Dad didn’t come north this year for Christmas (although he did come up for Jess and PJ’s wedding and then stayed through Bill’s birthday the following week) so we headed south soon after the holidays to spend some time with him.
We headed out of Boston early on Friday January 11th—leaving home at 3:30 am to catch an early flight—and arrived in Tampa a little after 10 am. Friday was a dialysis day for Dad so we took our time working our way to Zephyrhills—stopping for lunch along the way—since we would get there before well he got back home.
On Saturday we headed first to Lakeland, Florida to pick up Debbie and then we were on the road to Melbourne Beach—the east coast of Florida just south of Coco Beach. Our good friends Danny and Paula Chang live there and they had invited us all to spend the weekend with them...so we gladly obliged.
Danny and Paula's house overlooks the inter-coastal waterway, so we arrived to pleasant and comfortable views. By the time we arrived it was determined that it was five o'clock somewhere...so I went to work making lemon-drop martinis.
Somehow, while those were being imbibed, Paula and Danny still found time to put together a great dinner.
 | We also found a little time to Skype with Sarah and Andrew in Australia. Then it was time to break out a little something special... |
Dan's position in Northrup-Grumman has had him traveling significantly over the past couple of years...enough that Delta Airlines decided to send him a New Year's thank you gift for having accumulated over 950,000 miles with them. The bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label was also inscribed with his name and New Year's wishes.
Dan is not a big drinker of scotch, but he knew someone who would appreciate it and said he saved it to open with me...
Almost needless to say, it was a very enjoyable bottle of hooch. The neighbors from each side were invited over to visit and try out the scotch, and very little was left by the end of the evening.
The next day, after an enjoyable breakfast, Dan, Dad and I headed out to a local golf course. Dad didn't play but followed us around in a golf cart and it was great to have him out on the course with us.
  We stayed through the day and watched the Patriots game (sadly the last game they won this season) and then we headed back across the State...dropping Debbie back off in Lakeland and heading back to Zephyrhills. | While we were out enjoying the sun on the golf course Cheri, Paula and Debbie traveled up the coast a little and enjoyed some time near the beach. We all got a little bit of much needed sun-time!  |
Monday morning we were up and out the door somewhat early (at least a little early for Dad, but he did get up and see us off). Then it was back to Tampa and a day of flying back to Boston and then home.
If we spent some time in the warm South it only seemed right that we balance that time out with quality time in the cool crispness of the North. From earlier postings you know that I've enjoyed going to the 100 Mile Wilderness of Maine, only I have often thought how great it would be to go up there in the middle of the Winter...here was our chance!
After work on Friday the 18th Cheri and I met up with Jim and Lisa Nowak and we began out trek further north into Maine. Since it is a six hour drive from Woodstock and we were getting a late start, we took advantage of the hospitality of James and Stephanie Morris to bunk out at their house on the first night.
James, in the nature of the southern hospitality of his upbringing, had a nice array of night-caps waiting for us.
A nice dessert prepared by Stephanie...a couple of sips from the liquid display...all in front of the welcoming Morris fireplace and we were soon ready for bed.
Since the trail into Little Lyford Pond Camp (LLPC) was a seven mile hike on snow shoes and we have limited light during the January Winter days, we made an early rise and got out onto the road.  |  It was a three hour drive to Greenville, Me—where we had a quick and filling breakfast at Auntie Em's diner—and then another 10.4 miles to the parking area at the entrance to the 100 Mile Wilderness. The Winter arrangement at Little Lyford Pond Camp is that the staff will tote in a bag and sleeping bag for you and you carry most other things on your back. Chuck, the Manager of LLPC, just happened to be there when we drove up, so we were able to put our bigger bags into the sled behind his snowmobile... |
 Jim signed us in (so besides Chuck knowing we were coming there was also an official record). | Then we bundled up (besides lower temperatures there was also a good wind) and got ready to head out on the trail...  |
Fortunately, there was a cross-country skier at the lot who offered to take our picture before we set off...and then we were all on the trail...
Even with it being cold, hiking on snow shoes soon had us all warm and steaming...hats came off...layers of clothes removed...gloves taken off. So even with the temperatures being in the teens we were all nice and warm. |  |
After about 90 minutes we were ready for a lunch break—we had picked up trail lunches at Auntie Em's—and it just happened to be at the halfway point between the parking lot and LLPC.
Then it was back on to the trail and after another 90 minutes (maybe even a little less...a bit of a second wind after lunch...plus wanting to get to LLPC before dark) we passed the entrance sign and the lodgesoon came into sight.
Our original plan had been to stay in the bunkhouse with whatever other eight people showed up, but when we realized it was a women's group of eight people (so ten women and Jim and me...typically not bad odds, but a little too close for all of us) we decided to see if there was a cabin still available.
 | Fortunately there was, but the stove had not been lit in it yet (you can see Jim's breath in the photo), so we quickly took care of that. |
The site looked very different from my trips to LLPC in June and you can see how warm and inviting the light was coming from our cabin.
 and we had a fun evening before deciding that the seven miles had tired us out for the day. LLPC has a wood fired sauna during the Winter and we signed up for a 9 pm slot. After 20 minutes in there we were all ready for bed. | By the time we got back to the cabin after dinner it was toasty warm and we settled in for a few card games...the ladies close to the wood stove (and for some reason their vision wasn't as good in fading light—Steve Heida does this ring a bell with you—so they donned their headlamps...I think it actually was to distract Jim and me from our cards)  |
The next day was clear and crisp...and we had four inches of new snow. The camp looked great with the fresh overcoat.
 After breakfast we decided that we would do a morning hike down to some of the upper falls in the Gulf Hagas and get back to the Lodge by lunch time. We headed out on trails that had been groomed days before, but we were making fresh tracks in the new snow.  It was a great hike out and back, with us once again removing layers of clothes as we snowshoed along...the falls were subdued under the snow and ice, but it was still impressive. A nice five mile jaunt on snowshoes. |    |
One of my favorite photos…
We got back to the cabin in time for a late lunch and then Cheri, Lisa and I went for an afternoon snowshoe around the Lyford Ponds (about a 2.5 mile trek). Jim decided to do a virtual hike from the comfort of his sleeping bag...
When we got back there was a little down time , so I enjoyed a beverage and took a few other photos of the camps… |  |
Once again they fed us well for dinner...  |  |
Then it was some more card games, another trip to the sauna and a good night of sleep.
 It was then a six hour drive (we shared driving and napping) to end the Adventure arriving back in Woodstock. | The next morning started out at -10 F (-23C) and we were going to be snowshoeing back out to the car. We had a great breakfast at the lodge, loaded up the snowmobile-sled with our bags, and headed out. We followed the logging road out and made it to the car a little before noon. Overall a little over twenty miles of snowshoeing in three days.  |
We tried crossing our feet with the snowshoes on...this will have to do instead.
On to the next Adventures!
