Vacation Land- Part II

We've got lots of great traditions at the Maine Cabin.  Some examples: We play board games at night.  We go fishing and come back empty handed.  We go to Deerbrook Cove to look for moose.  We take a sauna and jump in the lake ( can't believe we broke this one this year- what were we thinking?)   But there is one tradition that trumps all the rest in it's place in Maine cabin lore: the Big Pan Breakfast.

Let me explain.  When we moved into the cabin years back it came fully stocked with a treasure trove of knick knacks and dusty furniture compliments of the former owner.  Most of these items have slowly but steadily made there way to the great dumpster in the sky, but one holdover, the Big Pan, will never ever leave.  

This pan is not big in the conventional sense.  It is probably larger then the dining room tables found in your average New York City apartment.  It has a handle the size of a baseball bat.  It is huge, and it is awesome.  Big Pan breakfast is pretty self explanatory.  You make breakfast in a big pan.  Thats it.  Here it is:

Yes, those are 'big pan banana skewers' in there with the pancakes.  Don't knock it till you try it!  But then knock it because it really doesn't work that well.  Apparently bananas and bacon grease do not a delicacy make.

 

Here is NEW tradition this year that I think may carry over into the years to come.  It's called: taking hundreds of picture of our baby!  Ignore the fact that most of these could be taken at home on our living room couch, I promise that they are 100% all natural certified Maine originals!

Another newer tradition ( I'm just making up traditions left and right here) is to go out to dinner at one of the lodges that are on the lake.  They all have nice dining halls with tasty food, and there is nothing like a nice bumpy boat ride home to settle your stomach.

These next pictures are in no way tradition-related.  They are just pictures of us hanging out in a place called Maine.

Ah yes, now here is another tried and true tradition.  Its called 'the family picture.'  Usually towards the end of our stay we are all herded together for another year's christmas card photo shoot.  So here is the Jones family striking some poses...

Don't be surprised if you see this picture in your mailboxes in 6 months.  

Or then again, maybe we'll use this one.

Ok, well I think thats it for this year's Maine vacation. Thanks for sticking with us, and hopefully you didn't quite reach the point of vacation picture over-saturation. 

 We had a great, relaxing, blessed time. It is in no way an exaggeration to say that we are already looking forward to next year...

Vacation Land- Part I

Usually when you return from a vacation one of the first questions you get asked is, "What did you do while you were there?"  For a Maine cabin vacation this can be a tough question to answer.  I mean, ok, there is stuff to "do".  You can swim, read a book, go for a walk, go sailing, lay in the hammock, play games,  kayak, nap, waterski, and eat and eat and eat.

However, in truth, while we are at the cabin we don't try to 'do' a lot, we try to just 'be'.  One of the best parts of being there is that you can wake up every morning and know that there is no schedule for the day, no plans, just hours of doing anything (or nothing, if you want.)

We took so many pictures during our week that even with some serious whittling down there are too many for one post.  I can make no promises that these pictures follow any sort of recognizable timeline, or chronological order.  Consider it instead a kaleidoscope of images from our trip with more to come.

The Journey

Some of my most vivid memories from Maine vacations growing up involve the mere process of getting from here to there.  Imagine a Windstar mini-van with 3 kids in the back.  Now imagine oodles of duffel bags, a canoe strapped to the roof, some groceries, and occasionally a chainsaw.  If you can imagine that for 14 hours straight while playing soundtracks from musicals in the background that pretty accurately approximates our trips to Maine.  Ah, the memories...

Things have changed in recent years and, for better or worse, there are fewer showtunes and more baby related stops along the way.  For Aiden's sake, and for our own sanity, we broke the trip into 2 semi-manageable chunks of driving with a night's stop over in Portland Maine. Aiden, thankfully, turned out to be as tough as a seasoned road-tripper, and probably could have gone straight through to Canada and beyond.

 Our less rigorous schedule allowed for some luxuries previously unknown in the mini-van days.  For example, we got to visit our cousin Meg, her husband Gabe, and their daughter Chloe at their home in Newberryport Massachusetts.  It was kind of a spontaneous visit, but it turned out to be a highlight of the trip.  It was great to see Meg and Gabe, their home, the neat town that they live in, and of course the beautiful baby Chloe.

After a night in a Portland hotel, our journey continued on to the fabled town of Freeport Maine. For the uninitiated, Freeport is home of the L.L.Bean mothership store, and is also so chocked full of other outlet stores that it makes the Lancaster outlets look like they're not even trying.  We made the obligatory stop in Freeport.  We cruised the outlets.  We took a picture with the giant Bean boot.   But we did not dally long-  we knew the cabin awaited!

The final leg of the trip found us winding through pine trees, and blueberry barrens until we finally pulled up to the boathouse at Grand Lake Stream.  The trip across the lake provided the necessary transition from car-life to cabin-life, and soon we were tucked neatly into the picnic table at Spring Cove- ready to enjoy our first Maine dinner.

The journey was over, we had arrived.

Sweet Home Pennsylvania

We've returned home from Maine with rested bodies, sunburnt shoulders, and lots and lots of pictures.  

I'm too tired right now to do more than the briefest of posting, but here is a video window into our week in pine tree paradise.

(Much) more to come later...

Land of the Loons

As of tomorrow we are off to Maine for a week of lake and sun and relaxation.  Take care everybody! We'll return soon, filled up with new pictures and stories.  See you then!

Here is just a taste of what we have to look forward to: