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Yesterday we woke up to SUN!! Most of this week has been pretty wet and cloudy so the sun was very welcome. Thunder showers were predicted for the afternoon but hubby and I decided to take a drive to Greenville, Maine for lunch or an early dinner, depending on the time that we finally arrived. We left home at about 9:30 AM on a leisurely drive through the countryside. While driving through Abbot Village, we decided to take the long way to Greenville—the REALLY long way—and go west for a while toward Bingham. The map shows the route of our sojourn.
Our first stop was a rest area at Wyman Lake. The skies were starting to cloud up quite a bit and the wind was really blowing but we were still seeing some sun. Wyman Lake is 13 miles long and fed by the Kennebec River as well as hydroelectric development.
Continuing our trip towards
The Forks found the clouds turning an ominous gray and the winds rising. The Forks is best known as Maine’s Mecca for whitewater rafting. This sleepy little town seemed still in the process of waking up and getting ready for the many rafters that will be arriving from all over the world. Not much happening there so we continued on.
We traveled just a few more miles when the rain started and the temperature started to drop. It dropped from 65° to 48° in a matter of minutes. The weatherman did say rain but wasn’t that supposed to be LATE afternoon. It was only 12:15 PM! This road is known for its beautiful views but here is what we saw from a scenic overlook that touted great views.
Traveling on in a pouring rain, we soon reached Jackman, another sleepy little town—ok, Maine has LOTS of sleepy little towns—it’s one of the reasons that we live here. :-) We drove through Jackman just to see if there was much change since the last time we had been here (there wasn’t) and then retraced our route for about a mile so that we could take RT 15 toward Rockwood. Driving on RT 15 is supposed to be another beautiful drive with beautiful vista’s but with the rain and haze, we were not able to see them. When we traveled about half way to Rockwood, the sky cleared and the sun came out. The temperature started to rise too. Ah weather in Maine!
We entered Rockwood and drove along with beautiful views of Mt. Kineo and the Moose River. We made our way to the landing which has really changed since we were there in earlier years. I’ve shown a photo of a Kineo shuttle boat leaving as we arrived. We passed this pretty little maroon log church that is on the way back up to RT 15 from the boat launching area and I decided that it was definitely something that I wanted to photograph so we turned around and went back. We parked next to a beautiful apple tree that was in full bloom and as I was getting out of the truck to take photo’s of the church, I realized that the tree was filled with not only blossoms, but also cedar waxwings!! Looking closer, we also saw small hummingbirds darting around the succulent blossoms. I was SO glad that we returned to take a photo of the church because we would have missed the waxwings in the apple tree.
Meanwhile, our thoughts turned back to food and we headed for Kelly’s Landing at Greenville Junction. We didn’t know it yet but there would be one more stop before we finally made it to Kelly’s. We were driving on RT 15 and spied a “flying moose”. Nope, you don’t have to go back and read that again—we really found a flying moose. Photo’s and story are below. How can anyone resist a flying moose—even with a growling stomach. 
We finally made it to Greenville Junction and Kelly’s Landingwhere we had a delicious meal of baked stuffed haddock. Kelly’s is located on the shore of Moosehead Lake and you can eat inside or out. We choose to eat inside even though the sun was still shining for the moment.
We left Kelly’s and drove through downtown Greenville and then headed home. Now the clouds were coming back in. A trip to Greenville isn’t complete until we visit the Indian Hill Trading Post so we stopped even thought the sky was looking ominous. While inside one of the sales clerks spoke of a severe storm warning for the area so we decided not to spend too much time in the store. It was time to head home!
Looking for moose is a pass-time that I never tire of. We saw two that we didn’t get a photo of earlier in the day but we did find two more as we headed out of Greenville toward Shirley. Quite honestly, it is more common NOT to see a moose in this spot. The spot is right next to the place that they keep the sand and salt for the roads in the winter.
Over the years, the salt has built up in the bog next to the garage and moose just LOVE salt so it is quite common to find one or two there just waiting to have their photo taken—the exception to this is when we have our daughter-in-law in the truck and are out looking for moose. They disappear when she is around.
Unfortunately, for this photo op, the rain was pouring out of the sky and it was lightening and thundering. These photo’s were taken from inside the truck and they are not all that good because of the rain drops falling.
We drove the last forty-five miles home in a driving thunder shower. The trip to Greenville that we originally started to take would have been approximately a 100 mile round trip. The trip that we actually did was closer to 200 miles. It was a great day though. We drove in area’s that we used to tent camp in when we were younger and saw towns that we hadn’t seen in years. We got home just as the rain stopped again. Temperatures during the day had ranged anywhere from 48° to 74°. Ah, Maine—if you don’t like the weather just wait a minute.
I hope that you have enjoyed this trip through some of the inland places in the state. Many times folks forget that there is more to Maine than the ocean and the coastline.
As we settled in for the evening, the rain showers continued off and on. At dusk the sun appeared again and we were lucky enough to witness a pretty rainbow. It just doesn’t get much better than this!!
One lucky reader will win the “Moose Watcher’s Handbook” by Bill Silliker on June 30th.
