Last Leg

Up at 5am for a smooth run to Boston airport and my flight to LAX. For whatever reason (tail wind I presume) we arrived an hour early into LA.

I booked a hotel room for the 12 hour layover because I couldn’t bear to hang at the airport for that long. It was only $100 and worth every cent.
can’t get much closer to the airport than this.

It’s 101F (38C) here today and you know how I LOVE (not) the heat. I planned a trip to a bookstore to get Torment and then back to the hotel room to stay out of the heat. Turns out the sea breeze has kept the temp very pleasant and I caught the local bus to Marina Del Ray shopping centre ($1 versus $25 for a cab) and wandered around there for a while. I bought my book, and a couple of other ‘necessities’ for Courtney and found this awesome shoe store. Found the best pair of shoes and they didn’t have my size. He told me to check on line which I did when I got back to the hotel but – nope . Designer shoes for half price. They post to Australia too www.dswshoes.com

When I finished I caught the bus back to the hotel (or at the corner anyway) and realised I was the ONLY white person on the bus. Amazing!

Am relaxing in my room now until I leave for the airport again around 8pm local time for my 10.30pm flight.

Hopefully, we’ll get a tail wind home and it won’t take the 17 hours they’ve listed on my ticket.

Oh, the results of struggling with my baggage on the train yesterday. A bit painful.

Back to Boston

Frustrating day today.

Started with housekeeping knocking on my door 3 separate times checking to see if I was gone so they could clean the room. Check out isn’t until 12pm – talk about feeling under pressure to get out. I finally checked out at 11.15am and met my car to the station downstairs. He wasn’t real bright and it took him awhile to work out I was his passenger. Remember how it cost me $70 to get from Penn Station to my hotel when I arrived. I told the concierge and she said “WHAT? It shouldn’t have cost more than $35!”. Bloody typical. Anyway, that’s what it cost me to get back to the station.

Have to say I wasn’t impressed when the driver tried to drop me off in the middle of the road next to the taxi cue (can’t believe I spelt it like that) queue. No way dude! I did NOT pay more than double the normal taxi fare to have to walk for ages with all my luggage. He got really shitty when I told him I paid for door to door. He said “but it will take a long time to drive around” Big deal dude, that’s what you get paid for. *hmph*

After one rude ‘red hat’ at the station (supposed to be there to help passengers – yeah right), I found a lovely one, who took my bags for me, sat me in the waiting area and then came to get me at train time and deposited my bags and me on the train – lovely man.

The train trip was productive for me as I got one of my assignments done (great having WiFi on the train!) until the motion got to me and I started to feel very ill. Had to stop and close my eyes then. Met a lovely lady, Jinny, who is a children’s book author. We had a nice chat during the trip. She lives in Providence, which looked lovely from the train.

Also on the train, I was Skyping with Scott who took another pic of my darling Dexter for me. Seems those naughty chipmunks are causing quite a bit of dental decay by nibbling at his bottom teeth. Poor Dexter. I don’t think he will last to Halloween

Got to South St Station in Boston and made my way to the street to work out how to get to the hotel. Taxi driver approached me and told me it would cost about $50 to get to my hotel from the station. The guy on the train had already told me I could get to the airport for $6 on the shuttle and get my hotel free shuttle to pick me up from there in the same amount of time a taxi would take in peak hour.

So, I made my way to the Silver Line Shuttle with all my bags (which I had repacked to allow me two free hands to control them). It only cost $2 and the hotel shuttle was only a 5 min wait when I got to the airport.

Rude hotel shuttle driver was on a personal phone call with his mate when he picked me up. Didn’t acknowledge me and chucked my bags in the back like they were rubbish. Got in the van, finished his call and continued to ignore me. Picked up some other passengers, got back in the driver’s seat and proceeded to turn the radio up loud. Arsehole. He waited expectantly at the hotel for tips. Piss off idiot – no way. I said to the check in clerk to mention to the shuttle driver that, if he was wondering why he didn’t get a tip, he might want to consider the things I mentioned above. I told him that Gratuity meant that the giver was grateful for good service. You gotta give it to get it. Clerk apologised profusely.

