On my trip out this morning, I realized I'd boxed myself into a scheduling dilemma - My original intention was to leave here on Tuesday and work my way back home via Shelburne VT, Rutland VT and Glens Falls NY and arrive home on the 4th . . . . Then I found out about the Puffin trip and scheduled it for Wednesday this week - by license (more on that later), the Puffin guy can only put 15 people on the Island at a time -- and Wednesday was the first opening. So now I have to find a place to put the motor home for a couple days before moving home. I'd really like to visit and photograph Quoddy Head Lighthouse near Lubec ME. It's the most eastern point in the US and is only a hundred or so miles away from here.  Since I'm so close, why not? I could move there on Tuesday, when I was scheduled to leave here, and do the Machias Seal Island trip on Wednesday commuting from Lubec and then do the Quoddy Point Lighthouse on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning before starting back home. But . . . I'd forgotten about the 4th of July weekend. That's one of the biggest travel weekends of the year up here ( I suppose because most of the snow is gone by then). There's not a chance to get a spot in a campground close to the 4th unless I'd reserved a couple months ago.

 So my best bet is to extend for a couple days here and start home on Thursday, the 3rd.  Ok, I'm back from a short bike-ride - just a mile or two around the campground and to registration -- I extended my stay here by two nights, to leave on Thursday. If I'm lucky, I may still get a spot in the camp at Shelburne for a day or so - otherwise, it's straight home.  I'll call them Monday and find out if a stay over the weekend is possible. If so, I'll stay a few nights for the sights in that area.

Monday, 6/30/03, Day 12. I resolved my scheduling issues. I'll stay here outside Bar Harbor through Thursday morning then leave for Shelburne VT. I lucked into reservations there as I called 5 minutes after a cancellation. I'll stay there through Sunday morning then start home to PA. Today was a shopping day. I visited all the places selling Maine tourist trinkets – and there are a lot of them (trinkets and places selling them) - old lobster pots, pot floats, mooring floats, miniature lighthouse models, anything with a lighthouse on it, moose ceramics and anything with a moose on it - you name it, anything even faintly suggesting Maine! I shopped a place called Maine-ly Maine and another called the Country Store selling all this stuff right close by to the campground.

The floats are used to mark the location of lobster pots. The number on them is the registration number of the person holding the license. Each license holder has a unique color scheme for his floats so they can easily be identified when he's running his pot line. It's not unusual to see half a dozen different floats within a few yards of each other.

These are "original style" pots for sale at Maine-ly Maine. Authentic? I'm sure. Actually been underwater and caught a lobster?  Today's pots are made entirely of galvanized or plastic coated wire.

I stopped at two places selling weathervanes and copulas. I commented to the craftsman/owner of one of the shops on the number of weathervanes they had in the shop. His comment? "It's a long winter up here." I shopped an LL Bean outlet too (they think a lot more of their stuff than I do.)  I picked up a couple pair of hiking socks there - the only thing reasonably priced. There was also a stop at the State Liquor store to replenish my supplies of Scotch. Interestingly, Maine is closing all their state liquor stores - not selling them off - just closing them. If anyone wants to open a privately run liquor store, you can apply and bid on a permit. Sounds like when the big day comes there will be some kind of chaos . . .

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