Pre-Boat Building Blog

Hello from Maine, everyone!  

When we have mentioned that we would be building a wooden boat in Maine this summer, a lot of people asked us to post pictures.  In that vein, this will be the first in what should be a series of blogs about our boat building experience.  More on that in a minute:

First though, the week before last, Joni and Denise completed the last Woodland Retreat for 2016.  We had about 12-13 people in the studio in Summerfield. Lots of beautiful projects as usual.  Joni and Denise will be letting everyone know about the Woodland Retreats in 2017 before too long.  

After the Woodland Retreat, Joni and Denise and several others went to Eric Taylor's studio in McMinnville, TN to make black ash baskets.  From the Oohing and Ahhing and Giggling I heard over iMessages and Facetime, it certainly sounded like they had a blast.  I think Joni covered that pretty well on Facebook, so I won't repeat it here.

We arrived in Maine on Thursday evening and checked into the Wooden Boat School Campground. The weather has been beautiful and a nice change from the hot humid conditions we are still having in NC.  Days in the mid-70's and nights in the low 50's, and no rain so far.  The North-woodsy smell from the Spruce trees and the sound of the fluttering Aspen leaves pervade the campground.  Class does not start until Sunday, so we have had a few days to check out the local surroundings.  About getting here early:  Joni suggested that, in case we had Camper difficulty.  Good Ole Joni.  Wednesday evening the Check Engine Light came on and we spend Thursday morning in Prime Motors Mercedes shop getting the fuel filter replaced. They did a fantastic job, treated us like royalty, and we were soon back up to power and on our way. 

We spent Friday at Acadia National Park.  What a beautiful place!  We had heard about it for years and had wanted to see it.  What a treat.  We started in Bar Harbor, which we both felt was a little over-touristy, but Acadia National Park more than made up for it....as did the Blueberry Pie, Chocolate Whoopie Pie (local treat) and the Salted Caramel Cream (custard, actually) Puff acquired in Bar Harbor.....mmmmmmm.  

Acadia national Park is a jewel.  The Loop Road drive starts out above Bar Harbor and winds down to the coastline....the picturesque, beautiful, rocky coastline.  We have all probably seen pictures of this coastline in magazines and advertisements and might not have known where they were from.  Joni got her feet in the water and said it was not too cold.  We climbed down to Thunder Hole (the tide was out, so we just heard more of a rumbling than thunder).  At first we balked at driving to the top of Cadillac Mountain because of the 'No RV' signs, but then our adventurous nature kicked in (and after a quick chat with the Ranger) and we made the drive up.......and were glad we did.  Cadillac Mountain was formed by an ancient volcano that left the granite outcropping there for us to climb.  The view was magnificent.

That's it for today...we hope you enjoy the pictures.  More as we get into the actual class.

Remember...It's a beautiful Day....Don't let it slip away.

 David

ps - LOBSTER COUNT - 5 Meals so far.......