Category: go with the flow

finding my way, go with the flow, Just do it, leap of faith, learning, life goes on, live and learn, old dogs new tricks, perseverance, photography

Details…

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I’ve never taken a trip as long as the trip I’ve just returned from, so I’m not an expert at knowing if it’s always a let down to finally get home.  But it was. Maybe it was the fact that I felt like I limped home, what with the broken trailer jack and all.  And feeling dirty and smelly and dying to take a nice hot shower, and finding no hot water, that wasn’t fun.  The water wasn’t stone cold, but it sure wasn’t what I had in mind.  Then I went to my son’s house to pick up the mail that I had had forwarded to his house while I was gone, imagining bringing home a whole box of mail to sort through, and he had exactly FOUR pieces of mail for me.  In five months!  The post office had been returning all my mail as undeliverable.  There was no replacement credit card waiting for me (I never did find the one I cancelled but didn’t think I’d really lost it, just misplaced it).  There was no dividend check from Publix, just a letter wanting me to make my ‘new’ address official.  My primary care doctor had become a specialist while I was gone, so he couldn’t be my primary anymore, which was disappointing since I liked him a lot.  And I now needed to find a new doctor asap since I had just taken my last blood pressure pill.  Maybe that’s what made me so frustrated with all of this, no more BP meds.  I might have thought that the lesson I’d learn from all this would be to never go away again.  But no, my immediate reaction was to want to just run away… but then there is the issue of the broken trailer jack.

I woke up yesterday and started tackling the problems.  First I called my go-to plumber, Billy the Sunshine Plumber.  The first time I needed a plumber here in FL I called them because their name cracked me up.  They are absolutely great, which is why I called them the second time I needed a plumber, and now this is the third time and my uncle is now a believer.  Not only did they solve my problem, but they installed the kitchen faucet I’d bought before I left and then forgot about.  But better than that, they suggested I call UHaul for my trailer jack problem.  UHaul couldn’t help me but they told me to call Rentz LLC, and I bopped over there and they fixed it on the spot, the best $55 I ever spent.

I’m feeling better now, maybe it’s the nice hot shower.  Or the fact that I got a new doctor, and my credit card will be delivered soon, and Publix knows where I live.  Just another example of needing help and finding it, and finding out just how nice people can be.

'scene' along the way, birds, Camping, ducks, egrets, fun, go with the flow, Just do it, nature, perseverance, photography, road trip, travel

Camping…

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I’m still in Maine, but when I leave here on Tuesday it will feel like the beginning of my trip home, even if I’ll be heading west rather than south.  A stop in NH, and then on to PA to be with family.   Eventually I’ll have to head south.  I’m procrastinating, wishing to see fall in all it’s glory before I’m back in the land of palmetto bugs and palm trees.

So how was camping?  How did this 100% novice like her first camping adventure?  A lot actually.  I’ve lived in the camper for a total of 11 weeks over the summer, and it felt like home.  I loved it.  Slept like a baby, fell asleep on the couch watching Netflix on the computer a couple of times when it was raining.  But mostly I went out to see as much of the not-Florida scenery as I could.  It didn’t seem like the other campers did much but sit outside, so I guess I was an oddball being inside a lot, but on the computer dealing with photos.  Which is how I spend most of my time at home also.

I didn’t know what to expect from a campground, but with three under my belt I find that they have a lot in common.  The first was The Pastures in Orford, NH.  I probably had the most fun there, but I had family there and got to talk with a lot of people.  They have a pool and playground for kids, plus a great covered pavilion where they hosted breakfasts, pot luck dinners, and Friday night was movie night, complete with popcorn.  It’s on the  Connecticut river, so kayak and canoe rentals were available.  Newly upgraded bath facilities.  It’s a great place and the best bargain.

The second campground was Shore Hills, in Boothbay, Maine.  No playgrounds or  pool, but each campsite was wooded with a lot of privacy.  I was almost surprised to realize how steep the climb back to the campsite was after meandering down to the river to take sunset pictures.  There were lots of options to go out and take pictures, from the Coastal Botanical Gardens to Acadia National Park.  And when you get hungry the lobster roll from Red’s Eats in Wiscasset was to die for.  So good, but be prepared to wait in line.  Found some very nice people there also.

