The 4th Report

I've now ventured into mid-western Maine. We were invited by friends to go up to their camp on Lake Moxie. Laurie and I drove up together and made a nice stop an an antique "mall." She is a wealth of info since she used to own a small antiques business. This was a place made up of stalls, each one "owned" by a separate vendor. There was a lot of the usual stuff, but some odd things. One whole stall was filled with maple sap cans. Must have been about a hundred, and they come in three sizes. Who knew?

Phil's family has owned the cabin for a long time, but about 10 years ago it got hit by lightning

and burned to the ground. Phil, being a skilled carpenter, rebuilt the cabin all by hand with logs from the surrounding woods, and it is beautiful. Better yet it sits on the tip of a peninsula on the lake so the views are amazing. We heard but didn't see loons, and the distant lightning provided nature's fireworks. Unfortunately, it rained and was windy more than not so we didn't do any boating or swimming. It gave us time to break out the cribbage board.

By Saturday afternoon we decided it wasn't going to quit raining so we ventured out to walk to Moxie Falls. Nothing like hiking in a downpour in the rain forest! But it was worth the effort as you can see. I'm always surprised at what other people will do. We passed some families on the trail with kids in swim suits - as if they were going to jump in the raging torrent of the Kennebec River! Just a couple miles downstream, the Kennebec joins up with the Dead River and then flows south and gets to the ocean just south of Archie's, near Popham Beach.

Late Saturday afternoon, Rob and I decided to head home by driving north to Moosehead Lake. You should look at it on a map sometime and you'll see

why it's named that. We drove across Plum Creek land (major logging company) which had a beautiful series of bogs and ponds - perfect moose habitat, but didn't see any.

Moosehead Lake is said to be the largest fresh water lake in the U.S. that is wholely contained within one state. It's a major destination for summer visitors. Plum Creek has proposed a massive development on the shore that is one of the biggest environmental controversies in Maine. We tried to find a local watering hole in Greenville for a burger and a beer, but they closed down the grill at 5 pm. Wierd. We'll have to go back sometime when it's not raining. Oh yeah, and it rained all the way home.

Sunday dawned clear and warm - FINALLY! It was about 75 - really the first day of summer. I could almost hear the tomato plants stretching and saying aaahhhh. We did lots of fun yard chores and then some of Gretchen's friends came over for a 5th of July BBQ. A spectacular day! A dry and calm evening was also perfect for the lightning bugs to come out!