Monday, August 20, 2012

What I Remember--

What I always find fun about our adventures, is that Richie and I remember different parts about the trip; the good, the bad, & the in-between-- so put together, you get the whole picture, & since he wrote first about our recent trip to Maine, I'll be writing my section of "What I remember".

     First I will start by saying, I am always excited to go to Maine. It was the very first trip Richie and I took together and it's all in all just a great place to get away. No matter where we go, the people are always friendly, and the air seems to have something special about it that just makes you feel like "Yeah, I'm on vacation". Even though Richie had to work much of the time, we did get to enjoy some hiking, and beaching along the way.

     The week before the trip, I was really looking forward to our hike up Katahdin, and a chance to eat yummy lobster!! We're amateur hikers and have only hiked one mountain before, but I enjoy the challenge and the chance to see the incredible scenery. But I was also looking forward to getting to spend the day on the beach. We usually spend a lot of time at Short Sands in York Beach, Maine, however Richie had mentioned there was a nice beach (Scarborough Beach) near where his meeting was going to be. As it turns out he was right !! The beach was stunning. The sand is super soft, no sea weed, and stretches for what seems like forever. The parking is limited which means there were a limited number of people to crowd up the prime blanket spots. I expected the water, like all other water in Maine, to be freezing but it was just right. Pristine clear water, beautiful waves (I didn't bring my boogie board along this trip) but best of all was that as I walked along the beach I found sea glass what seemed like every step !! I love collecting little things from our trip to bring home.

    As much as I love talking about the beach, I must get to the case of the lost keys. You can't appreciate this story fully without knowing the story of how we have lost our keys in the ocean once already in Maine but I will tell it anyway. After walking the beach and some last chance body surfing with Richie, we decided to pick up and head on our way because we had a long drive to Bangor. We walked the little ways to the showers, rinsed off and made it back to the car...and then it plays out just like I remember it happening before: Richie asks where there keys are, I tell him I don't have them, We look through our bag, shake out blankets, only to realize they are no where to be found. Richie went back to look on the beach while I sat by the car contemplating who would drive us up the extra set of keys (we are now three hours from home) and what we would do in the mean time, when he called my phone. "You wont believe where I found them.." and I didn't. They had fallen into the little bag of trash we had thrown out right before we left the showers. There aren't enough words to explain how relieved I was that we were not going to have to go through "Maine: The Lost Keys part II".

     Richie covered most of the in-between, except for the fact that he neglected to tell me how long it was going to take us to get to Baxter State Park..he knows I hate long car rides. However once we got to Millinocket and I saw how beautiful everything was I didn't care at all. I had my granola bars, my sneakers, my camera..and Richie. Looking a the weather the night before we had decided to go with a slightly smaller mountain, rather than hike Katahdin which suited me just fine.

 It started out easy enough with logs split in half and laid end to end for people to walk on. It wound around this beautiful and peaceful pond that many people report seeing moose. I was desperate to see one but I would have to be happy with an incredible view of the mountains, as the moose were being a little shy that day. We continued along only to find that the trail was getting a lot harder, and quickly. Soon I found myself climbing with my hands over huge rocks going straight up into the sky...or so it seemed to me. Richie had an easier time and I found myself needing more and more breaks. I almost gave up a few times, and at one point sat down with my backpack and told Richie to go up with the camera and call me when he made it. Little did we know we were only about ten minutes from the summit and Richie said I had to find a way to get up there. I knew I would be disappointed in myself if I didn't, so I picked up my backpack and hiked the last ten minuets to the summit to find that both Richie and I were completely alone with 180 degree view of Katahdin, North Turner Mountain, and a handful of lakes. The view was, at the risk of sounding cheesy, breath taking. The trip left me more excited about planning future hiking trips, and eager to start this blog. All things considered, another successful adventure. 
The Summit
The Trail