Friday, May 30, 2008

Friday morning...

We were on the water by 7:30. Sunny, blue skies, bluer water.


The area in front of the camp is wooded and filled with Lady Slippers. Have never seen as many in one place. Also lots of wood ticks. Picked up 3 in just that short walk through... and one on Sam. Also sprayed down a very healthy looking poison ivy patch.

Ah, the joys and challenges of Maine living...






Monday, May 26, 2008

Memorial Day Weekend, 2008

Busy weekend... Connie's mom was here for the long weekend and visitors included Kate & Ryan, Anne and Mary Jo, Chris, Kori, Nolan and Kera, Mike and Curly, and John, Lynne and Ida... Wicked busy.

The new swing chair got a work out. If you get it going fast enough the bugs don't land...


We headed over to Day's Store to pick up some meat for the grill. Ryan out performed... as usual. Best pork chops ever...



I heard the roar of Harley engines in the driveway and for the life of me, thought Peter Fonda and Dennis Hooper from Easy Rider fame were coming through the door. Great to see you guys...


The quiet here just kind of settles in your bones, maybe help Ryan's bones mend quicker. Nice...

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

scouting out the territory

Blueberry Hill is a nice little picnic area off the ridge road with an easterly view overlooking the Belgrade Lakes. Our camp is just down the hill on Long Pond. The body of water just beyond is Great Pond, then Salmon Lake and finally Messalonskee Lake where we summered last year after selling the house. Now that you've got your bearings...

It's a place of hidden majesty. Around any turn, you might stumble into jaw dropping beauty.


The town of Belgrade Lakes runs along Route 27 between Long Pond and Great Pond and is locally known for the duck at the Belgrade Inn. I've always found to difficult to make those oily fowl edible, but they have a raspberry glaze recipe that's out of this world. I have to say their selection of house paint lacks originality. Must have been a special on white at Aubachons...


We've got three addresses. The PO Box in in Belgrade Lakes, the shipping address is Oakland and the physical address is Rome (1200 full time residents)



Sam n' Lu have to sit outside at Days Store and the Post Office. No mutts allowed. But that's ok. Get to talk to everyone coming and going. Even the pickup driving, bean booted, ball-capped woods workers stopping in for a couple "pounders" of Old Millwakee will stop to pat the pups.



We got caught in a rain squall coming across the lake yesterday. The harder it rained the more we laughed. Luckily we were back home, safe and sound when the hail started. That would have stung...

Headed to Portland tomorrow to a couple doctors appointments with Ryan. They want to do more surgery, but they're not sure why... maybe time for a trip to Boston for a specialist second opinion... ya think?

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Belgrade Lakes, Maine 04918

Spring time in Maine.

Trees are budding out and the bugs are swarming. Spring peepers in the evening. The mile long, single lane, dirt camp road twists and turns up to Blueberry Hill.

Ryan and I spent Saturday afternoon on the lake learning where the rocks are and enjoying the nice weather.




Belgrade Lakes is a peculiar mix of townies, tourists and summer folk. We rented a post office box from Buzz the Postmaster ( 6 kids, married twice... to the same woman ). The coffee spot and book store, The Lazy Lab, is run by Wendy and Wendy.

But the hub of BL is unquestionably Days Country Store. Sue, Lois and Judy made us all feel welcomed. And after chatting for 5 minutes, we discovered mutual friends and family connections.

Ryan went in yesterday while I stayed outside with the dogs. They took one look at him and said "You're Glen's son...". Today we drove over for some groceries and they said to Ryan, "Hope you heal up quickly and that you come up a lot this summer...".

Just a real comfortable, homey place...

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Saturday Morning on Long Pond

Back in Maine, safe and sound. We moved into Judy and Bob's lake house and Kate and Ryan are here for the Mother's Day weekend. Everyone slept until 10:00!! Such a peaceful place...

Lots of wildlife. A pair of Piliated Woodpeckers, Beavers, Loons, birds of all sorts... a little yellow finch knocked himself silly on the window. Thought he had bought the farm... or the birdhouse as it were. Placed him on the picnic table in the sun and 15 minutes later he flew away.

Reunion dinner last night with family in Brunswick. Thank you Wayne! U da Man!








I think we're going to shut the blog down for awhile. When we hit the road again, I'll let you know. The past 6 months have been great (with a few notable medical exceptions...) and we sure hope to continue our travels. So much to see. Such a magnificent country. And the freedom to just get up and go.

Thanks for following the blog. It helped us stay connected with family and friends where ever we journeyed. See you down the road...

Glen, Connie, Sam n' Lu

Monday, May 5, 2008

Sampson gets to drive...

Can I drive??? PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE.....

I CAN???? THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU...


HOT DOG!!!


And we got to Portland in time for dinner!!

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Sunbury Ohio

Last Stop. Tomorrow we push to Portland... 11 hours give or take. Called Nate and Meggie on their birthdays ( and Brit... BIG 21). Also Wendy and Pete on their anniversary (28?). Where does time go...

Today was Missouri/Illinois/Indiana/Ohio.... unremarkable. The heartland is boring

Friday, May 2, 2008

"Are you from Missouri?"

Tonight we are... overnighting in Joplin. That was one of Joe Murphy's favorite sayings. Any time someone expressed doubt regarding an obvious event/situation...

It's peak tornado season in this part of the country. Yesterday 19 touched down over 6 states killing many and injuring dozens. We kept one eye on the sky which was pretty strange looking this evening.

Got stuck in traffic on Rte 44 outside Oklahoma City for 2 hours. When we got to the cause of the jam, there were 4 guys putting in a guard rail... glad I wasn't carrying a gun.

The drive across New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma was beautiful. The thing that continually strikes us is the expanse, being able to see broad horizons. In Maine we are usually stuck under the trees, which are also beautiful, but somewhat smothering after a decade or two. The other thing that we noticed was the absence of the continuous strip mall that you find in Rte 95 down the east coast... Burger King, Walmart, Wendy's, Walgreens, Subway, Home Depot, McDonalds, Waffle House... and repeat.

Anyway, bed time. And so good night.