Maine and Oceanfront Camping at Reach Knolls

 

 

October 1

Let’s blow this overpriced, under-serviced Popsicle stand (Rhode Island) and head north.

How does Maine sound? Yes, let us go back.  (We visited in 2009.  Probably the first state we fell in love with once we started traveling with dogs.)

How does Oceanfront Camping at Reach Knolls sound? Hm, intriguing. Let’s take two days to get there, we can stop for the night at just about any rest area or casino or truck stop. 

Yay, buddy. 

Except, 7 hours later, we find ourselves navigating that campground in the DARK, because Mr. SMT just wanted to drive on through. Ugh!

We arrive tired, irritable, and hungry. Luckily, Carol flags us down in her golf cart and gives us the warmest welcome you can imagine.

We take temporary shelter in one of the open spots until we get a better view in the dayIight, and eventually choose site 12, which is a tent site, but has a large enough pad for both vehicles and plenty of living space left over. 🙂

There’s beautifully built and maintained "pit toilets" all over the site, several places to get potable water, and an onsite dump station.

I have no trouble with pit toilets, I’ve never understood the reasoning behind "let us foul good drinkable water with our human waste products." That is crazy thinking right there.

 

A couple Oceanfront Campground views

Oct 2 

Hang at Campground, move to new spot

Walk the beach

 

Low tide

 

High tide

Oct 3

Run with pups

Oct 4

Visit Eggemoggin Country Store and buy groceries, postcards, organic cotton tourist t-shirt, and dog biscuits.

Visit Stonington for a Lobster lunch at Harbor Cafe, I had veggie pasta, lotsa pasta, teensy veggies ... I asked for more and they provided for no additional charge (peas, red pepper, carrot, broccoli, and water chestnut mix). 

Write postcards for home and mail 'em out (because if I don't do it today, I'll get home with them STILL in my purse).

Walk along the Harbor front.

Lovely place to visit with easy to find parking at this time of year!

Oct 5

Get camper washed by Downeast Mobile Power Wash, Adam was a great guy. He knows his tools and applies them carefully.

Highly recommended.

Oct 6

Signs all over Stonington mention their Friday Farmer’s Market, so we made sure to drive in and see what they got.

So excited.

Lots of cars.

Park here. 

Sacks for purchases - check!

Dogs - check!

Drippy nose indicates Mr. SMT is coming down with something - check!

Walk, walk, walk.

???

No market. Anywhere.

Apparently, we don’t do markets in non-tourist seasons. Ugh. I’ve seen massive tomatoes in local gardens.  Don't the locals attend the market?

Ah, well.

Head into town, Blue Hill, and hit the grocery store instead. Tradewinds is AWESOME! If this was my only grocery store, I could be happy! 

Call little brother and wish him a happy birthday.

Oct 7

Mr. SMT’s sick. And I’m coming down with it. Hang close to home.

Oct 8 

Kira’s getting sicker. Hang close to Home.

Oct 9 

I cannot breath. I hate being sick.

Pups are happy to help me nap.

Move to tent site 8. More open, more water view, more activity. Slightly longer walk for water, shorter walk to toilet and trash.

Himself just wanted a change. I think he would try every site given enough time. Just because.

Oct 10

I can breath! Yay!!!

Acadia National Park at Winter Harbor, Schoodic Penninsula.

This area is so gorgeous.

We stop by Viking Lumber to refill propane, our first refill of the only bottle we’ve used. We cook with it daily, but we only heat so much water and run the furnace rarely.

One month, in fall, for a propane canister. Not bad. Propane cost = 4.3 gallons at a total of $13.98.

Some guy makes screeching cat noises at my dogs while we are waiting in the lumberyard parking lot. (Head smack ... really?) He thinks it is hilarious when they jump. Ugh, why can’t guys grow up?

I’m noticing a theme here ... lobster, lobster, and lobster.  (Oh, there's an occasional clam as well.)

Back to Tradewinds for groceries. Sometimes, I think it would be cheaper to pick up pizzas! 🤣

Mr. SMT gets his flu shot ... I never do. He always reaches fever pitch, "gotta get my flu shot NOW" flustered after going down with a cold.

One more day before we head out. 😢 I wanna stay.

October 11

We drive around Blue Hill Peninsula to get a better feel for the place, and to look at properties for sale.

Acquaintances, casual friends, and the rare (non-blood related) family are happy to tell me where I should or should not move. I am regularly regaled by the things I will HATE moving into a northern climate: Black fly season, mosquito season, winter.

Well, Black flies, yes, this will be new-ish.  We've run into them on our travels.

