Kennebec Float Trip

 

 



 

For my official last day of summer vacation, Lynne was kind enough to watch the kids for us so Amanda and I could head up to The Forks and do the float trip offered by Northern Outdoors--basically, N.O. supplies the lifejacket, paddles, and rubber "kayak," and they shuttle you about seven miles up the river to what the call the "lower" Kennebec. The trip has to be at one, since the dam up by Moosehead is opened at ten or so to provide the "whitewater" for rafters; by the time the water reaches the lower portion, it is still pretty darn fast, with lots and lots of rips and small rapids, but not what you would call 'whitewater.' Cuz if it WAS, then I wouldnt do it.

There are really calm parts and really exciting parts, but one thing is for sure: An intense current that probably brings you down the river at about 5 miles per hour....

Amanda getting ready at the island where they drop you off...where she is standing is LITERALLY 'the forks' of the Dead River (which is right behind her directly)  and the Kennebec River, which is over to the left on the other side of the island....thus, a river intersection or FORK....

Such a gorgeous day...who would have known that in less than 24 hours, I would be back to the stress of the opening days of school. The first day is ALWAYS the worst....and we seemed to start really early this year....

The water was about 4 or 5 feet deep at some points....sometimes, by islands and narrow rips, it was very shallow....and at some points it was over our heads as we swam along....

There was a huge rope hanging from the stern of the raft, in case groups of boats wanted to be tied together a-al Saco Style....we used this rope to dip overboard, hold on, and just float down the river...a very unique experience to be taken along like that....one just has to be sure to keep feet and legs up so one doesnt slam their knees into huge rocks #personalexperience....

We took a short video too to really exemplify the rips and currents. We did this mostly for Callum, because as I paddled I sang the Clifford TV show theme song....

The Forks really is one of our favorite places in the state: pristine rivers, big mountains, secluded lakes, and a microbrewery right at Northern Outdoors...I didnt get to try the HoneyBadger Rye....maybe next time....

back to skool..........................

Carrots

Dont they look good? This was the first harvest of carrots we took from the garden...we may plant some more tomorrow night....we are definitely going to plant more lettuce, cuz them is good. and stuff.

Our tomatoes are about ready to truly explode; SOOOO many flowers, green ones, and half red ones...boy they are really late!! To date (as of last night) Amanda and I have canned 11 quarts of tomatoes, 6 quarts of dill pickles, and 6 quarts of green beans (in Karl's circa 1811 pressure cooker, which was one of the scarier things I have done in my life...haha). I just picked up a bushel of tomatoes at B&F (thirty bucks per bushel) and we will start canning those soon. But the thing we love the most is all the apple sauce we are going to make! We are almost out from last year, and we need/hope to make a TON this year. The kids love it.....

First meet of the season was this past Friday (no pics sorry): The Laliberte Invitational at Cony High in Disgusta. Out of the 24 teams racing, Winslow took fifth overall, and two of our girls were on the podium (top 10 gets on podium). Our premier girl runner, Molli, got second overall. A very hot day, as the race usually is. OUr first--and only--home meet is this Friday....

We missed the Favry family this past weekend! We hope to see them real soon. Amanda and her mom went away to the quilt store down in Freeport. I have been wanting Amanda to make a quilt for years!

Uncle Jon and Aunt Kelsey came by on Sunday and Jon and I enjoyed some Pumpkinhead (I think I have already had my fix for the year, by the way).

And then, yesterday, being it my last day of summer vacation, Amanda and I had longstanding plans to paddle the Lower Kennebec River up in the Forks. I will post on this tomorrow.

School is no OFFICIALLY in session, as today was the first faculty day....freshmen come tomorrow. This year is looking to be one of my toughest--academically anyway--since I have to teach six classes (most ALL teachers I know teach only five) and I have a LOT of kids in my classes....I am nervous about the amount of writing I am going to be able to assign/correct with all these folks! All good kids, but a LOT of them. I will read this post in April and tell myself that I was silly for thinking it would be so tough....haha

AND LASTLY, tonight was Callum's open house for Pre-School....Mrs Marin will be his teacher, and we got to meet her. Callum found his cubby, his coat hook, and his first "assignments." He submitted his vote for the class pet Beta fish (Nemo, he wrote), and checked out the Chrysalis (spelling?? anyone??) in the tank that will soon turn into a butterfly--he wrote down his guess for what color the butterfly would be. He starts preschool on Thursday. I am NOT okay with this!

Meanderings 77

1. Salmon are the only animal that have a color named after them. What makes salmon so special? Is it because they are 'kings?' Just cuz they can swim really cool, they get to be their own color? Think of how funny it would be if fish, unbenounced to us, had a whole array of colors and one of them was called "human." In the vegetable world, oranges and persimmons hold the honor of being a fruit AND a color. How do these things happen?

