Baxter State Park, Maine

Our day trip started out in Bangor in a small park across from the casino. The statue is the legendary giant woodsman, Paul Bunyon. He represents the great era in the late 1800's when Bangor was thought to be the "Lumber Capital of the World". The statue is 31 feet high and weighs 3700 pounds. There is a time capsule in the base that will be opened on Bangor's 200th anniversary.

PAUL BUNYON


From Bangor, we took a trip up to Baxter State Park. It was about 90 miles north on I-95. The day was beautiful. We were told we had a better chance to see wildlife if we went to Sandy Stream Pond. After parking the car, we took a rustic trail (meaning rocks, roots and muck) about 1/2 mile to the pond. Not entirely true, there was a long section where you walked on logs with the surface smoothed. Kind of like walking on a wide tightrope. It was well worth the trip as we saw a bull moose feeding in the water. He was enormous.

BULL MOOSE


They kick their feet around to dislodge the grasses and roots, then stick their head down in the water to feed. I counted 15 seconds while his head was in the water. They say they keep their ears out of the water so they can be alerted to danger. He was a little far away to see if that was so.



They do have good hearing though...as we watched him, he alerted and just stared at the opposite shore before we even saw the white tailed deer come into view. That moose did not stop looking at that deer until it had traveled a distance away from him.

We also saw two beavers playing in the water, but they would have looked like stones at that distance as only their heads were visible. They were fun to watch.

Yesterday we traveled south to Saco. This is a great area to be in as it is central to Kennebunkport, Old Orchard Beach, Portland Lighthouse and LL Bean. I am looking forward to a visit with friends, Debbie and Pete, this afternoon. Until next time.............