Mosquitos ... our mosquito season in the south lasts about 363 days a year. I think having a "season" will be a nice change.

Winter. Nope, I’ve never lived in/with snow (traveling does not count). But, I’ve got a vehicle that can handle it, and I do not get stir crazy at home very quickly. I once spent close to a month cooped up in my house (before I ate as much fresh food as I do now) and I did not lose my marbles. Assuming I had the marbles before, I kept them.

I get that it is not fun fighting snow when you need to get to work. 

But the next person who responds to my moving musings with, "Oh, you don’t want to move THERE!" is likely to get an avalanching emotional response. Just sayin’.

Back to Blue Hill and Oceanfront Campgrounds at Reach Knolls. This area feels like home. You know the neighbors, they know you, you gather around campfires together, you learn from your friends, and you feel welcomed.

This is the feeling I’ve sought. I found that in Corvallis/Philomath, Oregon, but I cannot afford to live there. We have million dollar tastes with a fraction of the budget!

Blue Hill is off the beaten path, not heavily touristed in the summer, and has a fairly moderate winter ... considering it is Maine, and looking at its latitude 44 degrees N, shared with: France, Italy, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, China, Mongolia, Japan, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. 

 

Yes, I should stock up on woolen garments. Or, rather, THICKER woolen garments!

I almost feel like a member of the family up here. 

Tick count 8 picked off dogs, 7 at the crawling stage, only one had bitten down (no engorgement). I also killed a couple ticks in Pennsylvania. Our pups are tick magnets, and I believe it is due to their short coats. That body heat is a siren’s call to blood sucking parasites.

Cleanliness of OCRK

We lived in 3 different sites, and I picked up one piece of trash in the ENTIRE campground. ONE!!! 

Campground office offers: coffee, showers (including an outdoor shower!), area information, DVD and book library, WIFI, and an outdoor commercial sink for washing dishes (dogs, babies, etc).

The pit toilets are, by far, among the cleanest toilets I have ever made use of, including some of those rare granite covered flush joints with attendants that practically wash your hands for you afterward.

 

 I could live here.  Easily.

 

PA (1st), RI, Campground costs and Singles grocery shopping

Sept 23

East on I80

Mr. SMT is ready to move, and I look at him bleary-eyed, "Where?"

"Wherever you want to go."

What an interesting thought experiment. We have a week to kick around before we are due on the coast. Where to?

We head for Hickory Run State Park to see if we can get a campsite.

 

Along the way, west of Bellfonte, a trucker loses his left rear tire when it blows, taking his under-ride/DOT/Mansfield/safety crash bar with it. Man, that bar was blown straight for us, and himself steered beautifully out of the way. Metallic clangs rang out each time it hit the ground. And we followed in awe as pieces of tire flew 40+’ high and then rained down upon us! Wow!

I’m thinking, "Does he need to go back and get that bar? What is its final end use in my lifetime? Does it become salvage for someone - is there a homestead fenced with DOT bars somewhere?"  Weeks later, and I am still curious about this.

First campsite 218, electric only hookup

I really like the shade offered by this dog friendly camp loop, as PA is breaking high temp records left and right this September.

There are LOTS of dogs over the weekend, which I feel is good for our pups. The exposure to all manner of dog reactions: wanna play, wanna kill the trespassers, utter disregard, etc.

And the showers are quite nice (if you ignore the interesting colors growing on the grout!)

Sept 24

Move to full hookup site, 283 - much less shade, fewer dogs, fewer sites, fewer people, more space.

So, it really is a tossup as to which area you might prefer.

Sept 25

Drive into Bethlehem to spend time with my friend Arby and her family.

We walk a portion of Lake Nockamixon with her furbabies and hubby. It is a lot of fun. And the pups drink so much water from the lake surface! Remember - PA heat wave!

We then retire to Arby’s place to relax the day away. She lets us do laundry, and shows off her root cellar and freeze drier! She lives in an 1800s era rock wall house. So cool.

 

And the pups play, and play, and play.

And the woodwork in her place is fabulous.

Sept 26

This is our errands day.

Walmart

Home Depot

Aldi (my first visit) 

Wegmans

I spend most of the day in air-conditioned comfort (I.e. holed up with the dogs in the Jeep while the engine idles 🙄).

Mr. SMT shops. And it is always hilarious to see what he buys. We have COMPLETELY different ideas about food pyramids. I am vegetarian verging on vegan, while my other half is omni verging on vegetarian.

My four food groups are: hummus, peanut butter, dark chocolate, and fruit. Spices of choice: cinnamon and cumin.

His four food groups are: chips, crackers, cheese, and tortillas. Spices of choice: salt and Tony Chachere’s seasoning (the first ingredient is salt).

