Part II of “Maine – The Way Life Is” will take you on a journey from Bethel, Maine to the state capital city of Augusta. Part III, which will follow Part II, is a collection of photos that I gathered on the return trip from Augusta to Bethel. I hope you enjoy.

I want readers to know that what I decide to publish on this site are only pictures selected from a host of photos I snap throughout my journeys. They are intended only for your enjoyment and in no way are any kind of statement that I am trying to make. This is a photo journey of Maine as I see it through my camera lens. I am hoping to capture every aspect of Maine from its beauty and simplicity, to its complexing contrasts, wealth and poverty and the uniqueness of Maine’s people.

Many times while my wife and I are in Maine for the short summer season, we travel to Bangor on a regular basis to visit our son, his wife and 5 of the most beautiful children in the world. The journey for us entails nearly 3 hours, providing we don’t make more than our usual number of stops along the way, which includes a stop in Manchester, Maine at Mulligan’s to pick up a box of “Munchkins” at the Dunkin’ Donuts – for the grandkids of course!

When we head north, there are several different routes we can take with side roads, cut-offs, short cuts and long cuts. Sometimes a one-way excursion has lasted as long as 7 hours.

On this trip we left Bethel heading east on U.S. Route 2 to Dixfield. A few miles east of the Dixfield village, we turned off the main route near the Maine Department of Transportation lot and headed for Canton.

In Canton, we picked up Route 140 and bumped and rolled our way into Jay/Livermore. From Livermore we followed Route 17 all the way to Manchester where the highway connects with several routes that lead to Augusta.

I’ll do my best to inform you of the location of all the photos and any bits of information that might make the viewing more entertaining.

Maine has a healthy population of whitetail deer. During the spring of the year, after “green up”, we can regularly see the deer as they pop up in some very unusual places in search of a good and easy meal. Although I have to confess, I did not take this picture on the day of my trip from Bethel to Augusta, still it just as easily could have been.
This deer was one first spotted by my wife. As we turned off Rt. 26 in Locke Mills village onto the Mt. Abram road, the deer was to our right, next to the railroad tracks and only feet from the Greenwood fire station. Mostly unafraid of our presence, this photo makes the deer look to be posing.

South of Rumford Center, along U.S. Route 2 a Maine farmer works his tractor to care for what I believe to be potato fields. Growing up in this area, I remember nearly every year these fields have grown potatoes.

There are not too many states where you can travel in America and find a person setting up beside the highway selling moose horns.
Located at the truck stop near the top of Rumford Falls alongside the Androscoggin River, an unidentified man was sitting in his car waiting for someone to stop and buy some of his moose antlers. I guess with the upcoming Fourth of July week, traffic should pick up on the highway which might lead to more sales.

A mill town for many years, Rumford sits below the big falls. Although this paper mill has changed hands over the years, it has provided jobs for thousands of Maine people for decades. The oder that emanates from the smoke stacks is foul to noses not accustomed. To the locals, they say it is the smell of money.

A town park located at the collection pool below the falls, is an attraction for locals and visitors. It was not that many years ago, nobody was interested in getting near the water because of pollution. There are steel and wrought iron figurine cutouts that depict past and present life along the Androscoggin River.

Located within the same park as the picture above, is a memorial to Edmund Muskie. Ed Muskie was born in Rumford, Maine. He was a democrat, a Maine politician and served as governor of his home state. He went on to become a U.S. Senator, served as U.S. Secretary of State and was a vice presidential candidate. This town of Rumford remembers a fellow resident.

The town of Rumford straddles both sides of the Androscoggin River. To keep the community connected, there a several bridges to get motorists, heavy logging trucks and pedestrians back and forth.
I crawled down over the bank and across the rocks jutting out toward the river below the lower dam and got this photo of two bridges connecting the downtown area to the rest of the population.

Much of what any traveler will see touring about Maine are stark contrasts like the one above. Towering over the treetops that line one of the most picturesque rivers in Maine, are the smoke stacks of the paper mill in Jay. Maine’s rivers, and in this case the Androscoggin, are the location of many paper mills and other industry. Those mills provide work for the residents. They have also contributed to its share of pollution to the river. It has taken decades to get the river back to a point where people are once again interested in the river as a great natural resource.
We look at such beauty in the river, the vegetation, trees and landscape it provides and the wildlife that uses the entire watershed as part of its natural habitat, yet lurking behind is a necessary part of human survival as we have created it.
Finding the balance between industry, jobs, clean water and air is a task that will be juggled for many years to come.

Not all libraries are created equal. Did you know that every library in the state of Maine has received some kind of support from Stephen and Tabitha King? I wonder if that includes the Fayette Library. To passersby this might appear to be an abandoned building but to many it’s a place to read a book.
I had to get this picture in here because I happen to know this library has the book my son and I wrote, “The Legend of Gray Ghost and Other Tales from the Maine Woods”. My aunt got it in there for us.
The Fayette Library is on Route 17 in Fayette.

As they say in Maine, “Just up the road a piece”, at the top of the hill is Kents Hill, Maine, home of Kents Hill Academy. This locale is very breathtaking for its scenic beauty. The above picture is of the main building of the school overlooking the miles of valley to the north and west.

Believe it or not, we decided to forgo the stop at Mulligan’s for “Munchkins” and instead headed for downtown Augusta. Our ultimate destination was Bangor but my wife insisted on a stop a the local Goodwill Store on Western Ave.
This got me to thinking, so I decided to leave my wife at the store, grab my camera and head out on foot to capture some photos in and around the Capital area.
The above shot is the front of the building which gets used like never anymore because of security reasons.

Just across the street from the Capital building, is the Blaine House. This houses the current governor and his family. It’s quite easy to poke around and get pictures. I wasn’t there at the right time to get into the grounds for shots but from two different streets I was able to get more than enough pictures. I chose this one because of the framing of the trees and the curving sidewalk.

The trip continues soon with Part III and as the journeys across the state continue, I’ll continue to bring you photos and short little stories.

If you enjoy this sort of thing, just leave a comment below. I’d appreciate knowing people are reading and viewing.

Check out “Maine – The Way Life Is”, Part I, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI.

Tom Remington