Monthly Archives: October 2026

Live from Schoodic Woods

Posted on by

I’m currently sitting at a picnic table at site A29 in the “new” Schoodic Woods Campground.  In the early 2000s, a 3,200-acre tract of forest on the Schoodic Peninsula was being considered for development as a large resort with a hotel, golf course, sports facilities, and luxury villas, but in 2011, an anonymous conservation-minded buyer purchased the property through Schoodic Woods LLC.

This little bastard stole 75% of the paper trash that I’d put in my fire pit to burn tonight.

Rather than allowing the resort project to proceed, much of the land was set aside for conservation. A 1,400- to 1,500-acre portion south of Route 186 was eventually donated for inclusion in Acadia National Park, leading to the creation of Schoodic Woods Campground, which opened in September, 2015.

I arrived yesterday at noon and spent an hour or so getting the tent and fly set up.  Truth be told, the fly isn’t really set up.  I didn’t have trees in the right spots to attach it to, so I’ve got it propped up on two telescoping poles and bungie-corded to the table – but it’s doing its job, which is to keep rain off of the table (and me), although I haven’t seen any rain yet.

Had some bourbon last night and slept like a dead man after three hard days of driving.  I think I got in the sack at around 8 and I woke up just about 12 hours later.  THIS is why I go camping by myself once or twice a year.  Sleep.

After a slow morning (had a couple cups of coffee and scratched myself), I set off to see what was around me.  Walked along a bike trail to Wonsqueak Harbor and back (round trip was around 6 miles, and the harbor was quiet and not particularly photogenic) and then convinced myself to go to Winter Harbor and buy some ice, hotdogs (and buns), and a sandwich (which I ate for lunch, and it was fantastic).  I must admit that the ice was mainly for my bourbon, but it’s pulling double duty and keeping the hot dogs cold.  I may eat them for dinner tonight, or I may have them for lunch tomorrow.  Hell, I may throw them into the woods and see if bears visit me.

After eating and watching a few highlight reels from yesterday’s college football games, I went for another walk on the South Harbor Trail, which – unlike the bike trail this morning – was an actual hike.  It had more exposed roots than should be allowed, a lot of ankle-breaking rocks, steep up and down grades, etc.  Having been lulled to sleep by the morning walk, I opted not to wear my hiking boots this afternoon and did the rough hike in sneakers.  Bad plan.  My ankle now hurts.  But I enjoyed it, and it had some truly beautiful scenery.

Because Schoodic Woods is the only portion of the park that’s located on the mainland (and because it’s only 11 years old), the tourist population here is minute compared to the rest of the park.  I didn’t have to deal with a great deal of traffic getting here, and so far in my hikes I’ve seen a grand total of 4 other people on the trails.

The sites in the campground are relatively close together, but the undergrowth and abundance of trees make each site quite private.  I can *hear* other campers around me, but I can’t see them unless I try to – and I don’t try to.  Additionally, there is NPS-provided WiFi throughout the campground, which is very nice to have.  I do have a VPN active on both my phone and the tablet that I’m typing this on – no reason to take chances.

Other nice things about being in a new campground: The bathrooms are nice.  Clean, dry, don’t smell like campground bathrooms.  There are dishwashing stations outside of each bathroom.  Not a spigot that says, “Don’t wash your dishes here,” but an outside sink with a bear-proof container next to it for food scraps, and a bottle of Dawn detergent on the sink.  There are trails for foot traffic (hiking), and for bike and foot traffic (crushed gravel) – and there are a LOT of said trails.  I got in 13 miles today on just two of them.  The nearby town of Winter Harbor has devoted itself to supporting the campground, with several Maine-centric eateries, a very nice grocery/supply store, and plenty of places selling firewood.

In short, this place is a gem.  I may rethink my, “It’s gotta be Michigan” attitude for fall camping.  Michigan is *closer* to me, and my Michigan campsites are closer to the water – but this place is extremely nice, and I could see myself visiting again, perhaps somewhat regularly.

