Moving along on Rt. 95 it was a bit of a strange feeling
that it would end…Rt. 95 that is. Yes folks in Houlton, Maine, the interstate
ends and its back on old Rt. 1 for the rest of the way into Presque Isle. Oh,
but not so quick to dash to the finish…there is an attraction along the way.
The University of Maine has installed a scale model of the solar system along
40 miles of the route. The scale is one Angstrom unit (distance from the Earth
to the sun, 93,000,000 miles) equals one mile. Pluto, which is in a display
case at the visitor’s center, is about one inch…the sun is displayed as just an
arch painted on the side of a building at the University of Maine, 40 miles up
the road. The planets are on rods along the side of the road, colorfully
painted and many depicted with their moons. There is a map provided at the
visitor’s center noting the mile markers for each planet, there is no other
warning that they are coming up. The instructions tell you to set your odometer
to zero and then pay attention. It can be distracting with the picture lady
(Pat) hanging out the side window to get a shot of each one as we pass, but
it’s cool.
And of course we blew
it on our trip north. Following Miles, our relaxed in his barker lounger GPS,
we were happily following the planets until we took the right fork in the road,
Route 1A; also a beautiful drive and a scenic byway but shorter and more direct
by Miles standards so we missed the rest of the planets on our northerly trek.
And further, what would you expect of the geography of
northern Maine? We expected flat, forested land for some reason but that is not
what we got. Rolling hills and potato farms is what there is. Aroostook County
is the largest producer of potatoes in the US. Yes, we knew about potatoes in
Maine but did not picture this many farms, this far north, and the hills! These
“Maniacs” as they call themselves farm up and down severe inclines and think
nothing of it. In fact our campground in Presque Isle was built on an old
potato farm.
Arndt’s River Camps and Campground is a beautifully
landscaped piece of land located in the northern hills of Maine. All campsites
are mowed grass and terraced into the hills. The campground is situated quite
high on a hillside offering great views of the river valley and the sides of the
hills beyond. Inside the campground there are many, many ATV/walking trails.
All of the trails are cut grass and lead to the rear of the extensive property
at which there is a beaver pond with a large dam and flowing stream. It seams
there are three beaver in the pond that show themselves frequently and some 2/3
year old trout that were stocked by the owners. This is a great campground in a
lovely location. They also offer canoe/kayak rentals and will drop you up the
river for a 2 hour or 4 hour float down to the campground. It was an easy float
because of the recent rains that have left the river very high. This high water
also affected the fishing…I only caught a few fingerlings in the fast moving
water. We did the river one day and the next we traveled further north up Rt. 1
to Madawaska (The most northern point on Rt. 1); up along the St. John’s river
and came south on Rt. 162/161. We stopped at the Sportsman’s club on Long Lake
intending to buy lunch. The restaurant was closed so we made hamburgers and hot
dogs in the parking lot as a Fourth of July celebration. Great views and a
superb lunch. As we left the parking lot, we noticed the restaurant opening for
lunch/dinner. I guess they opened late on the 4th. The sign on the
door did not indicate the change in opening for the holiday much to the chagrin
to a jet ski driver that came ashore trying to buy gas for his machine.
As we left Arndt’s, we finally got to drive down Rt. 1 and
view the model of the planets over the 40 miles. It was nice and gives a real
perspective as to the distance between and the size of the planets. During this
leg of the trip we attempted to visit a wildlife preserve in North Amity. The
animals were there but the preserve was closed. We continued our drive to
Island Falls and the Birch Point Campground.
Whenever you visit an unfamiliar campground, there is always
a bit of apprehension. Will it be nice? Will it be a dump? As we drove into
Birch Point, we again were wondering these thoughts. There was a large building
that was billed as restaurant/office. A young man checked us in and gave us a
choice of sites. This kid of choice always leads to problems because you don’t
really know what site to choose because of your general ignorance about the
campground…in short you have no criteria to make a decision and a shortage of
patience to match. So, after some useless discussion we settled on a site and
set up.
We were not on the lakefront but we were on the beach. This
all turned out great because we had shade and beach access. Out fire pit was on
the beach and in the evening we could sit at our fire and look at the lake over
the beach. The lake itself was great. Warm water, spring fed, and so clear you
could see to the bottom. It was great for swimming and boating. We did rent a
boat and toured the five mile long lake. As it has been so far, the days were
warm and the nights were cool. All in all a very nice campground. Birch Point
also has large cabins on the lake that look clean and neat and were occupied by
families. We asked around and learned that the property has been in the same
family for many years and they continue to make improvements. We did eat at the
restaurant on Friday night and enjoyed our reasonably priced meals very much.
