By Saturday afternoon, it appeared as though hurricane Irene was going to make a mess out of much of the northern east coast and then move inland into New Hampshire, Vermont and eastern New York, leaving coastal Maine largely alone. As such we decided that rather than run West, right into the storm, we would move to or new campground - Saltwater Campground - about 14 miles to the South in Cushing, Me. Saltwater Campground is largely treeless, which reduces the chance of damage to the coach. We arrived at Saltwater Campground around 12:30 pm and got set up in our new site.
There were about 15 other coaches and 5th wheels in the park and everyone was preparing for the storm. With everything done that could be done, we headed into town to relax on the Rockland harbor at a new place we found called Archer's.
Sunday morning arrived with the storm still heading our way, but with a much reduced intensity. We were getting bursts of rain, sometimes heavy, most of Saturday night, but not accompanied by a lot of wind. As the day progressed, we continue to watch The Weather Channel and receive their sensationalistic reports with growing disdain. By the end of this ordeal I had decided to avoid television coverage of future storms and rely instead on the Internet coverage provided by NOAA. Their coverage is concise and to the point and as time would tell, very accurate.
Sunday evening arrived with little change - a few rain squalls and light wind gusts - so we headed into town to Archer's to join the Leaches and a sizeable number of others. We had a great evening, and Archer's provided free appetizers in the form of Haddock bites and Haddock cakes - delicious! The weather continued to remain benign and the locals assured us that this event would be no worse than the Nor'easters they put up with every year.
We were not so sure, but their assurances were helpful to settle Suzanne's jangled nerves.
Back at the coach, the NOAA forecast was telling us that overnight, Irene would bring us winds of 30 to 45 MPH with gusts to 55 mph. I pulled in the big driver's side slide and the bedroom slide that were facing the likely source of the winds, and we hunkered down for the night. The wind and rain continued all night, but never became as intense as even NOAA predicted, let alone what The Weather Channel lead everyone to expect.
Monday morning arrived to relatively light winds and rain, but the promise that the worst was over. But unfortunately the worst was just starting for those in New Hampshire, Vermont and eastern New York. There, as you have seen and heard, the heavy rains produced massive flooding and destruction. Thank goodness we decided to stay in Maine and not run for Vermont or New York!
With the worst over and the sun shining, we set out all the outside furniture and barbecue and got the coach in "ship-shape." Then we headed back to Camden Hills Campground to see how our friends had fared. As it tuned out, they had a few fallen branches, but no damage to their rigs, much to our relief. From there we went back to Graffam's, this time for a haddock roll - excellent!
After lunch, we met Bob and Sheila at the Jameson Point. Suz and Sheila went shopping in town and Bob and I took the 1 mile (each way) walk on the Rockland breakwater to the Rockland light house.
The breakwater took 18 years to complete between 1881 and 1899 and is constructed of huge granite blocks, which were quarried right outside of town.
The Bodwell Granite Company used around 700,000 tons of granite for the project, which cost more than three quarters of a million dollars.
As the work progressed, a small moveable beacon was moved farther out each time the breakwater was extended. The light was relocated four times between 1888 and 1895. Charles Ames served as the light's attendant for some years at $25 per month. He also struck a metal triangle when a fog signal was called for. Finally, in 1902, a permanent lighthouse was built at the breakwater's end by the W.H. Glover Company of Rockland after a Congressional appropriation of $30,000 (about the cost of a mid-size car today!).
When we finished the walk, Bob and I toured the beautiful Samoset Resort, which lies on the hill just above the breakwater. It is a very nice resort with a beautiful 18 hole golf course with some holes on the cliffs above the ocean.
Later, we met Suz and Sheila and headed back to our coach to relax and enjoy the great view of the St. George penisula and the St. George River from our campsite. Around 4, we headed into Thomaston (about 2 miles) to find Billy's, an Irish pub of some renown in the area. Of course we succeeded and enjoyed a great afternoon talking to Billy and learning of his history and stories of the area.The pub is located in the old Grange hall in Thomaston, where Bob Leach use to go for Thursday night dances as a youth. Billy's has been open for five years now and appears to be going over quite well.
Tuesday, I worked on this posting for the blog, then we went to lunch at the Thomaston Cafe, then headed over to the Owls Head Transportation Museum to look at the great collection of antique cars and planes. I have lots of pictures, but can't put them all in the blog, so I have selected a few to give you an idea of how great this little museum is. For one, there is a private collection of 23 MGs and micro cars. The MGs range from a 1931 M University Foursome Folding Head Coupe, to a 1950s MG TD Mark II. But the best, in my view, was a 1938 MG SA Touring.
Another of my favorites was the 1938 Duesenberg Model J.
For those not familiar with the Duesenberg, it is still considered, if not the, then one of the greatest cars ever built. In the 1930s it set the world land speed record of 156 mph on the salt flats.
The museum also has quite a few airplanes ranging from a replica of the Wright brothers plane that flew at Kittyhawk, NC, to an early Curtiss plane,
to bi-planes and one tri-plane.
Later in the afternoon, we headed over to Archers
on the Rockland harbor
for happy hour, then home. All-in-all a great day!
On Wednesday, we did some shopping and worked around the coach. Later in the evening, the Leaches came over and we cooked up some burgers and enjoyed a relaxing evening looking at the St. George River and the beautiful sunset. Until, that is, the mosquitoes arrived en masse. Voracious little buggers! Not the end to a perfect day we had hoped for, but great nonetheless. Until the next time, Cheers!
John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog
and building the outside bar. 
However, a couple of cloudy but rainless days changed all that and progress was made.
and have begun installing the stones. The whole process is arduous to say the least. First you have to excavate (and there is lots of rock in the mountains of Virginia)! Then, you have to install the french drains, with their heavy gravel base and cover, to ensure proper drainage. Then you have load light gravel on top to allow the stones to be set properly. Then you establish the level lines to ensure that the walls are even and consistent. 
and clearly have a lot of work to do between now and when we head to Red Bay next Saturday! 
and have dinner in a local cafe. Bowling and dinner has become a regular Thursday event and we had a great time, although the bowling was pretty bad I must admit. We are really enjoying the neighbors, they are a great group of people, always helpful and a lot of fun to be around.
