Jared vs. the Squirrels

What a fantastic, yet funny trip we had to the easternmost part of the United States of America. The first two pictures are of our beautiful campsite. The second two are of the Lubec--the harbor, and the downtown.

Amanda and I got home last night from our trip up to Cobscook State Park--a day earlier than we planned. The reason, as curious as it may sound, was squirrels. Yes, squirrels. These little effers are not afraid of people whatsoever. You can essentially pet them. The come up on the picnic table while you eat. They walk all over your tent while you sleep. They deficate on just about everything--food, shoes, rope, tarps, water bottles, cast iron skillets, you name it. They have been spoiled by people feeding them (probably people from mass or ct saying "oh they are so cute!!). Anyway, it got to the point where we couldnt stand them crapping on everything (squirrel poop smells awful--not like cow poop or people poop) and it smears over everything--especially in the soupy, damp, fog-laden land of downeast Maine. Oh yeah . . .and they chewed three big holes in our tent while looking for food. So we had to use duct tape (we are in Maine after all) to temporarily fill the holes from the mosquitoes and the pelting seascape rain.

All that aside, we had a great time. We got to explore some of the most beautiful parts of the country, go to Canada across a bridge in the fog, talk to local "downeasta's" whom we could barely understand because of their . . . .um . . .accent/drawl/dialect (I dont know . .what is it?), and enjoy an absolutely pristine campsite (sans squirrels) that was, literally, right on the Cobscook Bay. Over the next couple of days, we will share some of our adventures, from my introduction to clamming, to our visit to Campabello Island in New Brunswick, and more.

Some of the hilights from our trip include:

FORT OBRIEN: This fort, in Machiasport, was host to the very first naval battle of the Revolutionary War (over tea, not oil) two days before the Battle of Bunker Hill, which, consequently, is Ponticekki's favorite battle, mostly because of the phallic obelisk it rendered the public centuries after. A really neat place, except for the lack of anything to look at. All that is left--the Brits burned it. Twice--are mounds of earth where artillery and cannons were kept.

ROQUE BLUFFS STATE PARK: A beautiful park in Roque Bluffs, past Machiasport. Here, we were able to do some neat hiking through some buggy bogs and rocky shoreline. A great place to see seals, but it was very very foggy. A cute old Mainer who sort of looked like Dr. Bunson Honeydew was cleaning the bathroom. Good times all around.

REVERSING FALLS NATURAL AREA: This was in Pembroke. "Cobscook," in Pasamaquady Indian language, means "boiling tides" because you have tides rushing in from the bay of Fundy (Provincetown, consquently, is called the "bay of undies") Whiting Bay, Cobscook Bay, and the Machias River. The tides around here are astronomical, literally. They rise 24 feet in an 8 hour period. In some places, the tide rises 10 feet in an hour. At Reversing Falls is where all the tides meet together and form an amazing natural whirlpool. The mothers who live on Reversing Falls love this, since the dirt from the bottom of the ocean around here all makes a nice neat pile right in the middle of the bay, which can then be picked up with the skimmer before the filter is shut off for the night.

LUBEC: The hometown of our very own Barbara Goldsmith. Amanda and I fell in love with downtown Lubec, for its traditional "downeast feel" and lack of ostentatious commercialism like one finds in other coastal places. A town very rich in its fishing tradition--salty, seasoned buildings with weathered cedar shakes, old decrepit piers with crooked footings, vintage signs for stores advertising "dry goods" and "herring smoking" that aren't so vintage after all, because those things really happened in this town, they weren't just made to be sold at "Cape Cod Crafters" (no offense Mom). Two of our favorite places were the Atlantic House coffee shop and deli, where one can sit and watch seals and harbor porpoises while drinking good coffee. If, not for the fog, that is. (The fog was on the ocean, not in the coffee, for all you misplaced modifier grammar fans). The second place we loved was "Bayside Chocolates," which I will write about more later.

We're glad to be home, sleeping on level ground, taking hot showers, and hanging out with Thomas. This trip really was "roughing it" in a lot of senses. Cobscook is a VERY secluded and almost lonely place. There is NOTHING around there, which is at the same time both beautiful and inviting, but also eerie and strange. Our camp site was SILENT, except for the sounds of tides rushing in and the squirrels hissing at me while taking refuge in a tree after I chased them with my camp axe or threw rocks at them. Beautiful drives as well. On the way there, we passed through nothingness, but on the way home yesterday, we went down the coast, through Machias, Jonesport, Beals Island, Gouldsboro, Winter and Birch Harbor, and eventually Ellsworth (right by Acadia National Park). Sorry for the long post--been away for a week, and lots to tell. Stay tuned.