Freeport

Last night after dinner we drove into Freeport to see if the Bootmobile was still around.  This year is L.L. Bean’s 100th anniversary and they are celebrating all summer.  They somehow created a “Bootmobile” that looks like a signature L.L. Bean Maine Hunting Shoe on wheels! It was quite a sight to see!  I think they should outfit it as an RV, which made me think of all the times when the kids were driving me crazy and I’d say “I have so many kids I think I need to go live in a shoe!”  L.L. Bean is open 24 hours, however they are the only store in Freeport open past 6:00pm!  We got there around 7 and all but the Gifford’s Ice Cream store were shut tight!  Lucky for us all we wanted was ice cream and to shop at L.L. Bean!

Even though we went to L.L. Bean last night we returned this morning!  This time the outlet was open as well as the other touristy shops nearby.  I tried on 2 pairs of hiking boots, I’m considering replacing mine, but am not convinced they need replacing, neither of which seemed like they were something that I needed.  I looked at a new day pack, but the one I have is fine.  Ended up not buying a thing at L.L. Bean!  Amazing.  I even shared the gift card I’d gotten as a “Happy Trails” gift, with my dad!

After a morning of shopping we went to Yarmouth, which is just a few miles from Freeport to have lunch with some of Mom and Dad’s friends from Florida, Art and Charlotte.  Charlotte had a fixed us some yummy Lobstah Rolls with fresh lobstah!  YUM!!!!  They have a great townhouse right on the water and we sat and watched the tide come in as we ate! 

After lunch we ran a few quick errands – the grocery store and a search for diesel fuel (I have about 50 miles left before I’ll run out...and we were surprised that we couldn’t find any diesel in Freeport, turns out there’s a service plaza about 30 miles up the road that I can go to), Dad and I went kayaking in the Casco Bay. 

The Casco Bay has huge tides!  At high tide the bay is full of water.  At low tide, it’s a mud flat.  You can only rent the kayaks 3 hours before and after high tide.  Lucky for us high tide was a 4:30 this afternoon! We got in the kayaks at exactly high tide, so we only had 3 hours!  We kayaked about 4 miles around the bay.  We went up the Little River but there wasn’t much to see so we went out around an island that was a Osprey Sanctuary and it had a Osprey nest high in a tree.   By this time the tide was starting to go out, we could see the water level dropping on the rocks!  We paddled against the tide up to the end of the bay – it wasn’t very far, and then coasted, more or less, back to the beach.  At this point I drug my boat out of the water and tied it up so I could go for a swim.  Dad paddled around the cove a little.  The water was a bit chilly, but refreshing!  It was salt water, but it was more like swimming in a lake than a regular beach.  

After kayaking and swimming it was time for dinner.   Since I waited to leave until after my CSA pick up I have a lot of fresh veggies we’ve been eating up.  The problem is that what works for me by myself doesn’t seem to work for the three of us.  We planned dinner last night around my eggplant and when I pulled it out of the fridge I realized it was tiny and wasn’t going to be enough.  Then tonight we were going to eat the broccoli I got but it was all yellow and not good looking – it tasted ok, but was def “off” a bit.  Not sure what was up with that since the other broccoli I’d gotten was great.  I love my CSA, but I think a one person share is just that!

After dinner we took a walk around the campground.  With all the driving and doing other things my step count has fallen off – I’m shooting for 10,000 steps a day, and when I’m at home I achieve it but lately it’s been tough.  Last night before bed I paced in the RV for about 50 steps to get myself over that magic 10,000.  Even with our walk I wasn’t quite there so I walked up the road a bit on my way back to my campsite to get to 10,000! 

Tomorrow we will be driving again, heading up north to Baxter State Park, home of Mt. Kathadin, the northern terminus of the AT!