Sunday, July 25, 2010

Even Through The Fog...

Last summer when we were in Washington State, we were able to locate the most Northwest point of the United States.  Last week I read a brochure about Washington County, Maine and it being the Easternmost county in the United States.

Okay, let's go.  However, when we calculated the round trip mileage, the roads we would need to travel, plus all the things we would want to see, we knew it would be impossible to do it all in one day.  So, we decided that we would pack an overnight bag and make it a weekend trip.  It was a plan!

Yesterday, we were up and ready to leave by 7:00.  However,

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Mother Nature wasn't aware of our plan...but we weren't going to let a little misty rain stop us.

So, we headed toward Bangor and Route 9 was our choice of roads, but which direction is

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Route 9.  LOL

Finally, out of town, we begin to enjoy the countryside.  We saw these

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beautiful blueberry fields.  The blueberries were

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as far as you could see.

From Route 9, we took 192 to the town of Machias

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where we picked up ME1.  What beautiful

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countryside.

Then on to our first stop...

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Lubec, the Easternmost town in the US.  They also say that this is were America greets the morning.  A drive on out to the

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West Quoddy Head lighthouse and we were at the

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Easternmost point in the US.

By now, the rain had stopped, but the

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fog hung low over the water.   We headed out on the

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walking trial that would take us

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around the bay and

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up the hill to the

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overlook high above the rocks and water below.  We continued on

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up and around until the

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light house was far behind us.  The trail soon took us back to the lighthouse.

From Lubec, we traveled around to the

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International Bridge which took us to Campobello Island, New Brunswick.   The island was the summer home of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  The

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34- room cottage is an international park.  It is open to the public for touring.

Two of my favorite areas were the

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dining room and this

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upstairs hallway window.

From the back porch, you could see the

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sail boats out in the bay.

Before leaving the house and visitor center, we got a map of the island...which by the way is only about 9 miles long and 4 miles wide.

We drove first out to see the

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East Quoddy Lighthouse.  We didn't get to tour the lighthouse since

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the tide was in...

Even so, it was beautiful standing at Head Harbor overlooking

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The Bay of Fundy.  These boats are all whale watching.  From a distance, we saw a Fin Whale.  Too far for pictures.  Just before we arrived, there had been some Humpbacks in the area.  This is primetime for seeing the whales.

I could have stayed here all afternoon, but, we needed to get on with our tour.  We drove around the three loops of this small island, getting out and walking to the observation areas at

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Liberty Point and,

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Cranberry Point.

On the way off the island, we made a stop by the

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Moholland Lighthouse.

Now, back across the bridge and just a few miles down the road we found ourselves in the little town of

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Eastport, which claims that it is the Eastern most city in the US. So, now, we have been in the Eastern most town, city, and point....I figure I have it covered who ever is right!

We decided to have dinner while in town.  We chose

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The Eastport Chowder House which overlooks the bay were the

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ferry runs from Eastport to Deer Island to Campobello Island.  A trip that takes about a hour and a half and a cost of about $32.00 for a one-way trip.  That includes the car, driver, and one passenger.

After a yummy dinner of halibut, tuna, and salmon, we were on the way to our next stop.  Just outside the little town of Perry, Maine there is a marker beside the road marking the

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45th parallel.  At this point, we were standing half way between the equator and the north pole.

With a full day behind us, we decided to head on to Calais and

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call it a day.

This morning, once again, we woke up to

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rain.  We loaded the car and found a great little cafe.  Breakfast was blueberry pancakes for me and eggs and bacon for Mark.  I shared my pancakes with him.  Once again out came the passports and we made our way across the

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border.  Today's drive took us into New Brunswick, Canada to

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St. Stevens which sits on the St. Croix River.  We drove on down the coast to Maine and NB, Canada 413

the little town of Saint Andrew's by the Sea.  We

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walked the streets, shopped, and stopped by a

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RV Park that is right on the water.  You can have a site here for $41.00 a night or $700.00 a month.

Our drive back to St. Stevens took us by the

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International Park of St. Croix Island which we also will visit once we are back in the US.  So, as we fast forward through the border crossing, back to Calais, we will arrive at

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the other side of St. Croix Island.  Here I found the park ranger and got my cancellation stamp.

Due to erosion, this island is only viewed

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from a distance.

After taking one last look at the

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river, it was time to think about heading back towards Bangor.

What a great weekend...

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even through the fog...

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visiting the eastern most coastline of the United States and a trip into New Brunswick, Canada.

8 comments:

  1. Okay, so that's my plan for next summer. I've been to three corners of the U.S. and that's the only one I still need to visit.

    Deb & Rod

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  2. What a greqt okan and those photos certainly allowed us to tag alone. What memories you guys will have!!!!!!!!!

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  3. Absolutely awesome!!!!

    Mike & Gerri (happytrails)

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  4. The ferry from Campobello Island to Deer Island is at most a half hour. The ferry from NB (Blacks Harbour) to Grand Manan is an hour and half.

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  5. Love the pictures and what you do with your header/banner from time to time. Nice touch!

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  6. What fun... I am really enjoying your travels!

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  7. What a beautiful trip.. and so nice to make it last longer than a day. Less rush and more time to take pictures to share with the rest of us!

    *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Karen and Steve
    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/

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  8. SO very glad you made it to the eastern part of Maine!! It's too beautiful to miss. And you gave me a minute to relive our time there three years ago. We can't wait 'til next summer when we go back.

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