Tuesday, August 30, 2011

A Whale of a Tale

While in Maine I really wanted to check off one of my bucket list items and go on a whale watch. The husband had been, years ago, off Cape Cod, but the boys and I never before had the opportunity and to see such great and beautiful creatures in their natural habitat. The North Atlantic is home to several different species, including fin back, humpback, minke, pilot, sei, northern right and sperm whales. I knew that the chance of seeing a northern right whale was slim, as there are only about 300 of them left in the wild, but we were hopeful that we would see some others.

We headed up north to Bar Harbor on Sunday, hoping to catch the 8:30 a.m. boat. Sadly, we were plagued with fog once again and that tour ended up canceled. We decided to hang around and try for the 1 p.m. tour. Bar Harbor's not a bad town to spend some time in if you happen to be in the area. We had some delicious blueberry muffins and wandered around some of the shops. The boys had fun watching the fog roll in and out of the harbor and the few boats that were working come and go. We also ate more lobster!! Unfortunately, the fog never cleared and the 1 p.m. tour was also canceled. We headed back to the campground pretty bummed and afraid a whale watch just wasn't in the cards for this trip.

The drive up to Belfast had been a marathon one, so we were already thinking of spreading out the drive home over a couple of days. When we returned to the campground I began searching for whale watches that left from ports south of Belfast in the hopes of hitting one on our way home. I found one called Cap'n Fish's Whale Watch out of Boothbay Harbor, about an hour and a half south of Belfast and on our way home, so we decided to give it one more try on Tuesday morning and purchased tickets for the 9:30 tour aboard the Pink Lady II:

Tuesday turned out to be a beautiful morning, with not a drop of fog in sight! We boarded the boat and found some great seats right up front. We were on our way!

The trip out of Boothbay Harbor was really interesting. The lobster men were out checking their traps and we saw lots of different birds out looking for snacks. We also saw several pods of harbor porpoise and harbor seals. The first mate Daniella pointed out interesting landmarks including the Burnt Island Lighthouse:

And also the summer home of the Wicked Witch of the West, Margaret Hamilton, on Cape Island:

Once out of the harbor we began the search for whales. Daniella told everyone to keep their eyes peeled for the plume of water from the whale's blowhole as they surface to take a breath, usually the first thing you see. We watched, and we watched, then we watched some more. For more than an hour nearly every person on the ship watched the horizon hoping to see something. We had been instructed by Daniella to yell out if we saw anything so that Captain Mark could pilot the ship closer to investigate. We had sailed through two of the whale's feeding grounds and no one had seen anything. The captain had announced that we were going to have to turn back, and that a whale sighting was not likely to be in the cards for today. As the ship was turning, the teen suddenly shouted that he had seen something on the horizon. I didn't believe him at first, but then the man next to me said he saw it too, so Daniella came over with the binoculars and Captain Mark started to steer the ship in that direction. We watched and watched, then all of a sudden 2 fin back whales surfaced to take a breath right in front of us! It was an absolutely amazing sight! After taking a couple breaths they dove down to feed and luckily surfaced again about 7 minutes later and we got to enjoy a couple more fleeting glances of these magnificent creatures! We discovered that capturing a picture of these wondrous moments is really tough, and basically a matter of luck. The husband snapped this one at just the right moment:

We were fortunate to see a couple of minke whales and some pilot whales on our trip back to the harbor. It was a great way to end our trip, and I guess the 170 bucks we shelled out for the teens glasses paid off!!

Here's a picture of the whale spotter himself with first mate Daniella:

And all 3 boys with Captain Mark:

One more item checked off the bucket list! Many, many more to go...


Thursday, August 25, 2011

Home


So our first excursion with the “King of the Road” went pretty well. We had a great time in Maine, met some fantastic people, saw lots of cool things, ate great food and most importantly made it home in one piece! We broke up the long drive by heading down the coast of Maine yesterday, taking in a whale watch, then camping on the southern coast of Maine last night and driving home today. There are so many things I want to write about...but I'm really, really tired and the motor home looks like a frat house on Sunday morning. We were doing a pretty good job of keeping things neat and organized until we left Belfast, but with the sightseeing, the boys and the electrical problems (yep, not solved, had to charge the battery last night and no headlights...again) it's a wreck. Dirty dishes in the sink, a lobster claw in the cup-holder and somebody's shorts are hanging from the lamp. In other words, a good time was had by all!

