Getting there

  Monday morning the wounded car goes in the shop, the parts have arrived.  Now if only there were a garage for the Congress of the United States, I just might be a tad happier.
  The Senate voted again yesterday to abandon the people they are elected to represent.  No to just the jobs section of the Presidents legislation, and no to at one half of one percent income tax on all income over one million dollars. (that would mean the millionaire would keep 99.50 of every 100.00 over a million).  Is THAT REALLY too much to ask.
  Honestly I just can't get my head around the way those people (Senate) think!  If they dislike the President there's an election in about twelve months, heck they might even get out of bed early enough to vote, other than that they're totally useless.
  "Fair" trade agreement with South Korea, Panama and Nicaragua - which means more job loss here, but no jobs for teachers or first responders.
  The Transportation bill will be considered next.  Buy some new shocks for the car.

Now we're talking

  After spending five minutes with the Insurance Adjuster, and after he sent his view of things to the Company, I got a phone call.
  The Insurance Company is happy with about 97% of the estimate I had, now all I needed to do was visit the body shop again and ask them to submit a Direction to Pay Order, oh and I need to pay my deductible first.  I went to the body shop and paid them $50.00 (only that much, it's a comprehensive claim not collision); and signed the form he filled out for Direction to Pay.
  After that I went to make arrangements to rent a car for the time ours is away for three to five days.  As luck has it a Rent-a-Wreck his not too far from the body shop so I wandered over and found out that, yes they would rent me a car and the rate adds up to about $32.00 a day when the taxes are considered.  So the insurance will repay me $20.00 a day, maybe we're getting off without a large expense, that can only be a good thing.
  But....I still feel bad for the deer, I know for a fact that she didn't have insurance. ;(

It's deer season?

This stuff is costly

  Deer season in Maine doesn't start until the 29th of this month, I got an early start.  Monday morning on my way in to Bangor and Brewer a deer ran out about 25 feet in front of me, I put the brakes on and was doing about 20-25mph when I hit her.  She was a very big doe, maybe 130 pounds, tough one too, she got up and ran off after being hit.
  I called 911 to report the accident, it was 4:15AM so I guess the call went to the State Police dispatch and not the County.  Anyway the man told me to hang up and he'd call someone and call me back - he did.  I was told as long a the car was driveable, it was, to just go do what I was doing and someone would call me at home - later.
  I went to the gym for my "little round" of workouts which include six machines that do different muscle groups, I don't use much weight on most of those, just the abdominal one.  I ride the bicycle type machine two miles first to warm up, then I walked a couple of miles; but I still felt bad for the deer.
  I had not received a call so at 1:00PM I called the Sheriffs office, they transferred me to County Dispatch and he transferred me to the State Police Dispatch, they patched me through to the Trooper and we did all of the Police end of stuff over the phone, I was given the "case number".  Still felt bad for the deer.
  I went for an estimate, didn't tell him how the car had been damaged - it just didn't come up; he looked at the car and found four little hairs, "you hit a deer" he said, and I confirmed he was right, he's been in that business for over 40 years.  The estimate was $2,834.00!
  I am still waiting for the insurance company to tell me it's okay to have it fixed, and I still feel bad for the deer. ;(

Dang!

See, I looked better a few days before.

Poland



In the 1920's this was the supreme vacation stay- The Poland Spring

  Settled in 1767 the town had an industrial/agricultural base until the "Poland Springs" were found, and marketed.
  The Poland Spring House was built in 1876, with great views of the lakes and the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and golf the inn quickly grew in popularity.  Many people famous for movies, and Broadway shows stayed in the inn.  After World War Two the era of fine resorts was over, and the inn fell silent, it burned to the ground in 1975. 
  Although the Inn is gone, the springs remain.  Who hasn't heard of Poland Spring Water, it's sold in almost every store in the country.  A lot of the water comes from other towns in Maine now, and the company itself was sold to Nestle' the water remains popular.
  Poland is a pleasant town, kind of quiet but still important for its' water and recreation offerings.  It has become a "bedroom community" for workers in Portland and Lewiston/Auburn with some new schools and for the first time in a long time a High School.

The Poland Corner School is maintained by the Historical Society

The Presidential Inn is still in use - all ready for you.

Poland is home to Range Pond State Park, it's nice we used it when we lived in the "other Maine"

Maine towns

Norway

Downtown Norway Maine

  Norway which has both Pennesseewassee Stream and the Lake of the same name was founded in the late 1700's by two men from Norway the Country.  The Pennesseewassee Stream and Little Androscoggin River provided power for the mills the men built and the Town was underway.
Home to former woolen mills and shoe factories the Town is quieter now with less people than in the "New England Glory Days" of textiles and shoes, now history.  Norway also was once the proud home to the Tubbs Company, a firm that made Norway the Snowshoe Capital of the World.  New Balance Athletic Shoes still have a factory in Norway.  The Town also was home to companies that made dowels and pegs for the furniture factories in the Carolinas, also all now gone, both the wood working mills and the furniture factories gone to China for low wages and bigger profits - none of which help the working American.
  Down from my soapbox now:  Norway has been voted as "..one of the Countries Best Places to live.", so should you be looking for a new home, Norway would be happy to host you.  It is a great place, even though I haven't been there for 30 years and the Banjo Restaurant is probably gone too, that was one of my Moms favorites.

A lake in Norway - click to enlarge, it's really big thanks to the Boston Post.

Just so you know where to go, on Maine Route 26

Maine towns.

Peru



Peru, the bridge across the Androscoggin from Mexico

  Peru, Maine was so named to honor the founding of the Country of the same name.  That seems to have happened a lot in Maine.  Peru, Maine was founded in 1821, and now has about 1500 residents.
The location is a bedroom community for mill workers in Rumford and Mexico, and some local work for teachers and town workers.
  Peru has excellent soil for farming without many rock, a rare thing in Maine a town without many rocks.  There are some parts of town with regular Maine soil and some sites where gemstones are found on great occasion, mostly Almadine Garnet.  Other places in Maine have Amethyst.

Almadine Garnet found in Peru

Worthly Pond

Worthly Pond in winter.

Up or down the road

Oquossoc lakeside

  Maine Route 17 is a fairly long road it runs from Rockland on the coast to Oquossoc near Rangeley.  We'll take a look at just a small portion from the Oquossoc end to Mexico, a very scenic ride.  I'll bet it looks pretty nice today.
  As we leave our starting point the first place we arrive is Rangeley Plantation (not the Town of Rangeley), then D Township, E Township, Byron, Roxbury and finally Mexico - so all told a fairly short stretch.  You'll find the "Height of Land" in D, as well as some small ponds.  E will yield some more fantastic scenery and a couple of streams and small ponds.  Byron is home to "Coos Canyon" on the Swift River, a must see stop.  The Canyon has been carved into the granite by water over thousands of years, the river drops quickly and when the water is high, oh my!, bring a camera.  People pan for gold in E and Byron too, some nuggets have been found over the years, it's a good way to spend some time with children.  In Roxbury you'll find the "Swift River Falls" which I can't describe because I've missed them, either with an empty stomach or a full bladder, getting older is great fun.

View from the Height of Land

Around Beaver Pond

Coos Canyon, anyone for a swim?