Our Last Week in Wells, Maine

Wells, Maine. Moody Beach.   High: 73  Low: 54!   Site: 309 (new section)

We have just a few days remaining of our three weeks stay in Wells, Maine. We have really enjoyed the temperatures and escaped most of the the bad heat pummeling the rest of the country. We had a couple of really hot days, around 90, but then a nice cool down came. Yay!

Sparky hiked Mt. Agamenticus, a "mountain", with some really nice RVing friends we met at one of our last RV parks at Batesville, IN, Donna and Ken Grenier. Although Wells is a coastal seafaring town with beautiful beaches, it DOES have some hiking in the area besides an abundance of walking trails, and Mt. Amenticus fits the bill. It is about 10 miles from the RV park.

Mt. Agamenticus is 692 feet high, and is known to the locals as the "Big A". It used to be a ski area in the 70's, and you can see the remnants of the ski slope equipment "buried" in the hillsides as you hike a variety of trails in and around to get to the summit. 

Before it was a ski destination, it was known to local sailors as a landmark. On a good day, it is said that you can see the skyscrapers of Boston to the south, the Presidential Range, including Mt. Washington, to the west. Today it was hazy but you had a 360 degree view to look at all the elevations of hills and mountains in the area.

The hike was listed as "moderate". It's always hard to describe a hike--how do they decide what is "moderate" anyway? Is it the elevation change? The terrain? It depends on how fit you are, how old, er, how YOUNG you are, what the terrain is like AND what are the elevation changes and how quickly do they change.  We definitely agreed that it was moderate, maybe headed towards strenuous. But Sparky is in her 70's, so someone in their fifties in great shape who is sure footed would say, "Aw, it was really pretty easy, really." We all definitely were sweating and getting some cardio in. There are several ways of getting to the top, and several different types of trails, somewhat easier than others. Our downhill trek was over LOTS of rocks and smooth boulders which would be hazardous if they were wet, say after a rain. 

Sparky's middle brother, Rich, and his wife Lisa, came for a quick weekend visit. He treated us to an AMAZING gourmet dinner at a local restaurant called Cape Arundel Inn in Kennebunkport. You have an outstanding view of the ocean and you can see President Bush's summer compound from just about any seat in the restaurant. It was VERY expensive, but the most amazing food we have ever tasted. Sparky had the Colorado beef, and Eldo had the lobster. The restaurant was so fancy, they had multiple waiters bringing the food around to each person, and telling you the ingredients for each plate, plus the waiter "crumbing" the table, scraping little crumbs off your table after each course with a little combing brush. Sparky tried not to be too messy.

(Can you tell Sparky likes her meat extra extra rare? asks Eldo.) Yep, been eating beef that way all my life. Extra, extra rare. Used to sneak raw hamburger from the family fridge, sprinkle Lawry's seasoned salt on it, a little bit of pepper and Worcestershire sauce and a little bit of onion. Steak tartar anyone? Never had any stomach problems of any kind. (Sparky! You're going to gross someone out! warns E.)  Oops, sorry! Back to the blog. How about this amazing looking lobster dinner that Eldy had?

Thank you, Rich and Lisa for a fabulous dinner, and it was wonderful to see you!

Sparky continued to regularly bike the Eastern Greenway bike trail, the section that starts from a little spur trail behind Kennebunk Elementary School, goes up over the I-95 highway on a big overpass, then into some beautiful woods for about six miles before ending in Biddeford, ME. From there the trail goes out onto the local streets which Sparky doesn't care to do. You can pick up the trail again in Saco a few miles further and it goes back off road for over 20 (?) miles  where you can ride out to the Bug Light Lighthouse in Portland. Sparky would like to do that next time! Sparky did a few doubles on the trail for 22 miles each time. The trail is excellent--no gravel, no potholes, it's pretty level. It's packed dirt and sand and is shady most of the way. Beautiful forest on both sides for most of the trail. Deer were never spotted, which was surprising, but three humongous Tom turkeys crossed the trail one day. They were beautiful!

And of course, Sparky continued to take lots of walks to the big, beautiful beaches at Wells and Ogunquit, about a mile from the park. The beaches actually were crowded the last week, with lots of families getting in quality time before school starts, which is after Labor Day. Water temperature has been consistently about 68 degrees most days. Br-r-r-r-r...The Thousand Trails Moody Beach RV park provides a shuttle daily to and from Footbridge Beach, a really nice beach, for 2.50 round trip. That's a really nice amenity for a Thousand Trails park!

Ogunquit Beach

With that, we say goodbye to Wells, Maine in a couple of days. Next, we head back to Pennsylvania to a previous Thousand Trails park we have stayed in before, as we work our way back to the midwest....Take care of yourselves, stay healthy, and we will see you on the road next time.....