3 Aug
Today we took a break from the typical sightseeing. Hammy had brought two kayaks and his canoe. He and Lorie used the kayaks, Doreen and I used his canoe, and Brad and Beth rented a canoe from the campground office for $5 for the entire day! We headed down the Dead River to Androskoggin Lake. It was several miles and took us about 1-1/2 hours each way. It was very peaceful and very scenic. Doreen was hoping to see a moose, but no such luck! We did see some other wildlife and had a fantastic and relaxing day with our friends!
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| Brad and Beth in their canoe. The kayaks on shore getting ready to launch. |
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| Heading up the river |
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| Ed and Doreen in Hammy's red canoe |
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| Water Lilies - Nymphaeaceae. They only bloom for five days. |
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| Hambone planning our route! |
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| Turtle sunning himself! |
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| A pair of them checking us out! |
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| Blue Heron standing her ground on shore |
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| Train overhead on the railroad bridge |
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| Heading home |
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| Campground off to the right |
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| Our RV from the river view |
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| Reflection in the water. Nice! |
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| Awesome view! |
After our canoe trip, we made dutch oven pizza and then we ventured up near the campground office where we could get WiFi signal and we used our iPad to "Facetime" with another one of our Air Force buddies that could not make it up here. Greg Noskowiak and his wife Diane. They are from Antigo Wisconsin. Was really great to leverage technology so we could see and hear each other. next best thing to being here!
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| Giving them a call! |
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| Greg and Diane on Facetime from Wisconsin |
Realizing our daughter Michelle, better known to the Maine-iacs as "Goober" , was born while we were at Loring AFB, her first couple years were spent with these guys! They also came to des Moines and attended her wedding. We had to give her a call and Facetime with her too!
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| Facetiming with Michelle around the campfire. Notice the pontoon boat passing by in the background. |
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| Great that everyone had a chance to talk with her. |
Every time we enter a new state we update the map on the door of our RV. We felt it was only fitting to involve the "Maine-iacs" in this ceremony.
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| Adding Maine! |
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| Hammy and Lorie placing New Hampshire since we passed through it on the way to Maine. |
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| We will catch Vermont after leaving Maine. We will also catch Michigan on the way home. New England - Check! |
None of these guys other than Ernie and Rhonda Souther were able to attend my retirement ceremony last year, so I presented Hammy and Brad with my retirement coin and thanked them for their Air Force service and their everlasting friendship. This is done with the coin in-hand and given in a handshake.
So there we were in the campground and pulling up next to us was a camper with a bunch of writing on the outside. OK. Well then out comes a pig! Yep, we are talking the squealing kind with the curly tail and all!! Well come to find out this gentleman travels the country promoting reading to primarily children but also elderly (he was not targeting us...Ha Ha) and as part of his presentation he uses a pot belly pig called Daisy, actually this is Daisy II. Well, so I went over and introduced myself and asked if we could meet the pig. Well, no problem but I must meet the pig up close and personal!! Like I had to give the pig a little smootch! of course the cameras were rolling and I knew this would be on Facebook within minutes!
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| Daisy's RV |
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| The pot belly pigs are apparently very smart and easy to domesticate, including potty training. This pig sleeps in their bed! |
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| She knows I have a corn chip in my hand and she wants a smootch! |
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| Now that is a face only a mother could love, and all she wants is just a little kissy-poo! |
So giving the pig a "kiss" involves putting a tortilla chip in your mouth and he takes is from there. You don't actually make mouth to snout contact, as it were, at least I did not!!
The evening came to a close at the campfire. Of course they all thought it was hilarious the Chief had to lock lips with the swine! So we told more and more stories and laughed until our sides hurt. Words cannot describe how great it was to see these guys again.
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| Rhonda in the foreground. Doreen and Beth in the background. |
