Dedham trip

Last Tuesday morning, my good friend Tony and I headed up to Bangor to meet up with AJ and Dana, who are not only Tony's brother in law's, but also my friends. Our original plan was to head up to AJ's camp in Salem to spend a couple of nights, snowmobile, coyote hunt, and snow-shoe. But, plans got changed, and we made our way up to Dana's place in beautiful Dedham, Maine (boy, you are really getting the Maine history on this blog lately, huh?). Dana's family has about 80 acres of pure beauty up in this town which borders on Ellsworth--which is the "gateway" to Acadia National Park.

We had an awesome time, and it was great to get away and just hang out with "the guys." I packed my snow-shoes, warm clothes, and a crock full of pulled pork, and we were on our way. After a hearty breakfast in Bangor, we made our way to Dana's, where we set up the game board for some good 'ol Axis and Allies play! This game, if you aren't familiar with it, is like RISK on steroids! An entire game can take anywhere from 3-6 hours. But, lucky for the guys, I suck hard, so it didnt take them long to defeat me. After setting up the game board, we made our way outside to start target shooting. Here I am with Tony's shotgun (my shoulder is still sore....this thing has a kick and a half!)

Dana and Tony check the gun before loading up three more shells. In the background, you can see part of Bald Mountain...upon a closer look, you can really make out some great rock faces and slides. The trail you see is actually a power line trail.
One of the main parts of any guy's trip is the ribbing, insulting, and name-calling. This trip was no different. Why is this the way with guys? My buds and I do it all the time. I'm sure there's some psychological implication to our insecurities or something like that. All I know is this: I'll worry when the day comes when my friends DONT constantly make fun of me!

Below is one of the power line trails we came out on after "plinking" around Dana's land for a couple of hours on our snow-shoes (actually, Dana even owns the power line land). Shortly after we got there, and while we waited for AJ to arrive, Tony, Dana, and I took a good long 'shoe out on the land. We tracked rabbits, coyotes, and other game in the snow. I guess this is PRIME deer hunting land, and Dana tagged the biggest deer of his life right next to where we were walking.....

A beautiful stretch of woods for sure! And lots of places to shoot and hunt. I really enjoy target shooting; when I was a kid, my dad and I would go to Standish Sportsmen Club and shoot a bunch of rounds of his .22, 9mm, and .38 pistols. I definitely think I'd like to get back into that again.

It was also great to spend some time with AJ, who just recently got back from (I think) his fourth tour of Iraq. Ridiculous. He works on a med-evac unit, and this summer he's going to flight school. He's also a Maine Guide, and he was very informational about the types of firearms we were using, the way to track animals, and the rudiments of coyote hunting. Sidenote: I didnt end up going out for the actual coyote hunt, as the guys didnt even LEAVE until 2am. They returned shortly after 4, having not shot anything. I was sleeping.

The picture above is the spot where Dana shot his HUGE deer (I think it was a 7 pointer). This was a spot about halfway through our snow-shoe trip, and we sat to rest and talk. It was a great time, even though it was a quick trip. On Wednesday, before coming home, Dana, Tony and I took a ride over to THE BIG CHICKEN BARN, which is an AWESOME antique and used book shop. Amanda and I love it there, and we could spend HOURS looking around.

So right now it is snowing hard. Will we have an extended vacation??? We'll have to see. See ya