Following the light of the sun,
we left the Old World.
-Christopher Columbus
When I talk about boating, I’m really referring to our inflatable four person boat. It does have room to add-on a motor, but right now, it’s powered by John. There is room for a second set of oars, and while I’ve offered to order some, John has refused.
Echo Lake
Since Acadia is the place to be, we first tried boating at Echo Lake. You are allowed to use non-motorized boats at other lakes inside Acadia, but there is no swimming allowed. The swimming is the exciting part for the girls, which also gives John and I room to stretch out and relax. I went into this experience with a headache which probably clouds my judgement of the place and accounts for my lackluster pictures here. The boat launch clearing was difficult to maneuver. While it seems like a wide enough area to allow more than one family to enter and remain distanced, there are rocks just out of view in half the section.
There were paddleboarders, kayakers, and swimmers in the lake. There was a group of paddleboarders led by an instructor skirting the perimeter. As we paddled further, we saw a swimming hole, where people were jumping off cliffs like they were part of the Quinote Tribe from Twilight. There was also a large beach at one end which looked moderately crowded. The coolest thing was seeing the swimmers in the lake who swam with floatation devices. The girls called out to one swimmer who was taking a break and learned that they swim with them for a variety of safety reasons: so someone knows they are there and don’t run them over, so someone knows they are there in case they get injured, and in case they get a sudden cramp and need to rest. The girls urged John to take us far out to look closer at some rocks and trails. We didn’t really think much of the way the wind was blowing until we tried to head back. John and I ended up taking alternate oars and rowing vigorously for a very long time to get us back to shore. We learned to be aware of the wind (and shifts in wind direction) when choosing a place to play in the water for future boat trips.
Scenic Drive
Our journey to one of our favorite boating spots came about because I asked the kids to clean the car. I was vacuuming the driver’s side doormat and the kids were clearing out all the things in the backseat. Kaeli said something which prompted me to take a step back in front of the rear door to hear her. She then launched a 32oz metal water bottle out the door which landed on my left foot. It immediately swelled to look like a second ankle. After getting me ice, Kaeli ran to get John from the pavilion (another story all together), and I started to see black around the edges of my vision. Riley got me a small ice pack for my forehead, but it got worse.I laid down and started telling Riley that if Mommy went to sleep for a little bit, I was ok and to just stay put until Daddy got there. Luckily, I did not pass out and Riley was super proud of how brave she was during later recantations of the incident.
I’m one of “those moms” who has said, “be careful, I don’t want to take you to the ER during a pandemic” to my kids more than once. On the flip side, I also let them climb all over rocks by themselves, so I think it all balances out. Anyways, I decided to skip the ER knowing X-rays often don’t show cracks for several days and made a tentative virtual appointment with my podiatrist who I’ve sadly come to know well over the past few years. It’s really strange that my feet always get in the crossfires as, prior to three years ago, I had never broken any bones in my body. Fortunately, I was able to walk, albeit with a limp, within a few days and able to “take a walk” by the end of the week. During the first few days, I couldn’t get around much, so we tested out some sights by car, including Cadillac Mountain and the scenic drive I’m about to describe. There is a gorgeous drive on Route 182 between the teeny towns of Franklin and Cherryville with some amazing lakes along the route. Franklin is known as the Christmas tree capital of the world. We didn’t see any Christmas tree farms along the main road, but it’s also not winter, so I’m not sure if they would be advertised now along this road. Cherryville is touted as the blueberry capital of the world. When we first discussed our plans to come to Maine with the kids, we reviewed what we already knew about Maine. Kaeli had studied the northeastern states in the fall and remembered that Maine is the largest producer/supplier of blueberries in the United States. We knew that they grew wild on mountains and hills, and Riley fixated on picking wild blueberries. She was successful in picking blueberries, raspberries, and even a few blackberries; however, we weren’t able to find the handfuls in the wild that she was hoping for. We were expecting to find some blueberry farms in Cherryville, but did not. Somewhere along the route is a farm advertising blueberries, but it wasn’t pick your own right now. We did find a lovely blueberry farm outside Bangor which we visited twice because the blueberries were so yummy.
