Every year for our anniversary, my husband and I take a week and go someplace a little "out of the way".
Okay. I'll be totally honest. We pick a place that looks remote, drive until we have no cell phone reception, and then drive another 20 miles or so.....
So this year, instead of the "castle on wheels" (a pop up camper), we went with a new tent that has a little screen tent attached. Rather nice to be able to have a dry spot to walk in and not soak your bedding by opening the door when it rains, especially since we were planning on staying on a beach on a boat-in site.
Did I mention that, every year, we have rain?
That's Maine for you. Thunder, lightning, tornado warnings (something becoming a bit more prevalent, as we were being told they were "microbursts" before radars became so sophisticated), all coming at you just out of the clear blue on a day when they weren't predicted when you planned this trip.....
So we plan for rain. Tent with screen room attached. Screen tent over the cooking area. Port-a-potty with it's own tent to avoid a walk to a distant outhouse in a downpour. Lots and lots of other gear, so we aren't totally roughing it, but the plan is to take at least 4 trips to get it all transferred from truck to camp site.
On the way in, we notice something a little strange. What's wrong with these two photos, taken at two separate intersections?
You know that old thing about "You cahnt get thayah from heyah" we Mainers are supposed to do? I think this is the source. (For those who need a hint, how far is it to Gassabias from each intersection?)
We got to our destination. We tried to get the remote camp site. They were all full, so we camped in the easier to get to camp site. There was only one other couple and us on Monday evening. It slowly filled in all week. Not the most ideal site, but we know some REALLY remote sites for next year....and it gives more excuses for going out riding around on back roads that take you call kinds of interesting places, like lots of beautiful lakes all around an active logging site.
Wednesday night, we got drenched, but not the "hail, high winds, yada-yada" they predicted. It blows past by morning, and it cools us to a comfortable level. Great week to get away from the internet and recharge the mental batteries for another year.
We packed most of the gear last night, leaving only the tents and enough to make a cup of coffee before leaving the campsite. We got up with the sun and were out of the campground by 6:45 a.m. We were well on our way, looking forward to breakfast just before hopping onto the turnpike to head for home. A nice little 4 hour tour.....
But then there was a strange noise from under the truck. It was a distinct grinding noise that shouldn't have been under the truck. Pulling off to the side of the road to investigate, we discover we have no reverse gear....
No transmission and still 220 miles from home.....
We managed to creep along until we got back cell service, then the fine fellow who was on call for A-1 Towing out of Bangor came and towed us to the dealership in Bangor that is the sister store to the place we bought it. My mom came and brought us to a U-Haul dealership across town. We went back to the dealership, got all our gear, then back to the place we'd left the boat trailer when the tow truck couldn't take it, too. Eventually, 8 hours later than expected, we finally made it home - fully 12 hours after leaving the campground.
But we figured out why that happened when we were just about an hour from home and it started raining on us.
It's tradition that we have a fierce storm on the way back from our anniversary trip. You know, the kind of storm that the rain is coming down so hard you can't see the vehicle in front of you. The kind of storm that eases off just long enough for you to get all the gear transferred to the garage without thoroughly soaking it, but making it so you need to drag it out on the next dry day before storing it for another year.
My advice to you? Avoid camping in Maine the last week of July. That's when Mother Nature likes to make sure we stick to tradition.
P.S. The complete song I quoted from is here: http://youtu.be/zgvrWlubkv4#aid=P-yAR7SHPHE (Roger Allen Wade is a cousin of Johnny Knoxville from "Jackass".....*grin*)
Okay. I'll be totally honest. We pick a place that looks remote, drive until we have no cell phone reception, and then drive another 20 miles or so.....
So this year, instead of the "castle on wheels" (a pop up camper), we went with a new tent that has a little screen tent attached. Rather nice to be able to have a dry spot to walk in and not soak your bedding by opening the door when it rains, especially since we were planning on staying on a beach on a boat-in site.
Did I mention that, every year, we have rain?
That's Maine for you. Thunder, lightning, tornado warnings (something becoming a bit more prevalent, as we were being told they were "microbursts" before radars became so sophisticated), all coming at you just out of the clear blue on a day when they weren't predicted when you planned this trip.....
So we plan for rain. Tent with screen room attached. Screen tent over the cooking area. Port-a-potty with it's own tent to avoid a walk to a distant outhouse in a downpour. Lots and lots of other gear, so we aren't totally roughing it, but the plan is to take at least 4 trips to get it all transferred from truck to camp site.
On the way in, we notice something a little strange. What's wrong with these two photos, taken at two separate intersections?
You know that old thing about "You cahnt get thayah from heyah" we Mainers are supposed to do? I think this is the source. (For those who need a hint, how far is it to Gassabias from each intersection?)
We got to our destination. We tried to get the remote camp site. They were all full, so we camped in the easier to get to camp site. There was only one other couple and us on Monday evening. It slowly filled in all week. Not the most ideal site, but we know some REALLY remote sites for next year....and it gives more excuses for going out riding around on back roads that take you call kinds of interesting places, like lots of beautiful lakes all around an active logging site.
Wednesday night, we got drenched, but not the "hail, high winds, yada-yada" they predicted. It blows past by morning, and it cools us to a comfortable level. Great week to get away from the internet and recharge the mental batteries for another year.
We packed most of the gear last night, leaving only the tents and enough to make a cup of coffee before leaving the campsite. We got up with the sun and were out of the campground by 6:45 a.m. We were well on our way, looking forward to breakfast just before hopping onto the turnpike to head for home. A nice little 4 hour tour.....
But then there was a strange noise from under the truck. It was a distinct grinding noise that shouldn't have been under the truck. Pulling off to the side of the road to investigate, we discover we have no reverse gear....
No transmission and still 220 miles from home.....
We managed to creep along until we got back cell service, then the fine fellow who was on call for A-1 Towing out of Bangor came and towed us to the dealership in Bangor that is the sister store to the place we bought it. My mom came and brought us to a U-Haul dealership across town. We went back to the dealership, got all our gear, then back to the place we'd left the boat trailer when the tow truck couldn't take it, too. Eventually, 8 hours later than expected, we finally made it home - fully 12 hours after leaving the campground.
But we figured out why that happened when we were just about an hour from home and it started raining on us.
It's tradition that we have a fierce storm on the way back from our anniversary trip. You know, the kind of storm that the rain is coming down so hard you can't see the vehicle in front of you. The kind of storm that eases off just long enough for you to get all the gear transferred to the garage without thoroughly soaking it, but making it so you need to drag it out on the next dry day before storing it for another year.
My advice to you? Avoid camping in Maine the last week of July. That's when Mother Nature likes to make sure we stick to tradition.
P.S. The complete song I quoted from is here: http://youtu.be/zgvrWlubkv4#aid=P-yAR7SHPHE (Roger Allen Wade is a cousin of Johnny Knoxville from "Jackass".....*grin*)
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