2020 - TEXAS TO NEW ENGLAND AND BACK

NEW ENGLAND JAUNT

Preamble

My fall schedule over recent years has had me helping out at the Newport Boat Show (Rhode Island) in mid-September and the Annapolis Boat Show in mid-October, from where I typically head on south.

With both of these boat shows cancelled this year due to Covid, it seemed like a good opportunity to sneak up to northeast New England for a few days to see if I could find early signs of fall foliage.

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Sunday, October 4, 2020 – Westbrook, CT, to KOA Rochester, ME

Plenty of last-minute fiddling – including setting up new TPMS sensors – before getting on the road at 12:30pm for this short trip up through New England in search of fall foliage, making a brief stop for groceries in Old Saybrook before getting onto I-95 and then north up I-395.

One traffic delay for construction but otherwise an uneventful 4-hour drive up to the southern tip of Maine, briefly in New Hampshire, where there were three road tolls over a fairly short distance.

Overnight campground - part of the KOA campground chain, as are all the campgrounds on this short trip - located out in the woods, very scenic, large, offering lots of summer “activities” (not being pursued at this time of year and with kids back at school), lots of permanent residents.

Initially allocated a site in the campground about as far away as you could get. After some gentle moaning observations about this, given my brief overnight stay, got moved to a site close by and where, fortunately, I was in reach of the limited WiFi offered at the office.

Decently large and level site, despite a tight entrance (this picture taken early next morning).

After 6 years of RVing, plugging directly into campground power sources without issue, I've now invested in a surge protector (designed to cut off power to the Airstream in the case of power surges or voltage drops) so I plugged the surge protector into a campground power pedestal for the first time...

Good cable TV signal, though limited channels, finally finding the Sunday Night Football game, with the first half watched before turning in.

Monday, October 5, 2020 – KOA Rochester, ME, to KOA Durham, ME

Slept fairly late, due to both the increasingly dark fall mornings and the surrounding tree cover.

Decided to head out for a run in the cool morning conditions, given that it wasn’t raining – as earlier forecasts had suggested it would be – and as the route was “fairly flat” according to Google Maps.

In the end, a number of short hills – not much in a vehicle but enough to tax my legs and lungs.

Usual post-run routine, though a welcome change to be showering in the Airstream again rather than walking down to marina bathrooms, pulling out of the campground at 10:30am to head to Nubble Lighthouse via coffee and a UPS store.

Coffee rather challenging - a roadside Dunkin Donuts with only drive-thru (no good with the Airstream in tow), an independent local coffee shop in York closed, and then finally a local place found with an excellent breakfast sandwich, so I guess not a bad outcome, other than the delay and frustration.

Drove along touristy York beach seafront and on through the rather small residential streets (at least, with the F-150 and Airstream rig) out to Nubble Lighthouse...

...where it was a challenge to find a place to stop as the parking lot was practically full, even though it’s not the weekend or a holiday, and set up for cars not 40'-long rigs but I finally found tucked in along the access road.

Enjoyed 10 minutes of bracing sea air while photographing Nubble Lighthouse, the sun fortunately shining strongly.

Took the scenic Route 1 drive north (the same original US east coast road that passes the office in Westbrook, a couple of hundred miles south and continues all the way to Key West), stopping in Portland to visit a UPS store to send off a blown-up mountain bike rear shock, and then in Yarmouth for a walk to a theoretically scenic riverside mill, which didn’t match expectations - so no photo here!

Pulled into a campground near Durham at 4:00pm, got set up in the campsite, put on some laundry and managed to find the Monday Night Football game via the Airstream OTA TV antenna (no cable at the campsite).

Spoiled myself with a bottle of Guinness to celebrate my earlier morning run (from which I felt weary all day), compensate for my coffee frustration, in relief at getting laundry done and the joy of finding the football game.

Tuesday, October 6, 2020 – KOA Durham, ME, to KOA Bucksport, ME

Quiet in the campground overnight, and a cloudy start to the day - again meaning no early wake-up stimuli.

Eventually up at 7:00am, a little desk work before and after breakfast, heading out of the campground around 10:00am having filled the freshwater tank and visiting the dump station on the way out.

Stopped in nearby Brunswick for a coffee to save the hassle of brewing up in the Airstream, then headed on up Route 1, turning south after Damariscotta to run down to Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, the clouds gradually giving way to blue skies on the approach to the shoreline, so that conditions were great for photography – other than the usual difficulty of people wandering into shot.

Rock formations at Permaquid Point very interesting, with strong directional striations in grey rock, mixed in with more solid quartz.

Spent and hour taking pictures and wandering around before having a bite of lunch and then heading back north onto Route 1, pausing next in Camden – heavy with traffic and tourists.

Despite the overcast conditions, took the short auto trail at Camden Hills State Park up to Mt Battie for the view down over Camden and to the islands offshore. If only the full sun from earlier in the day had been lighting up the view...

Final drive, with a stop for gas, took around an hour, pulling into the KOA campground just outside Bucksport at 5:00pm – office closed, paperwork hanging outside, campground fairly deserted, pull-thru site not entirely level, no cable TV.

Wednesday, October 7, 2020 – KOA Bucksport, ME, to KOA Skowhegan, ME

With a fairly short drive, an unexceptional day ahead, longer driving days and colder temps forecast for tomorrow, and particularly Friday, I decided to head out for a run.

Somewhat hilly route (again) but it seemed a little easier than Monday’s run, maybe as that was following two days of strenuous mountain bike riding.

