Ellsworth, ME

We drove into Ellsworth this morning to make some cell phone calls, do some errands and find someplace to have our HP laptop worked on. Our HP has started to shut down after being on for only a short time. Fortunately our old Dell laptop is working and we can wifi with it.

We stopped in at the Ellsworth Public Library to use their wifi and our HP laptop is now shutting down almost as soon as I turn it on. I asked one of the ladies at the library who worked on their computers and she gave me his name and phone number. I called him and got his voice mail and left a message. He called me back in a few minutes and I explained my problem to him. He said he was working out of town and gave me the name of a computer repair service in Ellsworth to take the laptop to.

The computer repair shop, Computers Plus, was only a few blocks away from the library. On the way there we saw the Ellsworth City Hall - a unique large brick building.

From Maine

We took the laptop to Computers Plus and explained the problem to them and left it there for them to work on. There is a coffee shop, Maine Grind, across the street from Computers Plus that has wifi and we went over there to have coffee and finish our internet browsing.

Afterwords we drove over to the LL Bean Outlet store where we bought a pair of LL Bean Rubber Moc boots for each of us and a small backpack for me.

Before heading back to the campground, we had lunch at Wendy's, stopped at Shaw's grocery and bought a few items and then filled the gas tank on the Vue at the Exxon station in Ellsworth ($4.099 gal)

Pownal, ME to East Orland, ME

We left Blueberry Pond Campground this morning about 10:45. We took I-295 north and got off at Exit 28 to get on to US-1. We took that route instead of driving into Freeport to get on US-1 - that way we avoided driving through tourist traffic in town. We stayed on US-1 for the 118 mile drive up here to Balsam Cove Campground. The campground is about 1 1/2 miles off US-1 down a dirt road.

We arrived at Balsam Cove Campground around 1:30 and was assigned site #1 - gravel pull-through site that was extremely unlevel. Mike took a ruler and took photos to show how high off the ground our front wheels would be if we stayed at that site. Mike showed the owner the photos and he took Mike around the campground in a golf cart to find another site.

From Maine

We're now on site #29 (we were set up here by 3 p.m.) which is pretty level. It's a back-in site with full hookups (30 amp) and wifi. Balsam Cove is a Passport America campground.



The only negative we have about our location is we have no cell phone service out here. We'll have to go into Ellsworth which is about 12 miles from here.

LL Bean and Delorme

This morning we drove into Freeport to pick up our mail at the post office. We stopped at the Freeport Library to check e-mail. Then LL Bean was our next stop. We've had their catalogs for years and have often bought from them. Mike and I each bought new rain jackets there.

We stopped at Bill's Pizza in Yarmouth for lunch, before going to the Delorme store there.

We've used their mapping software, Street Atlas, in the past. We're using Microsoft Streets & Trips, but use Delorme's gps for the laptop. At the Delorme store they had computers set up where you could "test drive" their mapping software. After checking out their current Street Atlas, we decided to stick with Streets & Trips. Street Atlas has a few things that I like that Streets & Trips doesn't have, but I think we'll wait until their 2009 version is released and maybe get it then.

We enjoyed our stop at LL Bean - we'd always wanted to go to their store and had been looking forward to it.

On our way back to the RV, we stopped at The Brown Dog Inn north of Freeport and made an appointment for Tinker in the morning for a bath.

Concord, NH to Pownal, ME

We left Concord this morning a little after 10:00. We took US-4 east to I-95 and then north on I-95 until York Center, ME where we got on to US-1. We passed LL Bean in Freeport, ME and then turned northwest to Pownal to Blueberry Pond Campground.

We got in here at Blueberry Pond at 2:30 - it was 114 miles from Concord to Pownal. This is a Passport America campground. We're in site #8 - a dirt/gravel back-in that is mostly flat. We put up our portable satellite dish and it's pointing through the trees, but we are getting a signal. We have full hookups (30 amp service); the wifi service hasn't been installed yet. The library in Freeport has wifi. The last 1 1/2 miles of the road to the campground is gravel.

Hanscom AFB to Chichester & Concord, NH

We left Hanscom Famcamp this morning around 8:30 - it's only 71 miles up to Chichester, NH. We had an appointment this morning at Camping World to have our new awning installed.  We took I-95 north to I-93 to the Camping World in Chichester, NH. We arrived at Camping World at 10:30.

We did some shopping in Camping World and then drove into Concord to locate the Wal-Mart Supercenter where we're going to spend the night. We did some shopping at Home Depot and Petsmart before going back to Camping World.

At 2:30 we left Camping World with our new awning installed. We stopped at a Hess station in Concord and filled the tanks in the RV and Vue - $3.819 a gallon. Then it was on to Wal-Mart Supercenter for the night. Once we were parked at Wal-Mart, I went inside and bought a few more groceries.