Just a couple quick pictures and thanks! We stayed at The Moorings RV Park, a terrific campground where we met some wonderful people. The boys made a friend and had a fabulous time on the beach catching crabs and sea stars with him and his family. It was great to have a friend for the boys to play with! We were fortunate to be camping next to a very nice couple from New Hampshire and had a great time visiting and getting to know them. Finally, I can't tell you what a pleasant surprise it was to return from our whale watch in Boothbay and find this note on our windshield:

Another wonderful couple who raised and survived camping with 4 boys! An added bonus of camping, seeing cool things and meeting great people!

Finally, a picture of the sunrise on Penobscot Bay Tuesday morning:

I hope to have one of a sunset over the Pacific to hang next to it soon!      

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Camden, Maine

While planning this trip we talked to several friends who make regular trips to Maine or are actually from Maine and asked for their “must sees.”  A number of them recommended Camden, Maine as a quaint little town with lots to see and do.  Camden has a lovely little Main Street shopping area with shops filled with local artisans and restaurants.  There is also a harbor with a wharf full of schooners offering all kinds of day sails and cruises.  We decided to head down and check it out a few days ago, and Camden didn’t disappoint!

We checked on the internet and decided to take the 1 p.m. Lobster Fishing and Wildlife Encounter aboard the Lively Lady Too.  Unfortunately, Camden’s Harbor was completely fogged in and all the morning excursions had been cancelled.  As the fog was not lifting, the 1 p.m. excursion had to be cancelled as well.  We rescheduled for the 3:15 trip and headed out to explore Camden.  Since we were a bit hungry our first stop was the Bayview Restaurant, where the husband and I ordered and shared a lobster roll: 

It was delicious!!  A little bit of buttery, creamy lobster goodness on a lightly toasted roll.  Yum…these may just be my new favorite thing to eat.  We wandered around town, did a bit of window shopping, and then headed back down to the wharf.  It must have been our lucky day, because by mid afternoon the fog had moved out and we were good to go!

The Lively Lady Too is piloted by a salty Maine lobsterman named Captain Philbrick, a fascinating guy with extensive knowledge of the surrounding coastline and sea life.  He’s also a wonderful story teller with about a million fish tales and anecdotes to share along the way.  Here he is piloting his ship. 


We headed out of the harbor and within 10 minutes he was pulling up the first lobster trap.  Captain Philbrick took the time to explain what the different colors on the buoys mean (nothing, really.  Each fisherman chooses their own), what each of the tags on the trap mean (they are the fishing and trap licenses for the fisherman, color coded for each year) and how the traps work (lobsters simply are not very bright.  They follow the bait in, then forget how they got there and are unable to get back out).  He explained the difference between soft shelled and hard shelled lobsters (none, really, but only hard shelled lobsters can be shipped) and what makes a legal lobster.  There are 4 characteristics of a legal lobster: The distance from the eye socket to the end of the body must be greater than 3 inches and less than 5 inches.  Female lobsters carrying eggs may not be kept.  Notched female lobsters must also be put back.  A lobsterman must cut a small notch in the back right fin of any female lobster carrying eggs before putting her back in the water.  It will take 2 years for the notch to grow out and during that time any lobsterman who catches her must put her back.  Captain Philbrick caught 3 lobsters in the 2 traps he pulled up, and 2 of them were legal.  One was too big, but he returned all of them to the ocean at the end of our trip.  The highlight was when he passed them around for the kids to hold!


Captain Philbrick also took us out to an island with a very rocky shoreline which is home to a pretty sizeable colony of harbor seals.  They blend in very well with the rocks, and a few of them were in the water swimming.  I think I’ll be looking for a better camera before next summer, as they are hard to see in the pictures I took.

Next we headed over to another island with a bald eagle nest.  It must have been our lucky day because as we were rounding the tip of the island the eaglet soared out overhead!  What a beautiful bird!  He was all dark brown as he won’t grow white feathers until he’s an adult, but with a 7 foot wingspan was an impressive sight soaring around that island.  All through the whole trip Captain Philbrick shared his stories and knowledge and answered questions and before we knew it a 2 hour tour had turned into 3.  And it was worth every penny!       

