Swimming with the Mooses

The Allagash Roster

Here's who went on the trip.

Kathy's Dad, Dave

Kyle's Dad, Peter

Kathy's brother & sister-in-law, Chris & April and their daughter Emma

Kathy's sister & brother-in-law, Monica & Steve and their daughter Nora

Kathy, Kyle & Ben

The Allagash Wilderness Waterway

We all survived Ben's first trip on the Allagash! 4 days and 3 nights in the wilderness of northern Maine. Pouring rain, giant deer-flies and tiny No-See-ums couldn't break his spirit or that of the other 10 brave souls dumped off on Umsaskis Lake last Friday morning. We were actually quite lucky, weather wise. We lived with the constant threat of rain but got very little until the last day on the river. You knew that the region had been getting more rain than normal just by how swollen the river was. On our last trip down, there were many places where you had to jump out of the canoe and drag across the shallow river bed. But not this trip. We cruised down the river at a record pace, easily covering the planned 15 or so miles for each day. It was nice to be able to set up camp after a good hard day of paddling and still feel like you had some energy left to enjoy the late afternoon/evening around the camp. We saw upwards of 10 moose on the trip, almost all in the first 2 days. Some were in the water, eating grass off the river bed and some were watching us from the shore. Lots of ducks, loons and canadian geese, but surprisingly no deer.

Gram's 80th Birthday

Saturday was Gram Martin's 80th Birthday. Cousin Jody managed to assemble an amazing family reunion in Belfast which surprised and delighted Gram. All of her 5 granchildren and their kids were there. It was great to see aunts & uncles and cousins that we don't see nearly enough. The weather was beautiful and we spent most of the day in Maggie & Chris's backyard reminiscing and watching the kids play. Some of my best memories are going to Greenville to spend a night at Gram & Gramp's. Usually, my cousins Marty, TJ, and Jody would be right there as well and we would spend the days out in the backyard or on the roof of their garage. And if we were lucky, we would get to sleep up on the third floor where we could stay up all night watching tv. I'll never forget all the great Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners we had in Greenville. Yesterday was a nice reminder of how much fun those holidays were. It was really incredible that Jody was able to make this day happen for Gram.

Ben's Pictures from the Great Head Trail

First Hike of the Summer!

National Trails Day in Acadia National Park. It was our first hike of the summer and it was a alot of fun! We hiked the Great Head Trail with some great fellow hikers and a Park Ranger who filled us in on lots of history as we hiked. We were also lucky enough to have the Park Superintendent, Sheridan Steele join us. Ben was quick to make friends and took a ton of pictures along the way. Olivia got to ride in the backpack for most of the trip and was happy to pull Dad's hair and enjoy the view.

Cool fact from the trip: Sand Beach and the surrounding 100 acres were a gift from J.P. Morgan to his daughter who eventually donated it all to the park. At one point along the Great Head Trail, you can see the remains of a stone tea house that they had for entertaining guests.