Maine

Ten days and 2,900 miles later we arrived in the coastal town of Portland, Maine.

We scheduled just two weeks before we needed to start south and avoid the colder weather. We crammed as much in as possible, but later regretted not changing our plans and staying much longer.

Originally we wanted to "tour" the Maine coast and visit all the lighthouses. We obviously didn't do enough homework here. If you've ever been to Maine, you know the coastline is a jagged line of hundreds and hundreds of miles with very little access to the lighthouse by any traditional roads. it would take weeks alone to take that trip. We did manage a few.

Rufus was not a fan of thinking the ocean was a big bowl of drinking water. Yukky tasting.

One of the wonderful things that happened when we arrived in Maine, was the government shutting down. All the National Parks officially closed the day after we arrived. Our planned trip to Arcadia National Park was canceled. We watched on the news, how people were parking outside the park and walking or biking through the closed gates. The skeleton crew of park rangers were handing out tickets to these "law breakers" whenever they could. Seriously? Absolute insanity...

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Arcadia was going to be a big trip to the north tip of Maine. So we filled in with last minute ideas. One of those was a trip to Bangor, Maine and It turned out to be a pretty cool little side excursion.

We obviously knew this was the home town and current residence of that well known scary story teller Steven king. So that was the reason for the choice. And there are always enough fans visiting his house, so finding someone to take your picture?... not an issue.

But we also accidentally stumbled onto an event that only happens 4 days a year in Bangor. For a  single day at the beginning of each season they open the town water tower for a town celebration and touring. Cars were lined up from everywhere. It was quite the local event.

  And the views from the top were breathtaking.

They call these water towers "Standpipes". The actual metal water container is encased in a wooden tower with an internal staircase winding around to the top viewing platform.

This one was erected in 1897 and handles 1,750,000 gallons of water.

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A very cool thing about the east coast town of Portland, is their love of dogs. They actually publish a booklet every year featuring all the towns establishments, parks and events that are dog/pet friendly. We spent several days touring with our favorite four-legged friend.

A good time was had by all.

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There was a small state park here that offered an afternoon hike, and were actually open for business. It was becoming clear that some states did not at all appreciate the government shutting down their parks and the associated income. This entire trail system was built on a wooden walkway above a marsh. Pretty cool!

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 Of course we also found a little time to "ride"  the coastal highway through some of the original towns and ports of Maine.

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This is where I end this post with a really interesting piece of art. From what I understand, the practice of hanging a lock on the fence of a waterway started in France. The idea is that two lovers promise a n=bond to each other, attach the lock to the fence and toss the key into the waterway.

They share that idea here as well.

Thanks for reading!