When we had driven around Concord earlier today, we saw an Olive Garden and decided that we needed to treat ourselves for dinner tonight. We hitched the Vue up to the RV after we got back from Olive Garden.

Tomorrow we head for Maine.

Last Day at Hanscom AFB

This morning we took Tinker to a vet near here to have him tested for Lyme Disease. He's been on antibiotics since May 10 and he needed to be tested before we can start with the Lyme vaccine. His tests showed an elevated PH in his urine and the vet said we needed to take care of that before starting with the Lyme vaccine. We're to give him vitamin C every day to see if it will correct his PH level. She didn't seem to think that Tinker has a serious problem with the elevated PH since he's not showing any symptoms.

We spent the rest of the day preparing for our departure tomorrow.

Minute Man National Historical Park and Concord, MA

This morning we drove to the Minute Man National Historical Park. Our first stop was at the Minute Man Visitor Center. There we saw the multimedia presentation, “The Road to Revolution”, which tells of the historic events of April 19, 1775. It shows Paul Revere's ride, the battles at Lexington Green, North Bridge and along the Battle Road. There were actually 3 Midnight Riders - Paul Revere, Dr. Samuel Prescott and William Dawes. We told one of the Rangers that this was the best multimedia program that we had seen.


We stopped next at Paul Revere’s capture site. On Apr 19, 1775 at 1:30 a.m. Paul Revere was captured. William Dawes fled to Lexington and Dr. Samuel Prescott escaped and continued to Concord and beyond.


We visited the Hartwell Tavern, a 1733 historic home and tavern on the Battle Road. Ephraim and Elizabeth Hartwell owned the prosperous farm and tavern where travelers to and from Boston stopped and shared the latest news of the day.

From Concord, MA and Minute Man National Historical Park

Further on down the road we stopped to ask directions of a gentleman working in his yard and found out that the National Park Service had purchased many of the homes in the park - including his home. The National Park Service had renovated the homes and then rented them out. This gentleman was renting his old home from the Park Service. He told us that there were several vacant homes that had been renovated, but hadn't been rented.

From Concord, MA and Minute Man National Historical Park

We then went on to Concord to the North Bridge where the colonial militia was first ordered to fire on British regulars - "the shot heard 'round the world".  The first monument we saw was for the Grave of the British Soldiers. There are 2 soldiers buried there (British military records say there are 3 soldiers buried there); the third soldier is buried in Concord center.

From Concord, MA and Minute Man National Historical Park

The Minute Man statue is across the Concord River on the other side of the North Bridge. The original bridge, the "battle bridge", was torn down in 1788. The current bridge is a restoration of the last bridge built in 1956. The 1956 bridge is the fifth bridge built here since the battle.

From Concord, MA and Minute Man National Historical Park

The Minute Man statue represents a farmer who leaves his plow and picks up his musket to defend his land and liberty. The statue is the logo for the National Guard.

From Concord, MA and Minute Man National Historical Park

We then followed the path to the North Bridge Visitor Center. It is housed in the Buttrick Mansion which was built by descendants of Major John Buttrick, the colonial officer who gave the command to fire at the North Bridge. We saw a short video about the fight at the North Bridge. On April 19, 1775 3500 colonial militia men and 1700 British soldiers engaged in battle which continued all the way back to Boston along the "Battle Road". The British came to Concord to confiscate the arms supply that was hidden there.

Inside the Visitor Center we saw a cannon called "The Hancock", a rare Revolutionary War brass cannon. This was cannon was among the munitions that the British Army wanted when it came to Concord. In September 1774 some Boston Patriots stole four brass cannons that were under British Guard and smuggled the cannons out of Boston. The brass cannons and 10 iron cannons were reported to be hidden in Concord - the reason the British came to Concord. In 1843 when the Bunker Hill monument opened the "Hancock" and the "Adams" (two of the brass cannons hidden at Concord) were mounted in the upper chamber of the monument. "The Hancock" is on loan to the Minute Man National Historical park from the Bunker Hill Monument Association (the "Adams" is still at the Bunker Hill Monument).

From Concord, MA and Minute Man National Historical Park

The inscription on "The Hancock" reads:

The Hancock ~ Sacred to Liberty. ~ This is one of four cannon, which constituted the whole train of Field Artillery, possessed by the British Colonies of North America, at the commencement of the war, on the 19th of April, 1775. ~ This cannon and its fellow belonging to a number of citizens of Boston, were used in many engagements during the war. The other two, the property of the Government of Massachusetts were taken by the enemy. ~ By order of the United States in Congress assembled ~ May 19th, 1788.

We had perfect weather today and we even saw people canoing on the Concord River at the North Bridge.

Before going back to the RV we stopped at the Hanscom AFB PX and had a late lunch at the Burger King there. Then we stocked up on groceries at the Commissary since we're leaving here on Tuesday.