Mon. July 24 - I left St. Louis airport at 4:30pm and arrived in Bangor, ME at 10:00pm. My layover in New York La Guardia was really short, so it was a really quick day of flying (especially compared to flying back and forth from Europe). Amy, Gene, Eric, and Earl were all there to pick me up and then we headed up to their house in Medway, which is about an hour drive north of Bangor. Amy gave me the house tour and we all just hung around the house until bed time.
Tues. July 25 - Day 1 in Medway and we all woke up around 10am to make it to Earl's tattoo shop (Bad Girl) by noon. Gene, Eric, Earl, and I headed to the tattoo shop and Gene and I were going to drive the car to Baxter State Park so we could go do some hiking while they worked the shop. Amy had to leave for work around 7am, but she would be home after work. We hung out at the tattoo shop for about an hour and a half and then headed towards the State Park. Since we were Maine residents (well at least the car was) we got right into the park and got a parking spot right away. Gene and I were just going to walk around the Sandy Stream trail and see the lake, but we ended up taking on a lot more than we originally bargained for. We walked along the Sandy Stream trail and headed to the first platform to look for a moose. I really want to see some moose while I'm here. As soon as we walked up to the first dock, there was a moose right in front of us across the small lake. It was so cool. We sat there for a few minutes and took some cool pics of it and continued on around the lake. The next platform was really cool because it had a huge rock you could sit on, but the view wasn't as good for the moose siting. After we were finished around the lake, we decided to walk a little further down the path. We came to the sign to hike up South Turner Mountain and decided we had nothing but time to kill, so we headed up the mountain. South Turner is 3,200 ft tall and the path was pretty much straight up with huge rocks to climb over continuously. It was really fun and we both pushed each other the entire way to the top. About 3/4 of the way up, there was a natural spring that we filled our water bottle up with. The water was cold and crystal clear so neither of us were too worried to drink it. Plus, we hadn't planned on hiking to the top of this mountain, so we only had 1 liter of water with us for the day. After about an hour an a half, we made it past the timberline and started to ascend up to the summit. It was absolutely wonderful up there and you could see out for miles. We could have seen so much more, but the weather was pretty murky and the rain clouds were covering a large part of the park. You couldn't even see the top of Mt. Katahdin. We took a bunch of pics and climbed up pretty far to the summit until the wind starting really picking up and it started to rain. We decided that we should start heading back down before the weather got too bad and especially since no one knew we were climbing the mountain today. It was so much fun and definitely a great workout. Going down was really hard since our legs were shaking and tired. We made it down in 45 minutes and headed back towards the lake to see if any more moose were there drinking. N0 more were there, but we took our time and stopped back at all the dock spots to check out the beautiful view. We left Baxter State Park around 5:15pm and the 1 hour day at the park turned into 4 hours. It was such a fun day and Gene and I really had a good time hiking. I can't wait to do more over the next 2 weeks while I'm here and plus, a moose on the first day was a total surprise. Earl, Gene, and I are planning to summit Katahdin (the tallest mountain in Maine at 5,300 ft) this weekend after Gene and I's legs stop being sore. We were a little late leaving the park, but Earl had karate practice after work so Gene and I just dropped off the car with him and rode home with Amy. Before we got home, the boys, Amy, and I went to eat dinner at the local diner at the Irving gas station. I had a really tasty meatloaf dinner. We got home and chilled around the house for the rest of the night. Amy's last day of work is tomorrow, so we will all be able to do a little more after tomorrow night.
Wed. July 26 - Eric and I stayed home for the day because the weather was pretty rainy and I needed to catch up on some sleep after that hike yesterday. I woke up in so much pain today. It was crazy, my right leg that I step with is soooooo sore! Eric and I were gonna go down to the Penobscot River and fish and swim, but it ended up raining throughout the main part of the day. Instead, we stayed around the house, played with their dog Loki, and watched some movies. Amy got home early, so we headed up to the Hanneford grocery store to do some shopping for the week. Once we got home, Gene and Earl shortly showed up after and Amy and I started making dinner. We were making homemade pizzas tonight. The pizzas turned out really good and we were all in the mood to play board games tonight. First, we played an entire game of Cranium and then sat down and played 6 rounds of Scattegories. It was a lot of fun and everyone had a good time. We all stayed up pretty late since Amy didn't have work tomorrow, but finally went to bed around 2:30am. Amy, Gene, and I are going to Bangor tomorrow to hang out for the day while Eric and Earl work the shop during the day.
