Mugs for Cindy and Grace

I'd been meaning to give Cindy and Grace some pottery so took these mugs up to them when I visited this past weekend.

Chain of Ponds, Labor Day Weekend, 2012

I realized I hadn't seen Grace or Cindy all summer so got up early Friday morning and headed to Stratton.  I arrived around 10 a.m. and visited with them at Grace's apartment for a bit and then we decided to take a drive down to The Narrows on Chain of Ponds.  With the help of Cindy's new boyfriend, Ron, we got Grace and her wheelchair into my Subaru and drove about a mile down a very rough dirt road.  I was shocked to see someone had hauled a little 15 foot camper trailer in there.  I really can't imagine how as there are some major rocks and washouts that you just can't avoid.

We parked at the shoreline and got Grace into her wheelchair and enjoyed a nice picnic in the sun.  Grace was using the Subaru as a shield from the wind but eventually made her way down next to the water.

Grace and Cindy

This Great Blue Heron watched us from the opposite shore

Ron and Cindy

I love this section of Maine - everywhere you look there are mountains and water.

We also drove down to the Natanis Campground to see if there were any sites to rent this weekend, thinking Rick and I might come up and spend a few days.  However, they were sold out of waterfront sites.  After a few other scenic stops we returned to Grace's and I headed home.  I decided to stop and visit Christopher in Farmington for a little bit and arrived home about 6ish.

Rick and I drove over to the Emporium in Readfield to see Rick Dosedlo and Logan play but the place was packed so we drove into Augusta and had dinner at The Gin Mill.  It was our first time there and we really enjoyed it.  Jim Carey and Sa Rah were playing music and the place was pretty quiet but we enjoyed the food and the music.  The next morning we slept in till 9ish and then decided we'd jump in the car and take the kayaks and head out.  We weren't sure exactly where we were going but were loosely thinking of checking out the scenery at Height of the Land and maybe ending up back at Chain of Ponds, which is just what we did.

Height of Land - Route 17 - this definitely doesn't do the view justice. 

We drove up to Weld and then took the dirt access road for Tumbledown Mountain over to Coos Canyon to get to Route 17.  We stopped briefly at Height of Land and then drove up to the overlook for Rangeley Lake and ate sandwiches.  We drove into Rangeley and walked around the waterfront, took a drive through town and then headed up towards Stratton.  We couldn't reach Cindy when we got to town so we went up to Natanis Campground and parked the car there and paddled the kayaks for a few hours on the ponds.

Me with the Bigelow Peaks behind me

Rick

Rick in the waning sun

We loaded the kayaks back up and made a pit stop at the Maine DOT lot on Route 27 in hopes of seeing a moose but no luck.  We also made a quick stop at the so-called moose quarry on Route 16 but again, no moose to be seen, though there was certainly a large audience waiting in hopes.  We then went over to the Stratton Plaza for beer and burgers and met up with Ron and Cindy, as well as my cousin Dennis and watched some fireworks the locals were shooting off.  There were rooms available at The Tranquillity Lodge in Stratton but given the weather prediction of cloudy and rain for Sunday we decided to go ahead and drive home and arrived just before midnight.  It was another very enjoyable spontaneous trip.  

Cathedral Pines, Eustis, Maine

Spent the weekend up in the Eustis area. Left Belgrade Lakes around noon on Friday, after getting up at four a.m., unable to sleep. I was definitely ready to sleep about half way to Eustis. Pulled off at the picnic area in Carabasset Valley and shut my eyes for five minutes and felt like a new woman.

Met Cindy and Mary at The Plaza in Stratton for a couple drinks, then went over to the campground and Woody helped me set up the camper real quick. Cindy then drove us over to Grace's house. What a nice surprise. Last time I saw Grace she wasn't really talking and really didn't seem aware of her surroundings. But this time she was talking in full sentences and really hopes to be able to walk again before long. She had a brain aneurism and a stroke a few years ago and it's been downhill for her for a long time. She was always so full of life and she's only about 50 now so it's so sad to see her like that.

We took her back to The Plaza with us and had some drinks out back around their campfire with some interesting locals. Rick got into town about 10ish and picked me up there and we went out to the campground and crashed. I slept extremely well and woke up to probably 40 degree temps. We had a campfire to warm up and after coffee and breakfast Rick and I headed out to the North Branch of the Dead River for a paddle. It got warm very quickly and we were in short sleeves for most of the paddle.

We saw an interesting assortment of critters on the paddle. First these ducks. I'll have to do some internet research to figure out what kind of ducks they are.

and this turtle.

We sat in our kayaks at the foot of the dam and let it pull us slowly around in a whirlpool about five times while we ate a snack and drank a beer. I always expect water rushing over a dam to create a fast current that you really have to paddle against, but more times than not it seems that you encounter a whirlpool of varying strength. I'm sure at some dams it could be quite dangerous, especially if you were swimming. But in most of the places I've been, it just creates a lazy little whirlpool where you can just kind of go with the flow. This one took us full circle about once every 3 or 4 minutes.

Came across this heron on the paddle back.

There were several - maybe 5 or so loons just off our campsite. They were very vocal all weekend. At one point one of them went flying in circles overhead, calling the whole time. Very odd, but very cool.

The Weekend

Friday felt like a lost day, spent basically preparing for unknown amount of time without power. Would it be a couple more hours, or will it be three or four days? No answer at the power company; MPR says a million without power and it will take days to restore it all. So we got the generator. . . read full scoop at Rick's posting for the day: http://thedailybeatblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/heavy-snow.html

After Christopher beat us all at Scrabble (Rick by one point), a replay of The Kite Runner on my laptop which I was powering from the generator along with the sump pump, fridge, and cell phone, and then trying to remain warm by staying within 10 feet of the fireplace, the electricity came back on at about 9:00 p.m. to the delighted cries from Jared and Chris. Rick had to drive an hour away to play what turned out to be a rather painful gig with the NP’s. If you really want to appreciate something like electricity, go without it for about 14 hours during a Maine winter.

Saturday we drove to Eustis, met Vicky and Chuck who hosted the whole NP and SO’s for the night at their “camp” on Flagstaff Lake, right next to a camp I’d rented with the boys for a week about three summers ago. Small world. Nice place. Good dinner and then Rick dropped me off at Cindy’s and she Mary, Kat and I went over and visited Grace and K-Lee for a while before heading up to The Rack at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain. Fun night; NP’s sounded great; lots of dancing! Head finally hit the pillow about 3 a.m.

A rather mediocre, slow breakfast for 10 at The Stratton Diner and we arrived home around noon. Jared brought home a Christmas tree, I hung lights and decorations, we all enjoyed a pot o’ soup (Sunday is now soup night it seems) did the puzzles, and off to bed. One more week of work and then I’ll be on vacation for two weeks.