Old Orchard Beach

Thursday, June 12th – Travel Day - We took off just before 9:00 am and headed for Ilion, NY, the site of the Remington Firearms Museum. Arriving slightly before 10:00, we were just in time for a tour of the factory. We browsed the showcases next to the lobby where all the old rifles, shotguns and pistols were exhibited.


Remington Museum

They had all the old ones and all the new ones, including some examples of their custom engraved and gold inlaid models that fetch well in excess of $10,000 each. After the tour, we continued on to Westfield where we stayed at the luxurious, spacious and scenic…NOT…Wal-Mart. Tomorrow we head for Old Orchard Beach, Maine.

Friday, June 13th - We are here! Valentino, Claudia and I have successfully transited the 48 contiguous states from the lower left to the upper right! We got all snuggled in at the Powderhorn RV Park in Old Orchard Beach and then took off to see the local sights. We hit the main drag (aka “tourist trap”) and had lunch right on the beach facing the Atlantic Ocean.


Old Orchard Beach main drag


Lunch on the beach (view)

Lunch consisted of fish and chips and fried scallops followed by the obligatory ice cream cone. After lunch, we headed for the sand and plopped our toes into the ocean.


Here are my feet in the Atlantic Ocean

We then found the local Visitor’s Center, picked up a bunch of local information and headed back to the rig to sit in the sun, read and plan out the next two days.

Saturday, June 14th – Friday the 13th got me! I woke up, turned the computer on and… The message read “The User Profile Service failed the login. Translated into non-geekspeak, it plainly said “I ain’t gonna work”. #&%@*#. I went to the RV office and they recommended a computer repair shop in town. I called them, took the laptop in and got it fixed in about an hour…for $75. He explained that “somehow”, a second user named Jerry got installed into the registry and the computer didn’t know what to do. All I know is that computers have a mind of their own and they hiccup at the wrong time. (Is ANY time good?) Anyway, it got fixed and we set off for a day of sightseeing.

We headed west on highways 1, 1A and 9, heading for Kennebunkport, Ogunquit and York. The towns were just what we expected, only more beautiful…typical New England homes on curving tree-lined streets. Ogunquit, an artist colony, is particularly beautiful. The tourist season doesn’t start until next week so the streets were only slightly crowded. We stopped at every small town along the route and explored all the main drags. All the harbors had schooners, sailboats, power boats, small fishing boats and many of the typical Maine lobster boats.


Kennebunkport Harbor

Boats in Kennebunkport Harbor

We continued on until we got to York and went straight to the Cape Neddick Lobster Pound (restaurant).

View from the lobster pound

Low tide at the restaurant

I ordered a lobster roll, Claudia ordered steamed clams and we each had a cup of clam chowder. We split a “Pound” brownie ice cream sundae for dessert. Delicious! After lunch, we headed for the Cape Neddick lighthouse, known as Nubble Light. It was spectacularly beautiful!


Claudia at Nubble Light

Nubble Light

We then retraced our westward route, stopping at all the neat places we saw on the way out. Getting back to the motorhome a little after six, I turned on the computer, did a System Restore to a few days ago and, HOT DAMN…it worked…and nothing lost! Happy Days are here again! Rain is forecast for tonight and it is turning cold. Time to button up the rig and snuggle up to a cocktail.

Father’s Day, Sunday, June 15th – The rain hit at 12:40 am and was a moderate drizzle with enough noise to be peaceful. When we got up, Claudia made me some waffles with strawberries, blueberries and other fruit. It was a wonderful start to a great day. We started out and headed north toward some lighthouses. I got Father’s Day greetings along the way from the kids. We stopped at the Cape Elizabeth Light, known as “Two Lights” first

Cape Elizabeth Light

and then went on to Fort Williams. The Fort Williams Light is really beautiful and excellently preserved.

Fort Williams Light

We then jumped up on I-295 and headed for the L.L. Bean factory outlet stores at Freeport. There were three huge stores broken up by the various sports. In the camping section, we found two bandanas, a wind-up flashlight and a small camp lantern. You wind on a crank for about one minute and the LED lights burn for about an hour. After the L.L. Bean stores, we visited several other stores in the area. Freeport has been revitalized by converting all the old stores into factory outlet stores. It looks like the entire town has been re-energized. After Freeport, we headed for the DeLorme headquarters in Yarmouth. DeLorme is a mapping company that makes all kinds of maps for the entire world. They also make GPS units and many other things that contribute to navigation. There is a huge globe of the world named “Eartha” that rotates and revolves just like earth does. It weighs 5,600 pounds and has a 41-foot diameter.

Claudia and "Eartha"

That about finished the day except for dinner. We came back to Old Orchard Beach and went to a highly recommended restaurant called “The Clambake”. It was a big open building that is sort of self-serve. You go to an order window to order your food, seat yourself in the restaurant section and wait for your number to be called. We ordered a Captains Platter which consisted of haddock, clams, shrimp and scallops, all lightly breaded and fried. It was served with french fries and a salad bar. When the food arrived, we were shocked! It came on a 12” plate and was heaped to the point of overflowing. There was no way we were going to eat that much food at one sitting…and we didn’t. It was delicious but left no room for an ice cream dessert. We had to pass!
Returning to the rig, we rearranged the car, put stuff away and started to get ready to leave tomorrow. We are headed for the Cushing/Thomaston area where we are staying at the Saltwater Farm Campground for three days. We are having a ball! This place is beautiful but, according to several locals, the winters are “BRUTAL”!