Get to my room, which is nice except…went into the bathroom to find it hadn’t been cleaned and still had previous guests dirty towels on the floor. I just sighed.

Decided to have dinner so saw the clerk at reception who acted as if I was daring to interrupt her precious task (heating up someones Indian meal in the microwave). She asked me if I had a “quick” question and I said “No, I don’t have a question. However, I’m going to presume that you aren’t aware that the bathroom in my room hasn’t been cleaned and still has dirty linen on the floor. I’m going to find dinner and I’d appreciate it being attended to before I return.” That snapped her into pleasantness. She apologised profusely and the room was spotless when I returned.

I found a great little grill next door with real food (even steamed broccoli – OMG!) and I had a nice dinner.

Bags have been repacked for the journey home and I’ve cancelled my booking to Disneyland. Worked out that, with shuttle costs, hotel for a shower and park entrance, I was going to be up for nearly $400. Bugger that. I’ve booked the Radisson near the airport and am going to chill for my 12 hour layover before the last, 17 hour leg of my journey home.

Might go into LA though to try and find that book I want that is supposed to be released tomorrow.

Nearly done.

16716kms

Apparently, that’s how far it is from New York to Wallan. Lucky for Facebook, Skype and telephones I say.

I spent a couple of hours this morning trying to contact Courtney who had a drama with the power at home. Luckily, even though I am 16716kms away, I worked out what the problem was and she’s back in the land of the civilised again. Given the time difference, it was a bit of a challenge trying to contact anyone but, I did what I could via all the media listed above and got the message through until she managed to ring me.

I read a book while I was here – Fallen – love it and wanted to read the second in the series so went to Barnes and Noble to buy it, only to find that it won’t be released for another 2 days!!!!! 2 lousy days!!!!! Can you believe it?

I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do today but I did know that I didn’t really want it to involve a huge amount of walking. I decided on a ferry trip to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (we missed Ellis Island on our last visit). Checked my map and found the nearest Subway entrance and took a few pics on the way.

Once I was settled and confident that I was on the correct train, my world was upturned when I found that it stopped half way due to line works and we had to get a shuttle bus. It took ages to get there and I could have walked quicker. Perhaps if I wasn’t feeling every second of my age at the moment, I may have done so. I decided to wait with some very frustrated and vocal locals – it was entertaining at least.

Bought my tickets and boarded the ferry. Found a seat with a great view and sat down. Until…some dick-head Asian and Indian tourists decided they liked my view and propped their fat arses right in my face. Bloody tourists!!!

Got away and found a quiet corner by myself and took a couple of pics. It was overcast and cooler (thank god) today so the photos aren’t all that great and I have heaps from last time anyway.

Visited the lady, took some pics and then back on the Ferry for Ellis Island.

Then it was off to Ellis Island. Ellis Island was the processing centre for 12 million immigrants between 1892 – 1954. It is now a museum and is fascinating to wander through. I even found that many of my relatives are recorded (including Farquhar McLure – isn’t that the name of the original McLure in Melbourne, Denise?).

Obviously, the place is a bit more pristine now, than what it was when the immigrants arrived. Fascinating stuff.

Baggage Room

Registration Room (When I got into this room, I could hear a mobile phone ringing nearby and every time I turned around it was behind me – I finally worked out it was mine. I’ve only heard it ring once LOL. It was Courtney. While I was sorting out the power issue from home, I sat on the floor and took this shot – multi talented that I am )

Some of the photographs and stories of the hardship these immigrants suffered. Some of the posters and propaganda that was published objecting to immigration has an eery similarity to some of the arguments you still hear today – regardless of which country you live in.

Read this. Scary how things haven’t changed in over a hundred years.

I thought this was soooo sad. I remember talking to a patient recently about when she moved to Australia at her husband’s demand in the early 1930′s as a 16 year old and never saw her mother again because they were working class and couldn’t afford to travel back to Greece. Thankfully, things have changed. I can’t even imagine the grief for parents and child.

