Friday, August 19, 2011

Camden, Rockport and Rockland, Maine

The trip from Raymond, NH to Camden, ME was easy and short (155 miles). We arrived at the Camden Hills RV Resort at 12:00 and checked in. Our site is nice, among a group of RV's and 5th wheels, and the people are very nice. We got set up, but no satellite reception - trees again. However, unlike Pine Acres in Raymond, Camden Hills offers cable. Life is good!

Once settled in, we contacted Bob and Sheila Leach, who are vacationing in Owls Head, which is just South of Rockland, which is just South of Rockport, which is just South of Camden where we are. They invited us over for dinner with Bob's two sons, who are in for a visit, and other friends. Bob grew up in Rockland and has relatives and friends galore in the area. We arrived at Bob and Sheila's around 5 pm after a bit of a chore finding the house. But with Bob's help on the cell phone, we managed to find the place.

It is an old cottage with a terrific view of Owls Head harbor. We enjoyed a sumptuous meal and more than a few beers, great conversation with Bob, Sheila, their sons and friends, plus Bob's brother Lou and his wife Agnes who dropped by after dinner. A great eveing, but I worried about finding our way home in the dark! We left around 8:45 and, with good luck, retraced our steps and found our way back to the coach by 9:15 or so. Dixie was happy to see us!

On Thursday, I left the coach early, with a map, and toured the area, determined to get my bearings so as not to get lost again! I vitied Camden, a quaint seaside town just North of our campground. There is a nice harbor, lots of shops and restaurants and a waterfall where the Megunticook River emerges from between the buildings!

Later, I picked up Suz and we followed our neighbor to the Graffam Brothers roadside stand in Rockport where they sell the best lobster and crab rolls I have ever had, all for $7.99 and $6.99 respectively! We then took a run out to Oyster River Lobster (out hwy. 90 just past our campground) and had a look at the tanks of lobster for $4.99 for a 1 1/4 lb. lobster, $5.99 for a 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pound lobster and $6.99 for one that is 2 pounds or more! Granted the lobster are not "hard shell" at the moment because they have just shed their shells, but even so, great prices! We will be picking some up for an outdoor feast with Bob and Sheila later in the stay.

Thursday evening, we got together with the Leaches and shared happy hour on the Rockland harbor at the Time Out Pub.
. We had dinner later at The Bricks Restaurant just across the street from the pub. The pizza was wonderful!

Friday, I got up late and rushed to finish my work on time. After taking Dixie for her walk, I headed down to the Rockport Diner for breakfast - really good! then I toured Rockport proper and learned about the Rockport lime kilns. There is a lot of limestone in the area, and during the 19th century, it was mined and hauled to the port by narrow gauge rail where it was dumped into huge kilns and turned into lime for building purposes. It was then put into barrels and onto ships for transport to Boston and New York. A fire in 1907 destroyed the kilns and the advent of cement put an end to the lucrative lime business. The kilns are now a national historical site.

In the afternoon, Suz, Dixie and I headed over to Graffam's roadside stand and picked up a lobster roll and a crab roll for lunch. We then went down to the port to show Suz the kilns and watch the workers unload the day's catch of lobster into the waiting Oyster River Lobster truck.

After lunch, I decided to tackle a newly arisen problem - a serious leak in the black tank flush system. After tearing the wet bay apart, I discovered that the leak was somewhere in the hose that goes from the wet bay to the other side of the coach then into the black tank. So, off comes the panel on the other side of the coach to expose the other end of the hose. I thought I could detach both ends of the hose, pull it out and replace with a new one. Unfortunately, the hose has a bind somewhere in the middle of its run and cannot be pulled out from either side. The only solution - other than to have them repair it at Red Bay in October - was to go to Home Depot and buy 20 feet of heavy plastic hose and run an alternate line from the wet bay to the black tank entry point. I was able to fish the new hose from one side to the other by sliding it through an opening between the fresh water tank and the black and gray water tanks above it. I know this is more information than you want to know, but it was a challenge and I just had to share it with you!

Before I could finish the job, we had to leave for Bob and Sheila's and then go over to Bob's friends, Larry Bird and his friend Bobbi. Larry has a nice house on a point overlooking Rockland harbor. It was a beautiful evening and Larry was the perfect host. We sat on his deck for a couple of hours watching the boats pass by and enjoying the magnificent scenery. Later in the evening, a schooner with its load of tourists pulled into the bay and anchored just off Larry's house. Other, smaller boats followed suit and soon there were several sailboats anchored in the bay. As the sun disappeared, the fog started to roll in and it was time for us to head home (about a 30 minute drive). What an enjoyable afternoon.

Tomorrow, I will finish the wet bay job, then we plan to go to the car museum in Owls Head where they are having an antique car auction. Should be fun. More on that later. Cheers for now!

John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog

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