The rain came down, but thankfully the flood didn’t go up.  Last night it was the constant pitter patter of rain on the roof, which I admit I sort of like, as it puts me to sleep.  Today dawned windy, plenty of sunshine, and patchy clouds overhead.  A perfect day – if only I was fit enough to travel.  There may be some things worse than a back ache, yes, I know there are, but this is getting ridiculous.   I believe I know what brought this latest episode on, thus I will be a bit more careful in the future.  Ah well, in time I’m sure this too will pass.  Just have to hang in there a bit longer.

Today was spent just allowing myself to heal one more day. Tomorrow off to the chiropractor and then a couple of more days and I should be fit as a fiddle.  I know this, I’m not going to sit around and do nothing much longer.  There are maintenance items that need to be addressed and there are a number of places we still want to see before we leave here.

OK, let’s go back again to Friday and the last place that we visited that day.  Remember the old saying there is always room for ice cream?  So off we went to the world famous Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory for a factory tour and hopefully some fun taste tasting.

This was the first sign that we were on the right track and almost there.

A quick turn into the driveway, up the hill, around the corner and there we where!  This is a picture of the factory minus, of course, lots of people.

So up the walkway to the factory and store itself.

And this is what it looked like the day we were there.  Oh yea, Friday, tourist season was in full swing!  We sort of forgot about that.

One of the first things that I noticed inside was this neat display of ice cream scoops.

But do you know who invented the ice cream scoop and why?  Here’s the scoop on this invention.  Alfred L. Cralle was an African American who worked as a porter at a drugstore and at a hotel. While working at the hotel, he developed the idea of the ice cream scoop.  It came to him when he noticed ice cream servers having difficulty trying to get the popular confection desired by the customer into the cone they were usually holding. The ice cream tended to stick to spoons and ladles, usually requiring the server to use two hands and at least two separate implements to serve customers.

Cralle responded to that problem by creating a mechanical device now known as the ice cream scoop. He applied for and received a patent on February 2, 1897. The thirty-year-old was granted U.S. Patent #576395.

Cralle’s invention, originally called an Ice Cream Mold and Disher, was designed to be able to keep ice cream and other foods from sticking. It was easy to operate with one hand. Since the Mold and Disher was strong and durable, effective, and inexpensive, it could be constructed in almost any desired shape, such as cone or a mound, with no delicate parts that could break or malfunction.  So now we all know.

Time now for the real reason for our visit – besides eating ice cream – the factory tour.

Tours start every 10 minutes and there were crowds waiting each and every time.  In due time it was our turn and off we went.  First, it was the Ben and Jerry’s Movie Theater to learn a bit about the company and how it got started.

We learned that It all started with a guy named Ben and a guy named Jerry. The year was 1978, and the guys decided they wanted to start a company. They briefly considered bagels, but the equipment was too expensive.  With a $5 correspondence course in ice cream-making from Penn State and a $12,000 investment ($4,000 of it borrowed) on May 15, 1978 the two guys opened an ice cream shop in a converted gas station in Vermont.

As the story goes, they only rented one bay and the office, the adjoining bay was occupied by a local farmer who sold his produce next to the guys selling ice cream.  I wonder who helped who in terms of bringing in the crowds?  Back then, the ice cream was made in a four-and-a-half gallon White Mountain rock-salt and ice freezer.   A far cry from how it is made today as we shall discover in a minute.  From those humble beginnings we learn that today Ben & Jerry’s products are distributed nationwide and around-the-globe in supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, restaurants, cinemas and other ice-cream-friendly venues.

Next, we were taken for a through the window tour of the factory and an overview of how their ice cream is made.  We learned that it all starts, of course, with the cow. Not just one, but tens of thousands of them – from the hundreds of local farms that sell their raw milk to the St. Albans Cooperative Creamery in St. Albans, Vermont. At the Co-op , the milk is separated into heavy cream and condensed skim milk, then shipped by tanker truck to their St. Albans and Waterbury Vermont factories.

When the trucks arrive at the factory, the milk and cream are pumped into four

6,000-gallon storage silos, and kept cool at 36 degrees until they’re ready to convert them into Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and frozen yogurt.

