Maine 2010

My blog has had some problems this summer, which are now resolved--making it much easier to post. So a little back-blogging is in order. Namely, our big family vacation that we take every year to Maine.

Usually we go in August. This is our fourth year going, but this year we went at the beginning of July.

On Friday morning of July Fourth weekend, we loaded up the car, bikes on the roof, camping stuff stuffed in with duffels, and fairly effortlessly coasted our way north. There was a cool breeze that morning (which is a little uncharacteristic of this hot summer), which seemed fitting to send us off to New England.

We had a great trip and made excellent time, until about the last 50 mi, which took approximately 3 hours--even with using my phone's GPS to navigate us down some side roads. But, hey, at least we got to wave "hi" to Robert Frost's farm. I love New England.

Weeks before our travels, I obsess over campgrounds at which to stay. Pouring over state park websites to find just the right park and just the right site. And I don't know why I have such a fascination of being by water. I often try to find a place by the ocean, but I was getting really annoyed by the Massachusetts State Parks, so I looked to New Hampshire, which turned out to be perfect.

We arrived at our lakeside campground in the early evening to find the water delightfully accessible and most suited for splashing in, clear and not too cold and just for us. It was a perfect way to soothe the traffic angst of the past three hours. Marlowe surprised us by being a total fish.

Everything about that campsite was perfect. The wood was perfect for campfire burning. The rocks were perfect for sitting. There was good distance between campsites with plenty of trees, so it felt more private. We roasted hotdogs and broccoli and marshmallows.

This was our first time camping this summer, and I have to say, that camping with a 2yo is much improved from camping with a 1yo. From the moment we arrived it was clear that Marlowe thought camping was the best thing ev-ar and embraced everything we did with tons of enthusiasm. We already knew Ellis thinks camping is the best ever. He enjoyed being a big boy and riding his training-wheel-less bike around and around the loop.

Packing food for camping on a road trip can be a little tricky--especially when you don't have any kind of camp stove. So I was kind of proud of what I came up with. Hot dogs, veggies, chips, and marshmallows for supper. And I got a little hot pot for heating water. It's actually not too hard to find an outlet at a state park campground. Usually there's one in the bathroom. So I heated up a pot of water for instant oatmeal and the new Starbucks Via instant coffee, which is decent and great for traveling.

We left our site in the morning, making our way towards the interstate via a Target stop for some forgotten items and lunch supplies. We looked forward to stopping at our favorite park in Portland, ME for lunch. When we arrived M had just fallen asleep, and the water in the splash pond was so uncomfortably cold that it wasn't fun. And we had just missed the farmer's market. We ate our lunch, had some play time on the playground and then went on our way, arriving at our friends' house in Bangor in time for dinner.

We had a great Sunday with them and then jumped into our week of Maine activities. On Monday we went over to Acadia National Park, where we had a picnic and climbed a mountain. Six kids and three adults hiked up Mt. Champlain. I love a good view, and between the shrubby pines and low-lying bushes--including many wild blueberries eagerly harvested by the young hikers--there was nothing to obstruct a most fantastic view of the mountains and ocean. I was so proud of Ellis. It wasn't an easy hike, and downhill was very steep, zig-zagging trail. It was his second mountain summit climb, with last year's great Maine hike being his first.

While Philly was having triple digit temps when we were gone, Maine was having unseasonably warm temperatures, as well. It almost got to 90! We enjoyed a nice cool-off at our favorite swimming hole, Craig Pond, more like a small lake. It's fed by a spring, so the water is crystal clear, and abounds with frogs to be caught.

We chilled with our friends, the Curlyheads, and did some errands on Wednesday.

On Thursday we said goodbye to our dear friend in Bangor and headed down to Portland, where we were going to visit some friends of mine from college. I actually hadn't seen them since college. But we keep in touch a little over blogs/FB, and it was a good excuse to see Portland, too. We had an absolute blast with them. And with four boys and a girl, there were plenty of playmates. It was great to meet their sweet, sweet kids, who basically set about trying to learn everything there was to know about ASL from the minute we stepped in the door.

They took us to see the Portland headlight after dinner.

After sundaes and bidding the kids goodnight, the adults stayed up until nearly 2am talking, shivering in the cool Maine night air.

After a little beach time in the morning, we got on the road again, heading towards our campground in Connecticut. We got there at sunset, though, so even though the little beach area on Long Island Sound was perfect, we couldn't really play there long. And the wood we bought was damp and wouldn't light, and then it started to drizzle. And the kids were tired and crazy. So it was a little lack-lustre.

we got an early start Saturday morning and were shocked as we sailed along I-95 with no traffic through southern Connecticut and NYC. We got home mid afternoon.

It was an absolutely wonderful time, and we were totally not ready to come home yet, and keep scheming of ways to never have to leave Maine again. Thanks, also, dear friends, for your wonderful fellowship and hosting us!