Key West to Fort Kent on U.S. Route 1

We spent a couple of months in Key West last winter, arriving just before Christmas.  We headed north the last part of February.  One of the notable 'touristy' items commemorates the beginning of U.S. Route 1 going north.

At any rate we thought it was noteworthy and took a picture of the mile marker in downtown Key West.  Mile Marker 0 is at 490 Whitehead Street not far from Ernest Hemingway's old house.

We had no idea that one day we would travel to the northern most point of the highway someday, but sure enough, last week when we were up in Presque Isle, Maine, we took a day trip in search of the beginning of U. S. Route 1.

We drove from Presque Isle to Fort Kent, Maine and found a very nice display.  The city has recently redone their site and have built a well-done historical marker.

The information says it is 2,446 miles end-to-end.  New highways systems are in place these days but it generally parallels I-95.  Google maps indicates the distance is 2100 miles, so it is a little shorter than it was years ago.

Have any of our readers also been in both places?

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...

Maine - Points North: Bangor / Presque Isle - 2012

From Bar Harbor we drove to Bangor and spent a couple of days.  Then on to Presque Isle (PI) where I lived when I was 5 years old.

From Bar Harbor we drove to our campground near Bangor:  Pumpkin Patch RV Resort.  It is actually in the little town of Hermon, ME which is a couple of miles outside of Bangor.  What a great campground!

The staff was very professional, gave a very good orientation to the campground and surrounding area and then one of the guys escorted us to our 'roomy' campsite.

The whole campground was in tip top shape:  very well maintained, the sites were level and the grass and flowers were at their best. Looks like the campground could host a few rallies.  It has a couple of big tents and a nice sized room for other events.    I think some folks were staying here before heading northeast into New Brunswick, Canada.  I rated them pretty high (9) on RV Park Reviews (my #1 source of campground info).

Bangor was a nice little mountain ish type of town.  A highlight of the couple of days there was the Rascal Flats concert.  We saw about 8 of their big rig trucks at the truck stop the first night we were in town.

Then we saw the stage being set up and people starting to get ready for the show.  We opted out thought I'm sure it would have been fun.  I like their music.

During our windshield tour of the city, we stopped by Stephen King's house,

drove through the downtown area,

and went across the Penobscot River to see Freedom Park and monument dedicated to Joshua Chamberlain of Little Round Top and Civil War fame.

There was also some Underground Railroad action here during that part of our history.

From Bangor, we went directly north to Presque Isle where we lived when I was 5-8 years old.  My dad retired from the Air Force here back in 1961 before the Air Force Base was closed.  We camped at Arndt's Aroostook River Lodge and Campground.  The view across the valley was great.  I liked the campfire.

The main detractor of the campground was getting to the site on the bumpy dirt road up a steep and winding hill and the uneven / un level campsite.  But we managed and it turned out fine.  I didn't rate them so high (5).  But we knew what we were getting before we arrived because we checked out earlier comments on RV Park Reviews.

Presque Isle is a small town that is struggling with the economy.  We drove in on a Saturday and not much was going on.  We started some sight seeing and I tried to locate some places I remember:
Zippel Elementary School where I went to second grade.

Our first grade school (Gouldville Elementary) I never found.  It apparently is an administrative building of some sort.

Presque Isle High School - home of the Wildcats.  This is where my oldest brother Marty went.

Pine Street Elementary - where my brother Brad attended.

The fairgrounds.  Every August they had a carnival and I remember seeing harness racing.

And the town Little League fields next to the swimming pool.  It was here my twin brother and I learned how to pitch and catch and to switch hit.

I don't remember the homes we lived in on Judd and Turner Streets, but we drove by hoping to see something I recollected.  Nope.  Just another neighborhood.

Then out to the Air Force Base that was closed.  It is now a regional airport and some of the housing area in low income and rental.  It is always tough to go back to these places because they are in a rough state of repair than what I remembered.

Here is the house we lived in on 58 Sunset Loop.

And some of the neighborhood.  And the big back yard / common area.

We drove around the base some more and went by base operations area which is now the regional airport.

It was a fun couple of days and a bit nostalgic.  I was glad to go back and see it.  If it weren't for being a full-timer, I doubt we would ever get back here.  As with most of the rest of the country, the weather has been unseasonably warm.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...

4th of July Parade & Seafood Festival - Bar Harbor

It was a great day on the 4th of July.  We celebrated in Bar Harbor at the small hometown parade and seafood festival.  We were told to be there plenty early for the 10:00 AM start.

 And we were - Tom and Cathy and I.  We were so early we had time for a hot cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll.

We picked out a good spot and were ahead of the crowds.

They filled in the empty spots along the parade route quickly.

A little after 10:00 the grand marshall and marchers passed by us.

Then it was a steady stream of pure fun!

 These paraders were well trained:  they tossed the candy on the ground so it wouldn't hit anyone.

Then a real highlight - a group of go carts in various forms from the Shriners in Bangor.