Thur. July 27 - We all woke up early this morning to go up to the middle school that was having a rummage sale to look for a desk for their house, but it turned out being quite a disappointment. After we got home, we got ready to leave for Bangor. We ended up leaving the house around noon and got down to Bangor in about 45 minutes. Before heading downtown, we stopped by Stephen King's house. It was so gorgeous and the houses all around the area are just amazing. We walked around the "downtown" and went to the Discovery Museum that they had. Mom had bought a St. Louis Science Center membership that gets you into all of the science centers around the US. We hung out there for awhile and it reminded us of our Magic House in St. Louis, MO. We had a lot of fun, but we all realized we were way to big and old for this to be amuzing very long anymore. After the Discovery Musuem we headed up the road and river to taste some home brews at the Sea Dog's Micro Brewery Restaurant. The micro-brewery is in Portland, but I was interested in tasting some Maine made beers. The restaurant was really cute and Amy and I shared a 10-beer sampler of most of their brews. There were some really unique ones and a few gross ones, but we were really happy we choose the sampler thingy. Gene had a few glasses of their home-brewed root beer and it was really good. The bartender also let us try a glass of their new blueberry soda and let me tell you, it was deee-licious! I bought a few for later this week. We ordered an appetizer of cheese quesadillas to set us over for awhile during our day in Bangor. We walked back to our car and headed over towards the mall for an oil change, Old Navy, Petco, and Sally Beauty Supply. The weather was hot, but it looked like it was gonna rain soon. After some shopping, we drove around the University of Maine Campus. The buildings were really classic and the sports arenas were huge. After driving around the campus, we headed into Orono for dinner. Amy has heard of a really good Mexican restaurant called Margheritas, so we went to find it since we all love Mexican food. We walked right into the busy restaurant and got sat right away in this cute little room in the lower lever that we had to ourselves. We each ordered margheritas and had some awesome chips and salsa. The food was excellent and the place looks like it does a lot of business. After a nice, relaxing dinner, we headed back around the Univ of ME campus and headed back towards home. Before we got home, we went to Walmart for some batteries for camping and sunglasses. We got to the house around 10 and just hung out for the rest of the night. We want to go hiking tomorrow around Baxter, but the weather forecast isn't looking too good. We'll see.
Fri. July 28 - Today was a lazy day around the house since it was raining in the morning and Earl decided to go to the Emergency Room for his abdomen in the afternoon. His side has been hurting him for a few days, but it was bad enough today to go get it checked out by the doctor. When he went in, Amy went with him and they were at the hospital all night until she came home to pick us up and visit him. They decided that he's going to have to get his galbladder out this weekend. I guess he won't be climbing Katahdin with us huh? Gene and Eric and I watched movies during the day and 2 hours of ER. It was alright since there wasn't many other choices of things to do since it was raining for awhile. When Amy came to pick up us, we visited Earl for a little bit and played two games of Scrabble with him in his room. I won both games! WooHoo!! After visiting hours were over and we had to leave at 8pm, we stopped by the video store before getting home. I told them about the Showtime series called "Weeds" and convinced everyone to rent it. We got home and made some dinner. Amy made a really good smelling cajun shrimp stir-fry, I had cheese raviolis, and I don't remember what the boys ate. After dinner, we all sat together in the living room and watched the entire DVD of Weeds. It was about 2 1/2 hours of it so by the time it was over, we all headed for bed. We didn't plan anything for tomorrow yet since we wanted to wait for the weather and how Earl was doing.