Which brings me to Wild Duck Campground in Scarborough, ME.  I took pictures of the wild ducks of Wild Duck Campground today.  They look pretty tame in the feature photo, all the ducks in a row.  But they all got pretty riled up a little while later.  Plus an egret catching his dinner.  This campground is adjacent to Scarborough Marsh, so egrets are plentiful.  The Audubon center is just down the road.  As is Old Orchard Beach, Portland, and Portsmouth, with lighthouses galore.  It seemed like every time I looked up a place to go it was 12 miles away.  Right next door from my point of view.  What a great spot for a photographer to spend a couple of weeks.

When I do head for home I can follow my trail of breadcrumbs, in the form of lost bath scrunches, face wash soap, underwear (I swear I don’t know where they go), and  lost glasses.  I briefly lost my phone, found my phone, and broke my phone.  Next year I’ll bring half as much stuff and hopefully keep myself better organized.  And there will be another snowbird adventure next year, but where will I go?  I’ll have a lot of time to plan…Egretgotchagotcha2pondscenewilderducks

Did I forget to mention Scout?  He’s a full time RVer.  His young mom and dad work online and have their itinerary set through March, traveling in an Airstream trailer.  I’m told they love it.  Scout sure seems like a happy camper…IMG_9952

'scene' along the way, boats, Camping, fun, go with the flow, Just do it, natural wonders, perseverance, photography, road trip, travel, weather

Perkins Cove…

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If I hadn’t dithered so long in the gift shop at Nubble I wouldn’t have even known that Perkins Cove existed, which would have been a shame.  I asked the clerk for suggestions of other places to go for photos, and her face just lit up when she mentioned Perkins Cove.

I knew I’d love it as soon as I drove into the little town.  Like Kennebunk and Ogunquit, the shops and restaurants were charming, sitting as they were at the docks with sailboats tied up, just waiting for someone to sail them away.  And lots of people about too, I half expected Jessica Fletcher to pop out of the little book store, and if you know who that is then you are old, like me!PerkinsflowersPerkinsfrom the bridgePerkinshousesPerkinscommingthrough

Do you see that the bridge is up?  The controls are on the bridge and a sign says that only adults can operate it. The sign called it a pedestrian bridge, so maybe it’s up all the time until someone wants to cross it.  Unlike the campground which is emptying out, this town was full of tourists, shopping in the pretty shops or having lunch on the porches of the waterfront restaurants.

But it was Marginal Way that had caught my attention.  A mile long ‘cliff walk’ overlooking the ocean.  I was so lucky to be there on such a perfect day.PerkinscovePerkinshousescenePerkinssailboat2PerkinssailboatscenePerkins2benchesPerkinslighthouseThis is Little Beach Light, it sits at about the halfway point in your walk.  I just loved it.

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I spent a lot of time waiting for this paddle boarder to decide to ride a wave so I could try for some action shots.  Maybe he was shy because he kept letting them go by.  And maybe I’m not the only senior citizen who doesn’t seem to know enough to act their age.

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My last shot of the visit, taken while sitting on a bench with my back to the parking lot, and eating a coffee kahlua brownie ice cream cone.  The sun felt wonderful, almost too warm and then you’d feel the breeze and it was perfect.

'scene' along the way, Camping, connections, fun, go with the flow, Just do it, old dogs new tricks, perseverance, photography, road trip, strangers become friends, technology

Southport

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It was my last day at the campground in Boothbay and I was determined to see as many more lighthouses as I could manage by car.  I had missed the lighthouse cruise the week before and the next was one scheduled for the day after I left.  So I set my sights on Southport.  Have you ever looked at the coast of Maine on a map?  Another camper told me that he had just seen a map on the wall of a friend’s house, and that he had grown up in New England, but he also had never realized that the coastline of Maine is made up of lots of little islands, and/or peninsulas.  I thanked him because I thought I was the only one who had been in the dark on the subject.

You enter Southport by crossing a bridge, which I did, and then parked to go back to the bridge for pictures.  I rushed when I saw that the ‘drawbridge’ had actually swung open to let a little boat pass through.  And three sailboats were lined up to go through in the opposite direction.  The keeper said that during the summer the bridge operates on a schedule. on the hour and the half hour.  He was very friendly and said that any place I saw a town pier or beach I could go and park for pictures, and off I went.