2. You've gotta think that, in the city of Denver, Colorado, there has to be a strip club called "The Mile High Club." But maybe there is a legitimate club of old men and women who are really proud of their city's history and maybe THEY are called the Mile HIgh Club. If so, I bet they have to explain themselves all the time. And I bet they like it. Those deviant history buffs....

3. I am in no way advocating violence or killing or anything like that.....but it just seems that cereal killing has kind of gone out of style; you never hear about cereal killers anymore. Maybe times change and they have all moved on to other fads like Crossfit, canning, or zentangles. But there are just no more good cereal killers. They are becoming a thing of the past, like a "town drunk."

4. When I go to Hannaford  and I peruse the beef, chicken, and pork they have on sale, I always hate the cute orange stickers they have emblazoned with "Great For Grilling." Look jerkwad, I dont need you to tell me how I should cook my food, and I dont need any suggestions from you. What if I wanted to broil this chicken? Is that okay?

5. And on the same vein, why does 'grilling' get all the glory? Have you ever seen any packages of foods that say "Great For Boiling?" What is wrong with boiling? It is a noble, economic, responsible, and safe way of cooking food. Yet it is the RedHeadedStepChild of cooking methods. No "boiling" cookbooks, no "boiling" recipes. What a shame. What. A. Shame. And to be all hipster and cool, you have to "steam" stuff, not boil it. "Steaming" is in. "Steaming" has a great blend of vowel sounds and consonant sounds, so it rolls better of the tongue (no pun intended) (rolling boil) (shut up)

6. Did you know that, in Italian, "Prego" means "you're welcome?" Consider Prego pasta sauce. How freakin' cocky and arrogant is that? It is like they are SO SURE that their sauce is SO AMAZING that they are saying "you're welcome" to you, on the label, before you even eat it, as if to say 'this is gonna be so great and so wonderful and you are going to love it so much that you are welcome in advance for how awesome this will be.' Screw you Prego and your assuming tone; how dare you? It would be like if I baked some cookies and I gave you, dear reader, a cookie and said "here....you're welcome" before you ate it.Hmm....kind of sure of myself huh? Kind of sure that you will love this cookie so much, huh? #arrogantItaliancompanies

7. There are no tomatoes in Chinese Food. Why is this? How did the tomato--one of the most famous fruits in the world--somehow miss the largest landmass on earth? This is especially concerning because didnt the Chinese invent spaghetti? What a shame. What. A. Shame.

I havent even

written about my whole bachelor week experience? Why not? I dont know.

But it was truly unprecedented; Amanda and the kids went to NJ to see family, and, since preseason was starting for CrossCountry, I stayed behind--I had meetings, practices, etc. What did I DO on my bachelor week? I will never divulge that information.

One thing that was cool was how Timmy came up to visit me for a couple of days. He brought Star, his duog, and we had a blast eating at Cancun, chatting up some Norwegian social workers at Mainely Brews Pub, and, on Sunday, taking a ride to Moxie Falls up in The Forks. I have written about this hike before--see one of April's posts about the GOldsmith's hike there...

It is a beautiful spot, and the falls are truly majestic....

Here is Tim and Star. Arent they so cute? Eleni did not come up; she was at a full weekend workshop on "Overcoming your Pickle Phobia" facilitated by El Shabbaz Valez Khladid



Canning season is here, y'all!! This is one of our favorite time of years because a) we just really love preserving fresh vegetables so we can eat them throughout the winter b)it is a great relationship activity we can do together (cooperation is essential to canning c) no one else our age cans, so we can maintain our hipster aura d) it pisses off Jezsin Fantaselly to no end that we do this instead of buy bigger tvs e) it means the end of the summer is upon us, and winter isnt too far away!!!!

Since our cucumber crop has been so strong (although we have supplemented with cukes from The Apple Farm and other farm stands) we started with dill pickles!

All in all, we canned six quarts of dill pickles a couple of nights ago....

Tonight, since our friend Karl let us borrow his antique pressure cooker/canner, we are going to do several quarts of green beans. This family--the Marcouxs--live just across the street from us, and they have a HUGE garden. Nancy sets up a little farm stand where you pay on the honor system. Each day, Callum and I have been walking over to stock up on her beans.

Okaybye.

Meanderings 76

1. Chocolate gum? Why hasnt this been thought of yet? Or maybe it has, and it just never took off. I am just surprised no chocolate gum in the world.

2. This one will piss a lot of people off, but what the hey. In Waterville, there are several 'low income' housing developments and complexes. This is not a judgement against the financially disadvantaged--heck, my mom grew up in 'the projects' in Roxbury and Dorchester. But here's my beef: One thing I notice, constantly, is that these housing complexes have outside contractors taking care of all the 'landcaping' tasks--mowing, trimming, etc. What the heck is with this?? Why do they get free landscaping? This seems like a sure fire way, to me, for individual municipalities to save some money, does it not? From an optimistic point of view, perhaps taking care of their own yards will give the residents a greater feeling of "ownership" over their dwelling. And, from a rational and conservative point of view, why the heck cant I get MY town to mow MY lawn? Or weedwack? Or anything like that. Just seems like a no-brainer to me...