Sat. July 29 - Amy woke up early this morning and sat with Earl at the hospital all morning. They decided that they are going to do the surgery Sunday and he'll have to rest for a week afterwards. Amy called the house and asked us what we wanted to do today around noon and we all decided to head to the State Park and hike some trails. We drove Earls car to the hospital and visit him for a few minutes and then we were off to the park. We got to Baxter SP around 12:45 and headed towards Daicy Pond to hike and park. On the way to Daicy Pond, we stopped by Stump Pond to look for moose but didn't find any. After about a 45 minute drive, we got to Daicy Pond parking lot. We took the trails that brought us to Big and Little Niagra Falls and played at each one for over an hour. They were gorgeous. Before getting to Little Niagra, we stopped to take some pictures at the Toll Dam. The water was much higher than usual they all said. We hiked over a mile to get to Little Niagra and the water and big rocks were amazing. We got some really cool pics before heading a little further down the river to Big Niagra. I did some rock climbing and we all played in the water for awhile. After that hike, we headed back to the parking lot so we could head up the road further to Daicy Pond. The lake was absolutely breathtaking and it reminded me so much of Glacier National Park with Katahdin and the Appalachians in the background. The pictures from the pond were completely flawless. There was a little library and ranger station in the area which you can rent canoes for only $1/per hour. It was really cool so maybe next time we'll take the time to canoe around the pond for a little bit and look for moose. We didn't see any moose the entire day, but we all had a lot of fun and got some nice exercise today. We left the park at 5:00pm and headed back towards the hospital to visit Earl again and pick up the car. The boys and I drove Earl's car back to the house to get dinner ready after a quick stop at the grocery store. (Gene and I needed water and granola bars for the hike tomorrow.) Eric prepared tacos for us tonight. After dinner, I uploaded the pictures from the day and we watched the rest of the season of "Weeds." Gene and I have to go to bed early tonight so we can get up and hike Katahdin tomorrow. Since Earl isn't going to be able to try with us during our duration in Maine, we're just gonna do it by ourselves. The ranger told us we need to be at the SP by 7:45am tomorrow morning to get a parking spot and pass into the park to hike the mountain. I'm excited!!! (but not too excited about the pain I'll be in for the next few days)
Sun. July 30 - Gene and I woke up at 6:30am to be able to shower and leave the house by 7 to make it to the park before the parking lots filled up. We packed the bookbag last night and prepared all of our water and snack needs too. We filled out water bottles and CamelPaks with good water and stuck them in the fridge overnight. I made snack bags with peanuts, got some granola bars, and made meat sandwiches to eat throughout the hike tomorrow. As soon as Gene showered and I packed all the last minute things such as headlamps, an extra shirt for each of us, toilet paper, the GPS, our park map, and some other things, we were out the door and headed towards the park. Amy had already left for the hospital before we even woke up. We stopped at the gas station for some apple juice and after the 45 minute drive we were at Baxter SP. We got a parking pass and drove to Roaring Brook Campground where we were going to start our hike to the top of Katahdin. After getting our boots on and applying some sunscreen, we were signed in and hiking on the trail by 8:45am. From Roaring Brook it was a 3.3 mile hike to Chimney Pond. The trails are crazy here because there are so many huge rocks everywhere, which really ups the hike's rating. Once we arrived at Chimey Pond (2,900 ft in elevation), we went into the Ranger Station to sign the hike log and then stopped by the pond to fill up our CamelPaks. We got there at 11:00 and the ranger told us it would take 2-3 hours to get to Baxter Peak (Mt. Katahdin 5,260 ft), which is another 2.2 miles. We headed up the mountain via Saddle Trail. The trail was freakin insane! It was literally 3/4 mile directly UP hill climbing huge rocks straight up the mountain until you got to the top of the mountain range. Some rocks were loose and our legs were starting to feel the torture. Once on top of the range, we had exactly 1 mile to go uphill to reach the peak. Katahdin is the highest mountain East of the Mississippi River and is the northern end of the Appalachian Trail. You're pretty much guaranteed to see some hikers finishing the 2,000 mile + trail during this time of the year up there. Let me tell you, this last mile was one of the longest miles of my life. It was tough! Once we made it to the top though, it was absolutely amazing and incredibly rewarding. It took us exactly 5 hours to go the 5.5 miles! WOW!! **A normal human walks 3 miles per hour....So just imagine the slope & incline of this mountain if it took us an average time of 1 mile per hour to climb and hike Mt. Katahdin*** It was so beautiful