September 2, 2013 - Part 3

So a funny story...when we were asking the local guy for directions, and I told him what Mrs. Smith had said about West Musquash Lake being the prettiest lake in Maine, the look on his face was priceless.  To say he was shocked would be an understatement.  He rattled off a long list of lakes he thought were prettier, and then his friend piped up and said if we REALLY wanted to see something pretty, we ought to head north to the Million Dollar View on Rt 1.  Well, we thought West Lake really was pretty, so we were pumped about this Million Dollar View, especially since we were heading that way anyway.  The locals said it was a turnout, and we found it sure enough.  It was still raining, so I jumped out and took a few shots of the plaques before even looking at the view.  I know that sounds weird, but when you're holding an umbrella while taking pictures, your view is quite blocked.  So you can imagine my surprise when I looked up and saw this...

I mean, it is pretty, but would anyone really pay a million dollars for this view??  We were just stunned by what the local guy said, and all we could figure is there's no accounting for taste.  We laughed about that all the way down the road until we ran across this...

..another Million Dollar View!  How can there be more than one Million Dollar View on the same road??  Anyway, we're pretty sure this is the one the locals had in mind, and we're pretty sure the view would definitely be worth stopping for if it hadn't been raining and the wind blowing so hard it kept blowing my umbrella inside out.  :)  That's Canada on the other side of the lake, btw.  This area really is incredible...I didn't get good pics of it because I was getting soaked, but if you look at a map of Maine and follow Rt 1 north as it leaves the coast, look for where it intersects Rt 169 and just north of that you'll see a region of lakes, including the huge Grand Lake, which straddles the US-Canada border, as well as Musquash Lake (the eastern version of the same West Musquash Lake we visited, I reckon).  I'm not sure what lakes we were seeing as we stood out in the rain, but we could see several, and they were impressive.

It's too bad it was raining, because it kept me from capturing most of the water in this shot - there were 3 or 4 different lakes visible.  It's hard to hold a camera up high when you're holding an umbrella that's turning inside out in the wind.  :)