Just ’cause I could

I could have spent hours in this place. Bye bye.

Once back at Battery Park, I found some very cute friends.

Got back to the hotel and needed dinner an ATM and a grocer. Walked 8 blocks and couldn’t find anything I wanted – finally discovered a grocer, ATM and great burger shop around the corner. 2 hours work that could have been achieved in 15mins.

That’s about it for me I think.

Travel back to Boston tomorrow and then Boston to LA the morning after. I’ve got a 12 hours stop over in LA so am going to Disneyland for the day and then look forward to the last 17 hours on a plane for a while. I’m looking forward to getting home (although not to the $200 excess baggage fee I’m going to be hit with I think – ouch!).

Gotta love this place

Just going to post some pics for now as I am soooooo tired. Will rewrite the post tomorrow (hopefully) with details.

Started my day at The Museum of Natural History. Then strolled around Central Park for a few hours, then walked to Empire State Building. Wandered the streets, ate at a diner and back to hotel some 9 hours later. Am exhausted.

Experienced the Subway, unwittingly standing between an angry black man and idiot teenager who started to fight, nearly got run over by a dick head taxi driver, just got out of the shower and heard an almighty crash down below my room – a car crash. Does it make me a bad person that I didn’t even look? Heard sirens about a nano second later.

Click on the images to see them larger.

Not sure what I am doing tomorrow (besides writing my blog detail) but I’m sure it will involve more photos.

Are you sick of them yet???

Ok, Let’s see how much I can remember…

Figured it was stupid to walk everywhere when they have such a good subway system here in New York so I found a nearby station and hopped on board the first train I saw. Problem was, I had no idea which colour it represented on the map. I asked a lady who set me straight and then, when I got to my destination, I took some time to check out the huge map on the wall and understand the legend and system so I would know for next time.

First stop was The Museum of Natural History. I’ve always wanted to see it and, after the movie The Day After Tomorrow and the life size woolly mammoths, it was definitely on my list. Guess what though…it’s not true. All Hollywood, so the guard tells me. After searching the entire building, no woolly mammoths – only their skeletons. Bummer. Still, lots of other interesting things to see.

After a few hours browsing I wandered down to their cafe with my stomach grumbling. I wasn’t expecting much but, boy was I surprised. Real food. A self serve salad bar and proper, healthy food. I had a lovely lunch

Next stop (of sorts) was Central Park. A certain daughter of mine, who shall remain nameless, lost all our photos of our last visit to New York’s Central Park so I had to take some more. It is such a beautiful oasis in the middle of this bustling city. Being Saturday, and disgustingly hot (it was still 32C at 7.30pm that night) the park was swarming with people. Was fun to people-watch but not so much fun for photos without someone walking into my shot. Still, I enjoyed it.

After spending a few hours there, I decided to just wander my way back Downtown. I zig zagged between 5th Ave and Madison Ave until I hit the Empire State Building. The queue was huge and the wait to buy tickets and get to the observation floor was nearly 2 hours long. Ah ha! Express ticket. More than double the cost of the normal ticket but who wants to stand in a queue on a hot, stinking evening? I got to bypass everyone and they even held up the line to make sure I got into the lifts first – hilarious (well for me but not the grumps who paid the normal entry and had to wait). It was worth the price to be treated like royalty LOL. I made it up in 5 mins but, unfortunately, the express didn’t include getting rid of the nongs who hogged the view and it took ages to get what I did. Would have preferred to get the sunset but, no luck.

After leaving the Empire State, I wandered around the area for awhile before deciding I should eat. On the way to look for somewhere suitable, I got in the middle of some lunatic black guy who turned, just as he passed me to abuse a guy who was standing directly in front of me. They were yelling at each other with arms flailing with me being the only separating them by 1 metre. I’m glad the little guy turned away (smart thinking as the other guy was HUGE) as I did not want to be in the middle of either’s fists.