Next is the blend tank. In the overall ice cream production scheme of things, making the mix is perhaps the most important part of the whole process. A very skilled and

experienced person known as the Mix Master performs mix-making procedures at the Blend Tank, a 1000-gallon stainless steel mega-blender. A batch of ice cream mix starts with heavy cream, condensed skim milk, and liquid cane sugar. To these ingredients the Mix Master also adds egg yolks, cocoa powder for the chocolate flavors, and natural stabilizers which help prevent heat shock and formation of ice crystals.

After ice cream mix is blended, it’s ready to be pasteurized and homogenized. Pasteurization is the process of heating the mix in order to kill harmful bacteria. The Pasteurizer is made up of a series of very thin stainless steel tubes and plates.

Hot water (182 degrees) flows on one side of the plates, and as cold mix (36 degrees)  is pumped through on the other side of the plates, heat from the hot water is transferred to the mix, heating it to 180 degrees.

Before the mix has a chance to cool down, it enters the Homogenizer. There, the mix is

forced under high pressure (about 2000 lbs. per square inch) through a very small opening so that the fat particles from the cream are so finely divided and emulsified that they do not separate from the rest of the mix.

The cooled mix is then pumped over to the Tank Room (a 36-degree room with six 5000-gallon mix storage tanks), where it’s held for 4 to 8 hours to allow the ingredients to intermingle (it’s kinda like simmering a sauce or allowing a fine wine to breathe).

Once the mix has “simmered,” it’s pumped from the Tank Room to the Flavor Vats: a  series of stainless steel vats that each hold 500 gallons of mix. It’s here that they add an

incredible range of flavorings, purees & extracts, like vanilla, pure peppermint, fruit extracts, banana puree, and even a few liqueurs from time to time.

Once the proper amount of flavoring is added, the mix is pumped to the Freezer. The freezers at the Waterbury plant uses liquid ammonia as a freezing agent (40 degrees below zero) and can freeze over 700 gallons of mix per hour.

Here’s how it works: the mix is pumped through a long, freezing cold cylinder known as the barrel. As the mix freezes to the wall of the barrel it is scraped away by revolving blades. When it gets to the front of the barrel it’s no longer mix – it’s ice cream!

After freezing the mix to a nice and creamy 22 degrees, it’s decision time –  if they’re just making chunkless flavors, like Vanilla or Chocolate, the ice cream is pumped directly to the pint-filling machinery, but if they’re making chunky flavors, the ice cream takes a turn through the Chunk Feeder.

Quite simply, the Chunk Feeder “feeds” chunks into the ice cream stream. Chunks are top-loaded into the Chunk Feeder hopper, at the bottom of which an auger regulates a steady chunk-flow into a star-wheel. As the star-wheel turns, it pushes the chunks into the stream of frozen ice cream flowing through the feeder. The be-chunked ice cream finally passes through a special blender attachment, which mixes the chunks throughout the stream of ice cream, ensuring an even ”chunk dispersal”.

After the chunks and the swirls are added,  the ice cream’s ready for dispensing into pint containers. This is done with a most amazing piece of machinery called the Automatic Filler. Not only does the Automatic Filler fill about 120 pints a minute, but it also performs pre-filling tasks, like dropping pint-cups two-by-two into perfect position so the filler-head can fill them.

In addition, after the cups are filled, the filler further facilitates them towards the lidder, which properly positions & pushes pint lids snugly on the cups.  Finally, a nifty pint-cup lifter frees the pints from the lidder, where a little lever waits to push them out and away on a conveyor belt to the next step in the process.

Before the packaged ice cream can be stored or shipped, it needs to be frozen further – from its semi-frozen temperature of 22 degrees above zero, to a fully-frozen-solid state of at least 10 degrees below zero. The process is called “hardening,” and it happens in the Spiral Hardener.

The actual temperature in the Spiral Hardening Tunnel is 30 degrees below zero, but huge fans blowing in the tunnel create a wind-chill temperature measuring 60 degrees below zero. In this totally polar environment, the pints travel up the slowly spiraling conveyor for three hours, and when they reach the top, their temperature has dropped from 22 degrees above zero (soft-serve consistency) to 10 degrees below zero (fully-frozen-solid consistency!)