As we left Birch Point and headed for Sherwood Forest on
Pemaquid Point we planned a stop at Fort Knox and the Penobscot Narrows Bridge
and Observatory. According to the plaques, workers were refurbishing the old
bridge when they found severe corrosion in the suspension wires and the bridge
was basically condemned. The new bridge is a tribute to new era engineering and
is built in the mode of the new bridges in Boston and over the Delaware Canal
although it is only a two lane version. Uniquely, they installed an elevator in
one of the bridge towers and made it an observatory.
What a great job! Easy access, great information, and great
views of the surrounding countryside can be had from the observatory. There is
a $7.00 entry fee for the observatory and Fort but it is well worth it. The
elevator ride takes 50 seconds and up two flights of stairs to the observatory
that has fantastic views in all directions. This is definitely a must see for
everyone traveling in the area.
From the bridge observatory you can see Fort Knox and the
Penobscot Narrows. This view leads to the reason for the fort and its
placement. I was unaware that the U.S. was so concerned with the British
attacking from Canada in the 1800’s and reclaiming a good part of Maine. So
much so that forts were built up and down the east coast from Maine to Florida
including Fort Adams in Newport. The irony of this structure is that it was
never finished…the workman only worked four months out of the year because of
the weather, the fort was built of all granite blocks, and not enough cannon
could be procured whenever the mounts were ready. It seems that as parts of the
fort were completed, the purpose for which it was built and the technology it
was built for became obsolete. Even so it is great example of the architecture
of the time and the ineptness of government planning and politics.
Miles (GPS) in his infinite wisdom advised a turn down a
dirt road…”Nay, Nay” said the driver and continued on the pavement. The tool is
a great moving map but here’s another example that shows you must be ever alert
and know somewhat where you are going. The device is not infallible but he did
lead us down more scenic byways and through the rolling countryside down to
Pemaquid.
Sherwood Forest is a very nice campground situated on
Pemaquid Point on Booth Bay. The campground is under new ownership and they are
doing a great job. New laundry, new office, smooth gravel roads all make for a
fine camp. We chose Sherwood Forest for its proximity to Hardy Boat Tours which
we had booked for a day trip to Monhegan Island. We intended to ride our bikes
to the harbor but the owners would hear none of it and provided a ride in the
morning to the docks.
The ride to the island was very smooth on a perfect morning.
We hiked to the southern end of the island to beautiful views of the ocean and
rocky cliffs. The island is an artist colony in the summer and there are people
painting everywhere you go. There are no cars on the island only three trucks
to transport luggage for the ferries…these trucks have the right-of-way on the
gravel roads.
Notice I used the word “hiked” not walked. There are no
roads only those gravel paths and then there are the trails…yes, the trails. We
used the trails to get to the wonderful vistas which were the rewards for
crawling over rocks and dodging tree branches, struggling up steep rocks, and
sliding down narrow embankments. Also a reward for our trials was a great lunch
at “The Novelty.”
Our boat ride back was equally good with the captain
stopping by some rock islands to show us seals lounging in the sun and diving
for fish. It was windier and cooler on our return trip but there were sailboats
to watch on the bay and fisherman racing for the docks…and there as we returned
was the campground owner to give us a ride back. Not only a ride back but he
gave us a map of the area, told us places he recommended, and left us the truck
for our use at the campsite. Above and beyond! Sherwood Forest might make a
good place for a Sunshine Wheelers’ safari next year.
We spent our second day at Pemaquid Point beach across the
street from the campground…yes, you can hear the surf at night and the boats
coming and going from the harbor. The beach is run by the town and there is a
$4.00 per day admission. The facility has a clean bath house with a concession
stand and beach rentals. We lounged on the beach, watched gulls steal food from
the blankets, and had a good lunch from the concession stand. Another great
day!
We were going to have an extra day between our Maine tour
and meeting up with our club for a camping weekend back in Rhode Island and Pat
and I were both in a beach mood so we took a shot and called Salisbury State
Park in New Hampshire…Believe it, they had one site left and we took it. So,
this morning we are off to Salisbury Beach.
