Driving north up east coast this summer?

[Optimistic Paranoid]

As for traveling first class....maybe in another life...one where i'm not a poor college student

Well, you've no one to blame but yourself.  You should have picked richer parents when you were born!

BTW, I made the same mistake . . .

Regards
John

 

[rvpopeye]

OK , as a native Mainah I'm , gonna chime in here a bit. Most of the coastal area is a giant tourist trap designed to separate you from your money. (Like that's a secret! There are only 2-3 months to make a years income for those folks.)

However there are places that are very reasonable and totally classicMaine scenic.
Rule #1 is...Route 1 is NOT the whole state !

Much of the coast looks exactly like Acadia , just without the Nat Park logo!

State parks can be everything you're looking for.
Baxter being the flagship IMO.(inland)

Wolfe's Neck in Freeport (shore) A great little Campground next door Recompence at Wolfe's Neck Farm and the one lane bridge at little river there is my fave childhood hangout !!

Popham in Phippsburg (beach)

You want rocky , try Land's End on Bailey Isl , on the way stop and check out the cribstone bridge and Mackrel Cove.

A little further up the coast at Pemaquid Light is rocky central!

Lakes ? Moosehead is the best!
Rangeley another goodie and ask locals there how to find the Smalls Falls rest area (you'll never forget that !)

These are just a few of the gems you might enjoy ,
And the ferry from Portland , I believe their lease was cancelled ?????not sure if they got another......

When you pass by , roll down your window and go ARRRRRRRRRRRGH !

 

[waverider1987]

Anyone have experience boondocking around portland, maine area? Just thinking if I were to get a job up there, then i'd be boondocking somewhere close by...

 

[TMG51]

Anyone have experience boondocking around portland, maine area?  Just thinking if I were to get a job up there, then i'd be boondocking somewhere close by...

Portland, Maine, is both the worst parking I've ever experienced, as well as the only time I have ever felt physically threatened. I got stalked by some guy downtown for over a half hour. He followed me right to my van and then waited outside. All the parking laws are basically set up with the premise that vehicles are hated. The only place viable for a vandweller to park is a single park-n-ride, and it is filled with the types of vandwellers you don't want to associate with: dirty, destitute, disrespectful drug user types.

If you plan to stay outside the city and commute in maybe it'll be better for you. But as a vandweller I'll never go back to Portland ME.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

I have a house in Sanford that's about 35 min from Portland. It's been gutted on the inside, but looks normal on the outside. No one is living there. I live down in Mass for the time being. Eventual plan is to sell that house and my place here and hit the road. You're welcome to use the driveway and yard if you need a place to park.

 

[USExplorer]

When I stayed in Portland for a day, I parked for free in South Portland for the day and walked across the bridge into town. At night, I parked in an apartment complex two miles from the town center across I-295. There was another vandweller staying there as well. Maine is the least crowded state east of the Mississippi, so it shouldn't be hard to find great quiet places to park, as long as you are willing to drive a few miles to work every day. Portland is a very small city.

 

[rvpopeye]

Just a little update on a previous post where I reported that ferry service from Portland ME to Yarmouth Nova Scotia had been discontinued.....they just signed a contract with another company to provide the service. A high speed catamaran ferry that used to be run by the Navy in Hawaii will now be making the run....

 

[karl]

I usually avoid rt 1 for the reasons already stated by others. especially during tourist season. I do like that route off season, but only from Portsmouth NH northward.
Free camping is rare, but I have stayed at Kittery Trading Post, LLBean, Sanford Walmart( nine miles inland), Amtrak Station in Wells.

Nova Scotia is certainly a more expensive trip, but most rewarding as the coast is not packed with housing.
I have never felt safer on any adventure.

The Cabot trail circles the Province and is a great scenic drive with light traffic by US standards.

A side trip to the northern point and a whale watch cruise with Cyril is worth far more than the $20. fee, just in viewing the rocky cliffs.

Scottish settlement museums are well maintained and a day at one can instill appreciation for our lives today.

The Bay of Fundy is also worth the admission fee IF you are there at low tide.

I have not tried to stealth camp there, but have found a few quiet campgrounds along the way, and several that are weekend getaways for the locals.

 

[Goshawk]

It all expensive on the coast for everything. People need to make a summer dollar from tourists and they sure do. If you are going to stealth camp in a. Am just use the usual rules. If it says no camping or sleeping then don't do it. As far as places to see, PROVIDENCE RI has a WATER FIRE festival on Friday night once a month. Look it up. It's actually pretty awesome. They light fire pylons up like bonfire for about two miles spaces about 50 yards a part.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

The Bay of Fundy is also worth the admission fee IF you are there at low tide.

Yes it's worth it but then again it is FREE for all of 2017!

http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/nb/fundy/visit/tarifs_fees_e.asp?park=17

Boondocking in Nova Scotia and Labrador is everywhere.

If you are only camping overnight you can just pull in to most any church parking lot and park. My mom did it for 3 months last year in a pop-top Honda Element from Ursa Minor Campers.