We got an early start, left Quebec, and headed south toward home (well not really home, but the USA, Maine in particular). We crossed over the boarder near Jackman, Maine. The borders have been kinda fun especially for the kids. At this location we granted a US Customs Official permission to board our vessel. She took role, calling out each of our names... the kids each raising their hand and saying, "that's me," after each of their names was called. She also took a quick tour of our main deck, checking out the kitchen and even opening our refrigerator. When asked if we had any alcohol we had to comply and disclose the contents of our non-existent wine cellar. We passed inspection, barely, considering we only have 1 California license plate and 2 vehicles... and it is a dealer's plate that we have been affixing to the back of our vehicles depending on which ones engine is revving. She was actually surprised Canada let us in with no plate on the "pull car!"
Well, back on home soil, even if it is 3,114 driving miles from Granite Bay, California. We live in a phenomenal country. Aside from some of the remote desert areas in the Southwest, this part of the country is pretty remote. But so beautiful. Over the last week plus, we keep thinking we've seen the most spectacular autumn colors then we round another corner and it beats the last. The colors are truly amazing. We worked our way south right through the middle of Maine, the only US state that touches only 1 neighboring state. In this part of the country at this time of year every road is the "scenic road." We ended up in a town called Ellensberg near the Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor.
Bar Harbor should serve as the farthest point we will travel east on our dream trip. Without researching this I'm thinking Ely, Minnesota is the furthest north we've traveled. Anyway, (Cindi is going to finish this post because Dave's mind is all over the place) back to Maine. We went to dinner at the Lobster Pot. Peyton really enjoyed playing with the lobsters before they were slowly warmed up in their nice little bath. Actually, the bath is more like a very hot jacuzzi that takes 10 seconds to get the lobster in the mood for dinner. Our lobster was 2.5 pounds and was quite yummy. At least I thought so. Tanner on the other hand almost puked on the table when the tiniest of bites touched his tongue. We have decided that Tanner would not be a good candidate for Fear Factor. After dinner we spent the night at Walmart. The next morn we headed to a great campground named Patten Pond. It was surrounded by tons of beautiful trees decked out in the many colors of Fall. We decided to take a drive to the beach to introduce the boys to the Atlantic Ocean. This is the first time Peyton has met the mighty Atlantic. The kids had a blast at the beach. We climbed all over the rocks and saw a lot of marine life in the low tide. We also took a drive around Bar Harbor and stopped for an ice cream. We drove through Acadia National park on our way home. We were so blown away by the fall colors in the park. It was magnificent! I highly recommend a trip to the North East in the fall at least once in your life.
The next morning we took the scenic route to the Kennybunkport area. We found another really great campground and then headed to the beach. What a great day. It was warm enough for the boys to swim and swim they did. After a few hours on the beach we drove to downtown Kennybunkport....home of the Bush cottage. It is a really cute area. On our drive back we found a place to eat and then back to the RV to sleep off another great day in Maine.
The next morning we headed south toward Boston. It was an amazing drive. We decided to drive along the coast so that we could get the most out of the scenery. It was a very interesting drive since the road was not meant for a 40 ft. RV. We made it into Boston just in time to watch the USC game. I ran out and bought pizza while Dave and the boys settled into the WM parking lot in the perfect direction for our satellite to transfer the SC game onto our flat screen TV. It was a happy day for all!
