Saturday, October 5 Travel Day

We left Bar Harbor and traveled to Bangor and turned south.  The scenery was beautiful.  There are more reds and yellows in the trees than at home.  It is hard to capture the depth of the color in a photograph.


Sunrise on Saturday with the Bar Harbor Inn and Spa on the right.

Main Street in Bar Harbor.  The streets are blocked for the arrival of tour buses.  Buses and ships are the lifeblood of the economy.

The Bar Harbor Inn from the front lobby entrance

We came upon a Shaker Community.  Unusual group of people.  The tour closed with the people in front of us and we were unable to stay.

Building at the Shaker Village at New Gloucester, Maine.  The area has a huge lake called Sabbathday Lake.

Barn at the Shaker village

There are lakes all over western Maine and are beautiful.  The little towns have the high church steeples and old buildings.  Out in the countryside there is the obvious sign of poverty.  The jokes about the south being a "trailer park" could just as easily be applied to this area of the country.  Nearly everyone out in the country was busy cutting and stacking wood yesterday.

We decided to go looking for moose and so called and made reservations (the last two seats) and continued to drive.  We went through Naples and Bridgton, Maine.  Breathtaking beauty!  We made our way to Fryeburg and got caught in the fair traffic.  The Fryeburg Fair is one of the largest fairs in all of New England.  There are over 100 permanent exhibit hall buildings.  There were signs for parking for $5.00 and stating "only 20 minute walk".  There is only one way in and out in these towns and it was gird lock.

We went on the Moose Safari last night.  This guy has a permit to spotlight.  We boarded a bus with 24 others and drove at about 60 miles per hour down the road through the White Mountains.  Connie and I had a bench seat at the back of the bus since we were the last to book.  We had seat belts, but was whipped around like a rag doll.  He flipped on lights on each side of the bus and drove breakneck down the roads, would throw on his brakes and slide off the side of the road and use a hand-held spotlight to check the bogs (drainage areas where water is standing with the salt run-off from the roads).  Nothing there-and gun it again.  We did this for 3 1/2 hours.  Nary a moose to be seen!  We had to settle for this ole boy at the trading post we stopped at for a short break.

Elwin's Bus for the Moose Safari.  He offered us a free trip next year since we didn't see a moose.

"Bullwinkle"

That's all for Saturday.