up there and the weather and sky could not have been any more perfect. This was the first day since I've been here that you could actually see the top of Katahdin. I was amazed by the number of lakes and bodies of water that were up here in this area. It was so cool, you could see for miles and miles from the peak. There were about 10 other people up there and the crowd kept moving for the 30 minutes we chilled up there. We took some cool pictures from the top and I just stood there and soaked in the accomplishment of this once in a lifetime hike. It is awesome how 5 hours of hardwork and effort can get you something so memorable and unique. Gene and I were so proud to have climbed this 5,000 ft + mountain that was part of the Appalachian Trail. Once we took our pictures, ate some lunch, rehydrated ourselves, and relaxed our legs and feet for a little bit, we were ready to head back down the mountain and get home. We finished the 5.5 mile hike back in 3 hours and 45 minutes, but were feeling the undescribable pain in our feet, ankles, and legs! We just kept wishing that the end was right around the corner, but we didn't have such luck. Once we finished the trails and signed out on the hiking log book, we were SO ready to get back to the car and go home. I was so tired and not looking forward to the hour drive home. Before heading home, we stopped by the hospital to see Earl and Amy and then went to the Irving for some french fries and onion rings To-Go. We made it home by 8pm and both fell asleep by about 8:30pm. It was such a great day and the hike was wonderful and rewarding! I am so glad we tried and succeeded this climb. Not many people (even in Maine) can ever say they successfully climbed Mt. Katahdin, but Gene and I now can. Definitely a fun day, although definitely NOT looking forward to the massive amounts of pain we'll both be in for the next 3 or 4 days.
Mon. July 31 - The boys and I woke up around 9am and just hung around the house for awhile until going to visit Amy and Earl at the hospital. It was a chill-out and relaxing day (especially for Gene and I) and for dinner we all decided on making shish-ka-bobs. We knew that we needed to pick up Crystal around 10:00pm, so we would have to make and eat dinner kinda early. We went to the grocery store and got some extra supplies so we could have some pretty fancy kabobs. They ended up being really good. We had chicken and beef with tons of different types of veggies. Earl was told that he might be able to leave the hospital tonight, so Amy stayed in Medway with him instead of coming to Bangor with the boys and I. The boys and I left the house early so we could see a movie before going to pick up Crystal. We saw Monster House at the cinema in Orono and it was really cute. Once we arrived at the Bangor International Airport, we found out that her plane was about 45 minutes late. She finally got in around 10:40, but her luggage never showed up. American Airlines told us the last plane was coming into Bangor in about an hour so we could wait to see if her luggage was on this one. We waited and no luck. They told her they would ship her bag up to Amy's house when it arrived. After the hour drive, we finally made it home around 1:30am and fell asleep shortly after.
Tues. Aug 1 - Today when everyone woke up, we decided to make our trip to Canada. After eating a really good breakfast made by Amy, Gene, Crystal, she and I headed off on our trip for the day. We drove up to Houlton where we went through Canadian Customs to get into the province of New Brunswick. On our way to the town of Fredricton, something funny definitely caught our eye. It was the "Worlds Largest Axe" in the little town of Nackawic. We stopped in the park with the GIANT axe and took a bunch of funny pics and began the humorous day of making fun of everything Canadian we came into contact with. After a short stop in Nackawic we were on our way to Fredricton, New Brunswick. We walked thru the streets of downtown Fredricton making stops at several locations along the way. The town was really beautiful and peaceful and reminded us of the Loop in St. Louis. We were all getting hungry so we went to dinner at a bar and grill called Bugaboo's Grill. Dinner was alright, but our Canadia waitress sucked. Oh well. We knew there was the "Changing of the Guards" at 7pm, so we quickly paid our bill and ran out to see it. After watching the short ceremony, we walked along the riverwalk and took some pics at the lighthouse and did a little more walking along the streets of the area. We left downtown and went to the "mall" to get Crystal some underwear since her luggage still hadn't showed up to the house. After the "mall" we grabbed some Frosty's at Wendy's and headed back towards America. The drive was long and the roads were pitch black, except for the crazy lightning that went on all night. Driving back though the US Customs was a pain in the booty since they're all on ego-trips, but we made it back to the house in a little over an hour. At the end of our fun trip to Canada, we all agreed that Canadians are very fun to laugh at and make fun of. This was my first time to Canada and it was really pretty and hilarious.
