Maine

This is the bridge between mainland Maine and Deer Isle.  We were on our way to Stonington for the view and dinner.

Stonington, Maine is a beautiful harbor town.

It is a major port for fine fresh seafood.  The refrigerated semi trucks were rolling onto the docks and loading at night.  I could imagine them pulling up to the back door of a very fine restaurant in New York or Boston to unload.

Maine in autumn, lobster boats, and fall color.

Fort Knox, in Bucksport, Maine dates to 1844, to guard against the British.   

My father built this house, and I lived in it when I was about four years old.

The water in a nearby stream made endless patterns.

Wave crashing against the granite of Schoodic Point at sunset.

The vast ocean horizon.

My mother, at sunset, on Little Moose Island.

Maine Coast in Rain and Fog

The day I picked to visit the Atlantic Ocean was a rainy, foggy, wet and cold day.  This made the rocks slippery, the colors vibrant, and the experience brief.

A few more from Maine

To finish up my series of posts of photos from our Maine vacation, I'll share these last few images. We fly into Bangor, and nearby is the Orono Bog, which we have visited in a few different seasons now. This time we were fortunate to see the Sundew, a carnivorous plant with sticky droplets on the end of hairs that cover each leaf. An insect can get trapped, stuck by the droplet, and the leaf slowly folds around the insect and digests it.

This Spruce Grouse kept a watchful eye on us as we passed. Her chicks were feeding nearby.

There were numerous types of orchid in bloom.

On another hike we found this saprophyte, Indian Pipes.

Maine can be thick with biting flies of many kinds, but we were not too bothered on this visit. I photographed this fly which seemed determined to hover in one spot.

This Canada Lily was in a botanical garden we visited.

Near the ocean we found Cedar Waxwings.

And a Common Yellowthroat.

This Belted Kingfisher sat on a wire, watching the creek below for any signs of fish.

An Osprey was gathering material to patch a nest.

We walked a short trail to Sand Beach in Corea. Sandy beaches are rare in that part of Maine. The ocean currents tend to take all the fine material southward, leaving the rocky cliffs and cobblestones.

The wild rose was in bloom.

This Black-throated Green Warbler visited us at Frasier Point, a part of Acadia National Park that gave us an opportunity to explore tide pools.

Oregon vacation: Shore Acres

Cyndi, Jennifer and I all went together to Shore Acres. It's an arboretum and botanical garden set on a high cliff above one of the most spectacular shorelines I've ever witnessed. (Not as nice as the Atlantic Ocean, where I grew up, of course ... but quite good for the Pacific.) Here is a pond at the arboretum ... just on the far side is a wonderful view of the ocean!

This Black Phoebe was foraging for insects.

Here's the view of a sandy beach from high on the rocky headland. It looks like there may be a cave on the south side.

We walked down to the sandy beach. The sedimentary geology was uplifted at a 45-degree angle.

Here's a close view of that rock jutting into the sea at such an angle.

It almost seemed like there was a basalt layer in there, as I was reminded of the pillow lava from the edge of the sea in Hawaii.

The waves were crashing in, creating that soothing rhythmic heartbeat, and the warm sun on a 70-degree day was a delightful relief from the hot summer back home in Idaho.

My sister Jennifer explored the cave and proclaimed it went further into the darkness than the eye could see.

OK, this one is just a nice portrait of my best sister ever. (Thanks for driving over to the ocean to meet us and help celebrate my birthday, Jennifer!)

At sunset, after Jennifer headed homeward to her work obligations, Cyndi and I returned to the overlook and walked along the trail on the headlands. Do you see the small figures, two people on the next promontory? It is difficult to convey the scale of this scene, but the people help.

At low tide the kelp were exposed. Cyndi saw some Black Oystercatchers, but I didn't get a photo this time.

The warm evening light highlighted the strange geology.

The park closes just after sunset, and here it is, the great ball of the sun sinking into the offshore fog.

Sea Otter

Hey, look at these tiny footprints in the sand. Who could have made them?

Let's go jump in the waves and play in the surf.