You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.
-Christopher Columbus
Tunk Lake
This 2010 acre lake was our favorite boating destination. Although there is a small sandy beach, we did not play there since there were visitors lounging on the beach during each of our visits. There is a nice slope into the water, so motorized boats have room to enter although it is fairly shallow for several hundred yards. Watching a boat unload with the truck’s back wheels completely submerged and the tailpipe bobbing in and out of the water made my heart two-time. I imagine backing a car down a hill and half into the water to unload a boat to be even trickier than backing up our 41” travel trailer, but perhaps it’s just inexperience that makes my heart race.
There are many rocks (and several lobster traps) in the swimming depth of the lake. This proved to be fun for the kids, climbing up the rocks, but inconvenient for us as we sometimes got our boat stuck on top of a rock as we were trying to move it. This always seems to happen in those moments when Riley has floated too far away from us. Both girls are like fish in the water and, while they aren’t fluent in traditional swimming strokes, have felt confident in the water eating back to their days learning survival skills, swim-float-swim, as babies in the water. We still smile when we see Kaeli’s ISR “graduation” photo where she’s wearing a soaking wet winter jacket that weighed more than she did. I’m a big believer in ISR and would recommend it to anyone with babies and toddlers. After Riley had completed her first round of lessons (two week refresher classes are offered each summer for a few years if your child hasn’t swimming year round), she went under at the baby pool in our community. I watched the whole thing, ready to jump in, but proud that she immediately rolled onto her back into a float. Another pool goer started screaming and tried to grab her up which frightened her (she was nonplussed by the actual going under). This stuff works.
Back to the lake. The first day, the girls wanted to stay near a rock where they were playing. They found a lobster or crab trap (which we made them leave alone and move away from), then a rusty rod. Before I could finish asking the kids to please put it down, Riley sliced her leg on the metal. Luckily, a few bandaids and a hugs later, they were back to play in a different area. The kids loved this lake because of the interspersed rocks, but John and I loved the views. I couldn’t bring myself to miss out on the views, so I barely read or wrote here (and there was no cellular service). I soaked in the views and the sun and stretched out, leaning my head all the way back on the raft which dipped several inches of my overrun hair into the water. I hold that image of myself often when I meditate with beach sounds, stretching out to better soak in the views and the sun.
There are some little homes with majestic views of the lake and lush forests. We tried to avoid getting too close to anyone’s private residences and marveled at how it would feel to wake up and enjoy your cup of coffee with this view each morning. One house had a small rock, several huge permanent floats and jet ski jumps.
A funny element to Lake Tunk is the little potty that is typically available for public use. Instead of locking the door and posting signs that it is closed, park services have gone a step further and boarded up the building. It gives you that little chill that there is still a monster out there, lurking, despite all the peace and beauty.
Fox Pond
A few minutes up the road from Lake Tunk is Fox Pond. We saw two entrances to this lake from the road we were traversing. The first was a small scenic pull-off. It had a very steep few steps to the water and would be suitable for swimmers to enter the lake. We saw many people pull over to sit in their cars and enjoy the view. The second entrance includes a sloped boat access.
During our one trip to this body of water, we were intrigued by the guests that we saw. A woman with a pick-up truck backed to the lake’s edge. She and an older man began filling a dozen large buckets with water from the lake. Once they were done, they drove away. About half an hour later, the same couple re-appeared and repeated this process. We had several guesses about their need for fresh water (i.e. staying at a campground without water hook-ups), but thought the whole thing was a bit peculiar.
While this lake does not have the same rocky landscape as Lake Tunk, the views are still idyllic. We played for almost three hours before deciding that we should return to our RV. The kids put on a water circus, and we relaxed, disconnected from the outside world.
The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.
-Joseph Conrad