Wed. Aug 2 - Today ,was quite relaxing and we all chilled around the house for the early part of the day. After getting restless in the house, Crystal and I rode bikes down to the "Rec," which is a small beach with some sofball fields. Riding bikes down there was quite an adventure and sweaty too. After we got back home, we gathered up the crew and convinced them to come swimming. Earl had a favorite place down on the Penobscot River that he use to swim at so we all got our swim suits on and drove down the road to the rapids. Only Eric, Crystal, and I ended up getting in, but the water was cold and the current was strong. The mosquitos and moose flies were everywhere, so we only stayed for about a half hour. After leaving that location, we drove back down to the Rec and went swimming there. There was this really skippery dock in the water that amused us for awhile. After finishing up there, we went back to the house and all agreed on making a big lobster dinner tonight. We cleaned up and headed to the grocery store to pick up everything we would need, including 3 big ole lobsters. We got home and started up the water pot and everything else. We cleaned up the garage and made our dinner table outside for the night since this could get messy. Cooking the lobsters was really fun and they only took 20 minutes each. Just after about a half hour, we had a full meal (looked like a buffet) on the table and we all learned how to open lobsters for the most meat and had a nice, long meal. I had dishes tonight and wanted to clean them asap so the house didn't smell like seafood all night.
Thurs. Aug 3 - Earl was feeling a lot better today so we all went down to Baxter State Park to do some light hiking. At the big entrance rock we saw a baby moose and it's mother far in the distance. We started off by hiking out of Roaring Brook campground and did a 2 mile hike around Sandy Stream Pond & Russell Junction. It was a moderate hike, but Earl was starting to hurt near the end of it so we got back in the car and headed over to Daicey Pond to do some canoeing. We got to Daicy Pond and rented a canoe for Gene, Crystal, & I and rode around the pond for a half hour. It was kinda busy at Daicey Pond today, but the weather was so perfect that it was alright with us. Gene got out of the canoe and Crystal and I went out for another half hour. The pond was really pretty and she could see Katahdin from the back side. We saw a loon in the lake and decided to make up stories about it being a carnivor. We left Daicy Pond and headed home for dinner. We ended up playing Cranium (a board game) and Scattegories all night for a few hours. It was a lot of fun, but we needed to get to bed early so we could get up on time for tomorrow.
Fri. Aug 4 - We woke up early today around 6 to get out of the house by 7am for a full, busy day around Mount Desert Island. Today was our day to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor with Crystal and the entire Ferguson family. Unfortunately, Earl had to stay behind with Loki (the dog) since there wasn't enough room in the car for all 6 of us to fit. We were on the road for about an hour and a half before stopping at the factory outlet of LL Bean in Ellsworth. The store had some cool things, but most of it was still pretty expensive and selective. The headquarters of LL Bean is another hour or so away in Freeport, ME. After browsing LL Bean, we went to a grocery store to buy food for a picnic in the park and some other snacks for the long day. We had another half hour to drive before getting onto the island of Mount Desert, but before getting there we went to the Visitor Center to find some cool things to do on the island and around the park. On our way through Ellsworth, we saw the place that the Maine Lumberjack Show performs everynight of the week that we are going to attend as the last spot on our tour before going back to Medway tonight. Getting onto the island was really easy to navigate and we started our way through Acadia right away. Acadia National Park covers 2/5 of the island and has a bunch of spots to get out of your car, hike some trails, and take some beautiful pictures. The day started off cloudy and rainy, but the weather eventually started to clear up. Our first stop in the park was at Frenchman's Bay and then we spent some time traveling to and around Cadillac Mountain. The whole time we were up on the mountain, we were in a cloud, but once we started visiting more spots in the park, the sky was clearer yet murky. After Cadillac Mountain, we walked around Sand Beach and then Amy brought us down to Thunderhole where the waves crash into the natural crevasses in the rocks to make a loud BOOM sound like thunder. It was great and the pictures around this area were a blast to take and we got some good family pictures throughout the National Park. The Atlantic Ocean water was insanely cold! We drove a large portion of the park and after a few hours we left