Our first big trip.

Well, we have taken about a dozen trips in the Barth since we bought her last summer (7/03). However; on August 6th we left West Springfield, MA for a ten day trip. Most of this trip we would be doing civilized boon-docking, with one four day stretch hunkered down in the Maine woods in serious boon-docking mode.

Our first leg of the trip headed Georgene and I to Rhode Island for a couple of days of sailing in Narragansett Bay with friends. The weather was perfect and we had two days of great sailing that included stopping in Newport harbor (Wow) for the Newport Jazz Festival. The harbor was full of awesome motor yachts and sailing vessels of large proportion. This is really how the other half lives. We were in a very nice 33 foot sailboat but, in that harbor I felt as though we were sailing a dingy. I had a small Blue Jay "J" class sail boat when I was younger and did some racing, but had not really sailed much in the last twenty years. I was happy to pilot this sailboat for two days. It was kind of like driving the Barth, very steady and solid on the water.

Our next destination was Bar Harbor, Maine. The trip up the coast was punctuated by a stop in Brunswick, ME to visit my nephew and his expectant wife. Brunswick was about equidistant between RI and Bar Harbor (4 hours drive) and gave us an opportunity to visit with family. They have a new home with a large driveway which was just right for the Barth. We had beautiful weather and again the Barth rolled down the highway very comfortably.

The trip from Brunswick to Bar Harbor was incredible, That stretch of I95 is the best on the whole east coast. There must have been at least a two hour stretch where, with the exception of the highway we saw no evidence of civilization, only trees and rolling hills. Going onto Mount Dessert Island provided our first adventure. Map Quest didn't quite get it right as there is a state and county route 3 on the island. Needless to say, we were guided onto the wrong road which directed us into East Harbor, a small town on the island. The road progressively became smaller and eventually dumped us onto a one way stretch in the center of town at about lunch time with people walking all about. The Barth just barely fit down the street and towing the Honda I became concerned. As we got through town, it only got worse as we entered a tight, old, residential neighborhood and came to what appeared to be a dead end street. Fortunately there was a large stretch where no one was parked and I pulled the train over. As I climbed out of the Barth a woman from across the street came over to me and was laughing. I seems that Map Quest regularly send RV's headed for the Mount Dessert Narrows Campground onto her street. I was concerned about having to back out of her street, but she said that there was a very small road at the end of the street that if carefully navigated would take me around to the main road and back in the direction I needed to go. While I unhooked the Honda, she called the campground to get appropriate directions and then got in her car and guided me through the neighborhood and out of town. There were a few corners that were very tight but the occasional use of reverse made negotiating the tiny streets happen. The kindness extended to us by this stranger renewed my faith in human nature. We finally arrived at the beautiful campground, registered, set-up and went looking for lobster. Our campsite overlooked the ocean and was spacious, but not exactly level. Leveling the Barth put both front wheels two inches off the ground. We spent four days here and visited Acadia National Park several times. The view from the granite summit of Cadillac Mountain is remarkable. It is the tallest mountain (1536 feet above sea level) on the ocean on the entire east coast and provides a 360 degree view of the ocean, bays, islands and lakes. The park has over a hundred miles of hiking and cycling trails which are beautiful. A ride along the Shore Loop Road validates the truth in the statement "the rocky coast of Maine". Crashing waves on the granite rocks are constant and awesome. I did some hiking and I did some riding, we saw Elvis perform in the campground recreation hall and ate ice cream and lobster. The weather continued to be superb so relaxation was achieved.

The last leg of our trip took us on a four hour drive west to the Rangely Lakes Region of west central Maine. My family has has a camp on Lower Richardson Lake since 1920 so we packed up and headed out. Our camp is isolated, without electricity and running water, but sits in a sheltered cove on the lake with about a 500 foot long sand beach. It is the closest thing to heaven on earth for me that exists. Driving the Barth down the steep hill to the camp would not be possible. Fortunately back in the 60's there was a logging camp built at the top of the hill by the road which provided a level place to park while there. Having the Barth available made this trip to the camp very enjoyable for my wife as she never got used to the out house and lack of modern amenities. I kind of like it that way. On Saturday, my brother and his children and their children showed up for a partial family reunion. There is history here and watching the little ones learning to swim, playing in the sand and enjoying themselves reminded me of my own youth there and that of my children. It's a great place for kids and adults alike to really connect with nature and explore water and woods. Lunch brought hamburgers and hot dogs cooked over a charcoal fire and ketchup on the little faces made me smile. It was another great day on our trip. Our plan was to leave the next day (Sunday) to return home, but the remnants of hurricane Charley were to dump some serious rain on us that day, so Georgene and I decided to push on and head out Saturday evening after the family left. We packed up and were on the road by 7:00 PM for a six hour drive back home. We had some rain, but missed the worst of it and rested on Sunday back at the ranch (house).

The Barth performed flawlessly and achieved about 10 mpg pulling the Honda Accord for the 1100 mile journey. She also made the whole trip on one tank of fuel. Having a 147 gallon capacity was nice.

We can't wait to go out again. Here is the link to the photos. They are in a random order, I could not figure out how to put them in the correct order. Sorry.


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Bill & Georgene Goodwin
92 Regency 36ft
300hp Cummins
Gillig Chassis




[This message has been edited by goodwinw (edited September 12, 2004).]

[This message has been edited by goodwinw (edited September 12, 2004).]

[This message has been edited by goodwinw (edited September 22, 2004).]

Bill & Georgene:Sound like a GREAT trip!It great to hear that the Barth was running good!Sure hope you have a lot of pictures?Never been in that part of the Country,hope to get there next year!

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Jay&Shelby 95 Regency 34ft. 300 hp.