I think this is the first time in too many years that we stayed somewhere with zero cell service and no wifi. The thing I missed the most was not being able to immediately quench my desire to learn about the world around me. Lou would ask me a question and I’d have to write it down to remember to look up later. Not that there wasn’t plenty to do to keep us busy the entire time!
We fished and canoed, read, slept, played with the dogs and talked to our camper neighbors (the friendly ones). Heck. The first day after we arrived we did absolutely nothing. Hard to believe. I know. I had arranged to rent a pontoon boat on Rangeley Lake in Maine on July 28th, which turned out to be a rainy, cold day. We took the boat out anyway and got a couple of pretty hard strikes on our poles. They were hard enough to break four lures before we gave in to the rain storm and headed back to the dock. The owners were nice enough to give us another half day whenever we wanted. Since Jess had to get back home the next day we decided to take it out the next morning. It didn’t rain, but it was plenty cold and windy. The boat went airborne a couple of times which made me very nervous but Lou did a great job of soothing my worries. We still didn’t catch anything and the lake (or something in it) took three of our brand new lures which we purchased the afternoon before. Our last full day we spent exploring the area around The Balsams (which is closed due to a fire several years before) for a place for Lou to mountain bike and me to road bike. We split the difference by pulling over eleven miles outside of Colebrook. While Lou explored the trails I rode just shy of into town and back. It was hard but fun. It was also a little nerve wracking what with the logging trucks whizzing by. Fortunately there was a wide shoulder for most of the route and the truckers were really good about giving me a wide berth.
Things to know if you go: There are bugs. Lots and lots of bugs. Take plenty of bug spray and wearable devices to keep them somewhat at bay. Also, its much colder in Northern NH and Maine than south of Boston by at least 15 degrees. Dress appropriately or you’ll be huddled under blankets the entire time (or making the local stores happy buy purchasing your winter apparel at high tourist prices).
