Back to the trip.....

Brief synopsis.....A two day mini holiday....many miles away. Up at the crack of dawn on Saturday.......drive a bazillion miles to Bar Harbor, Maine. Stay overnight in Prospect Harbor, Maine which is another hour drive in the opposite direction of our home.

Sunday morning......nice breakfast at the Inn with a lovely couple celebrating their first anniversary. Pack up and begin the trek home from our utterly delightful Downeast sojourn.

So where do we end up??

Every hear of Lubec? (Looooooo-BEC) Check out the fine print on the sign. See the word 'Easternmost'?  Ayuh. It's true. The 'Easternmost', 'Westernmost', 'Northernmost' or 'Southernmost' of anything can't be all that good, can it?

Mr. Downeastdoing stuff: (after checking out of the Inn) "Well, what do you want to do now?"

Me: "I don't know, what do you want to do?"

Mr. D: "Well, it's your birthday trip, what do YOU want to do?"

Me: "Well, we can go to Boothbay Harbor on the way home and walk around town a bit."

(translation: go shopping.)

Mr. D: "I don't like Boothbay Harbor, I've been there before."

(Note: He's been to Bar Harbor before, too, but that didn't stop him from going back.)

By now we have driven north out of the Schoodic Peninsula and are approaching Route One.

Mr. D sees a sign.....'MACHIAS 45 miles'

Mr. D: "Oh, look, it's only 45 more miles to MACHIAS! Let's go there!"

Me: groan

Mr. D: "I'd like to go to MACHIAS and since we're so close, why don't we go there?"

Me: "But we've been to MACHIAS before and there is nothing there!" (No offense Machiasites)

Mr. D: "Oh come on, you know I've been asking to go there."

(Yes, he has said a couple of times in the last few weeks that we should drive up there some weekend for whatever God knows what reason. Doing some quick Math in my head I decide that driving the 45 miles today is better than taking an entire other weekend and driving up there for whatever God knows what reason.)

Me: Stupid Me: "Okay"

So off we go.  45 miles more AWAY from home. (Did I mention that we were a bazillion miles from home already?)

Upon arrival in MACHIAS we see that it's only 28 miles more to LUBEC!!  So guess what?

Anyway, the rest is history, so you might as well enjoy some photos of the Easternmost point in the world.

The bridge to Canada. Thank God we didn't have our passports or we might have ended up in the tundra.

Lighthouse in Canada. 

By the way, (I'm so excited about this...) THAT is a REAL eagle on the peak of that little shed. Not a fake one....it actually moved and later flew away. I never saw one that close!

OK, folks, now get ready for this. THIS is the Main Street in Lubec. Not many Main Streets that the photographer can stand out in the middle of the road, like, forever, and snap this photo.

Many store fronts seem vacant. (Really called Water Street)

End of the world aka end of Main Street. (aka Water Street)


The only open place we could find. Went in for a cup of coffee. The proprietor was sooooo nice, made a fresh pot of coffee for Mr. D AND decaf for me. 

A view from one of the windows in the cafe.

West Quoddy Head Light.

Wild blueberry fields.....

BACK in MACHIAS. (again...) Had to stop at the famous Helen's Restaurant for Helen's famous blueberry pie, supposedly the best in the world!

It WAS very good.

Then the old trustworthy Mapquest told us to drive 20-25 miles NORTH from MACHIAS (we were supposed to be heading south...) to get onto the 'Airline' (Route 9) to "destination Bangor, Maine. No clock, no pools, no pets....ain't got no cigarettes".... and then south on the Maine Turnpike, finally heading in the direction of home. 

It was a wonderful weekend that the blueberry pie managed to salvage. It really was.

Thanks, Birdman.

Duh....

How do you know when you need to have your head examined??

When you go to the first ever in Maine Trader Joe's Grand Opening. That's when.

My frozen food I attempted to purchase, thawed and cooked itself before I was able to check out.

Sooo, my question to you.....Do you like Trader Joe's?

What do you like there?

Road trip......Part Two.....

About an hour away from Bar Harbor and Acadia Park on Mt. Desert Island, is another section of Acadia that is across the water from Bar Harbor and down another peninsula. It's called Schoodic.

This area is far removed from the hustle and bustle of Mt. Desert Island. It's like night and day.

The Park loop is quiet and inviting. We arrived at our Bed and Breakfast, checked in and headed to the Park to see the setting sun do it's thing on the area's beauty.

This is the Bed and Breakfast that we stayed in in Prospect Harbor called Elsa's. It was a lovely, warm and inviting homestead directly across from the harbor.

The view across the street from the Inn. (Notice the light house in the distance.)

A corner of the living room.

The dining room.

The view from our upstairs bedroom. We had our own private entrance from the front porch.

We ate dinner in Winter Harbor. They have their own Village Doctor! 

...and a 5 and 10!