the park to drive to Bass Harbor where one of the most famous and pictured lighthouses on Mount Dessert Island is located. Before walking around the lighthouse, we ate lunch at the car. The lighthouse was called Bass Harbor Lighthouse and was closed to the public since it was the residency for a commander of the US Coast Guard. We walked on one side of the lighthouse and realized there was a cool nature trail to get to the other side of the lighthouse which was a wonderful view and made the trip. You had to climb down and over these giant rocks along the shore to see the tower, but the view and scenery was spectacular. After Bass Harbor it was time to head to the town of Bar Harbor to do some souvenir shopping and walking around the harbor. We walked along the ocean and toured the harbor, which was really fun and cool to see all the yahcts (dont know how to spell it) and lobster boats in the bay. After leaving the docks, we started our adventures of goofy souvenir shopping for about an hour. I found some really cute things and Crystal got some good deals on shirts and sweatshirts for people. Our time went by fast in Bar Harbor since we determined that we needed to leave there by 6pm to get to the Lumberjack Show on time to get a seat. Before heading out of Bar Harbor, we all got some yummy ice cream and then drove back to Ellsworth to the show. As soon as we got the show, I put on my 2006 Forestry Conclave shirt so I could get a picture with Timber Tina from Survivor and real, professional lumberjill competitions. We bought our tickets and found our seats before heading out on my mission to get a pick with her. She was crazy (and Amy thinks she was kinda drunk) but the show was looking like it was gonna be a blast. The show started on time and there were 4 lumberjacks in the show that were doing the compeitions for the Red Team VS the Green Team. They did almost all of the professional lumberjack events and she was a really good emcee doing really well describing the events and how they were used in traditional logging days. The show was about an hour and a half long with funny surprises and skits throughout it. It was a great and hilarious ending to a scenic and gorgeous day. We left the show and stopped in Bangor on the way home for a quick dinner at Wendy's because we were all starving. We got home around 10:30pm after a long drive in pouring down rain and fully-lit sky lightning. Once we got home everyone pretty much passed out from a long day and waking up early. I think we're just gonna chill out tomorrow during the morning and afternoon.
Sat. Aug 5 - We slept in a little late this morning and all sat around to watch Grandma's Boy before picking something to do today. That movie is absolutely hilarious!! After the movie, Amy asked if we wanted to hang around Bangor for the afternoon and evening. Earl's friend Aaron came over so him and Earl stayed home to hang out and Gene also stayed behind to relax. Eric, Crystal, Amy and I drove to Orono/Bangor to the mall to get her cell phone situation solved and then do some browsing/shopping at the mall. She got the new cell phone she wanted and then went to Best Buy to get a new DVD player since theirs was starting to give out. We then went to Dick's Sporting Goods Store to check out all the cool gear they had and burn some time. After the mall, we headed back into Bangor and first stopped by Stephen King's house so Crystal could have some pictures for our friend and then we went to see the giant Paul Bunyan to go along with my giant axe picture and Timber Tina. It was almost dinner time and we all thought that Texas Roadhouse sounded tasty. We had to go back towards the mall and the wait for dinner was only about 20 minutes. To burn some time, we walked across the parking lot to a party supply store where we played around and dressed up in their goofy party stuff. Once we got back over to the restaurant it was only a few minutes later until we were called. Dinner was really good and we had a really good time. After dinner, we had planned to go Candlestick Bowling at a place that they like to bowl. We made it just in time and played one string (one 10-frame game) of candlestick bowling. It was so much fun and it was Crystal and I's first time playing. Eric played last summer when he came up to visit Amy and Earl. The balls for this type of bowling are about 3 lbs and fit in the palm of your hand. The lanes are exactly the same, but the pins are basically heavy sticks that are in the same formation as regular bowling and you have to keep score manually. It was really tricky, but most definitely fun. After leaving the bowling alley, we got back on the highway to get back home for the night. When we all got home, we watched some Shark Week TV and loaded the pics from the week onto the computer. We are all going to climb South Turner tomorrow at Baxter State Park. That should be pretty fun all doing it together instead of just Gene and I.
