Maine

We entered Northern Maine, driving south from Quebec on a beautiful sunny morning. We continued south until Guildford in mid-Maine and then turned east heading for New Brunswick. We will return to Southern Maine after visiting Nova Scotia. The woods quickly showed more maple trees than we had seen, and the maple trees are beginning to turn yellow and orange. The woods continued throughout our cross-Maine drive. They are thick and have many types of trees including pines, cedars, birch and maples. We climbed many hills and coasted down the other sides which gave us many views of the beautiful forests.

Green like this takes lots of rain! (or snow)

Moose warnings are posted continually on all of the roads we traveled, but we saw no moose. Lakes and rivers are numerous so that waterfront property is available in many places. The first night we stopped at an abandoned rock quarry to spend the night, and heard people nearby either hunting or target practicing nearby. (There were many moose tracks and some scat.) The next afternoon, we drove by a garage sale that appeared to have many tools. Mike turned around, unable to pass up the opportunity to peruse tools ( he claimed to need tools to repair the spare tire). The sale was being held by two men in Lee, Maine. One of the men had a moose antler which did enchant me, but he wanted $250 for it. The other man was the local fire chief, paramedic, garbage collector and a permanent garage sale operator. He not only had a tool Mike needed to rotate the tires, but also had a used tire that Mike bought to use as a spare. He advised us that we could park behind a public storage facility for the night which we did. Later he came by and took Mike to use the fire department’s compressor to fill the tire. Again we met some very nice people. He informed us that it was bear hunting season and that this was a very popular sport. We saw several men, dressed in their hunting finest the next morning at a gas station/store. I wouldn’t mess with the men or the bears!

Do these warning signs count as promises?

Unique yard art!

You don't see these in Washington!

Look at the small covered passage between the house and barn.

I picked up a real estate pamphlet to see how expensive it would be to live in Maine. There are many advertisements for properties priced at $90,000 that look desirable. Waterfront properties with acreage are available for $150,000. One listing had 80 riverside acres for $60,000. And the over $300,000 that one pays in Western Washington for reasonable accommodations buys luxurious and/or large quarters. I would really consider moving to Maine if I didn’t know that a lot of snow is coming! (Not to mention that it is quite a distance from family and friends!) The towns we passed through were very quaint. The houses like those in Ontario and Quebec, hug the road. Churches all have tall spires which leave no question as to the religious purpose of the buildings. It is all very charming.