I ate at a little Hollywood diner and then continued on my travels. It seems taxi drivers the world over are morons – must be a prerequisite to get their licence. One stopped smack bang in the middle of the crossing to let off passengers and made all the pedestrians walk around him and the other figured the light wasn’t quite the right shade of red and nearly drove into me – missed me by about 1cm I reckon. His window was down and I politely asked him if he would like me to teach him the rules of the road, “Mate, would you like me to educate you on the finer points of road rules in New York?”. His passengers laughed – I could still hear them as he gave me a disgusted look and drove off.

I was almost back to the hotel when I met Marcus (or Marv if you know him really well like I do LOL). He was selling his CDs and figured I’d like one. When I thanked him but said I wasn’t really interested, he said “Where you from?” I said “Australia” and he said “Fairdinkum” I had to laugh at that as he said it so well…and bought his CD for $5. Sucker born every minute. Although, I haven’t listened to it yet. He might become famous and he did autograph it for me LOL.

Finally made it back to the hotel and the rest, as you know, is history. Blisters on my feet and exhausted – slept like a baby.

No Room at the Inn

Plan A – Head to Boston on Friday and explore until time to go home. Maybe throw in a day trip to the Big Apple – just ’cause but not sure.
Action – Spend hours online trying to get accommodation in Boston from Friday ’til Tuesday morning – No go!!!

Plan B – Catch the express train from Boston to NY on Friday afternoon and stay in NY for three days, then head back to Boston for the final night before heading home. Accommodation available in NY – check. Accommodation available in Boston for Monday night – check.

Plan B it is. So, that’s where I am now. New York City – woo hoo!!!!!!!

I wasn’t going to tell Courtney about my plan – just going to show her out the window of my hotel when we were talking on Skype. However, I forgot it was Grand Final day and she had plans and I won’t get to talk to her. She knows now via FB though LOL.

So, my day went something like this…

Dennis cooked me yummy pancakes for breakfast and then I said my goodbyes to him and Bert and Jean from across the road – all delightful people that I hope to see again.

Scott drove us down to Boston and he dropped me at the kerb of South Station so I could catch the Amtrak Express to New York. He couldn’t park so we said a quick goodbye and I struggled along with my bags. Stopped dead at the doors though…bloody things aren’t automatic. What kind of moron designs a major station without automatic doors. OK, so I found that there were automatic doors on the other side but how the hell was I supposed to know that (note to South Station Management – SIGNS are very helpful). Thankfully, a lovely man noticed my predicament and offered to help by holding the door open. Struggle in to the station, rueing the day I bought that extra suitcase and all those bits and pieces. Seeing my struggle a “red hat” approached me and asked if he could be of any assistance. ‘Red Hats’ are like porters. BeeGee (his name) took my suitcases and loaded them on a trolley and looked after them while I went and sorted out my ticket. Then he had me paged over the intercom to tell me it was time to board and, while everyone else had to queue up, he took me straight past them all and loaded my bags on the train and gave me the pick of the business class seats. I love BeeGee LOL. I gave him a very big tip for saving my life LOL.

The train trip was awesome. Very relaxing and even shorter than the total time it would have taken to check in at the airport, wait for the flight, fly, pick up bags and then cab it in to NY from the airport. We even had WiFi on the train and there was heaps of room and it was very comfortable.

Unfortunately, I had forgotten how damn rude service personnel are in NY. Thankfully, some very kind strangers assisted me off the train and then up the escalators. No BeeGee service at Penn station though. In fact, the ‘red hats’ there watched me struggle, told me to get the elevator (on my query) and then continued their personal conversation – pigs! I struggled out to the street to find the taxi queue was 1 1/2hrs long. A limo driver approached me and asked whether I would like to pay $45 and go to my hotel in the limo and, of course, I gratefully accepted. Funny that $45 didn’t include a $10 ‘downtown’ pick up and compulsory tip, which turned into $70. Still, I’d rather pay that than wait for a taxi for 1 1/2 hrs.

