Niagara Falls, NY to Ellsworth, ME

A-Niagara, NY; B-Hammond, NY; C-Ellenburg Depot, NY; D-Gorham, NH; E-Ellsworth, ME

Some beautiful properties along our way

We continued our drive to Maine. We drove on state roads – almost no Interstates. So we saw many interesting small towns, lots of local graveyards that are very different from those in the west. We are still seeing corn fields and have followed the St. Lawrence waterway for about 40 miles.

So many small town cemeteries

We had an interesting trip to a campground in Hammond, NY – the last 1.6miles were on a narrow, bumpy, and hilly gravel road. There were trees close to the road in spots and we were very glad to get to our RV sites. Going out the next morning, we gals drove the cars out to be sure no traffic was on the road – there were almost no places to pass. We were very glad to be back on the state roadway.

Greenhouse orchid at Montreal Botanical Gardens

The next night we thought we were in great shape – the campground was right off the state highway. Well…..when we arrived for the next two nights, we learned that there had been over 5” of rain in a short period earlier in the week that had flooded their water supply, so the water was not drinkable. Not only that – we had no phone coverage and no Internet. Oh well, we did survive in spite of it. 

Bonsai shrub over 55 years old

We spent the next day driving to Montreal, Quebec to the Botanical Gardens. It was an overcast and cool day with some rain, but the gardens were quite spectacular. There were greenhouses containing orchids, begonias, tropical plants, desert plants, etc. The outside gardens were beautiful – Japanese Garden, Chinese Garden, Alpine Garden, First Nation Garden, Sensation Garden, vegetable garden, spice garden – we enjoyed them a lot. We were very happy our GPS knew how to get there and back!! We did however have a 45 minute delay at the border – never did figure out what took so long; when we finally got to the booth we were on our way in about a minute. I guess old folks just don’t appear dangerous.

August 9 we were off again traveling out of New York, across Vermont, and across New Hampshire. We traveled the state roads and saw more lovely old towns, fields of corn, rivers.  We reached our destination for the night - Gorham, NH and The White Mountains – the tallest peak in the area, Mt. Washington. We had a rain storm that night, but sunshine the next morning.

Diann, Rich, Ellen, Gordon at top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia Natl Park

The next day we drove to Bangor, ME where we decided to get new tires on the front of the RV. They would probably have been OK on our 2500 mi trip into the Maritimes, but with one tire cupping, Gordie didn’t want to take a chance. We will both rest easier knowing the tires are all OK. We were happy to find a tire shop with tires that would fit and they were able to install them in about an hour – we were very lucky!! Less than an hour later we were in Trenton, ME (just a few miles from Bar Harbor and Acadia Nat’l Park).

Bar Harbor boat basin

August 11 we spent the day touring Acadia Nat’l Park – it was a lovely sunny day. We drove to Cadillac Mountain – the highest peak on the east coast at just over 1500 ft. There was a lot of traffic – seems all the families are out for their last taste of summer before school starts. So we didn’t see everything we wanted to, but it a beautiful island surrounded by water. We ended our afternoon in Bar Harbor strolling down Main Street, checking out the shops; then walked along the beach path to enjoy the harbor and sail boats in Frenchman Bay.

That night we met with our fellow 'Tracks to Adventure' tour members for a Maine Lobster boil- yummy. Today we have another get-together for a rendezvous to prepare us for the first day of our 33-day Maritime trip. This will be a tour with 25 RVs (trailers, motorhomes, 5^th wheels, conversion vans – even a pickup-camper) traveling together through the Maritimes of Canada. Our Internet will be less reliable there, but I will try to get the blog out when I can.  Later..................