So what does he buy? Chips, crackers, more chips, more crackers, cheese, cola, yogurt.

We often make two runs to the grocery store when we are traveling with pups - he buys his 4 food groups while I hang with the pups, and then we switch places.

He did not go into the Aldi’s. I found frozen organic fruit, organic hummus, and baking powder. They had organic peanut butter, but creamy only (in my world creamy peanut butter does not exist, go crunchy or go home!)

Needless to say, double shopping takes a while.

We return to the camper and thirsty pups inhale the water, we cannot always get them to drink enough out and about ... too much going on around them.

And my boy jumps up on the bed, and promptly spits up water (ugh). Guess what we are doing tomorrow?

Sept 27

Clean house

You never realize how intensively you use a small living space!

I think I’ve already cleaned the camper more than my house!

And Mr. SMT cleans the truck, jeep, and camper exterior.

The pups get a bath -that PA water is icy cold, and I do not think the pups enjoy their experience.

But we ALL appreciate the result.

I run with the pups this evening. They are really settling in well.

Sept 28

Boulder field. This view is amazing - like calving glaciers, but with rock instead.

 

Boulder field boundary ... those trees have to work hard for their anchors!

Laundromat. Wow! This has gotten expensive!  $7.00 for one load of bed clothes.

I make biscuits back at the camper, my first real mixing and baking experience. The new cookie sheet is a success. The spelt flour makes tasty biscuits (along with the coconut milk). 

What else could you ask for?

Packing to leave tomorrow. 

Sept 29

Up and out by 10, later than himself wanted to be exiting (all my fault).

Drive through PA, NY, CT, and RI

I like NY, we’ve been through 4 times at least. 

Connecticut is pretty, but a little too controlled for my tastes.

 

And it does not feel very welcoming ... for some reason.

I just can't put my finger on why???

RI is ... expensive! Campground $65/night + $3/dog/day ... needless to say, we are staying the minimum before heading out. I’m looking for coastal campgrounds as Mr. SMT really likes watching water.

So, here we are at Wawaloam Campground in Richmond, RI in site 77, which is at the corner of Squirrel and Sunset... and the speed bump is right outside our dining room window, which does require everyone slow down. As of now, not too bad. The pad is a touch sloped, but offers 30 amp, water, and sewer. 

They have showers, charge showers, so bring your money. They do have trash containers, but they are outside the campground. They have WiFi, but, again, outside the campground. On the positive, the WiFi and dumpster have given us a great walk excuse before bed.

There’s picky little rules, such as "no dumping before paying for your site." Even though they take one night’s down payment when you make reservations.

They seem to want to keep seasonal/full timers and short stoppers far from each other, even going so far as to send you on the LONG way around to your campsite. Apparently, we aren’t supposed to dirty the full timers air.

And, like I wrote, $65 a night. Sorry Rhode Island, you just are not that cool.

Campground site arrangements and camper amenities ... 

Who decided to position the outdoor shower right where the sewer outlet and electrical cords extend from the camper? Come on, people SAFETY. Who wants to shower, or wash the dogs, right next to 30 amps of electricity? Not I.

And I wanna gripe about my kitchen window, it is halfway between the sink and stove top, and since the stove cover is always up, I can never reach the kitchen window locks to open it! Arg. Planning. Kira needs to plan better.

Sept 30

The engineer half attends the Yankee SteamUp at New England Wireless & Steam Museum while I take the pups to Petco for food (Canidae) and then to the parking lot of a local grocery store. We are hitting the a grocers every 3-4 Days, especially for fresh produce.

The day is drizzly and the temps are cool.  This is the first time I’ve left these two pups in a locked vehicle without supervision. We are always concerned that they will be stolen and thrown in to bait fighting dogs (horrors, honestly). 

 

Needless to say, I shop in a hurry. When I returned to the car, they were comfortably curled up underneath blankets. They have yet to adapt to the cooler temps.

Back to the campground where I avail myself of the moderate WiFi.

The kids are loud, the fireworks louder, and (I realize this is troubling for a camper) the fire pits are constantly in use and I despise the smell of campfire in my hair. Long hair + campfire smell (or perfume, or cologne, or perfumed shampoo, or well, basically anything that smells) + my pillow at night = gag city and Kira completely unable to sleep.

As a result, I’m washing my hair even though it is not dirty, but because it stinks!

The rain does not let up until later in the day, after I’ve picked up the engineer, and I’m too hungry to think of running. Poor pups. They have to have dinner, instead of exercise. They do not mind.

 

Time to head elsewhere.  RI campgrounds are not our thing.