Got to the hotel and unpacked by 5.30pm and decided on a walk about. I really wanted to try and see the Brooklyn Bridge so set off with a dodgy map. A dodgy map is better than none at all which I discovered after I put my hand in my pocket and realised I’d lost it. I was completely lost without a map but found a souvenir place that sold a great one. Re-aligned myself and off I went. You can see my route on the picture of the map below. My feet were a bit painful by the end of my stroll but it was worth it.

Managed a few photos along the way but the light was gone so they’re not so crash hot. You get the idea though. Will head out again tomorrow for some more.

Couldn’t find any decent food markets so opted for pizza for dinner from a nearby shop. Guys loved my aussie accent and tried very hard to persuade me to stay and eat in with them (it was closing time). All I wanted was to kick my shoes off so I resisted their persistent offers and took my fare back to the hotel.

I was going to send this to Courtney and say “Guess where I am?” LOL

Technically, my third visit to New York but I love finding new things to see and revisit things I’ve seen before. Love it!

I finally found the Brooklyn Bridge but it was dark. Long exposures (resting the camera on a railing) and not such great pics but check out that full moon. Gotta love it!

Had to take this one of Station 7 because that’s the number of the MFB station that we co-locate with

Parking a problem? Just stack ‘em up.

Who could resist these? Hopefully, Jai will be allowed to have them.

Busy day tomorrow. Lots planned

Colour me a mountain

Today Scott drove us up into the Appalachian Mountains to the Rangely area and White Mountains to see if we could find any significant Fall colours. Things, they are a changing but not quite at the level I was hoping.

I found some interesting spots along the way that I took photos of and it was very pretty regardless.

Need to go to bed early (It’s 2.15am here) as I have to be up at 7.30am to get ready to go to Boston tomorrow to start the journey home. Here are a few pics of what I saw today (I didn’t take a photo of the man who had his pants down around his knees, displaying his ‘crack’ for all to see as I thought that might scar you as much as it did me). I had cause to lay flat on my stomach in a river bed of pebbles for a couple of shots and climb out onto a very high rock for others. Scott asked if he should get Life Flight on stand by for me LOL.

I’ve had a great time here in Maine, despite being ill and Scott and Dennis have been very welcoming and made my stay as pleasant as possible (even if I must have driven them crazy with my coughing fits). They are lovely people and I hope they come and visit me sometime so they can practice their new Australian vocabulary

All God’s Creatures – Great and Small

Today was definitely animal day.

After a sleep in (how unusual), we headed over to the farm where Scott’s daughter, Laurie, lives and works. Being, essentially a city’ish’ girl, I expected rolling green hills with lovely cows chewing away and strolling in casually when it was time to be milked (to my credit, I did realise that they wouldn’t be hand-milked).

We arrived to the most revolting odour (fertiliser – gross) and it is something that I was glad to get into the barns to escape the putrid ‘fresh’ air outside. We soon got used to it though.

We met a couple of new arrivals. Not as big as cows but very cute. Tried convincing Scott that Dennis’ cat, Churchill, needs a friend but he reckons that, as Churchill is bi-polar, he already has one – not very nice is he LOL

Rolling hills are there but these cows live in barns. Each barn is for a different stage of their life, including the maternity ward and nursery. Laurie was a very good guide and explained everything wonderfully.

First off, we visited the maternity ward and saw a brand new calf. He was still being cleaned off by his mum and wasn’t able to stand yet, despite having a good go. Very cute. Low light and a very temperamental camera do not make for good photos

The cows live in the barns and stick there heads through special gates to get their feed etc. Some are a bit more social than others and didn’t mind having their photos taken.

Next, it was off to the milking shed. Apparently, cows get very upset when they are disturbed while being milked so I had to be quick and unobtrusive to get these photos. Not sure I’d like a machine attached to my boobs sucking out milk (oh wait! I do vaguely remember having children). The milk is stored in huge, very clean, vats and then transported every couple of days.

Off to see some more sheds and learn more about dairy farming (including how the sheds are cleaned out – gross).

