New Harbor

Friday was a full day. Actually, the picture of the bus was taken on Thursday evening depicting a small happy hour and our relationship to the water. The next to last picture (they loaded in reverse chronological order) was taken from our table at Shaw's fishermans co-op in New Harbor. Please note the complete absence of any pleasure craft in the picture. This is a working fishing villge, and a pretty one at that. We sorta played tour guides on the New Harbor/Pemaquid/Round Top trip for Walt and Donna. Shortly after he arrived three weeks ago, Walt fell off his ladder and broke both arms. As a result their tour activities were reduced to almost zero. Friday was a bit of a consolation prize, and it was a chamber of commerce day. We had the obligatory lobster rolls and associated accoutrements. While we were there they got to see a couple of lobster boats unload their catches right below us. From there we drove to Pemaquid Point for gift shop and lighthouse and thence to the Round Top ice cream stand in Damariscotta. We got back in time for the campground-wide Friday happy hour.
We are currently blessed with the presence of Tim and Wendy who are competitive grillers and smokers. There is a competition this weekend and they are busy trying out new and refining old recipes. To the joy of fellow campers they prepare much more than they can eat. The next picture shows the pulled pork sliders that they brought to the happy hour. The last (first) picture shows the site of the happy hour. Are you jealous?
This morning a couple of us helped Walt get rigged for traveling. Some tasks are difficult with two broken arms. He has one brace and one cast and feels sure that he's up to a couple of days of driving. He won't be unhooking until he gets home.

First Day of Summer

We are back at the Moorings and happy to be here. The outside temperature is 69, and there is a nice breeze off the bay. The picture is one I should have used yesterday. I think it is a great shot of Heather Cloutier and her two daughters, Melissa and Meghan. Normally I compress the pictures that I use in the blog. This one is not compressed because it may see some other uses. It may take a bit longer to download the blog, but there is only the one picture. It was a Chamber of Commerce day on the mid-coast of Maine. We sat outside and watched the changing colors until it was time for supper.. The tomatoes in the salad were cherry tomatoes that have been growing in the "topsy-turvy" planter that Cindy gave me for my birthday.

Meghan's Graduation

Today was a bit of a milestone. Our youngest grandchild, Meghan, graduated from high school. She will be attending Wagner College in Staten Island, NY. David is a CPA with a Manchester, NH accounting firm. Kevin who was on a NATIONAL championship rugby team at Plymouth State, has one more semester. Melissa, after finishing two years at BU will spend the next semester in Sydney, Australia. Meghan has some lofty examples to follow. I'd say Mark and Heather have gone four for four. Tomorrow we'll head back to Belfast, Maine. It will be an easy 4 1/2 hour drive so it will be a gentle departure. I'll flush the tanks thoroughly because in Maine we just have bi-weekly pumpouts...no sewer hookups.

Flag Day

The afternoon light was warm and gently colorful so I took a few pictures. I don't think I captured the colors too well, but they are still pretty good shots of Penobscot Bay as seen from the Moorings RV Resort. It was a quiet day of minor chores. Tomorrow we pack up and head for Brookline, NH for a few days so we have been doing a bit of preparation. When you stay in one place for a month or so, you tend to spread out a bit and there are a lot of things to be repacked. It is still a very pleasant place.

Unusual RV

Today was a quiet Sunday. We got up at 0830, walked the dogs, and I drove to Hannaford's to pick up the Boston Globe and a couple of bagels. We had the toasted bagels with coffee and read the paper. Then we had a late but large breakfast. Lunch was not required. Durelle watched some golf, college baseball, and the Red Sox (and did some wash). I sat down to write a review of Linda Greenlaw's latest book, "Seaworthy" for the Charleston Post and Courier. Should you want a copy, drop me a line. During the walk after the dog's supper we discovered an unusual 5th-wheel in site 40. The tow truck is a 1937 Ford with a 402 cu. in. Ford V-8. They started from Vancouver and, in a few days, will rendezvous with a hundred other antique rigs in Nova Scotia before driving back to the west coast. Until 1950 the only car we ever had was a 1936 Ford, so I could relate. Hope all is well on your end.

