Wandering Around Maine

About the time I entered Maine, the remains of a hurricane were heading up the East Coast and the weather turned nasty. The rainy, windy weather wasn't conducive to sightseeing or photography; most of the time I didn't even want to leave Van. It was cold and my solar panels were useless with the constant gray skies, so I camped for two nights at a commercial RV park in Skowhegan to charge up my batteries. It was a friendly little park with warm showers and a inexpensive coin laundry. It had great Internet reception, so I was able to watch a couple of Netflix movies, too.

From Skowhegan, I drove up to Baxter State Park, where I spent a few days hiking. Mt. Katahdin, in Baxter State Park, is the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. The southern terminus of the trail is over 2000 miles away at Springer Mountain in Georgia. For the last ten years, or so, I've been exploring the AT through a series of day hikes. In my teens and twenties, I thought I would like to through-hike the trail; sometimes I still do. But, while I love the wilderness experience, I know I've grown soft and too fond of hot showers and comfy mattresses. Still, the thought of through-hiking provides me with hours of excellent day-dreaming.

Mirror Lake

I found these photos while organizing some of my photo files from my Northeast trip. I'm not sure where it was located but, I'm guessing western Maine near the New Hampshire border. I wouldn't bet my life on it though. I remember driving down a little, twisty two-lane road, on a gloomy, gray day. Suddenly, I saw this unbelievable view on my left. I made a u-turn in the middle of the road and pulled off as soon as I could find a safe place to park. I never learned the lake's name so, I've decided to call it Mirror Lake.

Ever Wonder How I Wander?

When I travel, I make few plans in advance. Usually I open my AAA road map then circle my starting point and the location of my destination with a neon-colored highlighter. I then "connect-the-dots" choosing a likely looking route. Next, I take a different color highlighter and circle all of the public parks with campgrounds along my highlighted route. Finally, with a third highlighter, I circle any interesting sights or towns I've heard or read about. Also, any that interest me while reading the map. Of course, the route I draw on the map is seldom the actual route I take. I favor small, unlikely looking, roads. Often, especially if I miss a turn, I let Van decide which road to take.

I'm an extremely casual, laid-back traveler. It's probably a good thing that I'm a solo traveler, for I'm sure the way I travel would drive most people crazy. On an average travel day, I probably drive about 150 miles, but 50 could be a good day, too. I rarely make reservations and usually don't know where I'll stop for the night. When I find a place to camp for the night, I'm seldom disappointed.

Vermont's Grand Isle State Park, in the middle of Lake Champlain, was a good find. I chose a grassy campsite, in full sun so I could recharge my solar panel batteries. Then, I walked down to the lake to do a little beach combing. While scrambling over the rocks, I found a comfortable rock chair creation provided by a previous camper. The chair was in the perfect location to eat my picnic supper, listen to the waves and watch the rising moon.