Mooseland Tours & Gifts  Temporarily Online Only   
Call 207-998-2198  or  Cell No. 207-393-7256

---

Our Greenville Trip... by Brenda Marcotte
this was my "annual vacation"... Day One: The ride up and the Wildlife Cruise

All good plans, however carefully made, are subject to change.  This trip was no exception.  We intended to leave at six in the morning after leaving my husband off at work.  This would get us to Greenville easily by noon and might involve seeing an early morning moose or two.   A last minute check of tires convinced me I would feel safer with two new tires on the back, so I camped on the doorstep at Tire Lube Express, and at eight I handed the keys to the mechanic and sat down to wait.  Once in a while miracles do happen and by nine I was climbing back in the van and heading to pick up my friend, Clara.

 

This is where I should tell you last year we made this same trip and it took us six hours to get to the Kineo View Motor Lodge, our motel just outside of Greenville.  It had been years since I had been  to Greenville and I had no idea how long it should have taken.  Of Course, last year we stopped at a couple yard sales, stopped for a lunch, a few bathroom breaks, another lunch, a nap,  and took a looooonnnngggg shortcut through the woods.  And we stopped to take pictures.  Lots of pictures.

 

Looking back, and it being 9:30 in the morning already, I announced to Clara as she loaded her camera bag and other necessities in the back that we were not taking the shortcut through the woods this time and probably could forgo the pictures, at least for the time being and/or unless, of course,  there were moose!   She readily agreed and we were off.  We called on the cell phone to the motel to tell them we had a late start but would be there by three, probably.

 

We nodded at now familiar scenery, saying things like "Oh, that's so beautiful" as I slid right past.   I almost managed to fly right past our lunch stop in Norridgewock.  Before long I was heading due north towards Greenville and I mentioned I didn't recognize any of the scenery.  It was then we realized we had missed this section from Anson to Shirley Mills when we did the shortcut last year.  Before we knew it we were at Kineo View Motor Lodge and it was only 1:00 in the afternoon!

 

Last year we raced to make the 4:00 pm departure of the wildlife cruise boat from The Birches. (Make it?  We had to FIND it first)  We made it by the skin of our teeth.  This year I was brimming with confidence as I drove leisurely towards Rockwood, watching for moose all the while.  Although I arrived in the general area easily enough I still had to find it as I failed to take into account that when you are racing, last minute to find a place, you  don't always pay attention to landmarks.  So suddenly  I was on this small dirt road surrounded by trees that all looked the same and  I wasn't so sure where it was after all.  It turned out to be a lot farther "out in the woods" than I remembered.  But the strange thing is the road from The Birches office to the dock we left from (seemed to be about 3 miles long last year) was in fact less than a couple hundred yards!  

 

We opted to have the cruise, followed by dinner at The Birches, this year.  Even though we arrived early it wasn't long before we were off (and looking forward to dinner in the dining room overlooking the lake upon our return).

 

The operators of the boats were "new" to us and considerably younger than last year's cruise which may explain the difference in the trips.  Last year we had sped across that part of the lake to a distant shore and wove slowly in and out of little coves and backwaters looking for and seeing several moose, some of which were on land, but several of which were in the water feeding.  We also saw American bald eagles and their nest.  This year  we were treated to what I assume was a bonus... a trip around to the back side of Mt. Kineo, where we took photos of the cliffs and watched falcons flying high above the cliffs before zipping across to the coves and backwaters where we looked for moose and found three, after considerable looking.  

 

I think we were all sure we would be skunked when suddenly we spotted a cow with a young calf as we came around a bend.  They were in the water to our right and we watched them for several minutes before they went first one way (only to realize the other boat was approaching upriver from that direction) and then turned crossing the water to a shore to our left.  We met up with the other boat and shared an informative talk about moose given by the two boat operators before moving on.  On the way back out we found another cow, feeding in the water, which we stopped and photographed before heading back across the lake to The Birches.

We entered the lodge and waited to be seated.  Although  it seemed to be quite crowded, the seating went quickly and we were comfortably set with hot coffee and a view of the lake.  The huge fireplace on the left wall had photographs of past and present owners.  Somehow the setting imbued me with a deep sense of well being... it was as if we were part of a way of life that was so secure (and long ago).  The good olde days revisited!  Both Clara and I opted for the barbequed ribs, something I have never ordered in a restaurant before and seldom if ever eat, but I plan to go  there again next summer, just to have the BBQ ribs.  They were delicious!  Roasted potatoes, corn, bread, more coffee and scrumptious deserts.  It was the perfect end to a perfect day

Greenville trip Continued...

 Pictures from our Greenville trip.

---

 

©2002-2006 Brenda Marcotte www.mooselandtours.com  All rights reserved.  All material (photos, logos, brand names, artwork, text, etc) contributed to this site is protected by individual copyrights.       Contact Us email brenda@mooselandtours.com          
Call 207-998-2198 or cell number 207-393-7256.   Please ask for Brenda