Maine 2009

Yep - we went to Maine again, but this was a little different. We stayed on Caribou Pond near Lincoln, Maine, approximately one hour north of Bangor, and that makes it the furthest north we've even been. This was our first road trip with Coco, the miniature poodle we adopted in January of this year. And we only stayed a week - I thought that since we had never been to this particular location, we might not like it and would regret committing ourselves to two weeks.

I was right - we didn't like it. We loved it! :-)

The house we rented is an actual house, not a cottage. Real walls, real floors, a dishwasher!, a bathtub/shower!, a washer and dryer! ... even a hot tub!! The house has two bedrooms as well as two sofas (one was a sleep-sofa) and can accommodate 6 to 7 individuals comfortably. There are some pictures available online via the VacationHomes link at the bottom of this page.

The house has a deck running the width of the house, facing the water. The view from the deck is wonderful. And the dock is long and roomy. It was a great setup for our kayaking trips. This was our first long road trip with the kayaks, and it all went really well.

Caribou Pond is one of three connected bodies of water near Lincoln. Standing on the deck and looking straight out over the water, Egg Pond is to the left (north), and Long Lake is to the right and straight (a little to the south, and then east). Since they are all connected, we had plenty of new water to explore.

And even though we got to the house late Saturday afternoon, after unpacking and having dinner, we managed to get the kayaks out on the water for a brief paddle. And - for the very first time - Coco joined us! She wasn't especially eager to get into Jo's boat, but once there, she behaved very well. Still, I think she was happy to get on dry land again.

Sunday was VERY windy - whitecaps on the water - and Jo & I are definitely calm water paddlers, so we didn't take the boats out. Instead we spent some time sitting on the dock and enjoying the bright sunshine, cool temperatures, and great breeze. And we took a walk up Egg Pond Road, a dirt/gravel road running along the west side of Caribou and Egg ponds.

Monday was our first opportunity to take a long paddle, and we were out on the water (Caribou over to Long, almost to the end of Long, and back) for almost 3 hours.

Tuesday we hit the road (like we hadn't already driven enough on this vacation) for our only day-trip, a drive over to the coast to see the West Quoddy Head Light. Since we first started chasing lighthouses several years ago, Quoddy has been on our must-see list, and it didn't disappoint.

As a bonus, we saw another lighthouse along the way - the Whitlocks Mill Light on the St. Croix River south of Calais.

We stopped in a little restaurant in Lubec for lunch, and they let us bring Coco in! They said that as long as we carried her through to the deck on the back, we could eat out there and have Coco with us. And it was so nice to be able to do that. The deck looked out on the water, and after lunch I took this picture of a boat behind the restaurant (the deck is visible on the left side of the picture).

On the way back to Lincoln, we stopped at a couple of parks and public boat launches, and even pulled off to the side of the road, and took pictures of the gorgeous scenery.

The rest of the week we stayed at the house, getting out for a paddle Wenesday evening, Thursday morning, and Friday morning.

Thursday's paddle took us to Egg Pond, the smallest of the three bodies of water. Jo spotted a lone loon - usually they travel in a group. It turned out that the loon wasn't alone - she had a baby loon with her! We didn't get close enough for a good picture - we didn't want to stress the mom loon. But it was very cool.

Friday morning I rolled out of bed very early to see if I could catch the sunrise and maybe get a few good pictures. It turned out to be more overcast than I had anticipated, but it was still very beautiful. I stood on the dock for maybe 45 minutes, listening to loons, watching and listening to some ducks, and enjoying the calm water and cool temperature.

Friday's paddle took us around Caribou Pond, a leisurely and thoroughly enjoyable last couple of hours out on the water.

Whether sitting on the dock or out in the kayaks, we were very impressed by the clarity of the water - impressed, and at first, alarmed. The water that was so clear made the huge rocks scattered on the bottom appear much closer than they actually were. Our first long paddle featured many "big rock there!" calls to one another. Happily, we didn't hit anything.

All too soon it was Saturday morning. We finished the packing of the van, cleaned up inside the house, and hit the road for home. We had an excellent time on Caribou Pond, just the latest in a string of wonderful visits to the Pine Tree State. And now I've got to get busy planning our next visit!

The Related Links below include our favorites from this trip.