JoyUnspeakable

Not much excitement today. Mike and his family went home today. Domino and Carolena miss their cousins Michael and Ileona. My family mostly hung out here at the cabin. We left to go souvenir shopping, and to pick up some more milk and stuff at the grocery store. Mom and Dad went back to Greenville, and returned with three cooked lobster. I think they were about 1.5 pounds each, and only cost $10 each. Pretty awesome deal. This evening, Dad and I went moose searching, and we finally got a sighting. There was a mom and it’s kid, walking through a creek. We were able to get a couple of pictures of them before they disappeared. I wish we could have gotten closer. Marie made friends with another vacationing couple from North Carolina, and we played Hearts against them this evening. Marie won.
Only one more full day left in Maine. Not really sure what we are going to do.

Today, my dad and I went and rented a canoe for the day. I originally wanted to do some crazy long canoe trip to some hidden falls, but then I was told that trip is often only done over one or two nights of camping. That’s too bad. I would have loved to do it. Just not really prepared to do anything like that.
We rented the canoe from Crazy Cove. The lady who we rented it from reminded me of the crazy lady from Misery. We only used it for a few hours, but we had a good time. We paddled up to where I knew the kids would be playing, and we took the kids, two at a time, out for a small trip. First, Dad and I took out Ileona and Michael, and then Dad and Marie too out Carolena and Domino. Then Dad and I paddled across the lake to the other side to eat the lunch that we packed. The weather was not that great. It was cloudy, a little rainy at times, and a decent breeze. Unfortunately, I ended up getting a little sunburned on the top of each knee, and a little on my arms. My knees feel uncomfortable.
This evening, there was an ice cream social, where they brought out an old hand-churned ice cream maker. We all took turns churning, and ate ice cream. It was good.
After, we went moose hunting again, but struck out again. We ran into another car at a scenic overlook (which was beautiful as the sun set), and spoke to them. They were locals, and gave some moose-finding advice. I’ll have to try again tomorrow. I think our problem is that we are starting out too late.

Today, Mike and I went on a serious hike. We climbed 1800 feet to the summit of Bald Mountain. This was probably the hardest hike that I have ever been on. It was really neat. Along the hike, we saw a grouse, some frogs, and a snake. Unfortunately, there was a lot of clouds out, so it wasn’t entirely clear when we made it to the summit. But the pictures look pretty good.
On the way down, I took a couple of spills. The ground and trees were soaked. And some of the areas on the trail were very muddy. Those areas sometimes had long narrow trees that could be used to walk on. Unfortunately, I took a spill and landed flat on my butt in the middle of the mud. I think k saved my camera in that fall, but then I took another spill, and jammed my thumb really bad. And in that fall, the camera got more wet. It still works, but there is moisture in the view finder right now. Hopefully, that will clear out.
This evening, Rachael and I went looking for moose, but still no sightings.

This morning, I got up around 6am, and I went for a bike ride. I rode in to town, and a little past it, and rode back. I’m going to guess that I rode about 6-8 miles round trip. It felt good to get out on the bike. I haven’t ridden in so long.
This afternoon, Mom and Dad wanted to go check out the shops at Greenville, Maine. The rest of us decided to go, too. Turns out there is a 3-hour boat tour on the boat “The Katahdin” that leaves from there, so we decided to go on it. It was really nice, despite the bad weather. Before the tour, there was a decent amount of rain, along with some thunder and lightening, and even a bit of hail. But it just about stopped when the tour began. During the tour, the kids got to go in the captain’s room and got to steer the boat, and I got to go down in the engine room to see the engine at work. The scenery was beautiful, but it seemed like a whole lot of the same thing: trees, mountains, water, some houses.
On the way home from Greenville, Mom and Dad spotted a moose, and even got pictures of it!
After dinner, Mike, Rachael and I went looking for Moose. We drove around, and even off-roaded a bit, but all we saw was one deer. Maybe tomorrow night.

