Moosehead Lake

Yup, we are still in Maine. We left the coast for a few days to visit the North Woods of Maine. I had never visited this part of Maine of before. On the way, another stop at LLBean in Bangor to return a couple bathing suits revealed that I had apparently never bought them before and thus could not return them without being arrested for shoplifting. It could be the clerk was confused but I opted against arguing and kept the bathing suits.

Bangor is pretty small but has the usual offerings of home goods, TJmax, Home Depot,etc etc…. Mexico odds and end”s needs could be for the most part fulfilled(with a few Amazon orders sent to Maris).

Our first clue that we were going to a remote spot was the loss of phone service a couple hours before we got there and about 2-3 hours on single lane roads. We realized after arriving at our cute cabin on the shore of the lake that we were an hour’s drive from the closest grocery store or restaurant.

While the lake was pretty, I think it was the incredibly dense forest coupled with the ponds and streams that made it beautiful.

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Due to car trouble in Acadia they had upgraded us to a BMW. Given that only the main road was paved, with all other roads being dirt, we stuck out like a sore thumb. Clearly a 49er face mask was not the right choice either. Coupled with needing some wifi or cell connections to take care of Mexico issues, we were slightly limited in our explorations. Getting to trails often required 20 or more miles on dirt roads.

While texting with my stepbrother, I learned he had spent many summers at a family home in the area. In the pouring rain, we found his old stomping grounds and visited the Indian Store (his favorite store–which may have been because it was the only one then). At the store, I enjoyed meeting a high school junior who was enthusiastically putting together an independent study class so that she could get a in a third year of Spanish. I suspect french is more common here, given the town’s location just 36 miles from the Canadian border.

We thought we might be hearing wolves, but glad when our friends back home advised us it was loons. We tried to find a moose but no luck. (The lake is named moose head because it looks like one–a moose head that is) . We missed the 47th fly in by a one day —hundreds of float planes land on the lake. We are not sure why. Next time…..

Definitely beautiful and serene–in that Alaska kind of way, but our advice is bring food, 4 wheel drive and consider a quick trip to Quebec City. Oh, and don’t forget the bisquik. Bisquik is very handy up here…pancakes, chicken pot pie, apple cobbler etc. Now off to Surry, Maine…. a farm converted to an air bnb and music arts center.

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Surprisingly it was not that cold