Bangor, Maine

Sep 25, 2007 49351 10:16

We were invited to join the gang for breakfast at the Jefferson Inn, their B&B this morning. The inn is an old Victorian and the couple that runs it, Glen and Eric, has had it for just over one year. There is a terrific couple, he has just retired from the Navy and this is something they have always thought about doing.

The inn is lovely with a lot of the rooms still with the original woodwork and other items. They are slowly fixing and repairing things but have decided to remain open all year. If anyone wants to come to New Hampshire for leaf peeping this is the place to stay.

It is conveniently located in the White Mountains, the food is outstanding and there are fresh cookies every afternoon. They don't hover over you but are always willing to answer questions and have great suggestions as where to go to see the color and maybe find a moose. All of their suggestions for dinner were right on. They are diamond rated by AAA and we think they are great.

We finally left camp around 10:00 this morning but since it was only a four-hour trip today it was no big deal.

We are in Bangor, Maine at the Pumpkin Patch RV Resort. The park is nice, big sites, two laundries and is a Good Sam as well as Passport America park so we got the 50% price off. They also have wireless. Another plus for them is in the office they have slips to all the sightseeing places with directions from the park. Sure did make it easier to find things.

After getting set up we headed out to find the Cole Transportation Museum. The museum was a created from a dream, the dream of an eight-year old boy, Galen Cole, who enjoyed trucks at his father's trucking business.

Galen was a combat infantryman in WWII when at the age o 19 he lost his entire squad to a German tank gun. That day he made a promise to God that:

"If I survive this war, I will do my best to leave my community and fellow man better than I found them."

It took nearly 50 years of working in and running a successful trucking company to save the money necessary to build the museum. Construction was begun in 1988 with the clearing of the site. Then the building began. One of the exhibits is a locomotive, boxcar and caboose. They were actually put into the building before the building was finished.

Laborers came from construction workers, members of the trucking company and local football players. Not only was ole giving to the community he was involving the community in the building of his dream. He was always on the site.

The flooring is paving stones and brick. The exhibits are of modes of transportation used in Maine throughout its history. The museum houses the largest collection of snow packing and removal equipment and also the widest collection of the Cole Trucking Company vehicles from horse-drawn wagons to turnpike 18-wheelers, in fact several 18-wheelers.

There are wagons, sleds, automobiles, fire trucks, tractors, buggies, both horse drawn and ones used by children. The exhibits are done in rows of like items from the oldest to the newest. You can view the museum at colemuseum.org.

From there we found the statue of Paul Bunyan and then it was off to find a covered bridge. That took a while but we finally did.

Tonight was laundry night and I guess tomorrow I will clean the RV.

Sep 25, 2007

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