Outdoor fun with family friends

July 18, 2020

Emilie Phillips

We picked one family to socialize with the last two weekends. This past weekend was especially fun because it wasn’t just the kids playing. Last weekend, Isaac had gone over to their house for a sleepover. This weekend we started by having Isaac’s friend David over to our house for a sleepover. Then we all went up to Maine.

Saturday I took David on a Bearhawk ride, which he loved. Tyson took him on an RV-4 ride which he didn’t think was much more interesting than the Bearhawk. I’m not sure how that is possible. Isaac couldn’t understand why the airplanes were that interesting. Surely Legos are more interesting than boring old airplanes?

Isaac wanted to take David kayaking, so we did that Sunday morning. Or at least we tried to. Apparently we haven’t put 4 cars on our new Subaru since we bought it in 2014. Our old Subaru could carry up to five kayaks. We spent most of the morning getting the kayaks on the car and then only had two hours for kayaking. We went to Lake Contoocook were we could paddle out to an island for lunch. We insisted that the two kids do wet exits. Isaac did very well on his. He didn’t complain at all before flipping over. David was in an Avocet with a large cockpit, so it wasn’t a problem for him either. We paddled through the lily pads to the western most island in the lake. Another group had the island, so we ate lunch on a nearby rock, and then paddled back to the put in. Isaac was satisfied, though there was some tension between the kids from their vastly different skill levels.

Immediately after kayaking, David, Isaac, and I jumped into the Bearhawk to meet up with David’s family in Bar Harbor. The flight was rather boring. The dense gray haze in the air made even the Maine coast look blah. We did catch a 30-40kt tail wind, pushing our ground speed up to 136kts. That is RV-4 speeds. We landed at Bar Harbor just a few minutes before 6PM when the FBO closes. Lisa, Victor (parents), and Vicky (older sister) had driven 5 hours on Saturday to get to Bar Harbor. David was pretty happy to arrive after an hour and a half flight.

Lisa and Victor aren’t as outdoorsy as Tyson and I, but they organized a fun set of activities for Monday. We started by touring the family’s formal gardens. Then we hiked the 2 mile loop to Great Head. The craggy Maine coast is wild and beautiful. The pair of seven year olds didn’t have much patience for admiring beauty. They wanted to get to the beach. Sand Beach is 1.5 miles around the loop. The kids splashed in the water and tried to jump waves. I decided to brave the frigid Atlantic water and swim over to some undercut rocks on the nearby cliff. The waves were mild or I might have wanted my helmet and PFD. I definitely would have liked a wet suit. But I made it, sat on the rocks in the hot sun for a while, and then headed back.

Boat docked, Isaac and David still at the prow

Then in the afternoon, the grandparents gave us a ride on their motor boat. We toured most of Somes Sound and out to the Atlantic to get a good look back at the island. I saw a large dump truck being towed across the water on a barge. I have seen the large truck barges before, but they always look funny. We stopped to swim at Valley Cove where the water was just as cold as Sand Beach. Isaac was more adventuresome this time and swam over to shore with me. Both kids needed a good dose of sunshine and towels to warm up afterward.

Isaac and I stayed over again Monday night because schedules got tight and a forecast of thunderstorms and heavy rain. Tuesday morning we flew back under bright blue skies and almost calm winds.