We were on the road that morning before eight heading north for a day of exploration. Our first stop was just off Route 15 in Guilford at Lowes Covered Bridge. The plaque on sight states the bridge was built in 1830, the State of Maine DOT lists it as being built in 1857. Either way no one can argue the fact that the great flood of April 1, 1987 washed the bridge away. This was the same flood that destroyed Fort Halifax in Winslow and devastated much of Maine.
Rebuilt in 1990 on the original abutments the bridge spans 120 feet over the Piscataquis River. Of course we drove across the bridge before parking and then walking across it. This bridge is not as remote as most of the others in Maine but Wesley still got to partake in his favorite activity, stomping back and forth across the bridge while yelling loudly enjoying his echo.
All the kids really seemed to appreciate the bridge and the beauty of the surrounding landscape.
Our next stop was going to be Tobey Falls and although I thought I had good directions the road started getting sketchy and we found to markers ensuring us that were going in the right direction. We ended up turning around and someday we will try to return.
We continued north passing through Greenville and into Bowdion College Grant West Twp where we stopped at Elephant Mountain to explore the wreckage from a B-52 Bomber that crashed on the side of the mountain on January 23, 1963. Only two of the nine member crew survived the crash. For more information on the crash check out this wikipedia page here.
All the kids had good time and thought the wreckage was neat. Canaan however loved it, he found it to be very fascinating and thanked us multiple times for taking them up there. He took over 130 pictures on his phone!
The drive from the Lily Bay Rd to the parking area is about 7.5 miles of dirt roads with varying degree of rockiness that at times narrows to one lane. The road was very dry and dusty coating vanna with a fine layer of dust from bumper to bumper.
The final stop of the day was at Lily Bay State Park. It's a beautiful park with a beach that has a picnic area, playground, basketball hoop, and volley ball net. There are also campsites, hiking trails and more.
We had our picnic lunch there before the kids and Kate descended into Moosehead Lake for a swim. I wadded in myself, the water was quite choppy and refreshing, not cold at all. Wesley loved the water showing no fear when charging in and not getting upset when his face dipped into the water whenever he fell. They spent over an hour in the lake.
The kids made sure to take advantage playground before we headed back to the comfort station to get changed up for the drive home.
It was great to get this trip in before the kids headed back to school, and most importantly fun was had by all!
Later Readers!
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