After the pints are frozen solid they are wrapped for shipment.  First, an invertor flips every other pint upside down, and a freezer worker ensures that 8 pints (2 parallel rows of 4 pints, with every other pint inverted) are properly assembled to enter the Bundler

The Bundler is a heat-tunnel which shrink-wraps plastic around the bundle of 8 pints. The bundled 8-pack is called a “sleeve,” and each sleeve equals a gallon of ice cream. Freezer workers stack the sleeves on shipping pallets which are then stored in our 20-below-zero warehouse to await shipment.

Then it’s away it goes.  Ben & Jerry’s products are distributed nationwide and around-the-globe in supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, restaurants, cinemas and other ice-cream-friendly venues.

One more stop in the tour and that was the taste tasting room.  Oh yea, this is the stop we all were waiting for.  I don’t believe a one of us was disappointed in the sample we received.  Absolutely delicious!

So that was how our day ended on Friday.  It was a wonderful day of travel and discovery and one we hope to repeat before the week is out.  Oh one silly fun fact, we discovered that the capital of Vermont which is Montpelier is the only state capital in the United States that does not and will not allow a McDonald’s franchise within city bounds.  Now how about that!

Though we’ve hit a small bump on the road of retirement in terms of my back, we know that this too shall pass.  Before long we’ll be out and about and enjoying the world that God has created and discovering new places and seeing new sights.

We hope that your week is off to a fantastic start and that you too are enjoying each day that God gives you to live.  A closing thought now for each of us to ponder:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

Today is another so-so weather day.  Overcast skies, some rain, and temperatures no higher than the mid 60’s.  We’re not really looking forward to moving further West into the heart of the heat that we’ve been hearing about but so be it.  Given the weather and the current state of my back, we’re going to stay put today and probably for the next couple of days.

We finally finished up the mini series The Adventures of Swiss Family Robinson.  By 11 pm last night, we still had several more episodes to go so we called it a night and picked

 

up where we left off this morning.  What’s amazing is the fact that most campgrounds discourage those in the park from using their WiFi for streaming movies.  Yet, here they encourage it.  So we’re going to be streaming movies until we leave.

Let’s go back a couple of days now and get caught up on what we visited on Friday.  We’ve already covered The Vermont Teddy Bear Company so let’s go now to The Lake Champlain Chocolate Company in Shelburne, Vermont.

Once parked we made our way to the front door.

And then we got ready for the through the window factory tour. During the tour we got

a direct view of the factory floor as our tour guide explained the company’s history, the cacao-to-chocolate process, and what typically happens in the factory. The tour incorporates a slide show of images, props to pass around, a chocolate tasting, a short factory video, and, oh yea, a final chocolate sampling.  Delicious.

Our guide for the tour was Patty, a former college professor, and substitute kindergarten teacher.

.

She started out by sharing with us that Lake Champlain Chocolate began in 1983 in the kitchen of the Ice House Restaurant, owned by Jim Lampman in Burlington, Vermont.

At the holidays, Jim would buy fancy chocolates to give out to his staff. Until one Christmas, when his pastry chef confessed what he really thought of those chocolates. “All right, then you do better!” Jim replied. The result was a batch of hand-rolled truffles so smooth and creamy, so deep in pure chocolate flavor — after just one bite, Jim knew they were onto something. Within a year the restaurant was sold, Lake Champlain Chocolates was born, and a new era in American chocolate had begun.

At the start, Jim’s idea was to sell the truffles wholesale to just a few specialty stores. Tucked away in a tiny alley behind Floyd’s lawnmower service, the store was sort of difficult to find. And yet, there came a constant knocking at the door — chocolate lovers who had tracked the company down in search of truffles!

In 1998, a proper factory of 24,000 square-feet was built on Pine Street in Shelburne.  This is where they still make all their chocolates today. Lake Champlain Chocolates are now in 2,000 specialty stores across the US and through mail order and internet sales they continue to grow.

These are pictures of the actual factory floor at the facility on Pine Street.

 

Where you might ask are all the employees?  Since this is the slow season, Patty explained, that they were given a three-day weekend.

