Wood's Prairie Travels

After exploring much of the eastern coast of Maine, it was time to turn our sights westward. We stopped at an information center, to gather more maps. The lady at the desk stated, “One option would be to go on the Kancamagus Highway”. I said, “The Kanga-what?”  She smiled and replied, “Kan-ca-mag-us, people pronounce it many different ways”. Then she hesitated and added, “You may have slow traffic with the leaf peepers”. Quizzically, I asked, “The leaf what?”  Her reply was, “We call them ‘Leaf Peepers’. The people who come to see the fall colors. The Kancamagus is a popular drive for that, but it really slows down as the cars creep along.” Although too early in the fall to see the best fall colors, we decided we would go “Leaf Peepin and creepin’ ” on the Kancamagus Highway across central New Hampshire. The two-lane road follows the Swift River winding over the White Mountains.  One short hike led to Sabbaday Falls. The leaf strewn trail was a golden walk in ...

Sitting just off shore from Ellsworth, Maine, is Mount Desert Island on which the Acadia National Park is located. This island is also where the famous Bar Harbour is located. Acadia is known for being one of the busiest national parks. In part, this is due to its proximity to the large east coast population. Although we visited mid-week in mid-September, it was definitely a busy area.   After crossing onto the large island, we first headed for Bar Harbor on the northwest corner. Yikes! It was a crazy busy tourist area, not the nice little port we had expected. The narrow streets of the town were lined with cars, restaurants, and touristy shops. People were strolling along the busy sidewalks. There was definitely no parking for a pickup and once on the main road through town, we couldn’t get off... Okay, scratch the plan of exploring the port. On to Acadia National Park. There was an entrance to the park road that follows the perimeter of the park just outside of Bar Harbor, so...

We continued our exploration of Maine by travelling north up the coast. The way the land juts out into the Atlantic in a series of peninsulas and islands surprised us. Looking at a map of the mid-coast of Maine appears to be crooked fingers reaching out to the sea. Although traveling each peninsula would take much more time than we had, we did explore a few of them. The first we peninsula led out to Popham Beach State Park. We drove out a winding tree-lined county road that eventually led to a sandy beach with a few islands just offshore.  Evidently when the tide is low a person can walk out to the islands, but if they don’t carefully monitor the tide, they might find themselves stranded! We were satisfied just walking in the water and waves.  Due to the number of rocky points and islands along this coast, there are a large number of lighthouses that help mariners navigate safely. We sort of accidentally came across one lighthouse called Squirrel Point Light. It is on an i...

While sitting on the bank of the Atlantic Ocean, we perused flyers and visitor information magazines we had picked up. One flyer in particular caught our eye. A two-hour trip with a lobster fisherman while he pulled his lobster pots. Better yet, the excursion left from the port of Ogunquit which was just a short distance up the coast from us. The following day with a calm ocean under a blue sky we boarded the boat to go “Lobsta’ Fishin” (the new England accent was pretty pronounced in parts of Maine). Our captain has a string of pots just offshore from the port. While we cruised to pick the first pot, we learned that lobster fisherman can have up to 80 pots out. They alternate picking some pots while others are soaking. The lobster fishery is highly regulated. Each of the feisty lobster caught in the pots were carefully measured to determine if it could be kept or if it had to return to the ocean. In Maine, the carapace (back) has to be between 3 ¼” and 5” in order to be a “keeper”. Th...

Our first morning waking up on the coast of Maine had a few clouds offshore which gave the sun quite a canvas to paint on. We watched the colors change from magenta just before the sun rose to a golden orange when it appeared on the horizon. Sipping our coffee while watching that glowing orb climb further above the horizon was rather novel for us from the west coast. Although it was hard for me to put the camera down, after a bit I had to just set it down so I could watch the color show.  Before long I became fascinated by the way the sun shone through the waves just before they crested with a foaming spray. At first it appeared to be a golden light shining through the clear water. However, as the sun rose higher into the sky, the light shining through the waves had the color of light green sea glass. What a gorgeous start to our day. 

Finally, 3,782 miles later, we caught sight of the Atlantic Ocean as we turned a corner in York, Maine! Our campsite on Lobster Bay was literally on the edge of the ocean. We thoroughly enjoyed a couple of days with the sound of the ocean waves breaking on the rocky shoreline. The salty smell and the cries of gulls that come along with being by an ocean was so familiar and refreshing. On the north shore of the cove, we could see the Nubble Lighthouse and about six miles offshore we could usually see Boon Island Lighthouse. While relaxing after our travels, we enjoyed watching fishing boats on the water of Lobster Bay. Later, we learned they were fishing for striped bass.  Shortly after arriving, I had to get my feet wet in the Atlantic. Although cold, it wasn’t freezing. The waves here were much smaller than our Pacific Ocean breakers and the water was very clear. When the tide came in over the rocky shoreline in front of our campsite, we could often see the seaweed floating in...

After meeting up with our son in southwestern Pennsylvania, we looked at our tattered US map and noted that we weren’t that far from the Atlantic. And since the coast of Maine has always intrigued us, we figured we might as well head there next. However, to reach our next destination we needed to travel through the other New England states - Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire. I have never wanted to go to those states because of the large cities with their tolls and turnpikes, but that too became an experience. We rolled through those states without many stops on our way to the coast, but each state left an impression. The first thing we noticed about Pennsylvania were the curving lines on the map, especially in the west, central and southeast region. It wasn’t long before we figured out the curving lines follow the folds of the Appalachian Mountain Range. That became apparent as we went up and then down hills. Not mountains like we know in the Pacific Northwest, but...

Tucked away into an old section of downtown Washington, PA, is a unique veteran owned distillery called The Bones. You can tell you are going to have an unusual experience because in addition to the US Flag hanging on the outside of the historic brick building, there is a Whiskey Rebellion flag. When asked about the unusual flag, owner Glenn told how the Whiskey Rebellion took place in 1791 after the government first taxed items; they started by taxing whiskey. After giving us that history lesson, Glenn explained that whiskey is not the only thing he distils. He has put his industrial biochemical background to good use creating a wide variety of whiskeys, rums, vodkas, agave, brandies, and cream liquors.  In addition to those spirits, there is an extensive list of tasty cocktails, such as the chocolate moosetini or the moosepie (it tastes like both apple pie and pumpkin pie).  One of Glenn's specialties is called the Skull-fashioned. It is based on an Old Fashioned, but his tw...