Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Maine: Up to Camp!

Live Maine Lobsters

Eric and I along with the Maryland Sled Dog Adventures sled dogs just returned from ten days of adventures up north at our cabin (to Mainers it's a "camp") in Maine.

Hanging the new sign we received as a gift

Along the way, we had two nice Maine lobster dinners. All of the lobsters we purchased this time were "hard shells" vs. "shedders." Eric and I both agree that shedders are much easier to eat than hard shells and even have a different (sweeter) taste than the hard shell lobsters we had on this trip.

We also purchased a new gas grill for the cabin to replace the tiny Weber "Smokey Joe" (portable) we were using as our grill up there.

Eric spent several days cutting and splitting firewood for the wood stove come winter. The new log splitter and the electric chain saw sharpener really helped make that task easier. We also managed to score four free pallets while down at the Home Depot in Augusta. One pallet will be used as a small "bridge" through a wet place on our tie trail (the trail that connects our cabin to the surrounding trails) while the other three were used as a base for Eric's wood pile.

New gas grill

Okemo waits for dinner

Chloe (the cat), Eric and T-Bone relax on the couch

For recreation, we hiked up to the top of Mt. Blue (approx. 3000 feet) in Mt. Blue State Park, took a trip up to Rangeley, and went swimming in Lemon Stream and the Sandy River. The hike up Mt. Blue was quite strenuous as it rises a little under 2000 feet in just 1.6 miles. Along the way we saw tons of moose activity but, sadly, no moose. Once at the top, however, the views were spectacular. Along for the hike were Okemo and Acadia.

On Sunday, we decided to take a short drive up to Rangeley. Along the way we stopped and got some Giffords ice cream. Even Acadia and Zoe enjoyed an ice cream treat.

Acadia checks out the view from the top of Mt. Blue

The view from the top of Mt. Blue

Eric at the top of Mt. Blue

Fish eye view

Webb Lake

Rangeley Lake

While up at the cabin, we had temperatures ranging from the mid 90s to the low 40s. As they say in Maine: "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute."

Most of the time the day time highs were in the 70s with very low humidity