3. If 'you are what you eat,' does that mean in a million years or so that humans will have slowly morphed into cows and that mosquitoes will have slowly morphed into taking on human capabilities? That would be crazy! We become the cows and the mosquitoes become the people? This will also be a better world for the 'new' humans, since they can go out in the summer and not have to worry about mosquitoes anymore. Just saying.

4. Does no one worry about or ask the question: Can mosquitoes give you AIDS? I mean, all logic would tell you that they absolutely can. If a mosquito uses its proboscis to suck the blood out of an AIDS carrier and then, five minutes later, bites me, a non AIDS carrier, cant that mosquito transfer of the AIDS blood to me? It seems to me its just like druggies sharing dirty needles, only insect style...

5. I honestly cannot think of anyone less relevant or meaningless than the Queen of England. After her putrid behavior at the Olympic opening ceremonies (where she didnt even CLAP for her country's team marching in) she has solidified herself as the most dislikeable person on the planet--second only to Dick Cheney. And the people of England are so stupid for putting up with all the royalty crap...here is a country, like the rest of the Eurozone, who is feeling the effects of an absolute toiletish economy....yet they continue to support these disgustingly selfish white idiots who drain pound after pound after pound from the country so they can buy new polo sticks, necklaces, and dresses. HOW DARE THEY? The royal family of ENgland is the stupidest thing ever. Except for William. He seems cool.



(left to right: LoonCabin, Winter, Snoopy, Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Sharky, Big Moose)

6. One more thing about the royal family: As anyone who knows history will know, there have been several royal "houses" in Great Britain throughout history--the Stuarts, the Tudors, the Normandys, etc. Now Queen Elizabeth is of the house of "Windsor." Every 'house' got to be in power, usually, through wars and blood, right?? So why does Elizabeth and the rest of those idiots inherently get to be in power, seemingly, forever?? I think it would be wicked cool if some British militia got together and overthrew the house of Windsor in some kind of cool war, beheaded the useless queen, and took over as the 'next' British monarchy. WHY COULDNT OR SHOULDNT THIS HAPPEN? What goes around comes around, and Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles should watch their backs. Especially in this day and age, where I bet there are some Brits with brains who see how stupid and meaningless this family is.

Mt Desert Island with the Fitzpatricks

Anyone who knows anything about the Goldsmiths knows that Mt Desert Island is our favorite place on earth....it is so special in so many ways, and it is our fervent desire to share it with everyone who is important to us (which is why I keep harping on my parents to make it up that way...haha). We were lucky to share a wonderful MDI experience with our dear friends the Fitzpatricks. They are an exceptionally special family and we love them dearly. We camped at Bass Harbor Campground (which has changed A LOT in the last few years....for the worse....and we will not be back) for two nights, and, if I do say so myself, it was a fantastic time--even if the camping wasnt the best, it was great to share time with friends.

It was WICKED HOT. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the summer?

On the way up on Saturday, we stopped at the Seawall Campground picnic area for, well, a picnic. We ate and the kids IMMEDIATELY got to work; it is amazing how, in my experience, little boys inherently know how to do two things: Play with cars and make car noises, and explore rocks with great ardor (English teacher note: it is the kids who have the ardor....not the rocks....hehe). Callum, Caden, and Mia (and even Maira) were off to the races exploring the rugged coastline, rocks, tidepools, etc of the shore. It was just great. Callum, adorned with SnuffleJared, his penguin puppet, spent a goodly amount of time trying to 'sneak up' on seagulls....good times.

One of my favorite parts of the camping experience (shut up Amanda!!) is just hanging out at the site. On Friday night I heated up some of my homemade baked beans, and I grilled up some hot dogs. Caden and Brad made bracelets, and $a$ha taught Callum how to play checkers! Oh, and Brad and I drank ice beers too.

 Trivia question: What is the most photographed lighthouse in the world? FACT: Bass Harbor Lighthouse. The lighthouse is about a 15 minute walk from the campground, so we went exploring on a VERY hot Saturday morning. I wont even try to describe the beauty of the rugged coastline. You just have to make the effort to see it for yourself. It will take your breath away. Please take note of the 'emergency whistle' from our camping box, which Callum wore around his neck all weekend. While CS stood on this 'memorial bell,' he would hold the whistle up to his nose, turn around slowly, and pretend HE was a lighthouse. Callum Rock Lighthouse, even!