Out of the campground at 10:00am, heading into nearby Ellsworth and another frustrating search for coffee, with no parking near a couple of independent coffee shops and two DD outlets with no lobby service. So took matters into my own hands and brewed up in the Airstream.

Stopped in Bangor for a photo of the outsized statue of folkloric lumberjack Paul Bunyan, and then for a grocery top-up, including a couple of local beer brands to sample.

All the second-rate cars in the country must be in Maine, judging by the number of local garages I see on the road, even outnumbering churches.

Had lunch before getting back on the road again for a final hour’s drive to Canaan (near Skowhegan), arriving and setting up in the campsite just in time to beat the rain showers that were forecast.

Called my mountain bike store to hear the bad news on my blown up mountain bike rear shock, which has to go out to the manufacturer’s service location for repair and won’t be back until the end of next week. So I’ll be continuing to pound the pavement for exercise for the immediate future.

Thursday, October 8, 2020 – KOA Skowhegan, ME, to KOA Twin Mountain, NH

A stiff breeze started blowing in the middle of the night and kept up throughout the day – out of the west so on the nose for much of the day’s drive.

Spent some time doing a little research into potential coffee stops on the way, partly to check out independent shops that get good ratings locally, but mainly to save the delay of brewing up on the road... although yet again this plan was frustrated. I duly tracked down the target coffee shop in Wilton - and with parking right outside, too - only to find it closed.

So a little back-tracking to a Dunkin Donuts attached to a gas station, with inside service for once!

Clear skies at the start of the day, so some welcome brightness in the foliage that had turned.

Some of the tree-covered hillsides now beginning to look more multi-colored and attractive – at least when the sun would break through the clouds.

One interesting consequence of the clouds scudding so fast in the stiff breeze was the rapid but intermittent lighting up of trees along the roadside, giving the effect of a kaleidoscope as I drove down the highway...

In due course, Mount Washington appeared on the horizon – the highest point in the northeast US and the place where the strongest (non-hurricane) surface winds on earth have been recorded, at 231mph.

The auto road up Mt Washington is a popular drive, with views over multiple states from the summit.

But with the top of the mountain covered in cloud (where temperatures were below freezing, with snow on the ground, and winds were blowing 60-80 with gusts up to 100), a rough schedule to keep and the Airstream in tow this wasn’t really a consideration - the closest I got being a lunchtime stop a parking area beside a stream at the start of the auto road.

A pleasant drive south down the east side of Mt Washington, through the surrounding White Mountains, before creeping slowly through a heavily trafficked North Cowan – a surprisingly touristy spot, and apparently something of a winter sports center judging from the kind of stores lining the road.

Many of the roads from this point of the drive onward followed the course of mountain rivers, which clearly receive heavy flooding during spring thaw judging by the profusion of rounded boulders lining the riverbeds.

After crawling through Conway, turned off the main road onto the Kancamagus Highway, which would have been wonderfully attractive in full sunshine as the mountainsides were now covered in trees whose leaves had turned.

But cloud cover now rather persistent – no break in the clouds even after a 15-minute wait to try to get a more brightly lit and attractive photo of a roadside barn at Passaconaway Cemetery.

A little further on, towards the western end of the winding Kancamagus Highway, a little brightness in the sky was evident to the north, though it was still largely cloudy over my head.

Shortly thereafter turned north off the Kancamagus Highway for the final leg of the day’s drive, partly up I-93, the only Interstate I’ve ever driven that was a single lane, but cutting through some impressive parts of the White Mountains which very closely resembled Yosemite National Park.

Rather crummy “deluxe” campsite, not level and right beside the highway with trucks either grinding up the hill or using their loud jake brakes on the way down.

Friday, October 9, 2020 – KOA Twin Mountain, NH, to Westbrook, CT

Cold, with temperatures dropping below freezing from the early hours onwards.

Ran the propane heater a couple of times during the night, partly to warm the interior of the Airstream but mostly to ensure the tanks stayed above freezing – the propane heater in the Airstream blows warm air into the sealed underfloor tank area as well as the interior.

Fortunately, yesterday’s stiff breeze had settled, so it actually wasn’t too uncomfortable breaking camp – including filling the freshwater tank and dumping and rinsing the black tank, as after today the Airstream will be stationary again in Westbrook for a while.

Out of the campground around 9:15am for a long and meandering day’s drive, the early morning clouds now gone and bright blue skies promised for the balance of the day, which will hopefully make the fall foliage colors pop.

Having driven through Mexico yesterday, today’s route would include Bethlehem and Peru... so much global representation in the USA!

Stopped mid-morning for a photo opportunity in the small town of Lyme, NH, and decided to brew coffee there rather than face the parking challenge ahead in Hanover – a wise decision confirmed by heavy traffic passing through there a short while later, where I crossed the Connecticut River into Vermont.

Although most New England states are happy to be part of an extended “bubble”, lifting any Coronavirus restrictions for local inter-state travel, Vermont insists on quarantine for visitors who’ve been in any New England county with more than 400 cases per million, detailed on a regional map on the Vermont.gov website.

The message seems to be: “Welcome to Vermont. Don’t touch anything while you’re here!”.

However, Vermont did offer scenic driving routes – winding up and down, following mountain streams and rivers - and good fall foliage colors with some particularly attractive vistas over small lakes in the Green Mountains.

By mid-afternoon I was drifting a little behind schedule, so cut a final scenic drive short and headed onto I-91 at Brattleboro in southern Vermont for the final 125 miles of the day’s 300 mile drive back down to Westbrook, arriving in the gathering gloom just before 7:00pm.

But here I am, back in the exact spot I left 5 days ago, my fall foliage trip over in the blink of an eye.

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