New England at Last

Murphys, Ca, September 2024 -- Home again after 14 days, 6,000 miles, four states, one Canadian province, family together, great food and a peek at Fall in New England. Yes we are tired, but yes we had a great time. The best thing was being with daughter Ruth and her husband Brian and granddaughter Delaney and her husband Cooper Scherr. We spent the first week together in Bar Habor, Maine, in a house big enough for all of us just a short distance from Acadia National Park. It was a perfect confluence of Ruth's planning skills, Delaney and Cooper's schedules, and Pat and my wish to see New England in the Fall. We called it the "Almost Bucket List" Trip.

We started with a non-stop redeye flight from San Francisco to Boston, where we picked up a car and drove to the new apartment where Delaney and Cooper are living. She is winding up a very long doctoral program at Boston University in bio-engineering, and he recently finished medical school and is now Doctor Coop, doing his residency in Boston. We met their very very large cats, checked out the apartment, and went out for Kosher Bagels in the neighborhood. I then wisely took a nap before we drove to Orchard Beach, Maine for one night. We ate shrimp and drank beer while listening to a local Karaoke contest. This is where Canadians from Quebec come to the beach. From there we walked on the sandy beach, then drove north and stopped briefly at L.L. Bean's famous outlet store in Freeport before continuing up the road to Bar Harbor where we met the other four travelers. For the next five days we ate a lot, drank a few beers, hiked and explored. Bar Harbor is definitely a tourist town, but easy to walk around and explore. Situated right on the water with islands all around, and wrapped in the national park. The park is lovely with hiking trails up the big mountain (800 feet!), along the shore line and through typical Maine woods. We ate well, played games, read books, caught up with each other, and all admired the Scherr's dog Turk who was in charge of our activities.

Delaney, Ruth, Brian, Cooper and Turk the wonderdog----- Acadia National Park is famous in the East for grand ocean views, rich and famous visitors, and crowds in the summer. We found the park shuttle system, which is free, and makes getting around much easier. We walked to the town green, hopped on the bus, and got off where we wanted to hike. The guides and park staff were all great, helpful and polite. I will let the pictures tell the story.

We did lots of hiking and looking and eating

The park was well organized for big crowds, as was the town.

With large tide shifts, we were able to walk on the sandbar to an island during low tide..... At the end of the week we left the other four, who headed for Boston, and drove north into New Brunswick Canada. We stopped briefly to buy chocolate covered blueberries, but the season was over and we traveled on. We stayed two days at Saint John in Canada where the Bay of Fundy creates tides so big the river reverses itself and creates what they call backward waterfalls. The tides we saw were probably 25 feet from high to low, and sure enough the river seemed to reverse itself.

We did not have quite enough time to get further north, so headed back south into Maine and New Hampshire in search of Fall.

For a new sport we counted political signs along the way, and it was pretty clear the cities and coastal areas were for Harris and the rural farmlands for Trump. The election will tell us more.

Passed through Rumsford, home of former Senator Ed Muskie, a favorite son raised in a small town along the river. Then we stayed one night in Scowhegan, one of many small old mill towns that are located on the rivers that run through the region. Originally dams were built to power mills -- both fabric and paper -- but almost all have been converted to electrical power production. But the dams and mill ponds still are everywhere, making the entire region very attractive.

We saw only one moose in the region, a dead female freshly killed by a motorist and left along the road. Park officials were running to get it clear of the traffic. The next day we took the long way (a detour into Vermont to say we had been there) to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, our place for exploring the region and looking for more signs of Fall color. We stayed near the Franconia Notch, which seems to be this area's version of the Great Smokey Mountains plus it is a popular ski resort in winter. While the tree colors were not yet brilliant, it was clearly moving toward Fall and there was color all around as we explored and hiked. A highlight for us was the best meal I have had in years in the town of Lincoln, a meal so good we went back the next night for a light supper.

The waterfalls in the region are a major draw. While not Yosemite in scale, they are spectacular in their own way, cutting narrow channels through hard rock and dropping into clear pools. A mountain pass in this region may top 2,500 feet, about the same elevation we live at in Murphys, but the hardwood forests are a bright green to be envied. This is generally not farmland, but forests of tall skinny trees. Timber is still a local product feeding papermills with trees less than half the size of Western pines near our home in California.