I believe this is called “South Harbor” and it was the midpoint of a 7-mile hike that I took this afternoon

Greetings from Tallwood!

Posted on by

As expected, I’m now in Maine.  Wells, Maine, to be exact.

This is not my final destination – that’d be at Schoodic Woods Campground in Acadia National Park tomorrow afternoon – but it is the place that I’m staying tonight, and I think I’m in love with my hotel.  This place has vibes from the 1960s and 70s, before every overnight stay was in a corporate hotel chain.  Tallwoods Motel is one of those places where you park directly in front of the door to your room, the room itself is about 12×15, there’s a window A/C unit, and you have to walk to the office to get ice.  I’d post some pictures now (maybe I will in the future), but I haven’t figured out yet how to link my phone’s gallery to this tablet, so you’ll just have to imagine it.

I started the day today in Winchester, VA, in one of the aforementioned hotel chains (a Sleep Inn, as I recall).  I chose it because it was the cheapest I could find in the Winchester area that didn’t give me the idea that I’d be in a crack house.  I still kinda felt like I was in a crack house.

The drive from Lawrenceville to Winchester (on Thursday) was at once boring and incredibly stressful.  Somewhere south of Boone, NC, my car screamed at me that “EyeSight” (that which is responsible for cruise control) was no longer operative.  It then flashed a series of warnings at me, telling me that my transmission was shot, that my brakes weren’t working, that my backup assist was toast, that my windshield wiper fluid was empty, and that my engine needed checking.  In short – and this is no exaggeration – every check light that could possibly come on came on.

After an initial freak out, I did not freak out.  You ask, “Why not?”  Well, because the exact same thing happened to me two years ago when I was driving to my fall vacation in Michigan.  When it happened back then, I was just south of Knoxville and – mainly because of the “transmission oil overheated” warning – I searched out the closest Subaru place and made my way to it, hoping to save my car from death.  I’m not sure why I didn’t actually have anyone check it out, but I didn’t.  I literally drove through the parking lot and continued on my way to Ohio – without cruise control, which sucked.  I did a bit of research that night and someone had said that the same thing happened to them and it was because of a rear proximity sensor and they’d cleaned it off and everything was fine.  So the next morning (this was two years ago), I wiped off all of the rear sensors, got into my car and started it, and everything was fine.

So yesterday when all this happened, I didn’t freak out (after the initial freakout).  I drove to the next rest area, went to pee, came back and wiped off the rear sensors, and started the car. 

Still had the check engine light.  Still had no Eyesight.  Still had no cruise control.

So I continued on my way to Winchester, got to the hotel, and pulled up Copilot (an AI software that wasn’t available two years ago), and told it the whole story, including what happened two years ago.  Copilot told me not to worry about it, said it was probably an intermittent electrical problem, and that it would bet that the problem would be cleared when I started the car this morning.

I felt good.  I felt confident.  I started the car this morning.

Check engine light was still on.  Still didn’t have cruise control.

So I resigned myself to driving to Maine without cruise.  Not a happy thought, but what else was I gonna do? 

After about 20 minutes on the road, I stopped for gas and thought, “Maybe it’s a vacuum thing with the gas cap and all will be well now!”  Got back into the car, started it….check engine light on, and no cruise control.  Shit.  Drove to Dunkins for some breakfast.

Came out, started the car…..everything was fine.  So…..I’m still thinking it was a gas cap thing.

At any rate, I’m really glad I had the cruise control working because the drive from Winchester to Wells absolutely sucked.  I think the blame is shared by northeastern drivers (who have no concept of a speed limit or of staying in their own lane) and by the road planners (who’ve made entering and exiting major interstate highways ridiculously hard).

But after about 10 hours, I did make it to the Tallwood Motel in Maine, and I’m happily contemplating sleeping in a tiny room with a window A/C unit while I listen to trains passing about 200 yards from my window.  Most people would hate this.  I love it.

And tomorrow? It’s on to Acadia!  Haven’t been there in 50 years, and I can’t wait!