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I spent a lot of time debating what to do when I found Hendricks Head lighthouse.  The view from the beach was a bit obscured, and the only option for a possible better view was to climb a rocky mound on the beach.  It didn’t look too intimidating from a distance, but up close it was slippery and with no good foot or hand holds.  While I debated I told my entire life history to a woman on the beach, Ginny, and met her husband Dave, such nice people.  She said that it was an easy climb, but then she wasn’t climbing it either.  So it wasn’t so much that I chickened-out, but I said to myself that I’m having too much fun, and I have too far to go yet, to risk a trip-ending injury and/or wrecking the camera.  I feel like I’ve been in touch with my five-year-old self recently, but now and then the adult in me needs to step in and lay down the law.SouthportHendricksHeadSouthportHendricksHead2Southportsailboat

I moved on to a dock and got out the big lens and tripod, but it seems like every photo I used was from the 18-400 new lens.  And I’ve wracked my brain looking at the maps to figure out which lighthouses I did see.   I think it’s Burnt Island Light closer in, and Cuckold’s Light Station way out in the distance.  No mention in the book on how that one got it’s name.SouthportsceneSouthporttrapsSouthportscenelighthouseSouthportscenelighthouse2SouthportBurntIslandFinally, one from the big lens, guess I’ll keep it!  I apologize if I’ve gotten the lighthouses wrong.  My mind is boggled, it stopped raining, and all I want to do is head out someplace.  Never know where until I get there!

adventure, Camping, finding my way, fun, go with the flow, Just do it, nature, perseverance, photography, road trip, second chances, strangers become friends, travel

Campgrounds…

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I walked down to the river at Shore Hills a couple of times, looking for the sunset and found it.Shorehillssunset

And now I’m at Wild Duck campgrounds, which is only a mile from the Scarborough Marsh Audubon site.  Which may explain this as the scenery I found as I explored the park.WildducksceneThere are quite a few egrets out there in the marsh, but even my biggest lens wouldn’t have caught them.  Not well enough anyhow.  This one, however, was in the little pond just inside the entrance, and I took a million pictures of him as he hunted.  Take my word for it, he has a little flat fish in his mouth, it just doesn’t show against that background.Wildduckgotem

And red dragonflies are a different variety to me.  I should look them up.  I should do a lot of things.Wildduckdragonfly

Last night I dutifully locked the car, using the key fob from inside the camper.  This morning I realized that I had left the front car windows open.  Almost as soon as I got here I was surprised to hear the sound that the acorns make as they drop on the roof of the camper.  They sound like they will leave dents in the roof of the car parked beside me. But when I got into the car just now to close it up I was surprised to find an acorn in the red baseball cap that was laying on the console.  How the heck did that happen???IMG_9871.jpeg

Yes, campers are a fun group.  While I always thought I’d love to do this I never really had an inkling of what the reality of it would be.  I love it.  It suits me.  And I could so very easily have talked myself out of doing it at all.  I’m so glad I didn’t…

adventure, food, fun, go with the flow, humor, Just do it, moments, perseverance, photography, road trip, strangers become friends, travel, Yummy

Red’s Eats…

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This week in Boothbay, Maine has been such success.  My first campground where I was truly on my own, didn’t know a soul, and it was fine.  And yes, I met people, and I had fun.  And I took pictures, boy, did I ever take pictures.  So this is silly, and I want to post it while it’s current, but I have so many more photos to get through that this is an extra post.  Did I say it was silly?  I meant tragic.  Tragic because I will never eat another lobster roll again.  Kind of like me and crab cakes, if I can’t have Charley’s crab cakes, or at least one from a favorite place in Baltimore, then I won’t have them.  I have now had a lobster roll from Red’s Eats, in Wiscasset, Maine, and never will another lobster roll ever come close to being as good as this one was.  So this was it.  I heard about this place before I got here.  Not by name, just that there was a great place to get a lobster roll nearby, so when I drove past this place and saw the line down the hill and around the corner I figured I’d found the place.  I drove past on several different days and it was always the same.  So I can’t tell you how disappointing it was to have finished the lobster roll, all the while anticipating taking a picture of the place, and the line, but at about 4:15 when we had finished and I stopped to take a picture there was hardly a line!  I didn’t think that ever happened.  So you aren’t getting the full effect.  When I stopped yesterday the line was down and around the corner, but I expected that.  We were in line for an hour easy. We being the lady in line front of me, my new friend Carol. Staff came around and offered water, and umbrellas (for the sun), so they are prepared to keep the patrons happy.  The regulars in line kept insisting that it was worth it, and they weren’t kidding.  There had to be more than one lobster’s worth of meat in each one.  I heard there was a pound of meat in them.  Served with a cup of melted butter.  We three, me, Carol and her husband, all agreed.  so very good.  Too good.  It’s tragic…

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Across the street were several places serving lobster rolls, with a waterfront location, and no line.  And yet we all waited, happily.  I wanted to go back today also, but I was still full from yesterday…wiscassetfeaturewiscassetscenewiscassetscene3