Day 18 – Wed. Sept. 18th 2013 - Freeport, Maine.

Maintenance, Chores & Sights!

That best explains today!

We are camped in an actual campground called Desert of Maine in Freeport, Maine. 

Yes there is an actual desert here! We are just a quick 4 minute drive from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and what a beautiful area!

I almost forgot to mention. The NASCAR races are at Loudon, New Hampshire this weekend. This is near where we were camped down in Chichester, NH. As we were leaving town yesterday everyone was beginning to arrive. Due to our scheduling we couldn't stay for the races.

The NASCAR Chase is now on and Sunday will see
hundred's of thousands of people here!

Not even NASCAR can keep up when we hit the road!

One can tell we are getting experienced and in the rhythm of things.

We pulled in at about 730pm last night and it was very dark already. Got registered and into our site. About 15 minutes later we were totally set-up, levelled, slides out, water and electricity all hooked up. We each have our own jobs when we set up and tear down camp; it’s working out really well.

Today we had our morning coffee here at the rig. After that we ventured into downtown Freeport and had breakfast & more coffee on a nice little sidewalk patio at Linda Bean’s Maine Kitchen. Great spot, great food and a good spot to watch people and traffic in this great little town.

Barb is in her happy place!

On the Patio at Linda Bean's Maine Kitchen

Freeport was the first town in the State of Maine when it departed from the state of Mass. As with most areas around here it goes back to around 1790.

Some local stories & history.

L.L. Bean started in town here and has it's Flagship Store here to this day.

If you are familiar with L.L. Bean clothing this is where that all started as well. They have a huge store here.

Right now its pretty quiet with very few tourists. The summer travellers are all back home. Within a couple of weeks it will start all over again as people travel to New England the view the changing colours of the forest. The colours are starting to change now and it is beautiful!

The trees are changing colours and the leaves begin to fall. 

After breakfast we headed back to camp. I had to fix a brake light on the rig, adjust the rear view camera (means taking it all apart) and a few other odds and ends as well as cleaning the front windshield for tomorrow’s trip back into Canada. Barb spent the next few hours doing up our laundry, the first loads since we left home! 

No we are not stinky, we just have lots of clothes with us!

After we got done we decided to go ocean-side to a restaurant that the locals all go to for Lobster. It was quite good but I have to say their Cherry Cheese cake was tops!

If you can pronounce the name right, I will tell you where to find this place!

We are in Lobster country now baby! Yum, Yum!

For the evening we decided to go back downtown. We found a beautiful New England Inn just like you would see in the movies! All white with black and gold trim and of course in the local New England style. 

Jim! This is the next place I want to check out!

There was a nice English style pub and outside was a roaring fire-pit where we joined a crowd of 5 others. 

When I walked inside I felt like I was in London again...

New friends and lots of laughs around the fire!

It was warm and very relaxing. One couple was from Ontario, another from Knoxville, TN and a man from upstate New York. Others were coming and going. We all shared a few stories and a few laughs. Nice people and great company. A wonderful way to wind down our last day here in New England.

That's a McDonald's cafe across the street.
Hardly any signage on it - I'm guessing they are not likely very franchise friendly here? 

We could easily stay in this area for another week or two, maybe more.

Lots of views and things to see. The homes are almost all pictures from magazines with their style of architecture and well-kept yards. Many of them have too much shade from the huge trees for my liking (if I had to live in there) but it sure looks nice from outside.

At your campsite you have to buy the wood, here at the Inn, it was free!

Winter isn’t too far off as the leaves are changing and one can feel the cool air at night and in the mornings when I have my patio coffee time. I’m told the first snow will likely hit them here in November but it can come in October as well.

We have seen lots of neat things while travelling.
This is the 2nd couple I have seen today who had come over from Europe.
They bring over their own motorhome's from home.
This one will go just about anywhere!

Oak trees are very abundant here. They are huge! One thing we have learned is that it’s not a good idea to park your RV under one. As I was sitting here last night it sounded like gunfire! Those acorns seem to fall off on their own or perhaps it’s the squirrels running through the branches putting their winter snacks together? At any rate the first few times those acorns hit the roof of the rig I would almost duck under the kitchen table. It would scare the daylights out of you!

An Old School Hot Rod out cruising the streets.

By the way we did get our new tires installed on the motorhome and now we don’t have to worry about the sidewall cracks anymore. 

They are very nice looking, ride well and yes they should even with our reduced price! It’s a big investment but well worth it. 

I learned a lot about tires that I hadn’t known before. Things like date codes so you can see when they were actually made (you don't want old tires when they are supposed to be new). I also learned how they balance them without using any weights. 

If you need motorhome tires let me know and I’ll tell you what you need to do to get the fleet price from Michelin. It's easy and it will save you plenty of money.

Freeport Marina

The Marina at dusk with a big moon!
We love the ocean and we love boats!

It’s about 11pm EST as I write this on Wednesday night. I just came in from outside and the Coyotes out in the desert are just a howling at the moon. It’s looking close to a full moon here tonight. No clouds and the moon is a big ball in the sky overhead. It is very quiet when the Coyotes stop and all you can hear when they do quit is the hot water tanks going on and off in the motor homes parked around us. No yard lights and just the glow of the moon through the large trees here.

Tomorrow we will head north again and into Moncton, New Brunswick.

Barb figures it’s about 6 hours driving time from here. My main priority – Get a new Passport ordered! 

That’s about it for today; we hope you enjoy the sample of pictures we have included.

Jim & Barb J