Mainly Maine....

It will take me a few days to catch up.  We left Ohio last Sunday morning...  almost exactly 1 week ago to this hour.  We stopped in New York to visit our daughter.  She knew we were coming but didn't know we'd have our son, her brother, with us.  He had plans to visit his friend in Portland, Maine, then fly back to Ohio.  Of course we had a great time playing with our great-granddaughter in NY...  a quick visit but a good one.  From there we headed on to Maine, dropped Danny off and then took a side trip back to New Hampshire where we visited a high school classmate of mine.  John is working at a private campground this summer.  And from there...  on to Maine...

Yep!  We're in Maine!

Actually, we spent the night at the Walmart in Mexico.  Mexico, Maine, that is.  Located on Rt 2, we drive it after leaving NH, as we head over to Bangor.

Mt Katahdin is the highest mountain in Maine...  

It's in Baxter State Park, and when driving north on I 95, there are a couple of pull-offs where, on a good day, you have a great view.  We've driven this route many times and this is the clearest view we've ever had.

I 95 ends at Houlton, Maine, and then you have a choice of either Rt 1, or Rt 1A to drive north.  Yes, this is the same Rt 1 that ends in the Florida Keys.

This time we chose to take Rt 1, which goes through Presque Isle.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle has a great display of our solar system...  

The sun is located in the science building on campus in PI, and in the proper sequence...  with size and distance in the right ratio, you can see the planets displayed along the 40 miles until Houlton, where Pluto is located in the Visitor Center there.  

Above are a few of the planets...  we've stopped at every one of them in the past, but this trip we were anxious to get to our destination.

I love this store in Presque Isle...

Look...  it sells yarn, wine and books!

What more could a girl ask for?

We made it to Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge around 1:30 on Thursday.  We knew the long weekend was coming up and wanted to catch up with Kirk before he left that day.

We spent about an hour talking (it's always good to see good friends again), and headed the 2 miles down the road to our RV site.

Each year we come here I keep a record of what animals we see...  and how soon after our arrival we spot our first critter.  I didn't think I'd ever break last year's record...  we got parked at 2:18 pm, I hopped in the car and drove down to the marsh...  spotted a moose at 2:21 pm.  

Well, this year as  I was coming around the bend, heading to the RV site, I saw a bear along the road...

Not only Mama Bear, but there were 3 cubs running across the road to catch up with her. 

I didn't get any photos worth keeping....  but hope to as the summer goes on.

Guess last year's record has been broken...  and don't think we can ever do any better than this year!

Lots of Blue-winged teal...  some Ring-neck ducks, a few Gadwalls...  some Canada Geese.

I haven't seen any merganzers yet...  nor any loons.

Already the battle between Bill and Bucky Beaver has started....

These two beavers were patrolling the pond across from our rig.  Their lodge is huge and right beside the road.  It doesn't cause any problems....  it's the dam along the main road that causes problems.  Bill has already taken the backhoe and knocked off a bit from the top of that dam to keep the road from flooding.

All the photos above were taken on Thursday.  Friday we finished getting set up.  All my bird feeders are up and being used.  I was still unloading the car when a hummingbird buzzed right past my head.  I had bird seed that comes in a bright orange bag.  Guess the hummer thought he'd found a huge red flower or feeder.

Unfortunately the internet doesn't work at all where our RV is parked.  Bill found that with our MiFi plugged in up at the maintenance shop, we can get internet there.  While that will limit how often we use our laptops, with some planning ahead, I should be able to check e-mail and keep my blog up to date in a timely manner.

Already I have lots to write about....  moose, bears, fox, deer....  lots of birds....  and the lovely weather.  Okay, so we woke up to snow yesterday morning....   More of all that later....

That's All For Today!