Laurie explained that all cows are given a tag with a registration number on it which is scanned when they are milked etc so that they can keep track of them. Some farmers leave the identification at that but I love that Laurie also gives them names which are written on the tags as well. I found lots of my family and friends there and managed a few photos of you but, with over 500 cows, you can imagine that I didn’t get to meet you all LOL

More wandering around to see the younger cows.

Next it was off to the nursery to visit the babies that were only about 2-4weeks old. Adorable.

Laurie had to feed them and make up their milk (which is powdered and mixed with water) which is served in a bucket. One darling little baby was feeling a bit precious though and needed to be bottle fed. Like I said – adorable.

We left Laurie to finish feeding the babies and saw the tractor come past to feed the bigger cows. I think all they do is eat! We also met a not so furry creature that Scott tormented to show how it would raise his head. Being raised in Australia, I have a healthy respect for distance and space for these little buggers.

Off to meet the last furry member of the family – Alex – and then it was time to say goodbye to Laurie. I enjoyed the tour very much. I can still smell the place though LOL

Got back to Scott’s and dressed the Pavlova, ready for dessert at his Mum’s place. It looked OK but it wasn’t crunchy on the outside. Why Krin??????

We got to Scott’s mum’s place in Lewiston and had dinner with all his siblings. Dennis, Jessica, Nancy and her daughter Katie, and of course, his mum Carole. We enjoyed a lovely lasagne and salad with garlic bread and they all tried the Pav. It wasn’t to everyone’s taste but Scott especially loved it and I have to give him the recipe now. Imagine if it had of been made properly LOL.

I also met Bodie who is a beautiful sheep dog. I think he likes to think he is the master of the house.

With Jessica and Scott.

We had a lovely evening discussing the differences between Australian and American ‘cuisine’ and helping Dennis perfect his Aussie accent with some of the lines from the movie The Castle. “Tell ‘im he’s dreamin” and “Straight to the Pool room” – you know what I mean.

I wanted to go to Walmart to get ONE thing on the way home and ended up browsing their Halloween section in wonder. I bought a Pumpkin Carving Kit and am going to buy another pumpkin for my last evening tomorrow and have a go at another design. I, sort of, wish we celebrated Halloween because it would be huge fun decorating with all the stuff they sell. They even have these ice cube trays that make frozen shot glasses with skulls on the outside. Thinking about getting one – but for what….hmmm decisions.

Cheaters

Tomorrow we are off to the mountains in the hope of some good autumn colour. The change is really starting to pick up around here so Scott thinks it will be even more pronounced at a higher altitude. Cross your fingers.

Mount Desert Island, Roast Lamb, Pavlova and Halloween

I was keen for an early start this morning and got up at 5.30am and rang Scott by 6.15am telling him I was ready to go. We left our lovely accommodations at Cromwell Harbo(u)r Motel and it wasn’t long before we were on the road to beat the crowds and see the coast and some of the inland areas of the Acadia National Park.

Acadia NP truly is beautiful and, if I had been a couple of weeks later, I can only imagine how stunning it would be with the autumn change of the leaves.

First stop was Sand Beach where I made Scott stand guard so that no one put any footprints on the sand where I was shooting. Of course, I got a little close to the waters edge and ended up running into my own shot – idiot.

Guard Duty

A little further on was the popular Thunder Hole. Apparently, this was a fairly tame time of day as the tide was out. I tried to get Scott to stand on the lower platform that you can see in the pictures so that it could give you some scale but he was a real wooz and wouldn’t be in it. It’s only water for heaven’s sake LOL.

I climbed all over the rocks to get different view points and the views were amazing. I thought I was pretty keen but I’ve been humbled by the man who had to wheel his medical oxygen tank out onto the rocks with him to get his pics. Go mate! My kinda guy!

The scenery was quite varied as we drove the Park Loop Rd. From rugged coastline to calm inlets to serene ponds, there was always something to marvel at.

I had seen some photos of some lovely man made stone bridges on the carriage trails in my research and I was keen to find some. We found the carriage house so I wandered along the path for awhile until I met a carriage driver who said it was a long walk to find what I wanted so I turned around. We were lucky to go to a gorgeous place called Bubble Pond and find exactly what I wanted

After we’d finished in the NP, we headed over to Bass Harbo(u)r via Somesville which had this quaint little bridge that I just had to get a couple of pics of.