 And marchers, political candidates, a band, a local theater group,

and more go carts - this time NASCARs

 then some older antique models

And Elvis made an appearance in a mail truck!

It was one great parade!!

After everyone cleared out we moved on up the street over to the annual seafood festival.

And to everyones favorite:  the lobster races!

There were lots of people there watching the log rolling, and checking out the booths and eating lobster.

And lobster rolls.

It was a great day in Bar Harbor for a parade and seafood festival.  Hope your 4th was a memorable one too.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...

Northeast Trip - More Days in Acadia National Forest

Bar Harbor and Acadia  National Park are about 200 miles from Kennebunkport Maine in what is know as the 'Downeast Region' of Maine.

This was one great place!  Our 8 days there were not enough time to enjoy all that it has to offer.  We will definitely be back!  Here are some more photos of what we did at Acadia NP, Bar Harbor and the surrounding area:

1. On the drive up to Cadillac Mountain overlooking Bar Harbor.

2.  Cadillac Mountain - the highest point on the eastern U. S.

3.  One afternoon we walked around Bar Harbor and went over to the park near the waterfront. 

One of two beautiful parks in town.

4. We really liked our campground and spend many evenings around the campfire.

6.  Or walking around and seeing other campsites.

7.  Another morning Tom, Cathy and I got up early (like 4:00 A.M. early) to see the sunrise on top of Cadillac Mountain.

We were not disappointed!  It was well worth it!  We were not alone -- there must have been 200 people up there with us.

8.  We also did some hiking in the park.  One morning we went on a nice 3.2 mile hike around Jordan's Pond.

I leave you today with a photo looking across Jordan Pond toward the Bubbles.

As you can see, it would be hard to run out of things to do at Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.  We didn't.  In fact stay tuned for the next edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles to see a recap one of the great small town 4th of July celebrations…

Thanks for joining us!  Until next time...

Northeast Trip - Bar Harbor Maine

We drove from Kennebunkport following our friends Tom and Cathy.

During our time in Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, I took hundreds of pictures.  I posted a lot of them on Facebook.

We arrived about mid day and had no trouble getting to our campsite at Hadley's Point Campground outside of Bar Harbor.  What a nice place!  And the price was right at $22.15/night.  We stayed 8 days and only had to pay for 7.  The free wifi was great and we enjoyed many nights around the campfire.

It is a busy campground but this is the busy season in Maine. We met some seasonal folks who are regulars here and they were very friendly and helpful.

The first thing we took advantage of was the free bus ride into Acadia National Park.  L.L.Bean underwrites the bus system through the campgrounds and into Bar Harbor and around Acadia National Park.  Pretty awesome.

Hop on and get off downtown Bar Harbor or anywhere along the route in Acadia.  Or ride the complete loop around the Mt Desert Island.

Here are some things to in Acadia National Park:

1. Visit the Hulls Cove Visitor Center.  Nice orientation on the park and plenty of great information and ideas.

2. Have a picnic at Sand Beach.  Or dip your toe into the cooold 50 degree water!

3. Hike to Thunder Hole.

4. Have afternoon tea and pop overs at Jordan Pond.

There are more pictures and times to share with you on our time in Acadia and Bar Harbor.  Stay tuned!

Thanks for joining us on this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...

Roadrunner Financials - June 2012

Roadrunner Recap
June was a particularly fun month because our travels took us to the eastern shores of Maine.  We joined up with fellow Full-timers Tom and Cathy in Boston (Hanscom FamCamp) and journeyed north along the eastern seaboard and to Bar Harbor Maine.  We had a fabulous time together. It was really a 'summer' we will remember fondly!

• Andrews FamCamp, Joint Base Andrews, MD  
• West Point FMWR Round Pond Campground, West Point NY
• Hanscom FamCamp AFB, Bedford MA
• Silver Springs Campground, Saco ME
• Hadley's Point Campground, Bar Harbor ME

Here's an interactive map of where we camped during the month. Click on the letters (waypoints) to see locations:

Or if you prefer, a static map of travels during the month:

Good News Areas We Are Under Budget
Here's a snapshot of our spending for the month:

We didn't spend any money on RV Maintenance so, we did well in that category.
We also saved a lot of money because of the military campgrounds we stayed in at MD and MA.
We had no 'One Time Costs' this month so that gave us another $200 'to the good' in that category.

Biggest Expenses

Large One Time Cost Item
The area that accounted for most of our over spending during the month was in the area of eating.  We spent a lot of money on lobster and eating out.

Monthly Average
This is the first month of our fourth year on the road.  We began in June 2009 and May - June is our 'fiscal year'.  I track the spending in calendar years but it skews it a bit since we started fulltiming in the middle of the calendar year.

We had another good month coming in almost $300 under budget with no RV or car repairs.  We need more of these months!
I have often said this is more of a tracking tool and an estimate than a budget -- this month's spending proves it.  That's what our spending looked like for the month.  Thanks for taking a peek.  Hopefully they provide help or entertainment of some sort...

If you'd like a free copy of the spreadsheet I use, drop me a note and I will be glad to send it along.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!