Maine

A few weeks ago I had the chance to go to Maine to spend some time with my in-laws. Justin and I had been looking forward to this trip for awhile since we would have the chance to see some family, and of course get out of Philly for awhile. Unfortunately he had a big Greek test he couldn't miss so I went with Scout. My mother-in-law Lea is from Maine and that is where a lot of her family still resides. Every summer she and Mike head up to stay at their family cabin on Sebago Lake and then a family reunion at Sebasco.

I haven't really spent much time on the East Coast, or New England, so wasn't sure what I would encounter on my drive north. We left Philly around 1:15 on a Friday afternoon. I was quite disappointed to average only 35 mph for the first 4 to 5 hours of my trip. There was so much traffic, and some construction, and many, many, many tolls. It was a little frightening driving across the George Washington Bridge into New York as it was during rush hour on a Friday afternoon and everyone was out for themselves. No courtesy drivers there. What should have been a 7 hour drive ended up being about 9, but we safely arrived at Lea's sister Anne's house that night. Scout was immediately welcomed by Anne's 3 year old golden retriever, Scarlet, and tennis balls, in the house!! A special treat for a dog who usually only gets them outside. Lea had already been there for a couple of days and left to pick up Mike from the airport that night.


Saturday morning was nice and relaxed. I enjoyed some breakfast, fetch with the dogs, and then the 4 of us took the dogs to Twin Brook Recreation Area. This park has all the recreation/sport fields for Cumberland and a lovely off leash dog park that had fields and trails. There was also a creek which was out of sight for us, but the dogs found it without any trouble. Scout cooled himself down this way, but when we arrived back at Anne's, he raided Scarlet's baby pool as well. The dog loves water. Little did he know what was in store for him at Sebago Lake.

Soon after this we packed up and headed to Lea's girlhood home which was right on the Atlantic Coast (can't remember the name of the landing) and then stopped by Town Landing Market to pick up some italian sandwiches for lunch. The views by her home were beautiful and it looked like a really neat place to grow up. Very green and blue! Here is a picture from the beach.

Next we took about a 45 minute drive to Sebago Lake where Lea's family has a quaint lakeside cabin. Scout headed straight for the water and pretty much stayed there for the next 3 days, with a few exceptions. Here we are on Scout's first boat ride. He seemed sort of indifferent about the whole thing.

That evening we headed into town for dinner and I had my first lobster. It wasn't as hard to get the meat out as I thought it would be and it was tasty. I am glad I had the experience but don't know that I'll order one again.

Sunday Lea had arranged a Dog Day at the lake. Several of her siblings, their spouses, kids and dogs came over for an afternoon of swimming and boating. It was nice to get to meet more of her family and I think Scout had a good time playing with the other dogs.

Here is Anne, me and Mike tossing the balls for Scarlet and Scout. I pretty much hung on this little piece of beach most of the weekend so Scout could be out in the water.

The weather was great. Nice and warm, but not too hot. Here I am cooling off with a few of the dogs. The dog count was 6. Scout, 4 goldens (Scarlet, Willow, Cricket, and Rhubarb) and 1 standard poodle (Sadie). It was a bit crazy with all 6 out, but they had a blast. You may have noticed Scout's life jacket. He is actually a great swimmer but I put the jacket on when he was in the boat and when I went swimming with him. It has a handle on it which makes it a lot easier to grab him if I needed to, especially to pull him up on the floating dock since he can't climb ladders.

Here is a shot of about 1/2 of us. From left to right: Henry (Lea's brother), Randy (Lea's mom), Jan (Henry's wife), Mike, Anne, Scarlet, me and Sadie.

Here is Scout at the end of the day, beat.

Here we are on the Big Mable, an awesome tube I took a ride on with Lea's niece Annie. He is such a good snuggler when he is tired!

Monday was a bit cooler and rainy. I spent a little time on this fun hammock reading on the enclosed porch. We made this nice cushiony (is that a word?) bed for Scout but he didn't stay on it for long.

Monday afternoon we went to Henry and Jan's nearby farmhouse for lunch and to hoof around on their property of fields and woods. Here is a picture of me pulling Scout out of their water fixture, where he wasn't supposed to be!

Here is another partial group shot in front of the house. Henry trains his dogs for agility trials and the one closest to him is their newest addition, 6 month old Rhubarb. What a cutie!Tuesday we cleaned and packed the place up and then took another boat ride to see some more of the lake and gas up the boat. Mike and Lea took me by Frye's Leap, a cliff about 5o feet above the water where my daredevil husband jumped from in his younger days. Kind of scary. After lunch I packed up and headed home as they made their way to Sebasco for the family reunion and remainder of the week. I really had a nice time. So glad I was able to get off work for a few days and enjoy a new place and family. Wish Justin could have come with me but we already have next year's trip in the works!