We took a wrong turn and ended up continuing to a small fishing village called Bernard but it was stinky with not a lot to see so we headed towards the Bass Harbo(u)r Head Lighthouse instead. After a quick visit on the first trail which lead right up to the tiny lighthouse, I was keen to find another vantage point and found a trail that led down to the rocks. I walked down the steep steps, thinking all the while that I wished that man with the oxygen was handy because I was pretty sure I was going to need him when I tackled the return journey. When I got down there, guess what??? Yep, a ton of tourists. However, none as mad courageous as I am. No one got the pic I did because they all stayed safely at the top of the rocks while this stupid brave girl decided that the sea looked calm enough to climb right down to the waters edge without being washed away. I won’t go into too much detail about the lovely man who offered his assistance to drag me back up one particularly large, troublesome rock. Was worth the effort though. When I got back up the top (I didn’t need the oxygen after all), I found Scott and tried to encourage him to make the journey down to get some of his own photos. Again, he wouldn’t be in it LOL – don’t know what’s wrong with him!

You can see why they need lighthouses along this rugged coast.

Next stop was Bass Harbo(ur) and the stinky lobster traps on the wharf.

A popular statement on many homes and businesses.

Time to leave the beautiful Mount Desert Island and make the 4 hour journey back to Oxford. Not before stopping to take a few photos of the steam pots and the local Lobster Restaurant in Trenton though.

On the way back, Scott took me over this bridge which spans the Penobscot River in ????? (will have to ask Scott where it was – can’t remember). It has an observatory at the top but we didn’t go there.

Made it back to Scott’s and cooked him a lamb roast that I’d been promising. Can you believe he has NEVER eaten lamb before? He has now and he loved it. Next, I had to prepare a Pavlova for dinner tomorrow night at his mum’s place. Thanks Krin for the recipe I’m not sure how it will taste but it looks OK, I think…

While the Pav was in the oven, I decided it was time I carved my very first pumpkin for the upcoming Halloween. Slimy, horrible job, cleaning the stupid thing out, but, overall, I enjoyed myself. He’s smiling away outside now with his watermelon scented candle inside LOL. While I was doing it, I was Skyping with Courtney and she was suitably disgusted at the cleaning out part. You can see her on the computer in one of the shots LOL.

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And the finished product……

Tomorrow, I am visiting Scott’s daughter Laurie at the farm where she works and hope my camera is working well enough to get some pics. Yes, tragedy struck today and I broke my camera It has been playing up for a few days, not exposing correctly and, today, I accidentally knocked the back of it into something and cracked the screen. Very sad I am.

I’m also hoping that I might be able to get to see some of that gorgeous Autumn foliage colour that I had hoped for. Scott is going to drive me to Mt Washington on Thursday on a foliage search. Wish me luck.

Bar Harbo(u)r

Yes, the Americans spell it differently and those who know me well, will know how hard it is for me to spell the ‘wrong’ way deliberately, so…a compromise with the brackets LOL.

Still not sleeping well but got up earlier today and travelled the 4 hours to the Arcadia National Park on Mount Desert Island and am staying in the gorgeous town of Bar Harbo(u)r.

This is a very popular summer coastal resort town and I can see why. Apparently, President Obama and his family enjoyed time here during their summer break this year too.

I’m staying in a lovely motel – Cromwell Harbo(u)r Motel- which has recently been renovated and is VERY nice and reasonably priced. Found it on Trip Advisor – a must see reference when travelling.

After sitting in the car for so long (so NOT my favourite past time) I was keen to stretch my legs so I walked the 5 – 10mins into town to have a look around. Scott was going to meet me there but drove straight past me which gave me more time to browse the shop windows as I looked for him. It is such a pretty place but, if this is off-season, I would HATE to see it in high-season. It is Monday and the place is teeming with people.

I just love the quaint architecture of the whole state, prettiest in these tourist spots.

