The weather has been lousy. We've had too much rain and not enough warmth.  We took a break from farming last week and took seven teenage girls camping in Baxter State Park.  I know what some of you are thinking.  That's not a break, right? Really, it was!  Some of the girls had never been camping.  A couple of them aren't fond of the outdoors.  Oh, it's alright to go for a walk on a nice day but then it's time to go back indoor.  I love being outdoor but I'm not fond of tents.  When my 15 year old daughter, Taylor, starting hinting around about camping I let the hints slip by unacknowledged.  I needed a few days to talk myself out of this idea. After a few days I thought it might be ok.  I'm not a camper.  We have a camp. It has propane lights, stove, fridge and hot water heater for the shower.  I'm fond of daily showers. We go to camp but I leave camping to Steve and Taylor.

When I got around to mentioning Taylor's idea to Steve he said he'd go "if we didn't have the dogs."  AHA!  I knew a friend would tend to them for us.  The idea started sounding good and eventually I started to get excited. And so we went.  Last Thursday morning we loaded my SUV and his truck with kids and gear and made our way, in the rain, to Baxter State Park. My enthusiasm wasn't quite as strong when I realized I hadn't put enough thought into the bunk part of bunk house but it was better than sleeping on the ground in a tent.  Not that 3/4" plywood without a pad mattered much, we had seven teenage girls in a bunk house at Roaring Brook.  Sleep?  No.

When I got up the first morning I made up my mind that everyone was sleeping that night.  We'd exhaust the girls.  They'd be so grateful for a mattress in the cabins at Kidney Pond, and so tired from the day, that they'd sleep well.  We hiked to Sandy Stream Pond and then we hiked to Abol Falls. After checking in at Kidney Pond and visiting with Diane, the ranger, we went to Ledge Falls.  Ledge Falls is a natural water slide.  We were blessed with dry weather but it was still foggy and cool.  I wasn't going to slide. The water would be too cold for water wimpy me.  I'd busy myself laughing at the girls and taking pictures.  At first they were cautious as they checked out the falls and found the best places to slide.  After three or four trips down they were having more fun than I was willing to pass up.  I wasn't even in shorts!  I'd worn a long sleeved, heavy t-shirt and jeans.  When kids tell you that the water is cold, believe them.  It was very cold but it was well worth it. Oh my gosh! The water parks I visited in Florida have nothing on Ledge Falls.  If you have a high speed connection or a lot of patience you can watch this video of one of the kids' first trips down.  This shows only the second half of the falls.  By the time I got in they'd figured out where to start at the top, how to swim upstream underwater in the deep hole, and make their way down to this part of the ledge.  Of couse, I'd put the camera down by then.

We put the girls to work cutting vegetables for kabobs then fed them well.  After supper I built fires in their cabins to take off the chill and be sure they were warm after spending so much time in the cold water. Mission accomplished - they were exhausted and sound asleep by 9:30 pm. We woke them at 8 am for breakfast the next morning.  

We made the best of our time in Baxter. Steve and the girls took the kayaks and canoe out for a trip around Kidney Pond before we checked out.  That's Steve in the banner photo.  On the way out we hiked to Grassy Pond and back.  After a picnic lunch we hit the road for home.  I hated to leave.  I know taking a group of teenagers camping for three days doesn't sound like much of a break but it was.  We had a wonderful time.  I'm going back with my girlfriends this fall and I can't wait!

There are two identification questions in Q&A this week.  I've guessed that the bird is a Laughing gull and the mushroom is a variety of bolete.  What do you think?

We've had an unusual amount of rain lately.  My potatoes were under three inches of water Monday afternoon. They're draining but I'm concerned. The rain comes back tomorrow afternoon.  I slogged through mud over my ankles to pick peppers and then I gave up.  I've put the roll up sides on the greenhouse down, closed the doors on all of the greenhouses, and watched the night time temps carefully. Tonight's low is predicted to be 45*. This morning it felt like mid September rather than early August.

Have a good week!

Sincerley,

Robin Follette
Editor/Publisher