Thursday, July 21
We left at about 9:30 and arrived at about 1:00 hrs. We missed our turn into Schoolhouse Road and had to turn around. This campground was tiny and built into a hillside. The office was full of different types of golf frisbees. We had to parallel park our trailer between two other trailers, but we had enough room.
We decided to try to find an Urgent Care in the vicinity to take X-rays of Lisa’s knees and possibly provide her with a knee brace. The closest one we found was ConvenientMD Urgent Care in Augusta, about an hour away. We took off through the countryside, which was full of rural lake communities.
We arrived at about 3:30, and they could take care of us immediately. It was a relatively new facility that was well-staffed with friendly and helpful people.
We drove back on a different route that took us through the Seven Lakes Region, a much more touristy area.
We got back to the camper at about 6 pm.
Friday, July 22
We took off at 9:41 am to see some attractions in the area.
Rumsford
After passing a large paper company, we stopped at Bovin Park in Rumford, where we saw some man-made falls and a hydroelectric plant. They also had a large chair, Babe Ruth, and Big Blue.
World Traveler Sign Post
Behind the signpost, the homeowner had a yard of statuary and other fun objects.
World’s Largest Telephone
We then drove to Bryant Pond to see a 14-foot old-fashioned candlestick phone. In 1983, the last hand-cranked phone system in the United States was converted to direct dial. This monument commemorates that day.
Mexico
As we drove through the town of Mexico, we saw some full-size plastic cows and a rhino on the side of the road. We never learned their significance.
Coos Canyon Rest Area
Our next stop was Coos Canyon along Route 17 and the Swift River in Byron. This scenic stop is a 500-yard gorge with various places to swim and climb on rocks. Cars were parked alongside the road for its entire length, and many people were in the gorge because it was a beautiful day for swimming. There was a 15-foot waterfall, which was best seen from a small bridge over the gorge. I liked climbing around on the rocks.
Height of Land
We continued up Route 17, we arrived at the Height of Land. This was an incredible overlook on the Appalachian Mountain ridgeline which gave us an expansive look at the sprawling Rangeley Lakes region and the White Mountains beyond.
The Rangely Lakes Heritage Trust has conserved most of the area that can be seen from the viewpoint to ensure the spectacular vista is preserved forever. Several staff members were actually at the overlook, proactively asking those who stopped if there were any questions. Though they were not asking for support or passing out information about the Trust, I am sure they were there to give it name recognition.
We continued down the Rangely Lake Scenic Byway and its beautiful views which followed Route 17 down the mountain and then Route 4 around Rangely Lake.
Smiling Tree
We then headed back toward our campground and drove by a stump carved into a smiling, waving tree, with woodland creatures peeping out of knotholes and a hobbit door near Farmington.
When the tree was alive, hard hats were nailed to it as a memorial for dead loggers. As a reminder, a few hard hats were left at the top of the stump.
Wire Bridge
We next drove over to the Old Wire Bridge, a wire suspension bridge spanning the Carrabassett River near New Portland. This bridge was completed in 1866, and the tower’s framing timbers and main support cables are the original materials. The span between towers, which are covered with cedar shingles, is 198 feet. We decided not to drive over the bridge but found a painted rock to take us to a new location.
Robbins Hill Scenic Overlook
As we drove toward the Robbins Hill Scenic Overlook, we crossed the Carrabassett River in New Portland.
And then Kennebec River near Solon.
We finally arrived at the Robbins Hill Scenic Overlook, where we stopped to admire the fantastic views westward across the upper Kennebec River Valley and the High Peaks Region. The overlook also marked the southernmost end of the Old Canada Road National Scenic Byway.
Bernard Langlais Sculptures
We then continued on to Skowhegan to see the Bernard Langlais Sculptures there.
Bernard Langlais (1921-1977) was a student and a teacher at the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture and became known for his impressionistic folk-art style and oversized sculptures made from scrap wood and found objects.
The 62-foot Skowhegan Indian sculpture was erected in 1969 and dedicated to “the Maine Indians, the first people to use these lands in peaceful ways.” The horse-like sculpture next to it was called Playground Group, ca. 1972.
There are 21 pieces by Bernard Langlais scattered around Skowhegan, but these were the only two we had sought.
Bigelow Brewing Company
It was around 5 pm, so we looked online for a nearby brewery and chose the Bigelow Brewing Company. The brewery was out in the country, nestled in a wooded area. When we arrived, people set up chairs around a gazebo for an outdoor concert, so we brought our camp chairs over. They had a very nice outdoor area with several picnic tables, and we both enjoyed their wood carvings and beer key fountains. They had a nice indoor tavern with a bar, but it was empty except for those ordering at the bar. They also had a large pizza oven outside where they made and sold pizza.
The band was not very good, but it was a beautiful evening, and the beer was good, so we had a good time. The owner even came around and introduced himself to us.
We got back to the camper around 8 pm.
Saturday, July 23
It rained all night and into the early hours of the morning. When we left the camper to go exploring around 10:30 am, the rain was only spotty.
Old Fort Western
We drove over to Augusta to check out Old Fort Western. Fort Western is a former British colonial outpost on the Kennebec River built in 1754 during the French and Indian War. Its main building is the original element of the fort to survive. It was restored in 1920 and depicts its original use as a trading post.
When we first arrived, we walked around the fort’s outside wall, which looked like a picket fence made of logs. There was a lot of spacing between the pickets so we could look inside the fort. Because the admission into the fort was $15, we both decided that we had not seen enough inside the fort to entice us to pay.
We also walked along the river and admired the grey Romanesque Revival building on the other side. I learned later it was formally a Federal building that was completed in 1890 and is now occupied by the Post Office.
First Amendment Museum
We then went to the First Amendment Museum in a historic house just a block from the Maine Capitol building. The museum was created to educate and inspire the US to “Live Our Freedoms” by understanding and using our First Amendment rights to advance democracy so that all reap the benefits. The museum was tiny and had small galleries in each room with art or posters about our four First Amendment rights: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, the right to assemble peaceably, and the right to petition our government. It was good at challenging our thoughts without pushing an agenda. It could have used more contemporary examples, but overall, it was a perfect stop.
World Traveler Road Sign
We left Augusta and stopped at another World Traveler Road sign near China.
Many of these hamlets acquired their international-sounding names in the late 1700s and early 1800s as Maine residents sought to honor people fighting for independence. Denmark, Maine, was named in solidarity with a British naval attack on Copenhagen in 1807. Mexico, Peru, and Maine got their names to celebrate those countries’ separation from Spain. An outlier is Norway, Maine, which was a clerical error. The town had been registered as either Norwich or Norage but was mistakenly recorded by the provincial government of Massachusetts as Norway in 1797.
Manson Park
We next traveled to Pittsfield, Maine looking for the world’s largest skillet that was supposed to be located there in Manson Park. After we arrived and were unable to find it, I looked at the internet again and discovered that it is only displayed during an annual festival.
We found some picnic tables near the Sebasticook River, where we ate lunch and had a view.
The Ice Cream Shoppe
It was around 4:30 when we headed back to Farmington and stopped at the Ice Cream Shoppe for some ice cream.
Splash n Dash Car Wash
When returning to the camper, we stopped by the Splash N Dash car wash. We were back at the camper around 5:30, and I had to scrap the bugs that the car wash did not remove from the grill.
Sunday, July 24
We packed up the camper and left around 9:45 am and headed toward St Johnsbury, VT.