Belfast, Maine to Wales, Mass.

The view from the rear window of Lady Blue looking south towards Belfast, Maine.  This was a favorite campground from back in our tent trailer days called The Moorings.

As you can see , the site backs right up to above the ocean.

Ever wonder what they do with old skiis in Maine?

This is one possibility.

Belfast is a beautiful small coastal town.  Once a bustling ship building town, it still has ship building, but has also upgraded itself to a very pleasant tourist stop.

They are still working on upgrading the waterfront with a park, a river walk, and a walking bridge you can use to cross to the other side.

This is an almost finished product of one of the boat builders at the waterfront.

You can judge the size by the worker polishing the hull towards the bow.

Probably a little too large for Jan and Bruce?

Does this guy look happy to be out in his boat?

A little smaller than the one above, but the owner couldn't be any happier.

Sean is taking us out for a ride around parts of huge Lake Sebago. We are leaving the shores of Sebago Lake State Park.  The campsite is just behind the trees.

One of the first stops is to check out an island cottage out on the lake.

Solar panels make this a little more modern, but still isolated. Could you spend a week or two here?

A nice ride up the Songo River to the locks.

This blue heron waited quite a while before he flew away when we approached.

The blue heron kept us company for a while.  Sean was showing us all the spots that he and his brothers caught fish .   He cast in a plug and had a few strong bites from some pickerel. There are some big bass, pickerel, and land locked salmon in this, the second largest lake in Maine.

We were staying at Sebago Lake State Park in Naples.  After Labor Day, the park is quiet, but the lake is even nicer in the warm fall weather.

Madison led us on a hike up Rattlesnake Mountain.
Grandma and Grandpa were a little slow on the steep parts, but we made it!!

The view from the top is great .


What do you mean? No ride down?

We have to hike down?

After the hike was a good session of apple picking, cortlands and macs.

Madison was happy to learn that making an apple pie at Grandma's Lady Blue was easy as------pie.


Tasted much better than store bought!

Lucas was very attentive as we talked on and on about our recent travels.

We explained that we were then heading in to Boston to visit with Great Aunt Barbara.

Lucky for us that Rachel was driving in to Boston the next morning.

Thank you Rachel!

One of the things we do not do is drive Lady Blue into large cities.  At least  not on purpose.

A beautiful day and we enjoyed the walk from the Seaport area to Fenway Park area to visit with Jan's sister Barbara.

This building is the site for the Boston Tea Party.

Does anyone read harbors?

Something new was the number of pianos placed around parts of the city--outdoors--for people to play.

Great idea!

This one is at the Children's Museum.

The Tea Party museum comes with its own ship.


We could hear the guide talking to his group as we passed by.

Walking up through the financial district , we arrived at the Boston Common.

This is the Park Street Church which is just down the hill from the State House.

The State House sits atop Beacon Hill.



Always an impressive building inside and out.

Even at the end of September, the roses in the Boston Gardens are still vivid.

Somehow, our roses at the old house never quite looked this good.

From the Gardens, we turn left to follow up Boylston Street. 

When we were in school----way back when---Boston was changing drastically with the building of high rises including the John Hancock Tower and the Prudential Building.  Still not completely comfortable with the diminished view of Trinity Church in the shadow of the John Hancock Tower.  I believe that the building in the reflection is the old John Hancock building. If you like architecture and old buildings, take in a service at Trinity.  The music is outstanding!   Also take a moment to go across the street to the Boston Public Library, all in Copley Square.

 Back to say goodbye and explain our travels to Lucas. 

A beautiful day means another chance for a climb , this one not far from Scott, Rachel, and Lucas's home.

Ending our visit to New England and our last stop is in Wales, Mass which is not far from Old Sturbridge Village.  This is a very rural area of Massachusetts close to the Connecticut border.

A chance to visit with Jan's sister Marsha and to do some walking in The Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary which is very close to the campground.

The Norcross family was noted for the Norcross Card Company and this piece of property is very large and well kept.  Run by a trust, there is no admission and there are quite a few employees who maintain the many acres and run the outreach education programs.

This comes under the heading of the many little known gems that exist all across this great country .

Just one of the buildings on the property.  The buildings have collections of shells, wood, stone, birds nests, and other natural exhibits.

Robert Frost anyone? 

Every time we hike in New England, we never grow tired of seeing old New England stone walls.

We see so many that are overgrown, making us imagine what kind of farm or field used to be there.

The two sisters enjoying the walk in the woods.

The colors in the campground are just a hint of the beautiful colors we will see along the route into New York.

The colors just keep on coming.  Maybe it was the perfect weather, but these colors seemed much better this year than previous years.  Also, maybe we were just catching it at the right time.

It seems such a fast two months.  We just arrived and here we are heading west again.  We will have to admit that we will always have a soft spot for New England.  Not only for precious family visits, but also for unequaled spots such as the Marginal Way, above, in Ogunquit, Maine.