Hermon Maine, Cole Transportation, Acadia Nat'l Part

We arrived at the Pumpkin Patch RV Resort on Wednesday June 8. We met a few of the people that were going on the caravan but most arrived a day or two later. Each night we would have a camp fire, socialize and generally get to know each other. It looks like a fun group of people; we will have a great time.
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On Friday, our friends Les & Mary took us to the Cole Family Transportation Museum in Bangor. Galen Cole was quite a man.

(A quick note. Les & Mary are full timers. That means that they do not own a house, they live full time in their motor home. They are in Eustis in the winter and migrate to New York State in the summer. We met when we joined the “NUTS” RV Club.)

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After he returned from service in WWll he worked for and become president of the Cole Transportation Company, founded by his father. Most of their trucks were bought from truck manufacturing companies. But some, like the Tank Van, was design by and build by his company. The company is no longer in business having been purchased by Roadway Transit.

Galen Cole had experiences during WWII that had a profound impact on his later life. At one point he was riding in a Half-track when it was hit with an 88mm shell. Five of the soldiers were killed and eight were wounded. There is an 88mm shell on display. It sits in the back of the half-track. Galen Cole: “I was lucky to be alive”

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I took a picture of a newspaper article that relates the story. Your viewer can probably enlarge it for you to read. Here is a brief summary. Cole and other wounded were taken to a farm that was serving as an aid station. He remembered a German lady that kept tearing up sheets to make bandages for them. After the war, he did go back to Germany to thank the woman. She had passed away, but he did find her family and became friends with them.

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There was another incident where the Americans were coming into a town in Luxembourg. Some of the residents wanted to have an American flag so they made one and it was on display as the troops arrived. Look at the window directly in line and above the rear wheel of the jeep.

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(And, yes the soldiers were riding around with a picture of Hitler on the back of their jeep)  That flag is on display at the museum. I took a picture of the write up. It is in the on line album. There is more about Galen Cole but the museum is also packed with various vehicles.

Many of their trucks were on display; some had traveled more than 1 million miles.

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Being in Maine there were several machines for removing snow. I had never seen or heard of a Snow Roller but they had one. I never have seen a snow blower in use in Florida and certainly not one of this size.

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There were other interesting vehicles for getting around in the snow.

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There are cars, potato diggers, fire trucks, a train, tanks, helicopter, sleds, baby carriages, bicycles, tractors, cars, motorcycles and several hearses. I have taken pictures of most examples. They can be seen at: http://summer2011jb.shutterfly.com/pictures/289

On Saturday we took a drive to Mount Desert Island. This is where Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park are. We spent our time in the park, driving around the loop road and going to the top of Cadillac Mountain. As we drove the loop road we made several stop for pictures

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From time tot time we would see some old cars and wonder if there was some kind of antique car shows going on. Here is one we saw in the Sand Beach parking lot along with a few picture of Sand Beach.

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At another stop there was a sea gull standing on a large stone. We and others were able to walk around close to him, taking pictures and the bird just watched us. Someone mention that they wish they had some crackers and the bird immediately turned towards them. I guess he is used to people feeding him and probably thought we were cheap skates for not providing a meal for him.

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There was a lobsterman tending his traps and we saw him bring in several lobsters while we were there. He was good distance away, it’s always a challenge to hold the camera steady for these kinds of shots. If you enlarge both pictures, you can see his boat in the upper left hand corner of the first picture and a trap just coming out of the water in the second.

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We made a lunch stop at the Jordan Pond restaurant and as we drove up to the summit of Cadillac Mountain we found ourselves following another antique car. In the summit parking lot we found out about them. As you might expect, we aren’t the only group on a tour.

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It was a bit overcast, it was chilly and the wind was blowing. We walked around taking some pictures a met another couple and took turns taking each others picture.

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Jackie and I have been reminiscing a lot after reaching New England. We lived in Connecticut from Feb. 1964 to Oct. 1976 and visited this area in the past. A lot has changed since those days.

On the way down we saw the breakwater that protects Bar Harbor and a sailings ship getting underway.

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There are more pictures of Acadia at: http://summer2011jb.shutterfly.com/pictures/491

A quick weather update for our friends in Florida, since we have been in Maine the nights have been cold, the quilt is on the bed and I usually put the heat on in the morning.