Bill found us a campground right off the Penobscot River about 40 or so minutes away from Baxter State Park, which is where Mt. Katahdin resides. Maine state parks are EXPENSIVE for out of staters--they tack on a $10/night charge for non-residents, and if you reserve in advance, you can tack on another $5/night for that. Oh, and then you pay the 9% resort tax. Yowza. All that for non-electric (and vault toilets). Man, I miss the Southwest for affordability in so many campgrounds. The Northeast has been bad for us financially. So beautiful, though. This shot was taken on the river as Bill and I were canoeing. We also got use of the kayak, which was new to all of us except Bill. The kids got a huge kick out of it.
Pine Grove Campground has electric sites, flush toilets, hot showers, and use of the canoes and kayaks for $30/night plus the 9% tax. Camping fees are hard to swallow sometimes, but the amenities are good, so we're at least using what we've paid for. The kids were simply dying to use the kayak. Something new, I guess. They were all pretty good at it, too. We stayed out a lot of the morning, but then the heat got to us. It's been close to 90 F lately, and about 90% humidity. BLECH. We've really been spoiled in CO with such low humidity there. And the bugs here are atrocious. We're not having as many difficulties with black flies like we were warned, but the mosquitos are a nightmare. And I've started seeing deer flies. I react very strongly to deer flies. K got bitten by one and then informed me that she can understand why I dislike them so much. We're using a ton of bug spray, I've got punk sticks we light. Still being eaten alive. The top of my foot has some enormous bites on it. Someone needs to explain to me the beneficial aspects of these biting insects.
J loved being independent in the water. I was impressed with how easily he took to it, too. So much fun to be out on the water like that. We decided to visit the new national monument up here--Katahdin Woods and Water. Except that it's so new, there's nothing really established. Oh, and the locals have some malcontent over a national park there, so we didn't see much. We did get to see a view of Mt. Katahdin, though. We kept driving to a place out near Baxter State Park. They have height restrictions that we don't meet inside the park, so we didn't get over there. I'm going to touch the AT out this way, though, just to say I did. Even if I don't get to climb Mt. Katahdin.
No comments:
Post a Comment