Yup…another one of those double towns that started off way back when with a slightly inland and protected town with a separate port area…then the port area became a resort kinda place.

We took our time the other day getting ready to leave Kennebunkport and then Red Apple Campground…although our next destination at Shore Hills Campground in Boothbay ME told us that we could check in anytime after 0800…since it was not even 100 miles there. We discovered on the way…again…that the maps in your GPS up here in the northeast are…well, less than fully satisfactory. We basically came up the freeway aways then got off onto US-1 and them ME-27…but rather than turn directly onto ME-27 the RV GPS tried to take us on a couple of other roads for maybe 4 miles total around the intersection of the two highways. The first one wasn’t too bad…but then we got to where we were supposed to turn onto Dodge Road. Connie turned right as did Neil…and immediately we saw on Middle Road a sign that said 6 Ton Weight Limit. So Neil stopped about halfway around the turn and sent Connie ahead to scout the 2 miles or so of road back to ME-27. She came back and reported that it looked fine, no bridges that were marked and no height issues…but they decided that discretion was the better part of valor as one would say. So Connie parked and helped him back ‘round back onto Dodge Road heading back the way we had come in so we could return to US-1 and then turn on ME-27 directly where it seemed like we shoulda done in the first place. We made it back out just fine and proceeded down to Boothbay 5 miles or so then pulled into Shore Hills where we quickly got checked in and backed into site 146 for our 5 day stay. We have a nice view out the back of the rig to the woods and are out in the open where satellite visibility is fine.

On Saturday we decided to head down to Boothbay Harbor to take a looksee ‘round the place…Connie’s mom and dad lived here at 10 West Street back in the late ‘40s and her older sister Cindy remembers the town…her dad worked at Marine Services which we passed as we drove around the town.

First stop was the Historical Society where we looked at a bunch of old photos of the town back in the late 1800s to early 1900s…then we headed on down to the harbor to catch the views.

Lobstah boat.

Our Lady Queen of Peace church where Connie’s sister had her First Communion and where both her parents as well as we attended Mass.

Lobstah trap storage…there are numerous traps out throughout the harbor…the white buoys are mooring buoys for boats but the smaller orange and black ones mark pots. There’s some sort of system for identifying and ‘owning’ a particular territory for lobstermen but I don’t know any of the details. This is the inner harbor section looking roughly southeast.

About 90 degrees to the right from the above is the outer harbor area with the entrance just out of frame to the left. This lobstermen is coming back from his bow area…as he headed out we heard a clunk and he stopped and backed away from the trap storage float you can see…dunno how he managed to run into it, guess he was texting instead of paying attention to where he was going.

Another 90 degrees to the right from the above shot we spotted this small harbor cottage being rehabilitated.

Sunday we headed down to Mass then after a couple of hours of lazing around headed out to our next Lobstah Roll establishment…this is Red’s Eats up in Wiscasset about 8 miles north of Shore Hills. Again…and as per usual…it was pretty good, we took notes and there will be a grand Lobstah Roll Eat-off post later on.

Here’s a shot of a lobstah roll from their menu…I’ll get a better actual photo for ya at one of our stops…we keep fergetting to get one.

Today (Monday) and tomorrow it’s supposed to rain a lot and it’s only in the mid 50s…so we are just staying home today and making some crock pot pulled pork…then tomorrow when it’s a little better forecast we’ll head off for our last roll before moving on and to get some groceries. Wednesday we’re off to Eastport ME which is as far up the coast as you can go before crossing the border…after 2 nights there we’ll cross the border at Calais ME/St. Stephen NB and spend the weekend at St. John before heading on into Canuckistan for the net couple of months.

Interesting things found on the net.

First up…not a picture but a link to an article Neil found quite interesting…How Identity Politics is Harming the Sciences.

Now this article was written by a conservative…but Ms. Macdonald is not your typical tea partier…she’s a right of center political commentator who has consistently pointed out that talk radio criticism of President Obama was overdone and unnecessary. No matter her politics though…the article cites several instances when political correctness run amuck has and is continuing to damage the educational system’s ability to turn out properly trained scientists in the interest of achieving diversity. Frankly…we’ve been concerned ‘round our household for years that although diversity is probably inherently a good thing achieving it by admitting marginal candidates and then lowering standards for graduation is probably not a good thing. Changing testing methodologies in mathematics or science so getting the correct answer is not the way to advance anything…and changing from using the MCAT (a test similar to the GRE for determining readiness and qualification for medical school admission) to using a “holistic approach” is no way either. Anyways…go read the article if you’ve a mind to…I don’t want to get too far down into the weeds as this ain’t really a political blog…no sireee…it’s a Fun Stuff© blog.

I kinda like this guy in Milwaukee…

Our friend Adrienne sent us this one.

Truth.

Darn those Japanese train drivers.

There’s actually a lot of truth to that last one. Subways and trains are the primary means of transportation in Japan…train stations are as common as bus stops and taxi stands here in the US of A…and the trains run on a specific timetable that is typically followed to the second…if it’s supposed to stop in a staton for 35 seconds then they’ve done a time/motion study and determined that 35 seconds is the most efficient length of that stop. The doors close when it’s time…and they don’t open and close repeatedly as they do here in our country with continuous announcements to “please stand clear of the doors”. Japanese commuters are polite enough to just wait for the next train if necessary…no worries as it will be along in 3 or 4 minutes anyway. The trains there are incredibly crowded…if you’ve ever been on the DC Metro or the T in Boston at rush hour those trains would only be moderately full compared to most Japanese trains. They have people pusher station agents…uniform, a hat like a marching band member would have, white gloves, and a padded 2×4 piece of lumber to physically push the crowds onto the train with polite apologies for doing so so that the train can leave on time. If you’re on the train…you need to get up and start moving to the door 2 stops before you want to get off or else you’re probably not going to be able to get there while the doors are open. It seems like a madhouse initially…but after you’ve been on a couple of dozen trains you realize they have the most efficient people moving system in the world.

Real world example…while Neil was there years ago he took the train from Yokusuka up to Yokahama to see the Yomiuri Giants (the NY Yankees of Japanese baseball) play…the stadium seated probably 40,000 people and was pretty full…but there are no parking lots to be found…rather there’s a train station right across the street with a normal schedule of a 3 car train every 8 or 9 minutes. However…the JNR knows pretty much when the game will be over…so 5 minutes after the last out just about the time the platform starts to get full…a 6 car train pulls in for 40 seconds then leaves…followed by another 6 car train every 2 minutes for the next 12 or 14 minutes…and the entire crowd of 40,000 people are just gone. Amazing I tell ya. And the trains are the cleanest train cars you’ve ever seen…but then just about the entire country is as clean as Disney World.

Huh?

More truth.

Cyas.