Fall color was beginning to arrive in late September but it was clearly a few weeks away from the peak brilliance shown in magazines. Driving south through New Hampshire we took back roads, found that Dunkin' Donuts is a local favorite everywhere, and checked out the towns along the way down to Manchester, N.H. for our penultimate night on the road. We were just across the border from Massachusetts and the Boston area, but that set us up for a final day as tourist in and around Concord, the place where the first shots of the Revolution were fired. We took back roads everywhere and it is a place of rich folks and big very old houses.

We got an early start and drove backroads where the GPS directed us to find Minuteman National Park. What we found was a narrow country lane with a detour through the town of Concord, more back roads and another route into the North Bridge segment of the park which was mostly closed. But the Visitor Center was open, and the folks helpful even though the trail through the park to the bridge was closed. Turns out they are getting ready for a big anniversary and are sprucing up the park by closing most of it. No matter. We got a quick reminder of Revolutionary history (the Revolutionary militia fired on the dastardly Redcoats and kicked off the war). It was a walk -- though short -- through American history. It was also a reminder that for centuries Americans have proven intolerant of tyrants and dictators. Also a good history lesson just from the definitions: the militia were all the local men of all ages, poorly trained but ready to fight; the Minutemen were better trained with weapons and leadership. Together they started a rebellion aagainst the English.

Our last New England tourist experience was totally different, a walk alongside Walden Pond, a place of quiet and meditation. It was just a few miles from the scenes of the battles. An extremely well-informed state park interpreter took the time to remind us of Henry David Thoreau's writings and life, friendships and bust a few myths. But the real attraction was the quiet pond itself, larger than we expected and surrounded by trees and a walking path. One fly fisherman was at work, and two swimmers were getting their exercise. Very few walkers scattered around. As we were ending our saunter we could hear music floating across the water so I found the lone musician playing a light melody on a backpacker guitar leaning on a boathouse. It was a fitting and quiet ending to the experience of New England countryside.

We drove the short distance into the town of Concord, parked by a 300 year old cemetery, and found lunch and a talkative native who told uis more good places to see. Also, we were out of time and jumped back into modern Boston traffic to find our hotel for a short overnight. That's the end of the tour, but not the entire story. After driving in terrible traffic for a hour or so we checked into the hotel ($340 for the night), took a short break, and then got back in the car to drop our rental at the airport. It was unintentionally the worst hour of the entire trip as traffic was still thick at 7 p.m., and a major rainstorm dumped on us. With Pat's navigation skills we made it safely, dropped the car, and found a shuttle back to the hotel for a late dinner with Margaritas. To make our flight we caught the 3:30 a.m. shuttle bus to the airport, made it through to the gate, and were headed west by 6 a.m. Arrived in San Franciso shortly after 9 a.m., retrieved our car and got back to Murphys in the afternoon after a stop at Trader Joe's to refresh our home wine supply.

Notes: We used a lot of frequent flier points to get non-stop service first class, a decision we were happy with. The flight attendants were definitely first class, helpful and cheerful. One plane was old, one newer and we did have two comfortable seats. It irritates me that United expects people to pay extra for wifi and/or entertainment. We had a Budget rental car for two weeks, which turned out to be a plug-in hybrid Mitsubishi. Comfortable, the latest electonics and bigger than we needed. When I asked the Budget guy for information on how to deal with a plug-in, he said don't worry about, just keep the gas tank filled. The agent at the desk worked way too hard to sell us insurance and toll road passes we did not need. We saved about $300 by declining the extra benefits. The benfit of a comfortable car cannot be emphasized enough. That let us roam back roads, check out smaller places, and find great hikes and eating places. Plus it had all the latest safety electronics, including a GPS, which I appreciated every day. We stayed at a lovely house in Bar Harbor and several Best Western motels along the way throughout New England. Motels were mostly around $150 a night, except for Boston where anything near the airport starts at $300 and goes up. They all provided free breakfast, mostly the same scrambled eggs (wet) and potatoes (dry) and sausage (boiled). We ate very well, and it was expensive particularly in Bar Harbor. No regrets. Our very best meal was in Lincoln, New Hampshire, at a place called The Common Man. One of the very best meals I've had in years. Add it up and it was probably less expensive than a nice cruise, we had the major benefit of being with family, and the joy of seeing our granddaughter and husband in their new home. As soon as we rest up, we would do it again.