8/20 Lobster for Dinner Makes Up for Frustrations

First, the good news.  Lobster is fairly cheap in New England because, they think, of global warming.  The yummy critters have moved up the coast to the north, so they are very plentiful.  Lots of stands offering all kinds of seafood, but particularly live lobsters, lobster rolls, crab, clams, and all sorts of things like clam chowders.  A couple of days ago, I bought a small carton that was stuffed with "picked" lobster and it lasted me almost two meals. 

Tonight, before I got settled in my campsite, I drove out to a seafood market and had them steam this guy for me.  Nice thing is that it was a soft-shelled lobster, meaning it has molted and its shell was not as hard as usual so it was easy to open.  I picked him out of a large pen, and they steamed him for me.  Delicious. 

The bad news is that I am getting frustrated with campgrounds and getting satellite service.  Earlier this week, I stayed in a state park with no hookups, meaning no electricity for my TV.  : (

What was even worse was the heat.  Who would have thought that a campsite overlooking a bay very close to the Atlantic in Maine would be hot without a breath of air stirring????  I could only run my generator a very few times during the day, so it quickly heated up inside again.  Nothing like living in a tin can. 

And although I really liked the enormous LL Bean store in nearby Freeport, I was disappointed in the town as a whole.  First, it was basically one huge outlet mall.  Nothing I saw was a bargain or even on sale.  Second, every place you went, there were "No RVs" signs at parking lots.  (The town has maybe 10 RV spots out of 1,000 parking spots.)  The one lot that did allow RV parking was small and hard to get into and out of--not designed by anyone who had ever driven a big vehicle that could not make sharp 90 degree turns.  I had to move my vehicle to let another motorhome towing a car get out. 

Hey, Freeport, we are here to spend money just like everyone else!!  I was happy to find a very good bread bakery, however.

Since Freeport was a bust, other than the bakery and lobster, I decided when I got up the next morning at 9:00 am and it was already 82 degrees inside my home on wheels, that I would abandon the place without a refund for my last day and find someplace with electricity for my AC. 

So, off to Bangor to explore and find a place to stay.  Found a decent commercial campground (only two Maine state parks have any electric spots) and tried to get a satellite signal.  I had to move my vehicle three times before I got TV instead of this message.

I was finally able to watch TV, but it was a lot of work doing all that moving. So, I am back on my regular schedule at a different campground where I was positive there were no trees to block my signal, and I get another error message.  I think this one might be from the fog. 

The problem is that the satellites hover around the south, so the farther north you get, the lower in the sky you need to point your satellite. (I confirmed with Dish last night that the proper direction is southeast, so I always try to find a site that is open that direction.)  My satellite is mounted on my roof and points itself, luckily, so all I have to do is push a button.  I have gone out and checked and there are only a few trees in the distance in that direction, so I don't know what the problem is, but it looks like no TV for tonight. 

To avoid having to move the whole RV, a lot of people get the kind of dish that you can set on the ground.  They come in the automatic or manual kind.  The manual kind requires one person inside to yell how well the picture is looking and another person outside to make adjustments and yell back.  The problem with the portable automatic kind for me is that I don't have anyplace to store it because they are too tall for my "basement" bins, but I sure wish I had one now.  Tomorrow, I head for Bar Harbor and am hopeful I will have a nice, open site there. 

I need some ice cream and a frosted brownie which I keep frozen for such emergencies.  : )