The day started beautifully - just the type of weather I look forward to the most.  The sky was clear and the air was crisp.  The cool of the morning would lift later in the day to give way to a bright sunny clarity that is so typical of New England autumn.  If the weather stayed like this all week, it would be a gift from God.  We got up to Leo's egg breakfast.  I think everyone had a good night's sleep.

JJ expressed some concerns about his cooling system.  The electric fans he had installed were drawing more current that he had expected and he was concerned that it might cause problems with his battery or alternator.  Additionally, he was not running as cool as he would like so the fans were running pretty constantly.  We didn't have any problems with them on the way up from Maryland but he wanted to keep an eye on it.

With everyone's gear stowed, we hit the road.  I soon realized that I had misplaced and forgotten my Camp Jeep hat.  Oh well, I had a couple other hats I could wear and forgot all about it.  Our route plan called for us to travel east on Route 2, pick up Route 495 near Littleton, MA, and follow it North to Route 95 through a small slice of New Hampshire, then into Maine.  Carl had originally planned to meet us in Hampton where the toll booths empty into Route 95 and Route 101 comes in from the west.  The original plan had us meeting at 8:00 AM.

I had loaded the first GPS Route and it tracked with our actual path quite well.  The waypoints along the way showed us reaching our objective in Hampton on time.  Soon, Carl called on the phone to say that he was on the road and expected to meet us at the planned location.  We pulled up to the toll booths, paid the fare, and then pulled into a side parking lot to wait for Carl.  No sooner had we pulled over when Carl came in loud and clear on the CB to say that he was a couple miles from the intersection and he would be along soon.  I told him where we were, and we watched as he soon came over the bridge and down the ramp into the parking lot.  Time:  8:00 AM exactly.  The man was on time as usual.  This was great.  I told him several times how glad I was that he came along, and meant it.  Of course I said it way too many times to make fun of the situation, but I was sincere nevertheless.

After a few minutes break time, and after discussing our plan for the balance of the road trip north to Greenville, we hit pavement again.

We made a couple of back-to-back stops for facilities and gas.  In the parking lot at one stop was a group with a boat trailer with axle bearing problems.  Judging from the appearance of the axle and bearings, there had been thick mud in the assembly for some time and it had finally given up the ghost.  They were working out going for spare parts and tools.  It make me think about the prospects for us later in the week, should something similar arise.  I took some comfort in knowing that each of us had made extensive inspections and carried spares and tools.  I hoped that would be enough as I wished the fisherman good luck.

The first time I felt like we were in Maine was when I saw the sign warning of Moose.  It was almost comical because of the silhouette graphic of a Moose, but there is no joke about the damage done when moose and vehicle collide.

We got off the highway in Pittsfield, Maine, and drove north on Route 152.  It was a good secondary highway, and we made good time.  Along the way, we stopped at a grocery store.  Carl bought a DeLorme's and fishing license, and I put down my soft top.  This was more involved than usual owing to the gas can rack, and the gear on the rack.  Leo didn't think it was worth all the trouble (and he probably was right) but I persevered and soon we were driving along in the breeze.

Pretty soon we came to Cambridge, Maine and spotted a shop on the side of the road with two Jeep FC's parked outside.  The whole place was so interesting that we decided to stop and see what we could see.  There we met Greg Davis of Cambridge Auto Sales and Auto Body.  Greg is in the process of restoring an M38A, and has two FC's that he would like to restore.  He gave us a tour of his shop, a nice Quonset-style structure.  My dream garage.

Greg Davis DBA Cambridge Auto Sales & Auto Body
Route 152
Cambridge, ME 04923
(203)277-5554

We could have stayed there all day looking around and talking Jeeps.  The work he was doing on the M38A was impressive and the final result promises to be very good.  A really nice, original 1953 Chevy was on the lift and in incredible condition.

In order to get to the campground with daylight, we were forced to keep moving.   Pretty soon we came to Guilford where, after checking a few spots on the main drag, we stopped at a local restaurant to have a late lunch/early dinner.  The food was pretty good and Leo had fun giving as good as he got from the waitress.  When Carl came in the door, he found a brochure describing an outfit that offers Jeep Tours.  It showed a picture of a stock YJ, and contained descriptions of various tours that were available.  One of the tours was to the B-52 Crash site.  That sounded interesting and we agreed that it might be worth getting more information and visiting it ourselves (minus the assistance of the Jeep Tour company) if time allowed.

We ate until we were stuffed then got back on the road.  We arrived at the Moosehead Family Campgrounds at about 4:00 PM, almost exactly as predicted.  I would have to be careful not to get too accustomed to being on time for every activity all week so as not to be easily disappointed when things don't go as planned...

The woman in the camp store was very personable, mistaking us for another expected guest, but no less friendly when she learned that we were someone else.  She retrieved my reservation and recalled our phone conversation from a week previous.  We asked about the B-52 Crash Site and got directions to where it was located, along with assurances that Jeeps were not needed to reach it.  We were offered our choice of sites in the back of the property, and headed off to see what was there.

We found a site that suited our needs and set about making camp.  We planned to stay for the night and pack again in the morning, heading for the wilderness at last.  We got camp set up pretty quick and had something to eat.  Then we went back to the camp store and reported our site number.  Then we headed to Greenville, and the crash site.

After driving a few miles out of town on the eastern side of Moosehead Lake, we turned off and followed the signs to the crash site. 

The road took us up Elephant Mountain and soon we found a turn out for parking and signs for the site.  A fellow sitting there in a pick up truck expressed interest in our Jeeps so we talked to him for a while about his vehicle and our trip plans.  He left JJ a NASCAR collector card while we were gone after noticing the number "24" on JJ's windshield.

We hiked in a few hundred feet and were met with scattered debris everywhere.  The whole plane was ripped into pieces large and small, though the only piece that was recognizable was the elevator (vertical tail wing); everything else was reduced to torn and twisted pieces.  Everyone looked around, commenting on the parts, the hardship of the crash for those involved, and the wonder that the site was still intact.

After we had checked everything out, we walked back down to the Jeeps and headed out.  We had been told that the route had been detoured around a down bridge, and we saw it on the way in.  So while going back we decided to check it out to see if there was a wheeling opportunity.  There was no chance of fording the stream but we found a small impromptu camp spot (party spot) and some fire wood.  Not missing the opportunity, Carl or someone suggested we load it up and bring it back to camp.    So we got out and started to collect it.  I had left my Jeep running to charge my camera battery, and it rolled ever so slowly back into Carl's Jeep, the gas can holder on one side scraping up on Carl's left-front fender.  We have carnage...  There were, thankfully, no dents or explosions, but I did feel bad to scratch his Jeep.  I will be painting on Carl's Jeep again when we get home.

After loading the wood, we drove back to town following the GPS track to get back to pavement.  We stopped for gas.

Then we headed back to camp where we started a good fire and made up some food.  Everybody was tired from the road trip and the days activities so we ended up going to bed pretty early.  It was nice out, not at all cold, and although the forecast for later in the week predicted rain, we were still enjoying beautiful, mild fall weather.

Tomorrow:  The Wilderness!

Waypoints