Sun. Aug 6 - Amy, Crystal, and I went to Baxter SP today to climb South Turner Mountain. We arrived at 12:30 to the front gate, but the parking lot we needed was full. Luckily, the ranger has remembered us coming to the park about 5-6 times in the past 2 weeks that she let us go ahead and try our luck finding a parking spot. We started our hike at 1pm and began our 2-mile hike to the summit of South Turner. Before going straight to South Turner we stopped by Sandy Stream and saw a moose. We needed to keep moving so back on the trail we went. Amy is climbing this mountain with her co-workers in the next fwe weeks so this was going to be a nice practice for her and she could learn the trail. The weather was perfect outside and the trail below the treeline was nice and cool. We did really well and took our time to make it to the stop. Once we made it to the natural stream, we cooled off and tried to fill our CamelBaks with some clear water. After the stream came the treeline and from there you could see the sign at the summit from down there. We took a bunch of pictures and then kept on with our ascent to the summit. Getting to the summit was gorgeous and a very big accomplishment for everyone. (Go Orange Team!!!) We chilled at the summit for 20-30 minutes just admiring the view and you could see for miles. There were barely any clouds in the sky and you could see the entire range of Katahdin along with all the bodies of water surrounding and within the park. After that we started our descent back to the bottom to go visit Sandy Stream Pond before we left. We made it down the mountain in good time and walked to the first entrance to the pond. We saw some giant moose prints leaving the first dock, so we wanted to hurry up and get to the second spot which is the big rock at the pond. Walking up on the rock, we saw two moose right in front of our eyes (maybe 15 feet in front of us) and it was a yearling with its mother. They ran into the pond and the yearling swam across the pond while the momma stayed in the water to feed on algae. It was so cool. We were right next to these giant animals and they weren't even affected by us. About a half hour later came this HUGE moose that was easily 8 feet tall walking towards the momma moose in the middle of the pond. It was such an amazing site to see. This was an amazing day and definitely fulfilled any hopes of seeing moose this week. During our time watching these 3 moose, another one was swimming too. We sat there for about an hour and all agreed we were ready to go home and eat some dinner. We stopped by a store to pick up some fried chicken since the boys ate all the food we had set out for dinner. We got home and told everyone about our incredible 6-moose day and our successful hike to the 3,100 ft summit. After dinner we all watched some tv and sat around the living room.
After we got to base, I had to drive myself and the van back over to NAS I. I went and bought some groceries so I could cook dinner and have some food for the weekend. I got back to my room and took a shower. I didn't even get sunburnt today! Thats a shocker. After my shower, I headed up to Joes room to upload all my pics onto his computer and cook some dinner. I made chicken, pasta, and spinach. It was nice to eat a real meal cuz it's been awhile since I've actually sat down and cooked something. We had just gotten done with dinner when all the ITT drunks called us from JOX. They had a paintball tournament all weekend, so they have been at JOX all evening celebrating the success of the tourney. There were teams from Rota, Spain, Germany, and northern Italy here for the European Paintball Tournament that Leslie and Leah set up along with our Sigonella Paintball Association. They called my cell phone and begged us to come hang out at JOX for the rest of the night. I wasn't really in the mood to even move (I was freakin tired from today), but they kept calling me and bribing us to get over there. I caved in and grabbed the Forino (my MWR vehicle that I drive all the time) and headed back over to NASII. I didn't even have a chance to relax or gain some strength back. I drove over there and stayed for a few hours. I danced with all the girls and hung out with some friends until I was just completely bored outta my mind and wanted to go home and get some sleep for tomorrow's dive. I had 2 beers, but since Sigonella has crazy DUI problems and breathalyzers, I wanted to be safe and just take the shuttle home since I drive a Government vehicle. It was quite funny to see all my bosses drunk, but I was so tired it was hard to be amuzed by them and too late to join in on the party. It was nice to get home and get some sleep, Chief was going to be there at 8am to pick us up.