Photo of my husband, Mr. Downeastdoingstuff, aka Birdman (on his blog.) This is the position I see him in most of the time when we are out and about. Heck, even at home he takes many photos of our surroundings!

Down the street was this massive guy. I actually EAT that brand sardines! I didn't think they actually came from somewhere. (yes, I like sardines....me and about 2 other people)

More to come......

Road trip....Part One....

We went away for the weekend, Mr. Downeastdoingstuff and I, up the coast to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. This is what I wanted for my birthday, since 'I' don't exactly get a, ahem, BIRTHDAY WEEK! 

Anyway, it was a beautiful fall weekend so we took off at the crack of 7:30 a.m., heading  'downeast'.

 Ayuh.

Seagulls couldn't be bothered to move from their cozy spots...in the street.

This is looking down Main Street in downtown Bar Harbor. As you can see, tourist season has passed....just the way we like it. (no offense to potential tourists.)

Heading closer to the water.

One of the many hotels dotting the coast. Peak foliage season is past, but there are still some bright colors to tickle the senses.

Wicked good ice cream to be had. ( I would think it is wicked good. We didn't have any, but isn't most ice cream wicked good? We had a beer instead in a bar overlooking the water.) (SOOOOO nice!)

This is from the top of Cadillac Mountain. Those white specks below are where we were in Bar Harbor.

The road to the top of this magnificent mountain  is part of the Park Loop Road in Acadia National Park. 

There is a second piece to Acadia National Park, called Schoodic, but that is on the next peninsula of land, about 45 minutes to an hour away. 

We stayed in a wonderful Bed and Breakfast at Schoodic. Those photos are coming next......

Whooopppppeeeeeee.....

I found a recipe for pumpkin Whoopie Pies with cream cheese filling on the Martha Stewart web site. I've never made Whoopie Pies before, so I was a little reluctant, but my dessert genes kicked in and I got over that ..... pronto.

 

There is one lone whoopie left and I don't know who will nab it first. Since it's breakfast time, I think it's safe for a little while.

Here is the recipe if you would like to try it: (click on words)

PUMPKIN WHOOPEE PIES WITH CREAM CHEESE FILLING

"BITE ME!!"

Away at camp....

Our school goes away to overnight camp every year. And, yes, the teachers come with them. Sending them two hours away all by themselves would not sit well with their parents. Well, most of the parents...

This is the view from the deck of the dining hall. It's a little late in the year for my blood, temperature wise, but visually it is a beautiful time of year.
This is the cabin the teachers stay in. There are cabin counselors that stay with the kids at night. (Thank God!) We are right on the lake and quite far away from the kids bunks. They have NO idea where we stay.....and we like it that way!
This is the outside of the Dining Hall.
If you biggify this photo you can see some of the little cherubs up on the hill.
Another view of the lake from the Dining Hall. For some of the children, this is their first overnight. Some are homesick, but they all survive, and in the end are very happy they did.

They do workshops on relationships, bullying, decision making, adventure (ie. high and low ropes courses) and team building. Afternoons and evenings are spent doing fun things.

It's a wonderful program and our kids are very lucky to have this opportunity.

Stuff......

Yesterday we had Mr. Stanley Steemer come and super steem [sic] our rugs in the family room and the hallway. Since those rugs have beens wicked scuzzy for a while and because our own Hoover rug shampooer uses only two tiny round toothbrushes to 'scrub' the rug at snail speed, we had to take drastic measures. Yes, Stanley Steemer is as drastic as we get. Whew.

Although, we did have Stanley Soot come several times to clean our chimney in the past. That was a hoot.

To prepare for our scuzz expungement, we had to remove stuff from the room and put it in our summer porch. Within 20 minutes the summer porch was jammed to the rafters with stuff.

We are not hoarders in our main house. (DO NOT look in the two attics.....ever....) The stuff we have is regular stuff. And the stuff was all in order as we had a family gathering 4 days before, no clutter to be seen. (Don't look in the attic.) 

It made me realize that I can never move. I starting looking around to see what I would take with me when I retire and move to Tahiti. 

It's going to be very expensive.  

I need to start heaving things right now.  

Even all those hundreds of Beanie Babies we got Baby Downeastdoingstuff, you know, for investment purposes.

And my trolls, too? Say it ain't so.....

Help.

Good Luck my sweet nephew...

Last weekend there was a farewell dinner party for a member of our family who is moving to California. He's young enough to try this drastic move of his dreams. Taking practically the clothes on his back, early Monday morning, off he went.

Now, I would have to rent two or three 18 wheelers to transport the clothes on my back, plus some other stuff.

This is why he's the one doing this adventure and not me.

I think, however, he will find a few differences between Maine and California.

Such as.....

In California, your fastest commute will be down your driveway.

In Maine, you consider it a traffic jam if there are four cars waiting to pass a tractor.  

In California, your monthly house payments exceed your annual income.  