Today we only really did one thing. This morning, the kids and the dads went on a hike to Moxie Falls. It was about a 30-minute drive, and a one mike hike. The falls were amazing at 90 foot drop. There were several small falls before we got to see the big one. We brought our suits, and we got in the water just above the big drop. The water was a little cool, but it wasn’t bad at all.
The rest of the day was spent snacking and hanging out at the cabin.
There were a couple of downpours and thunderstorms today, too.
The day was capped off nicely with a complimentary wine and cheese social with the neighbors.

Wow. This place is awesome. Almost done unpacking. Beautiful cabin. It’s going to be an awesome week.
No AT&T service here, though. And if I want WiFi, I have to go to the lodge.
On the way up here, there were plenty of rafting places. I’m sure we will be on the water a few times this week.
This is the first time I bought my bike on vacation. I’m so out of shape, but I really hope I use it a lot. Maybe by the end of the week I’ll be in better shape. Ha.
Dad brought his guitar and is playing it now, singing with the girls. Nice.

Well, at around 54 miles to go, I texted my sister-in-law where we were. One mile later, I lost cell phone service. I’m officially unable to be reached.
We are at a rest stop of some sort. It is beautiful here. We are at a lake, with trees all around. I took some pics that I will add to this post later.
Ow! Some stupid bug just took a bite out of me.
We stopped at Dave’s Diner for lunch. I got possibly the best tasting chicken cordon blue sandwich I have eve had there. Domino talked the owner into giving me a free brownie because my name is Dave. It was yummy.
Ok. Marie is out of the bathroom. Next stop, Jackman!

It’s been a very long day. Allow me to recap it.

When I loaded the girls into the car this morning, Domino said “There’s a mystery in the car.” I responded “You mean there’s a mosquito  in the car?” “No – there’s a mystery in the car. There’s something in here, and I don’t know what it is.” Turns out there was some bug flying around making noise. Thinking about the conversation made me laugh out loud several times on the trip.

We made really good time getting to our waypoint of Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Unfortunately, on the way here, I noticed that the air conditioning in the car wasn’t coming out cold. Something’s busted. Crud.

When we got to the Super 8 that we are staying at (around 11am), we met up with my parents, who arrived here yesterday. Dad and I decided to try and find an auto shop to see if they could fix the AC in the van, and the girls all hung out in Mom’s room.

We ended up at a shop called Jack’s Gas Shop. The guy tested the freon, found a bad valve, tested it again, and ended up learning that I have a bad AC compressor. Unfortunately, he didn’t have one to replace it, and couldn’t get one in until Tuesday. But they guy was very nice, and he said he would only charge me for a half-hour of labor for all of the work he did. How awesome was that? Too bad I can’t get it fixed here.

After the attempted car repair, all of us except for Marie went to the Old Sturbridge Village. This is a re-enactment of New England Life from 1790 to 1840. It was very cool. The thing that impressed me the most was a working saw mill that was powered by water. Absolutely amazing (and very scary looking).

After the Village, Marie and Domino went swimming. And then Mom and Dad watched the girls while Marie and I went out for dinner. We ended up at The Publick House’s Historic Dining Tap Room – I had an Entertainment coupon for BOGO dinner. I am so glad we got to eat there. The food was amazing. I had salmon, and Marie had turkey. Both meals were excellent.

When we finished eating, a couple near us asked if we were Phillies fans (Marie had her Phillies shirt on), and also mentioned QVC (I wore my black QVC shirt). They said they were from Malvern! How crazy is that?

Well, I’m exhusted. It’s the end of a very long day. The girls are now asleep, and it’s time for me to do the same.

We are going on vacation again. This time, we are going north to Maine. I can’t remember the last time I vacationed further north than New York. I am so excited!
While I believe that most people who go to Maine go to the shore, my timeshare came through on the western border in Jackman. I believe it’s about 20 miles from Canada. Our accommodations are a three-bedroom cabin that sleeps 10 at a place called Mountain View Resort. My parents and my brother’s family will be joining us out there. It’s going to be great!
We (and by we I mean I) decided to get an early start today. We meant to pack the car last night and get to bed early, but the kids did not cooperate. But the car is mostly packed. I’m up and ready to go. Marie is getting there. And with any luck, we will be on our way in under an hour.