Sunday morning, after breaking camp, hiking the Ship Harbor trail right near the campground. One of our favorite walks. Flat, easy, and great for the kids. Small and beautiful treasures like this cove:

are a dime-a-dozen on Mt Desert Island. The place is crawling with picturesque, tranquil, and breathtaking surprises. You just have to pay attention and be mindful....

I love this picture of Callum and his buddy Caden playing on the rocks at the head of Ship Harbor....Sunday morning was what they call a 'typical' day in Downeast Maine: Foggy. Or, as the locals call it, "soupy." If I were a local, I would say that too. But, alas, I am and will always be a "flatlander." Callum really really looks up to Caden, copying everything his 'older' friend does....

And little Ms Maira Pie? Well she loves three things: The rocks, the ducks and seagulls, and TIDEPOOLS!! This girl LOVES splashing around in water....she puts her hands and her feet in little tidepools that remain on the rock crevices, dips, and bowls after the tide goes out...she splashes around and, in her words, 'cooks.' This was her second time at "Seawall" (whenever we go to Mount Desert Island, no matter WHAT part of the island we go to, we just call it SEAWALL. Some people say MDI, some say Downeast, some say Bar Harbor, some say Acadia National Park....we just say Seawall. We are downeast hipsters.....haha).

As I write this, the house, at 10:30, is dreadfully quiet. I am a bachelor for the next week. Amanda and the kids are in NJ, visiting family, and I am here: Tonight I had a coaches and parents meeting for XC, and double sessions begin early on Monday. I miss my family. But I have a feeling I have PLENTY to keep me busy!!

One last Mooselook post....

Just one more before I move on to other parts of our busy summer lives in Maine. In fact, today, we just got back from camping with the Fitzpatricks up in Bass Harbor (on Mt Desert Island). It has been a very busy busy summer. But soon it will all slow down because school will start....yeah right. But anyway, more to come on the camping trip soon.

Books were a main feature of our week at the cabin--for all parties involved. MeeMee and I both traded off on this anthology of Maine murder mysteries (we had a mini book club discussion on the dock...it was fun...I love talking about books with people...especially if I dont have to grade them after), and MeeMee read some other mystery she got at the library. BaBa read his 1674th book about the civil war/WorldWarII/history of submarines, Amanda blasted her way through Prisoner of Azkaban and started on Goblet of Crap (she is REreading the Harry Potter books....), and I finished my Murder On the Rocks mystery, a novel which took place right on Cranberry Island in the Gulf of Maine--then I started on a collection of essays by Robert Kimber called "A Place on the Water." Kimber is one of my favorite writers, but I hated this book. Callum and Maira were really into their Splat the Cat books, and Maira herself was into Biscuit the Dog books, and Callum was introduced to some Where's Waldo action! In addition to the reading, both kids were heavily into their "search and find" books, as well as their coloring/activity books. Below, Maira checks out Splish Splash Splat (such a great series) while MeeMee looks on.....

Maira, as I wrote before, had trouble with sleep during this week, and, most mornings, was up at 530 or 6. Let me just say that this was WELL before other people in the cabin woke up. So, some mornings, while Amanda and Callum and everyone else slept, Maira and I would take little walks on the camp road, in hopes of seeing a moose or a deer cross the dirt road or feed on the vegetation on the marshy sides. Alas, we saw no such animals, however we did get pretty heavy into picking wild raspberries and blueberries, which grew in the barrens on the side of the woodsy road.....

One morning "we" collected quite a bit in a zip lock bag I brought.....I probably would have had double the amount if my little friend here didnt eat most of them before I had a chance to put them in the bag (has anyone ever read Blueberries for Sal?? I think Maira is little Sal for sure....)

And a few pictures from the Kennebago trip we took....below illustrates some of those gravel bars and "islands" I spoke of in the last post. Amanda and I taught the kids how to skip rocks (I am better than Amanda). Maira just likes to drop big rocks in the water and laugh at the way they splash. I just like to do anything on the water....

A beautiful place with beautiful people.....

Just a nice relaxing paddle......

For today's post, enjoy this short little video of the Goldsmith's paddling the Kennebago River--the BEST river I have ever paddled (well, except for the section of the Kennebec from Solon to Anson...). A truly wild and secluded river that I love; it connects Mooselookmeguntic Lake and Kennebago Lake....you can paddle for hours and not see another human being--just moose, deer, and actual animals that WE have seen, like river otters, turtles, blue herons, eagles. A very shallow river too, with lots of little "islands" and sandbars, etc so we can stop, wade around, throw rocks, etc. It would be awesome to go (without the kids) one afternoon, bring a cooler, stop at a sandbar, and have a picnic, and then, just sit in lawn chairs, and drink beers.

At any rate, the paddle was so relaxing that Maira fell asleep, strapped in her chair. We moved her to the floor of the canoe, while her head was 'pillowed' by her lifejacket. She stayed asleep like that for probably a half hour.....