In Maine, your neighbors house foreclosed after an unlucky 24 hour mini-cruise on the Scotia Prince.

In California, the primary bugs you worry about are electronic.   

In Maine, you think a mosquito could be a species of bird.

In California, your car has bullet proof windows.  

      

In Maine, you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked.

In California, you pack shorts and a t-shirt to ski in the snow and a sweater and wet suit for the beach.

 

In Maine, if you have to dress up you wear a tie with your flannel shirt.

In California, getting from point A to point B, no matter what the distance, takes about "20 minutes."  

In Maine,  you measure distance in hours.

In California, you know how to eat an artichoke.  

In Maine,  you eat ice cream with flavors like Moose Tracks and Maine Black Bear.

You never step foot in McDonald's.  'In N Out' is where you go.  

   

In Maine, you can make a meal out of a Jordan red-dye hot dog, a bag of Humpty Dumpty chips and a soda.

When in California, you keep in touch with your relatives that love you dearly

via email, texting, skype and cell phone.

In Maine,  you keep in touch with your relatives that love you dearly via email, texting, skype and cell phone.

So, my dear Z, do keep in touch. We wish you the best of luck, surfer boy.

Love from Maine......

It's a sign....

I've been collecting pictures of signs I encounter on my travels.

Time to share.

Awww, how endeering.... 

(Belfast, Maine)

Redundancy? 

(Belfast, Maine)

No spell check in Florida...

I don't even think spell check could rescue this one.  ????

Good Message.

If you P in the lake, the Sopranos will be notified and they will get their stuff in here.

There was an old  bike leaning against that tree. What a lucky gal.

I think this was in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Tough place.

They don't even need the MOB closet.

The best one I saw this summer was outside of Meredith, New Hampshire at a motel.

We should have turned around to photograph it, and Mr. Downeastdoingstuff asked me if he should, but in a blogger lapse I said no.

This is what it said:

COME STAY WITH US

CLEAN ROOMS

HEATED POO

When your 'L' falls off, it's bad for business methinks.

I won a gift from AFRICA!!!!!

A few weeks ago, lovely Lynda from Tanzania, Africa had a give away. I submitted my name for it and WON. I won an awesome gift consisting of some ginger tea ( I LOVE tea) and an African CD, plus Lynda wrote me a sweet note on a postcard.

You HAVE to check out Lynda's blog. She lives on a Bazillion acres farm in the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro with 2 lovely children and her husband. Her home is gorgeous and they survive without regular electricity. (They do have generators, though.)

Food, Fun and Farmlife....in East Africa is the official name of her blog. Check it out. Life in Africa is way different from life in Maine in so many ways. But it's also so much the same in other ways.

Thank you, thank you, thank you my friend Lynda.

Check out the stamps it took to mail it to Maine. Do the math. 

800 X 10 equals 8,000/=  to mail it out.....whatever /= is.

8,000 anything is a LOT!

Thanks!

Going Green...

Organic material shrug enhances a layered wrap around skirt with chunky clogs. Hat by Rhody Dendron.

Some of you know that I like to make stuff from other stuff. If you read my Going to the Beach post this summer, you saw some evidence of that....(scroll way down, past the guy in the bikini thong, you pervert.) (I don't know who put those photos onto my wholesome blog! Still a mystery to me....)

Here are a few of the 'people' I made with Mother Nature's help and put in my display case at school. I needed something to put in the display case because it will be a while before the kids make anything display casable.

Enjoy....

Iris leaf spandex leggings with sleeveless muscle shirt and white Shape Up shoes. Hair by Old Spice.

Pleated Mini-skirt with textured leggings topped by a layered shell and a natural seed choker. Earth shoes in nutmeg color. Hair by Herbal Essence and hat by Pacific Sunwear.

Possibilities are virtually endless!  (Wiggle eyes are not organic. Sorry Al Gore.)

More gag gag.....

OK, so I want to be open minded about this. As much as the meat ensemble gagged me, (see my previous two posts) (the smell alone, which I can smell from here...), I remembered seeing her perform on TV with Elton John during the Grammy Awards and I remembered being very impressed with her talent.

I'm impressed with anyone, first of all, that can play the piano. It's always been a fantasy of mine. And secondly I'm impressed with anyone who can sing. I can't sing worth a lick.

(No comments, Birdman...)

She can do both quite well.

If you could take the time to watch this video, hang in there through the beginning and watch her sing with Elton, well.........I am speechless...

Well done, Stephani Joanne Angelina Germanotta.

More where's the beef...

Just to keep you in the loop, I found an image of the back of the dress.

That's some rump roast!

photo credit

UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's all over the news....Lady GAG GAG is coming to town..... 

MY town.....today at 4 pm.....and it's not about my blog. (I hope)

Who woulda thunk it?

Click here to see the info....

PS....I will NOT be there.