Our First Real Happy Hour of 2010

Today the weather broke and we had a 70+ degree day. The key at five-o-clock was the lack of a cool sea breeze. Durelle wandered around and invited several couples. Jim is going to start his Friday Happy Hours next week. As you can see, we had a good-sized group. Folks that have been here before will recognize the Branns and the Andrews as well as Durelle.
The new group was great. There were two couples who met here for the first time two days ago and have already arranged to go to Alaska together next year! Instant camaraderie.

Odds and Ends

This will be a disjointed blog addressing multiple topics for multiple audiences, not all of which are connected. For those of you with Moorings connections, Phil and Carol Andrews joined us today and will stay for the weekend. We had our first real Happy Hour inside at our rig. 'Twas a nice visit. Ekco learned today that Alex is going to have a SISTER! Ekco is happy.
There was a dramatic story with a happy ending for our youngest grandson, Kevin, yesterday. During the summer he works for one of the largest party rental companies in New England (you know, tents, tables, chairs etc.) Yesterday they had a couple of truckloads going down to MIT for some graduation related activities. At the last minute Kevin's boss pulled him off the truck and swapped him for a smaller guy. Kevin is a big, 6-3, 225 lb guy and with three in the front seat of the box truck, it would have been crowded. While heading down route 3 into MA, other drivers noticed smoke and flagged them down. The driver pulled into the breakdown lane and the two 22 year old workers ran around back and opened the truck. They were instantly engulfed in a propane fueled fire. The guy that replaced Kevin is at Brigham and Women's burn center with life-threatening burns.
Back to the Moorings. There is a Monaco from PA in the front row on the water. Yesterday he was on a ladder trying to deal with a leaking rubber grommet/seal around one of his slide-outs when he fell off the ladder and broke both arms. He went back to the hospital again today to have some plates and screws installed in both of them. He was told that he would not be able to drive for six weeks. He insists otherwise. In any case, I offered to drive it back to PA for them as she does not drive the motor home. It remains to be seen if they will take me up on the offer.
On a lighter note, there is a couple from Minnesota in a fifth wheel with many states and several provinces filled in on their decal map of North America. This, however, is the first time they have seen an ocean...any ocean. During our visit we spent a good deal of time explaining tides. They had never seen one and asked questions like, "How often do they happen?" They quickly understood. It's just that they had never had the experience before. That's what makes RVing so much fun.

A Rainy Saturday on Penobscot Bay

This morning, after walking the dogs in the rain, I showered, shaved, and changed into dress shoes, chinos, West Point blazer and necktie. I have probably tied a necktie more often in the past month than in any year since 1997 when I retired. After breakfast I drove fifty miles west to Oakland, ME where I joined three classmates at the funeral for Bob Estes. Bob was your classic feisty, independent Mainer who was a Huey pilot extroadinaire (DFC and 27(!) Air Medals). It was a simple, dignified and moving outdoor ceremony at a family home. We didn't have a bugler, but an old Khe Sanh Marine with a foot long harmonica produced a wonderful, plaintive substitute.
Providently, the rain quit in time for the funeral. The drive back to the coast in the early afternoon produced one of those vignettes that epitomizes the state of Maine. I realized that I was overtaking a bicyclist with a shotgun across the handlebars and the biggest, wild, tom turkey I have ever seen strapped to the back of his bike!
The weather has now settled down, the winds are calm, and it is a pleasant 70 degrees. Hope you are as comfortable as we are.

Supper

Yesterday at low tide I went down to the shore, you really can't call it a beach in Maine, and picked up four to five dozen mussells. I put the bag in the fridge and today I scrubbed them up and removed the "beards" and sauteed them with EVO, butter, white wine, onions, and garlic. I also added some oregano and parsley. I served them over linguini. It has been a cool day. I told Durelle that I would have to add some of her Absolut to the nectar in the hummingbird feeder to keep it from freezing. Actually the temperature right now at 2100 is 53.4 degrees.

The picture That Didn't Happen

About 6:30 this evening Durelle spotted a big seal down on the beach. I grabbed the camera and headed out. She stayed up on the grass with the two dogs, and I approached the seal. I removed the lens cap and turned on the camera only to discover that the battery was back in the bus in the charger. I hustled back to get the battery when Durelle said, "Too late, he left". Oh well, I expect we'll get another chance.
Memorial Day weekend is over. The campground is very quiet again. The view is better, but both we and the campground owners would like to have some more activity. We had some rain today, but it didn't interfere with anything. We invested in a hummingbird feeder (and 40 pounds of dog food).