Maine 2024 (April)
Ellsworth, Houlton, Massachusetts, Illinois
Saturday, April 6 through Sunday, April 28, 2024
We flew from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Bangor, Maine via O'Hare International Airport (Chicago, Illinois) and Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey. In addition to doing tasks at the house, we did some, mostly unexpected, traveling. We were surprised with good weather on Monday, April 8, so we drove to Houlton, Maine for the total solar eclipse. Later, April 12 to 14, Stu had an eye emergency that required us to drive to/from Boston, Massachusetts (fortunately, the eye problem wasn't as serious as it might have been). We also did some hiking at Acadia National Park (ANP). On April 24, we flew from Portland, Maine to Chicago (O'Hare), Illinois to Moline (Quad City Airport), Illinois to attend the 75th Anniversary celebration of Augustana College's Geography Department. We also traveled to my home town of Canton, Illinois for part of a day. On the 28th, we flew from Moline, Illinois to Chicago (O'Hare again), Illinois to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
I tracked the trip with a Bad Elf GPS Pro+ GPSr (GPS receiver), using my iPhone 12 (Gaia GPS app) as a backup (and the FlightRadar24 website). A few local trips were not recorded (since in-town trips are regularly ignored where we live). In addition, much of the last three days prior to departure were lost when I somehow lost my Bad Elf GPSr. As a result of the loss, my new Garmin eTrex SE GPSr was used for the return trip.
NOTE: the downloadable GPX tracks are the full GPX files, while those shown on the provided "view map" links are simplified (with minimal effect on geographic accuracy) for much faster viewing.
Original GPX tracks are unedited, except where necessary to fill in missing data. Edited tracks are noted in their descriptions.
Businesses are named below for reference only. No endorsement should be inferred. If you wish to see my opinion of the places mentioned, see TripAdvisor (for those few that I have actually rated).
Overview
- Overview map—This is a composite map of all the GPS tracks on a blank US/Canada map. Just Downeast Maine.
- All GPS tracks / view map—The whole trip, including walking, driving, etc.
Saturday, April 6
- GPX / view map—riding an airport taxi-van to Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City
- GPX / view map—(partial track from Bad Elf GPSr) flying from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to O'Hare International Airport near Chicago, Illinois (see next item for better track)
- GPX / view map—(from FlightRadar24) flying from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to O'Hare International Airport near Chicago, Illinois
- GPX / view map—walking from the arrival gate to the departure gate at O'Hare International Airport
- GPX / view map—flying from Chicago, Illinois to Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey
- GPX / view map—walking and taking the bus between gates at the Newark, New Jersey airport (most of track between end points is missing)
- GPX / view map—flying from Newark, New Jersey to Bangor International Airport in Bangor, Maine
- GPX / view map—walking from the arrival gate to the rental car at Bangor International Airport
- GPX / view map—driving from the airport in Bangor to Ellsworth
Monday, April 8
- GPX / view map—driving to Houlton, Maine for the total solar eclipse (The GPX tracks were edited at 12:07:03 UTC to correct the latitude from ~5° N to ~45° N (somehow the first digit of the latitude was missing).)
- GPX / view map—riding the shuttle from parking to downtown Houlton, wandering through downtown before and after the eclipse, then hiking back along the river to the parking area and nearby Pizza Hut for dinner
- GPX / view map—driving from Houlton back to Ellsworth on back roads to avoid the traffic on I-95. In Eddington (just east of Bangor/Brewer), we hit a large pothole which caused a flat tire (at the end of the spur of the track in Eddington). After putting on the spare, we went to Bangor International Airport to get a different rental car, and continue our trip back to Ellsworth.
Wednesday, April 10
- GPX / view map—driving to the trailhead of the Compass Harbor Trail
- GPX / view map—hiking the Compass Harbor Trail in Bar Harbor (Topo)
- GPX / view map—driving to near Anenome Cave (ANP), then returning to the city of Bar Harbor for dinner, and returning to Ellsworth from there
Saturday, April 13
- GPX / view map—driving to Massachusetts Eye and Ear in Boston, Massachusetts, then to a hotel and restaurant in Haverhill, Massachusetts
Sunday, April 14
- GPX / view map—driving from Haverhill, Massachusetts to Portland, Maine
- GPX / view map—walking from the parking lot (northwest end of track) to a restaurant and a couple of stores in downtown Portland
- GPX / view map—driving back to Ellsworth, including a stop in Freeport, Maine for shopping
- GPX / view map—walking/hiking within Ellsworth
Monday, April 22
- GPX / view map—driving to the trailhead for the Valley Trail
- GPX / view map—hiking most of the Valley Trail (ANP) (Topo)
- GPX / view map—driving from the Beech Mountain area to the trailhead for the Anenome Cave Trail
- GPX / view map—hiking the Anenome Cave Trail (ANP) (Topo)
- GPX / view map—driving back to Ellsworth, including a dinner stop near Bar Harbor
Wednesday, April 24
- GPX / view map—driving to lunch/dinner at a restaurant in the Maine Mall in Portland, Maine, then to Portland International Jetport in Portland
- GPX / view map—(partial track) flying from Portland, Maine to O'Hare International Airport near Chicago, Illinois (see next track for fully flight details)
- GPX / view map—(FlightRadar24 track) flying from Portland, Maine to O'Hare International Airport near Chicago, Illinois
- GPX / view map—walking from the arrival gate to the departure gate at O'Hare International Airport
- GPX / view map—flying from Chicago, Illinois to the Quad City Airport in Moline, Illinois
- GPX / view map—walking from the arrival gate to the rental car (including a northeast spike that didn't happen), then driving to our hotel in Moline
Thursday, April 25
- GPX / view map—driving around Moline, Illinois and to/from Canton, Illinois, visiting various points of interest (former homes, shopping, dinner, etc.)
Friday, April 26
- GPX / view map—driving to Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, plus a bus tour of the area with staff and alumni from Augustana College
Saturday, April 27
- GPX / view map—driving to/from Augustana College, plus a spur to Sylvan Island, where we took a short hike
Sunday, April 28
- GPX / view map—driving from the hotel to a gas station, then to Quad City Airport in Moline, Illinois. (There is a spike on the track toward the southeast from the airport that didn't happen.)
- GPX / view map—flying from Moline, Illinois to O'Hare International Airport near Chicago, Illinois
- GPX / view map—walking at O'Hare International Airport
- GPX / view map—flying from Chicago, Illinois to Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The taxi path at O'Hare is unusual, and may have been related to an equipment issue the flight crew was investigating…and apparently resolved (this is entirely my conjecture, as nothing was announced on the plane).
- GPX / view map—riding an airport taxi/van from the airport to the house in Oklahoma City
