Week In Maine

[romap]

We just returned from a week in southern Maine and thought I'd comment on the experience.

We stayed at Wells Beach Resort and were impressed with the place. The roadways are paved, the sites level with hard packed gravel pads, and the WES connections were located properly and in good order. The free WiFi had a strong connection from within the trailer which was a good distance from the hot spot. The 30 amp service had the best voltage and consistancy I have seen. Every morning workers were raking unused sites of pine needles and tree debris keeping the place spotless. There was a security person roaming about who was friendly and everyone staying there was friendly too. Cable TV was also free but we didn't use it as our new 20" HDTV was picking up enough HD channels over the air to satisfy our limited viewing time.

The weather was typical seacoast Maine which meant different than predicted. There was a persistant low pressure area south of Nova Scotia that backed up providing cloudy cold, sometimes showery, sometimes drizzly unsettled conditions. The worst part was that the ocean was angry with 4 - 6' waves which caused cancellation of all deep sea fishing and whale watching tours. We did get out for a boat tour of Casco Bay (Portland) and barely experienced the ocean waves as we approached Portland Head Light. Powerful stuff! Another weather related thing was the pollen. Everything got coated in green dust - it at times lookes like smoke in the air. I have to wash my green Airstream today.

A couple of restaurants I can recommend are Jackies Too in Perkins Cove and Billy's Chowder House in Wells.

Towing was fine. Smooth, no sway and uneventfull with lots of people gawking at the Airstream. The Titan, which some say is not enough truck did fine as usual with plenty of control, power and braking ability. It delivered 10.3 mpg of special (only needs regular). Price for Mobil special in ME and NH was $3.19, unlike at home in NY where it is $3.39.

Everything about the Airstream was fine except for the sometimes weird behavior of the water heater. Lighting it for the first time takes several attempts, thereafter it lights as needed just fine. At times the flame makes a loud rumbling noise, but is mostly quiet. There are no nests or webs in the air tube/orifice and I have tried adjusting the air sleeve with no change in results. Anyone have ideas about this?

We used the heat pump for the first time ever and were impressed with it's operation. It kept us cozy warm on those 50 degree raw nights.

As a final note; Almost home, boarding the Grand Isle Ferry which crosses Lake Champlain, my son who was following towing SOB overheard a bunch of bikers that were returning from Laconia Bike Week. They were all commenting about the "Beautiful Airstream". It made my day to hear that!

Overall it was a wonderful trip!

[BDandTTs]

Thanks for the trip report, Ron. Sorry about the fishing.

Unfortunately, I think you'll find that the grass has grown significantly up here in the north country ... the showers and cool weather stayed to the south and east, we've had perfect weather.

[Taxman]

Romap,

Thanks for the Wells Beach Resort report. We'll keep that one in mind if/when we head to the Maine Coast.

We are going to Lewiston/Auburn for the hot air balloon festival and then up to Great Pond for a week. We'll rent a car to sightsee (no toad, on purpose).

Question: What brand 20" HDTV do you own? Are you happy with it? We are shopping for a 20" flat screen HDTV, and woiuld welcome some tips.

FReegards,

FRank

[thecatsandi]

I can tell you what I ahve and I am happy with it. Last Fall I moved my Factory 19" SOny fro mthe living room to the bedroom. Nice size for the bedroom. I purchased a 23" Sony Bravia as a replacement. The extra 4 inch diagonal gave me 40% more screen space. You may want to go for the extra 3 inches.

[romap]

Frank,

It is a Toshiba, relatively new model 20HL67. In the few weeks that I have had it, it has performed excellently. I went with the 20" because of weight and width. It was a replacement for a Sharp 13" LCD and I wanted to use the same articulated mount without re-locating it and drilling new holes, etc. Anything larger that the 20" would have either hit the valence or stuck out beyond the wall it is mounted on.

Dianne, yes the grass did grow. Had to mow it this morning!!