What I did on my spring break

[John]

Anybody can go to Florida, or Padre Island Texas. I chose to take the family to Maine to visit Grandma. Woke up Tuesday morning to two inches of snow! The ground had been bare the day before. Well, one of our newer family traditions is to go look for Moose when ever we are in Maine. We struck out around ten am and headed for Sugarloaf Mt ski resort. As we got closer to the mountian we saw less fresh snow on the ground. They didn't get any in the area. When we finally got to the base lodge at Sugarloaf, there were still people skiing., and it was beginning to snow. We left the mountian, and when we got to the main road, I asked my wife if we should head back or continue on away from the direction of home. She said let's go that way. We did. Now I grew up in this area, but had never gone 'that way' after leaving the mountian. I'd always headed home. We drove on and the snow kept falling. After tweny or thirty miles, I saw a road sign that said: Eustis Village to the left, Chain O' the Ponds straight ahead and, get this, Canada, straight ahead. I looked at her and asked if she ever been to Canada. She had but that was twenty years ago. Our kids haven't so we headed straight ahead. Now mind you, when it snows in the mountians, it really snows. We had seen seen a few plows clearing and sanding the road so it wasn't too bad. I hadn't had the 'pleasure' of driving in the snow in a very long time, but I like to think I did ok. We saw some very beautiful scenery over the next thirty minutes or so. Suddenly, we came down a slope and into a valley. I saw a Citgo gas station, and a few small houses. The price was $1.85. Twenty cents higher than we had seen all day. I was thinking we must be getting close. Just a few yards from the gas station was a sign that said in English and I assume it said the same thing in French, "All vehicles must stop for customs inspection". We made it! Oh, Canada!. We cleared customs and headed to the nearest town to turn around. I beleive it was called Woburn. We turned around there and headed back. I really didn't know where the hell I was, but the sign said Coburn Gore, Maine, and I knew I was on Rt 27. It had been snowing for some time now and the roads were getting covered, but so were the trees. It was beautiful. We breezed US customs and headed back. The snow had really built up on the road to the point that I just had to drive between the ditches, slowly. You couldn't see the pavement or the striping painted on it. The deeper we got back into Maine the the less snow we encountered. By the time we got back to Carrabasset Valley/Sugarloaf Mountian, there was hardly any new snow. To anybody wanting to take a vacation this summer, or in the winter, I would recommend this area. It is just beautiful.
We didn't see any Moose, but we did see two Deer and one Canuck,(the Canadian Customs agent) so that kinda balances out, eh? My kids have some very good memories of the trip and something to tell their classmates when school resumes next week. They had never been to Maine in the winter. To my Canadian friends, (Mitch) hang in there, and get 'em ready. Spring is coming...I think the wife and I will go for a putt tonight...

[mitch]

Wish id of known

Jeez if you were that close i would of liked to meet ya, coulda had a cold (Alpine )a local beer, Snow huh sounds like a normal day here lol.But it is beautiful today about 50 degrees f, summer is coming and i might go for a putt myself after work! Have been watching crotch rockets go by the shop all day!!!! Have a great day John .....MITCH

[John]

Alpine?

Not a Molson's or a Moosehead, or even a Labattes? Eh?
I must have been a couple o'hundred miles from you at that point. Did you get any snow Tuesday? Snowed like hell on me in Me. (ha, a little joke there.) All I'ev done today is veg. We spent three hours driving from watervill, maine to Boston, and then three and a half hours on a plane back to Dallas. Travelling sux.

[John]

Bad typing

Ya know, it's funny, the more I drink, the worster I type. Had a few cocktails between posts. Can't ya tell?

[xswilly]

hey john
glad to see you come up during the fun season
snow and ice and cold

but today was 50 and sunny
too bad by the time i get out of work and home it is already cooling down, to the point where riding is a coool experience

they are predicting some snow showers easter sunday
it never ends till july

[mitch]

Nice Ride

Well my six year old (Hannah) suggested taking Big Red out for a spin yesterday! She didnt have to ask twice cause i was already thinking the same thing. We put our leathers on and fired her up. It was a short 30 mile run to the coffee shop, hot choclate for Hannah, but it was great, looks like dads got a new riding buddy!!! She loves it, there was about 30 bikes at the coffee shop guess everbody thought 50 degrees was hot lol.My darn cd player skips like crazy, but the radio worked well lots of volume. that will teach me for being as they say FRUGAL !! Have a great day guys and gals ............................MITCH

[John]

Hey Willy. Actually I enjoy going to Maine in the winter. My wife & kids(Texans) have never experienced real winter. Well, my wife did drive from Boston to Waterville in the snow once. That drive to Canada really opened their eyes to what it can be like. There was still a lot of old snow on the ground up there. The way I see it, I grew up shovelling that stuff, and I don't want to grow old shovelling it. Snow and cold are great fun to visit, and leave behind after a few days. If you ever want to take a beautiful two day ride, I would suggest going up to Farmington, and Saddelback Mt. and catching Rt 27. It leads to Corburn Gore, where I crossed into Canada. As long as I lived there, I never went any further west on 27 than Sugarloaf. The few times crossed into Canada was on US 201, through Jackman. It's nice, but not as remote as Rt 27. I wish I had access to a bike when I go up there in the summer months. (Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, know what I mean?)