As to how chocolate is actually made?  Chocolate begins with the cacao tree which grows within 20° north and south of the Equator and thrives on a mix of hot temperatures, rain, and shade.  Each tree bears oval fruits, or pods, which are about 5–12 inches long. Each pod contains 30–50 seeds, and it’s these seeds the world knows as cacao (or cocoa) beans.

From the cacao tree, the steps to an actual bar of chocolate are many and varied.  They include

• Harvesting – Cacao pods are ripe when they turn a vibrant yellow/orange color. Hanging from the trunk and largest branches on small stems, the ripening pods are typically harvested twice per year
• Fermentation – this occurs in one of two ways: the “heap method” is popular in Africa, where beans are heaped in piles on the ground; and in Latin America, a system of cascading boxes is favored. In both methods, beans are covered with banana leaves. During the 2–9 days of fermentation, beans begin to take on color and some of the flavors you would recognize as “chocolate.”
• Drying & Shipping – Fermented beans must be carefully dried. They are placed either on wooden boards or bamboo mats for anywhere from 7 to 14 days under the hot sun and are continually raked and turned over for consistent drying. Once dried, the beans are graded, packed into sacks, bundled, and checked for quality. They are then shipped and traded on the international mark
• Producing Chocolate – Once received by the processor, beans are cleaned, then roasted at low temperatures to develop flavor. Shells are separated from the nibs (the “meat” of the bean) by a process called winnowing. Nibs are finely ground into cocoa mass
• Conching – this is a careful process of rolling, kneading, heating, and aeration. A conche is a large agitator that stirs and smooths the mixture under heat. This is an important step in the process of producing consistent, pure, and delicious gourmet chocolate— and it is here that the final aroma and flavor are defined

• Tempering – The chocolate is now finished and ready for final processing. It is now put into small blocks ready to be delivered to companies around the world. Of course, the chocolate doesn’t stay in this form. Around the world, chocolatiers, bakers, chefs, and pastry experts use this highly versatile, delicious food in countless applications and preparations, from simple to elaborate.

That was our day at The Lake Champlain Chocolate Company.  Perhaps the best part was, of course, the samples.  Absolutely delicious!  We enjoyed every minute of our time there and every bite of every sample.

Overall, our day was a quiet one.  Time to rest, nap, read a book, finish our mini series and not much more.  Not that I’m complaining one bit.  A few more days like this and perhaps, just perhaps, I’ll be back in tip-top shape physically.  At least that’s my hope and prayer.

As the day now comes to a close, let me share a closing thought for all of us to ponder:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

Yesterday we ranged far and wide, or was it many, many miles to the north and then to the south. We got a start on the attractions in this area visiting The Vermont Teddy Bear Company and Lake Champlain Chocolate. We left in the early morning and came back early in the evening.  It was a great day but, unfortunately, it ended with my back acting up to the point that I couldn’t sit for more than five minutes at a time.  Hence, no blog last night.  Since I’m a bit better today, I’ll get back to writing.  In addition, today we have a bit of nasty weather, rain showers off and on giving us further reason to just stay hunkered down.

So yesterday we headed north.  Barbara had put together a day’s itinerary and was willing to drive, so off we went with me relaxing in the navigator’s seat.  We couldn’t have asked for a better day, bright blue and sunny skies, and reasonable temperatures.   Two things we forgot to take into account, it was Friday, and tourist season was now in full force – show you what we meant a bit later.

We first went to Shelburne, Vermont and that special place for children of all ages, The Vermont Teddy Bear Company.

This is a picture of the factory as you drive up.

This is the picture of the entrance sign aside the parking lot with Barbara and Benny smiling for us.

This is the outside walkway leading to the front door.

Then you are bearly in the front door and you are greeted by Mr. Bear

 

There is, of course, the usual gift shop.

These two bears, Ma and Pa, are relaxing after a long drive in the RV. The only thing missing is the afternoon glass of wine!

Regarding the company’s belief this is what they state:  . . . The Vermont Teddy Bear Company believes that showing how much you care simply and directly can make the world a better place . . .

As to where the name teddy bear comes from this sign tells the story.

 

Then the highlight of our visit, the factory tour

Our guide for this tour was a young man by the name of Jamie.

