Re: Updates from RRadio/Scott
Reply #27 –
Here's some information on my favorite parks in Maine:
In Acadia National Park on the coast of Maine you do NOT want to camp in Blackwoods campground with a diesel pusher, even though they technically accept up to 35' coaches, My coach now bears battle scars proving how unwise that is! (laugh) Camp in Seawall campground instead if you're going to Acadia. You don't need air conditioning in Maine even in August so don't worry about the parks not having electric hookups. There's a free shuttle bus that will pick you up right at the campground and take you to Bar Harbor, where you can then get other shuttles to various places in Acadia. You'll be better off and see a lot more if you ride the bus to Otter Point, the last stop on the one way Park Loop Road, and walk back against the flow of traffic to Sand Beach, where you can get a bus back to Bar Harbor, and then a bus back to Seawall. You can flag down a bus any time you get tired of walking. There's a bus every 5 minutes on the loop road. If you drive your toad around the loop road you'll miss out on so much beautiful stuff you would have seen if you rode the bus and walked back. The Seawall bus goes into the Smuggler's Den commercial campground, which appears to be very nice although I only saw it from the bus and didn't actually camp there. I'm guessing it's wicked expensive because of the location. There is no place to park in Bar Harbor so don't even bother driving your toad down there. My toad is a motorcycle and I had problems finding a parking space. There is a little bit of RV parking but it was full every time I went past there. There is no cell phone reception at all in Blackwoods and very little in Seawall. If you walk down to the ocean and stand right on the rocks of the seawall you can get a Canadian signal with Verizon. There's a soup kitchen with free wireless internet near the Seawall entrance. It's called "Common Good Cafe" and it's in the parking lot of a motel. They're only open in the morning. You can make a donation if you want but you don't have to. From Blackwoods the nearest wireless internet is at the Seal Harbor public library, which is very beautiful but very difficult to find. There's also a jewelry store and an ice cream shop in Northeast Harbor with wireless internet. There is no free internet anywhere in Bar Harbor so don't even bother trying. Huge cruise ships pull in and hundreds of tourists get on the internet with their smart phones so there's no way you'll get a connection even if you're a paying customer at a restaurant with wifi. There is so much to see in Acadia. If you're driving all the way up there you probably already know what you're gonna see so I won't go into those details unless you guys want me to? I'm actually from Maine so I know quite a bit about the area.
One of my favorite state parks in Maine is Camden Hills state park which is right on the coast and has 30 amp power but you won't need air conditioning so it's sorta irrelevant. Another of my favorites is Lake Saint George state park in Liberty Maine on the most beautiful spring fed crystal clear lake you've ever seen. Lake St George has no power but again, you won't need air conditioning even in August so it's irrelevant. Lake St George is on route 3, which can be noisy with heavy truck traffic. This is one of the few bad points, the truck noise. Rent a canoe and paddle around Lake St George cuz it's especially beautiful. Both Camden Hills and Lake St George have wireless internet if you get a site close enough to the building with the wifi antenna. You can always walk over to the building with your laptop and sit at a picnic table if your site is too far away. The greasy seafood shack across the road from Camden Hills has the best food in town and the best ice cream, so don't bother going into town and paying even higher prices. They have weird hours though so you might want to make note of that. Bradbury Mountain state park was my least favorite state park in Maine. I doubt any of you will go there so I'm not gonna discuss it unless you want me to? It's very close to LL Bean though if you wanna go shopping there... but Freeport has RV parking available sometimes and it's walking distance to LL Bean. You can stay there overnight even. The Kittery Trading Post will also allow you to stay overnight in their parking lot if you check in with the Customer Service desk and park in an RV space. The Kittery Trading Post is similar to LL Bean. All the Maine state parks are expensive but the private RV parks are wicked expensive. Acadia's campgrounds are very reasonable. All the state and national parks in Maine have plenty of hiking trails, beautiful wildlife, and spectacular scenery. Diesel is very expensive in Maine, and in all of the northeast. The best price I found by far was at Fabian Oil, which is an oil distributor on Route 1 in Thomaston, but their diesel pump is difficult to get to and you'll probably have to disconnect your toad to do the obstacle course... but you'll save over $50 on a full tank of diesel for your trouble.
I'll discuss Shenandoah National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway tomorrow if you guys aren't bored outta yer gourd with me yet?
Topic: Updates from RRadio/Scott