was wearing my “good” pants! Turns out the hot water heater hadn’t been “un-winterized” because believe it or not I’m the first one to rent this RV this summer! Rene talked me though that and we got it all fixed up! While I was on the phone with him the man in the campsite next to me came to tell me water was flowing from my outdoor shower! It had been left in the “on” position (presumably when they blew out the lines to keep them from freezing”. So, 2/3 of my on-board fresh water flowed out of RV this afternoon. Into the already saturated ground. I’m hoping I can get out tomorrow AM! There are a lot of very helpful seasoned RVers in the campground so I’m sure I’ll manage! Luckily I have a water hookup here so I can fill up in the AM before I leave!

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