Regarding the history of the company.  In 1981, John Sortino was playing with his son Graham and his collection of teddy bears. Surprised to see that every one of his son’s bears wore a tag identifying it as foreign made, Sortino was inspired to bring this American tradition back to its roots by handcrafting bears right here.  His first bears, Bearcho, Buffy, Bearazar, and Fuzzy Wuzzy, were made in his wife’s sewing room

and sold mostly to friends. By 1983, Sortino began to sell his bears from a peddler’s cart at an open-air market in Burlington, Vermont. It took four days to sell his first bear and a year to sell through 200. Today the company builds 750 bears a day.  No two bears are exactly alike.

Their busiest time of year is as they state

The company’s tremendous growth started with a simple suggestion by an early customer.  A tourist visiting Burlington wanted a bear, but she wanted it mailed to her home. That gave Sortino the idea to package a teddy bear and add delivery service and other extras to go along with it. The Bear-Gram® concept was born.  Today, the Bear-Gram gift remains constant. Each includes a customized Vermont Teddy Bear dressed to suit a special life event, occasion or holiday, and optional embroidery service. The bear is placed in a colorful gift box complete with air hole and is enclosed with a personalized greeting and candy treat.  The company is the largest seller of teddy bears by mail order and internet

On with the tour.  Our first stop is the cutting room were the pieces are made for the bears.  There is a cutting table were several layers of fur are placed on the table at one

time then a form is placed on the material, and using immense air pressure the pieces are cut. The Teddy Bears’ fur is flame-resistant and machine-washable.

 

There are a total of 20 pieces needed for each individual bear.

Once the pieces are cut they go next to the sewing room.  This is a picture

of the floor itself.  Here are some pictures of those that were working there the day we visited.  The company employs about 170 year-round workers.  Other temporary workers are hired during the busiest times of the year.

Once the pieces are stitched together they move to the stuffing room.

After each bear is stuffed it is weighed to make sure each has the right amount of stuffing. Cut, stitched, and stuffed, the bears are groomed and then prepared for shipping.

Jamie then explained that there is constant development going on to find the next new bear

Each year bears are made and auctioned off for charity.  This bear raised $7000 for their favorite charity, Burlington’s Make a Wish Foundation, last year.

The tour finished it was time to head to other attractions which we will share with you

tomorrow – those being the Champlain Chocolate Company and Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream.

Now, time to meet another of God’s beautiful people, Todd the barber.  We both were in desperate need of haircuts, Barbara, because of the fuss I used to make in the past swore she would never cut mine again, and, of course, I have no idea how to cut hers.  Trying to find a barber, though, is like trying to find someone in the New England area who knows what a chili dog is!  Barbara, though, is always up to the challenge.  This is who she found on our way home.  Todd has been a barber for 31 years always working for someone else

but just 3 weeks ago decided to start his own barber shop.  We could not have asked for a nicer gentleman nor a better barber.  A side note, we also found out that his wife will be running again for state senate coming this August.  Last time she lost by only one vote

so she has high hopes for a victory this year.

That was in part our day yesterday.  I wanted so bad to do the blog last night but my back was not going to cooperate.  Hence, it had to be put off to today.  Yes, I’m better, but still have a long way to go.  But, though, at times the pain gets to an awful high level but I’m trying not to complain.  This is the first real bump we’ve hit since we began traveling full-time and I’m not about to let it derail us.  In time, we’ll find a permanent answer to this pesky little problem.

By the way, we found an answer to no TV.  Streaming.  We’ve been on the camp WiFi watching the complete series of The Adventures of Swiss Family Robinson.  Problem is, we’re hooked and can’t stop now until we come to the end – however long that might be!

Time now to say good night.  The rain continues to fall steadily now and night will soon be upon us.  The day has been a good one.  I’ve allowed myself time to rest and, hopefully, begin to heal. I’m sure the process is going to be a long one but even the longest journey begins with just the first small step.  Till tomorrow a closing thought for each of us to ponder:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

What a wonderful day to wake up to.  A bright blue sky and plenty of sunshine.  Time for that first cup of coffee and then we’ll check and see what is going on in the world today.  However, I must say, I’m not sure I really want to know nor need to know.  In our little corner of the world, all is good right now and we are just enjoying life.