Scott ended up driving around a bit more to explore the outer areas of the island but, I’d had enough of the car and needed fresh air and more walking, so opted to stay in the town and take a few photos and eat (which I hadn’t managed to this point).

Tomorrow, I hope to get some more photos but they’ll just be holiday snaps I think as I’ve pretty much given up on the idea of completing my PSC final assessment folio here. More work to pack in when I get home

Only 3 more days left in Maine and then I’m heading back to Boston. I’m toying with the idea of an overnight trip to the fabulous New York…not sure yet.

I also have instructions to use my 12hour lay over in LA to head to Disneyland and take a photo of the castle which was being renovated last time Courtney and I were there. I think I’m meant to buy her a t-shirt as well LOL

Slack

Guilty sir!

To be honest, I haven’t really done that much. Between being sick and sleep deprivation, I’ve not been my normal motivated self and everything seems to be such a struggle.

On the mend now though and feeling 100% better and looking forward to getting out and about and some photo opportunities. Unfortunately, mother nature isn’t helping me out with the changing of the leaves for fall and I’ll have to head quite a ways to get anything similar to the pics that I showed you, representative of what I was hoping for. I’m keeping an eye of the ‘leaf peeping’ sites for daily updates. Might have to leave those shots until later in the week.

I also want to get some shots of the lobster fishing activity and the characters that abound in such environments. It will mean some early mornings (which won’t bother me as I see the sunrise everyday before heading back to bed to try and sleep).

I’ll show you some pics of some of the things we have done, in no particular order.

Scott has a little boat that is sitting by his private dock. Dennis and I had noted that it was filling with water and I was a bit concerned that it was going to sink! Guess which boat I will NOT be getting into?

Trying to get photos of Scott and Dennis is no easy task – especially Scott who is very uncooperative. So, here are the ones I’ve managed so far. Scott, relaxing on the dock and Dennis during his daily swim in the lake (He’s going for a record of swimming in the cold lake. Apparently, the latest, thus far is Sept 22nd.

Scott took me to visit his work at United Ambulance in Auburn. Their vehicles are much bigger than ours and their facilities are beautiful. They are only a small service and all run out of the one building so I guess it’s a bit more cost effective when you don’t have to outfit hundreds of different locations.

After visiting the station, Scott took me to Freeport to visit the famous LL Bean outdoor store. They have everything, and more that you can possibly imagine for camping. I bought a couple of aluminium drinking bottles for $18.95 each and then found the exact same thing (without the branding) at Walmart LOL. Had to take a photo of the camouflage gear that they use to sit up trees and stalk whatever they are hunting…

They are famous for their LL Bean boots and have a huge one out the front. They also have reproduced a moose fight from the position of the antlers that were found locked together after the moose died. Quite awesome.

On Thursday, we ventured out the Oxford County Fair. At this time of year, many of the rural areas have fairs where the farmers bring their stock for showing and there are rides etc. Think Charlottes Web meets the Melbourne Show.

On Friday morning, Scott refilled the bird feeders but you don’t see many birds at them. Rather, the chipmunks and squirrels climb them for convenient snacks.

We were hoping to go to a particular wildlife park but it was closed. We went to another that was close by which takes in injured animals. None of the animals on display can live in the wild so it is nice that they have somewhere safe to live. It was sad though that their enclosures weren’t so great but they do rely on donations and, with 25% of the state of Maine on Welfare, I guess donations are hard to come by.

We saw a Woodchuck, bears, racoons, albino porcupine and moose among others.

and, as is typical in this part of the world, the environs were beautiful and peaceful.

Finally, as I mentioned earlier, I’m up for sunrise every morning before heading back to bed to try and sleep (keep in mind that I talk to Courtney every day at 2am Maine time). Some mornings, the lake is spectacular. This morning was one of those.

Tomorrow, I’m looking forward to playing ‘frisbee golf’ with Dennis. Not sure what it entails but I did ask about a helmet to which Dennis replied “You won’t need one”. It’s not me I’m worried about LOL.