A lot has happened in this past month..

The Toast
Tying one on????
Riding the Ferry to NY
Whitewater Rafting
Sorry for the delay in posting. We really have had a BIG time in August. As we left the Halls, they were about to go whitewater rafting for the first time. We went up north to Twin Forks on the Kennebec River. We drove right past some familiar territory around Kowhegan and Carratunk - Tom and I hiked up there with Foster and the ATCA in 1996.

The rafting was terrific - I'm ready to go again next time I have a chance. It was the hottest day in the summer down here in Bethel, but being on the river and being a bit farther north was a blessing. The water is cold and refreshing, which is a good thing since you get thoroughly wet even if you manage to stay in the raft. At the end they serve you a steak, chicken or salmon lunch and show you the video of the trip - a real highlight. It's a shame we can't post the video.

The next adventure Sally had on her own - Tom is just not interested in knitting and sheep farms. The Maine Fiber Arts group (http://www.mainefiberarts.org/) had an open house the first weekend on August and Sally made a quick visit to A Wrinkle in Thyme, a sheep farm about 30 minutes from Bethel in Sumner Maine. Iwas the first visitor and got to see the sheep, use a drum carder and see the carded wool spun into about 1 ounce of worsted yarn. And buy 3 ounces of heavy worsted that was home dyed and spun on the farm. I plan to make some slippers for the upcoming winter.

Speaking of winter, it's still summer up here but the temperatures are wonderful. It went down into the mid-40's overnight and the highs are in the sixties and seventies. It helps confirm our inclination to turn into that dreaded creature - object of scorn by permanent residents of communities north and south - the fabulous "snowbird". I am looking for a good representation of the creature to use as our logo.

Our other big adventure of the month was our trip to Peoria for Bethany's wedding. We stayed in some real nice campgrounds along the way. The first day we drove up to Burlington, VT and rode a ferry over to NY. A side trip led us to Lake Placid - Tom said it looked like Gatlinburg with Olympic rings. Too crowded for us since we have become small town people this summer! But we had a great German meal at a motel on the outskirts of town.
The next night we stayed up near Sandusky OH - East Harbor State Park. The park was lovely, very clean and room for a lot of people. It is right on Lake Erie and looks like it is real popular. We'll come back some day when we go to Cedar Point and ride the roller coasters.
The wedding was very eclectic and a great time. We got to help decorate for the reception - Sally tied THOUSANDS of bows for the chairs ( well, not really) and Tom helped (don't tell anyone or they might take away his man card....).

We promise we'll catch up with the rest of our event filled summer soon - hope you all are enjoying yours. We'll see you all before long - summer is winding down and we'll be back down south before it freezes up here.

Canoeing, Peak-bagging and Gunkholing

Peakbagging - Bethel from Mt Will
Lobster Shack on the Coast
The Gunk Hole
The past couple of weeks have been pretty exciting.
First - the canoeing. We have finally gotten to take a canoe down a short stretch of the Androscoggin - no pictures. It was raining so hard when we got off that we looked like a couple of drowned rats. Fortunately we did not take our camera with us or we'd be buying a new one. We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and plan to take the longer trip later this week. Then we might move up to some basic river kayaking. The river is really friendly - "quick" water so we don't have to paddle too much, no rapids, lots of islands to stop and picnic on. We saw some wildlife - an otter (or maybe it was a mink), a duck and and an eagle or falcon.

Unfortunately, Tom is still not up to hiking much, but Sally has hit several local peaks. First was Mt Will which is about 8 miles from here. When I can get blogspot to upload a picture you will be able to see Bethel from the ledges about halfway down from the peak. Next was Mt Crag over in NH - a small peak but worth the practice. Then the Roost in White Mtn Natl Forest. Then Table Rock up near Grafton Notch. It is a blue blazed side trail off the AT just north of the notch. Finally I climbed Albany Mtn (1000 foot climb, the most so far). I brought back just two servings of the tiny blueberries for dessert that night.

In between, we went down to Portland and had a great seafood feast on the coast near Two Lights State Park. It's been up in the eighties up here in the Mountains but much cooler with the ocean breezes!

To cool off we go "gunkholing" which is an unattractive term for finding the best swimming hole with the coolest water and just hanging out till you either turn blue or have to go home. There are several close by and it really helps to get away for a couple of hours.

Stay tuned for more details ... we have been to the short track races and to hear a real small town Brass Band. And tomorrow we're going white water rafting - wish you were here!