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Maine

Maine is wonderful!  Maine is beautiful!  Maine is a really far away…

Back when we bought the “King of the Road” we knew we wanted to get everything working so that we could take at least one longish journey this summer before we really take the plunge next summer.  We’ve never been to Maine, but always wanted to take a vacation here and thought it would be unlikely that we would be able to work in a trip this far north and east of our home next summer. We did a little research on the various regions, decided on the mid-coast area near Acadia National Park, found a campground and made a reservation.  THEN, we put the address into Google maps and found out we were facing about a 13 hour drive.  We decided our best strategy would be to put the boys to sleep the night before right in the motor home so the husband and I could just roll out of bed and get going early in the morning.  Great idea, right?  Except, we didn’t count on the excitement and exuberance of a 7 year old boy about to embark on an adventure.  He did not want to go to sleep.  Could not be bribed or convinced to go to sleep.  And by 10 p.m. the middle child was in our room, complaining loudly that his brother was keeping him awake by making farting noises and tickling his feet.  Ugh…we were off to a rough start. 

Lucky for us, they did all finally fall asleep.  We were up at 5 the next morning and on the road by 6.  It was a phenomenally long day of driving but, with only a couple of stops we made it to the campground by about 8 p.m.  No engine trouble and no jumper cables necessary!  We do have a few things to fix this week though and had to find an auto parts store this afternoon for some supplies.  We seem to still have a headlight problem, although not related to the previous electrical problems as they were working at one point, and one still is.  Also, some of the electronics in the central console did not get hooked back up.  The radio doesn’t work, nor does the plug in for the GPS.  Its battery died about 4 hours into the trip and we had to go old school and buy a paper map. 

But, we’re here and today was a glorious day.  Warm, sunny, with a light ocean breeze.  Right after breakfast we headed down to the beach for some swimming.  The husband planted his chair on the beach and decided he wasn’t moving…even for high tide.  When the water hit our ankles I had the good sense to move my chair back.

But the husband stayed put.  When the water reached the seat of the chair the boys went over to investigate.  Still, he stayed put.

The tide moved in pretty fast and was soon up to his waist.

Yet there he sat, until the water reached his chest and it was time for lunch.  Refreshing!

The boys LOVED the beach and spent lots of time looking for sea life in the tidal pools as the tide went back out.  They found a few things, but the highlight of the day came when we headed back down to the beach with our flashlights after dark!  They found LOTS crabs in the pools and at the waters edge.  They were everywhere, some big, some smaller than a fingernail.  The boys had a blast picking them up then watching the crabs bury themselves in the sand when they put them back down.  It was really interesting to see how well they blend in with the surrounding sand and rocks too.  Once they were buried in the sand you could only see them if they moved.  Here are a couple of the larger ones they found.

So, today was a great day!  We have lots more to see and do while we’re here.  We’d like to do some sea kayaking and are looking into a whale watch!  Hope the sun stays out and the rain stays away!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Water, water, everywhere

The husband gave me an assignment to complete while he was out of town for work last week and this week: flush the potable water tank and hot and cold running water lines so that we can drink the water from the tap while hooked up at a campsite. You see, being new to this whole RV thing we (o.k...I)did not realize that you can't just hook everything up and be ready to go. The first time we hooked the water up and turned it on what came out of the tap was pink. And it filled the sink with foam. And it smelled kinda funny. I'm pretty sure it was antifreeze. And there was no way any of us were going to drink it. Last week I was busy neglecting my children so I could finish reading this:


It's excellent! Can't wait to see the movie! But the husband will be home Sunday so yesterday I decided I better get busy. He knows I love to read and, romantic devil that he is, bought me this:

Surprisingly, it's not much of a page turner...but I did find a whole chapter that A. explained what “potable” water is and B. gave some vaguely general instructions on how to sanitize it. First, I had to find a few things. The fresh water tank is located under the bed in the back of the RV:

The “city water inlet” is not an inlet at all, but the pipe the water from the sink and tub drain out of. If your campsite has a sewer hookup, this is where you hook it up, I think. It's in the back, underneath on the drivers side. I also needed bleach:

And a funnel with a flexible tube. I found one after doing some digging around in the garage. Go figure. After flushing all the antifreeze out I poured about half a cup of bleach into the holding tank:

and filled it up with water. Then I turned on the pump:

and all the faucets:

The book said that once you smell chlorine, turn everything off and let it sit for 4 hours, so I did. While I was waiting I made spanakopita for dinner:

YUM! After dinner I went back outside, turned on the pump and all the faucets, emptied the tank, filled it back up and flushed everything out 2 more times. The water looks clear and I can't smell any chlorine, so according to my book we should be good to go! I'm a little concerned that some water was dripping from something underneath the motor home near the “city water inlet” but it was getting dark and I couldn't really tell what exactly was leaking. It seems to have stopped now that I've turned all the water off. Perhaps if my insomnia kicks in tonight I'll look for some more information in my book.