Today is maintenance day so a little later I’ll pull out my two to three page check list and begin working through it.  In this way I hope to keep on top of things and spot anything that might become a problem before it does.  Another added benefit is I just enjoy doing it.

We’re going to share with you several things today.  First, we’ll finish up the Maine Sculpture Trail and share with you the final sculptures that we were able to find.  There were a total of 34 sculptures along a 200 mile route and we were able to ultimately find and take pictures of 24 of them.  Once we got started on this project, it sort of took on a life of its own and we enjoyed the challenge of trying to find them.  Who determined where they would be placed is a mystery but suffice to say some of them were really in obscure locations.

We’re also going to talk about the LIttle Mermaid and The Lee House for Veterans.  And then we’ll finish with a bit of the weird and wacky roadside attractions that we discovered during our stay in Maine.

Let’s get started.  The Maine Sculpture Trail and the end of the road.  The first of the last batch is located in Addison and is titled Spirit of the Marsh.  The artist who created it is Lise Becu from Maine. The artist states:

I created this sculpture to be a peaceful and benevolent presence. It will be placed at the edge of the beautiful marsh that inspired it. I chose the great blue heron as my subject because I like the symbolism: skill and patience, going with the flow. I also like that the Iroquois people considered it an omen of good luck..

The next one is located in Harrington and is titled Time and Tide.  The artist who created it is Roy Patterson from Maine. The artist states:

 

I have always collected pebbles at the seashore. Many are perfect little sculptures–the ocean’s lesson on how to work stone.  On the rocky coast of Downeast Maine, this lesson is presented on a monumental scale. Here, nature creates wonderful contrasts between rough and smooth stones that are often cracked and fitted together. I have tried to capture something of this quality in Time and Tide.

The next one is located in Jonesport and is titled Connection.  The artist who created it is Kyoung Uk Min from South Korea. The artist states in a poem:

 

I would like to sculpt as I am, with sincerity. I would like to love myself in this manner. The origin of life.  I would like to be the naturalness of the beginning.  I would like to recall all these things that I love–my dear ones, my mother nature, and bind them to me.  I would like to return to pure nature.  I would like to join my spontaneous mother.  I would like to rid any thought and any striving towards beauty.  Now, I want nothing. I return to the primordial beauty with instinct alone.  Got that?  Well I don’t!

The next one is located in Machias and is titled The Islands of Maine.  The artist who created it is Jhon Gogaberishvili from The Republic of Georgia.

Using six different types of local stone, Jhon created this sculpture to reflect the variety in Maine’s geology.

The next one is located in Roque Bluffs and is titled Warm Wind.  The artist who created it is Kazumi Hoshino from Maine. The artist states:

My recent work, the series Composition, comes from combining simple forms.  The Circle we can see by observing nature and life.  Its form is soft.  It evokes motherhood with its encircling shape. There is no beginning or end.  There is harmony. With my work, I want to give people of our generation warmth and a quiet peaceful feeling.

The next one is located in Calais and is titled Nexus.  The artist who created it is Miles Chapin from Maine. The artist states:

I started by gathering stone from the woods of Calais where I found unique shapes and colors of granite. The stones I selected to use for Nexus had been drilled and split already. I carved only the interior of the stone, leaving the exterior of the stone in its historically drilled and split shape.  The design came from the form of the stone, working with its shape to create perceived interior motion. The open woven form represents relationships and connections. This sculpture was created to stand as a nexus for the community of Calais.

The final one is located in Eastport and is titled Nature’s Grace.  The artist who created it is Jmes Boyd from Canada. The artist states:

My sculpture consists of two main elements, a leaf and a sail shaped out of Jonesboro granite. The leaf is an image that I have used in the past in some of my sculptures. I see the leaf as a connection to nature and a metaphor for renewal, hope and transformation. A sail on a vessel is not only functional but also a beautiful object that uses the powerful force of nature to fill its graceful shape.  The art that I make is a reflection on life and our fundamental connection with our environment. It is my hope that my sculpture Natures Grace engages the viewer to contemplate our shared existence with all life on this planet not our domination over it.

