Biddeford Motel

Along the way:

Heading to Portland, Maine (to visit Tom, Denise & Foster) we drove from Milton, through the Lewiston border crossing (N of Niagara Falls), through New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and finally into Maine, an 11 hour drive. Surprisingly, there are no orchards or farms east of the Niagara River – it's all bush.

Portland, Maine, United States jimcabay

Along the way:

Heading to Portland, Maine (to visit Tom, Denise & Foster) we drove from Milton, through the Lewiston border crossing (N of Niagara Falls), through New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and finally into Maine, an 11 hour drive. Surprisingly, there are no orchards or farms east of the Niagara River – it's all bush.

Portland, Maine, United States jimcabay

... our travels with you through this blog and hope it goes successfully. One of our audiences will be Sophie and Isabelle's classes...."hello fellow classmates/teachers". We hope to bring to this blog our personal experiences and reactions as well as some history and educational value. The girls would also like to challenge the classes with periodic questions about our destination to see if the classes can come up with the answers.

... in the city. From small mom and pop boutiques to outstanding malls, Portland has the upper hand on upscale shopping. You will definitely see your share of dazzling jewelry and fine art, and there is no better place to see it than in the fabulous museums and art galleries. The Portland Museum of Art and the Bayview Gallery are two of the premier establishments in town, and the equally delightful Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Company and Museum is always a treat. You can ...

... so decided just to snoop around Wells. Wells is a beach community with a small harbour, lots of tacky tourist shops, antique shops and some lovely summer homes. Our snooping did not take long.......we decided to spend the rest of the rainy day inside reading and watching TV.
The next day the weather had improved so we headed inland in a northerly direction. Our destination was Alfred and Sabbathday Lake where a Shaker Community ...

... had no idea there were so many! but you can only see them by boat, and turns out maine has the longest coastline of any of the 50 states (i'm pretty sure this is what chris told me). some islands have lots of houses on them, plus a few stores, maybe a school. some kids have to take a ferry to the mainland for school in portland. but some islands are privately owned and have only 1 or 2 houses on them. if maine wasn't ...

... pictures from the top. The biodesiel train ride was really neat too, at one point it is actually pointed up at a 37 degree angle. When you stand up on the train you have to lean so far forward so you don’t fall over. Amazing views and a nice relaxing way to get to the top of the mountain!

Continue to check back as we will update this travelblog as we go places. We have a weekend of basketball planned for November in Providence and a trip to Germany over Christmas vacation!

... we didn't make the half dozen stops we made on the way up it only took about an hour and 45 minutes so not too bad.

Maine was really nice. The people are extraordinarily nice and friendly. You really get a sense of the core decency of our country when you visit a place like this. As we've mentioned earlier, you see flags on many homes and businesses as you drive into a village. Everything feels safe and we heard several people tell us that they never bother ...

... 8217;s Mum, as it was her birthday today. (Happy Birthday Mum!) During the conversation there was the most almighty noise as a flight of military helicopters flew overhead at just above treetop level in a scene reminiscent of that of the helicopter attack in the film "Apocalypse Now". Mum wondered what on earth was going on!

Once we had finished our call it was back in the bus and back down the road to ...

... somewhat hungry, and I am now comfortably resting (after 10 hours of sleep and a bowl of homemade clam chowder) in a cottage on the coast of Maine. I'm happy to have begun this adventure. Dan and I spent the afternoon kayaking through a tide pool and going over last minute packing lists (though we don't leave until Saturday.) I've begun A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and am almost finished with the ...