Lewiston, ME

So we left Stu and Mary Ann's this morning and headed across New Hampshire toward Maine.  We were in the lake country of New Hampshire and it would have been really beautiful if it hadn't been raining and cold (think 50 degrees!).  Very old farmhouses and farms - each one is unique in its' own way.  We especially like the barns which are attached to the homes - not sure how you keep the odor in the barn, but maybe you just get used to it.

Again, we were on back roads and enjoying the rural atmosphere of the countryside.  One of the roads we were on had a sign - steep grade ahead.  Thought nothing of it until we got there and it was a 14% grade - that's STEEP!.  In New Hampshire, we passed through the town of Ossipee whose main claim to fame was that it was the home of the first snowmobile.  Guess every place has to be known for something.

Crossed into Maine and NH 25 changed to ME 25 - not much originality on their road numbers.  Eventually got to the Maine Turnpike (also known as I-95).  Guess we could have turned right and gone down to visit Char, but we elected to continue on to Danny's graduation.  Met up with Tom III et al for lunch at Gritty's in Auburn - across the river from Lewistown.  Fun seeing Danny again.  Tom III just recently bought a 1995 VW Rialta - kind of a cross between a Class C motor home and a van.  It's got a really neat layout - didn't say anything about it in a previous post because they wanted to surprise Danny.  There was an extremely slim chance that Danny might read the blog and that would spoil the surprise.  When we met him at lunch, he really like the RV and was already planning road trips!

After checking into the motel and getting settled, we did some Walmart shopping and then met the group at DaVinci's for dinner. 

From left to right, me, Vi, Tom III, Danny, Katie, Carolyn, Mike & Christy Keene (long-time friends of Tom and Carolyn), and Peg (Tom III's mother).

There was a ceremony later that evening when Danny was inducted into Sigma XI which is kind of a Phi Beta Kappa for science and engineering students.  There were 48 inductees and they had a nice ceremony for them.  I think Danny got the loudest ovation - the rest received just polite clapping!.

 

Tomorrow I think we're going to head down to Freeport to visit LL Bean - can't come to Maine without visiting them!