We’ve now come to the end of the Maine Sculpture Trail.  Honestly, some of them I’ve enjoyed and sort of understood while others have left me with a sense of what were they thinking.  Overall, though, it was an enjoyable chase that led us down some interesting back roads to places we probably would have never gone.

Let’s talk now about The Little Mermaid and The Lee House for Veterans.  First, let’s take a look at what The Little Mermaid  is supposed look like.

The life-size mermaid is a bronze sculpture created as a five-year labor of love by Eastport sculptor Richard Klyver. Klyver’s mermaid sculpture is now in place, perched on a granite seawall overlooking Eastport’s Water Street harbor. When she was unveiled at a well-attended public ceremony on the Eastport waterfront, Klyver said it was his vision to create a mermaid who would be “a purveyor of good will and good feelings. I wanted her to make people feel good about themselves and the world.”  Unfortunately, a number of Eastport Council Members and good citizens were not impressed with her because shall we say The Little Mermaid is anatomical correct from the waist up.   In a narrow council vote the decision was to let her stay.  I’m glad they did.

Just as an aside, regarding Eastport , it is the eastern most city in the United States.  We can, therefore, now say we have been to the eastern most point in the United States, the eastern most campground, and the eastern most city, the eastern most town (Lubec) and the eastern most point where the West Quoddy Lighthouse stands in the country.  But I digress.

When we went to take an actual picture of The Mermaid, we got a bit more than we figured we would.  Who was she?  Why was she sitting there singing?

My curiosity was, of course, on high alert.  What was this all about?  The sign

told the story.  Or at least part of it.  What in the world was the Lee House for Veterans.  Time to do a little sleuthing again.  This is what I discovered about the Lee House.  Their Mission is per their web page:  to create a therapeutic, recreational, and educational retreat for our nation’s U.S. armed forces and their families, using outdoor wilderness activities in Maine and natural habitats to help participants share common challenges related to their service and sacrifice in protecting our nation’s freedom and democratic ideals.

Now on to the weird and the wacky.  Take this guy called The Fisherman, who we also discovered in Eastport.  Marti took one look at him and went crazy barking like mad.

Here’s his story. Back in 2000, Eastport, and neighboring Lubec were chosen as the site for the filming of a Fox television reality miniseries. It was called “Murder in Small Town X” .This 12-foot tall fiberglass cartoonish fisherman (without the pedestal), created by Jeff Poss, was a prop to represent the fictional town.  When the filming ended in 2001, the goofy statue, intended to be temporary, was adopted by the town of Easport. It was refurbished after some deterioration when the town raised a special fund for that purpose. It was put back, its colors restored, for the July 4th festivities in 2005. It continues to adorn the Eastport waterfront to this day.

Just a couple more.  Anyone in need of road side assistance?  Might take a while though if you call this guy for service.

How about a pair of dragons dueling over a vintage unrestored car for sale.

Or how about a truck on the roof of a house.  Must have been interesting getting it there.

Anyone need a Ferris wheel for their lawn or backyard?  A boat on a pole?  A little well?

Ok, that’s it for today.  We absolutely enjoyed our stay in the state of Maine.  A year ago the thought of being here had not even crossed our minds but we are absolutely thrilled we made the trip.  The scenery we saw absolutely took our breath away.  We both agreed it was rugged, clean, pristine and beautiful.  What a world God has created.  Acadia National Park and our trip to Roosevelt Campobello International Park are the highlights of our stay up here.  The campgrounds we stayed at were wonderful each in their own way. The people who God brought into our lives, we also will not soon forget.  So many wonderful memories we’re taking with us. Will we be back?  We would love to come back but there is still so much more of the country for us to see.  Yet, this is a marathon and not a sprint so over the next several years anything is possible.

The bottom line is, traveling like this was once just a dream for us.  But today we are doing it.  It took a good deal of hard work, a lot of patience, and our willingness to work together to make it happen.  Do you have a dream?  Never, ever give up on it.  Keep pushing forward, hang on to that dream, never let it die, and someday it will come to pass.  You just have to believe.

Until tomorrow we will now say goodnight.  It’s been another great day for us, as always traveling along, singing our song, hand in hand.  In closing, a thought for all of us to ponder:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before