Madawaska and Back

We left Searsport on a cloudy morning and began the long drive up to Madawaska, ME, the northernmost point in the state.  This was the furthest north I had been in Maine, and I was surprised to pass through the Maine woods and arrive in rolling hills of farmlands, stretching as far as the eye could see. ( I tried to take a picture of that, but my camera didn't do it justice. For those of you who haven't travelled to northern Maine but have been through upstate New York or through the farmlands of Pennsylvania, it is similar.) 

Did you know that the distance from Madawaska to Kittery, the southernmost point in Maine, is about the same as the distance from Kittery to Delaware? Unlike most other New England states, Maine is large, but relatively uninhabited. Only a little more than a million people live in this state.  

Our very comfortable bed while we were there.

The view of Madawaska from our bedroom.

We had a wonderful time with the people of Madawaska Gospel Church. The family who hosted us gave us a comfortable room with such a comfortable bed that I awoke for the first time in a long time without my usual aches and pains.  The people of the church welcomed us warmly and let us feel like family.

On Monday morning before we left, our host took us to see a few sights.  This park is dedicated to the bikers who have travelled to the four corners of the USA.  While it was interesting to see where people had come from,It also had an impressive view of the St. John River Valley and the Canadian city of Edmonston.  The brick walkway listed the names and accomplishments of those who wished to be remembered here.

It's not easy to see as my camera is not great, but there was a beautiful rainbow in the fountain.

It's not every day you get to drive through the solar system.

On the way home, we passed through a replica of our solar system.  The sun is on the campus of the University of Maine at Presque Isle.  Each of the planets is in the right place from the sun on a scale of 1:93,000,000 along Route 1.  Many of them were too small to make a good picture.  We zipped by earth without noticing it and had to turn around to see it.  Saturn and Jupiter, however, could be seen from a long distance away.  Pluto, though no longer considered a planet, was on display on the wall of the Houlton Visitor's Center. 

How much I love that God gave us eyes to see His beauty. 

This coming Sunday we're speaking close to home.  We like those trips too, not because of the scenery which we have seen many times before, but because of all the wonderful people we get to meet.