This summer has been a busy one, but thankfully we’ve been able to spend some time in our camper.  We recently returned from Smuggler’s Den Campground in Southwest Harbor, ME on Mount Desert Island (this is our “go-to” campground whenever we have the time).  The Island is home to Acadia National Park and is a gorgeous place to visit if you love the outdoors.  We were fortunate to have 5 great days of sun and nice temperatures, which allowed us to hike, bike, swim in Echo Lake and play Tourist in Bar Harbor.  (The kids love watching the boats come and go from the town pier). If you have not been to this area of the country before, it is definitely worth the trip.  As soon as I cross the bridge onto the Island I feel content.

Closer to home, we had the opportunity to camp for a night with friends at Happy Horseshoe Campground in New Portland, ME.  It feels a bit remote when you are driving to it, but it really is a nice spot with a grass field to play games, a gathering pavilion, and the traditional Maine Saturday night Bean Hole Supper. There was a good mix of larger 5th-wheel style campers and families like ours with smaller, more “outdoor oriented” set ups.  The pool, the playground and riding bikes kept the kids happy.

Similar to Glamping, we’ve also been “Gramp-ing” this summer, when we brought our camper down to Grammie & Grampy’s house and stayed overnight so that we could visit with our cousins.  It was the ultimate campground with electric, hot water, food & beverages, and about a 25 foot walk to the pool!

Sadly, school starts this week for the kids, so we will have to figure out a way to get back out there a few more times before it’s time to put Scotty to bed for the winter.  Sometimes the summer really is just too short 🙂

It seems like we were just settling into our campsite on MDI just a few days ago, when in reality it was more like a few weeks. All of a sudden the sun goes down earlier, the nights are cooler and the local pool is all buttoned up for the winter.

While I lament the loss of the long, warm summer days, the kids are back in school and I am hoping to get myself back on schedule. It would be great to put all of the ideas that have been kicking around in my head down on paper. I also have a heap of sewing that I would love to get caught up on. I have a vision of some retro-style aprons that I want to make, and I already have the fabric in hand. They should be really fun when they are finished.

Enjoy the crisp evening air and warm sunny days… it won’t be long before we’ll be knee deep (or more!) in fresh snow. 🙂

I figure since we got new tires for Scotty, we should get some hubcaps. Granted they are not shiny brand new (thank you ebay!) but neither is our camper, so it should be a good fit. My only request is that they stay on the wheels as we travel down our road. I lost a dust cap 2 weeks ago after repacking the bearings because it rattled loose after I thought I had tapped it back securely into the hub. Not so. I looked in the side mirror just as the cap came flying off and rolled into the weeds along the side of the highway. Do you think I could find it? Of course not, but I certainly got a fair number of folks asking me the next day if everything was alright because I was spotted wandering along the shoulder looking in the tall grass. I joke that I should have brought a bag with me to collect the cans & bottles. That really would have gotten people talking! (I probably could have made a dollar or two for my trouble, though).

I’ll post a pic when the new hubcaps are installed and at the very least, I’ll have a second line of defense against flying dust caps!

Happy Fourth of July week! We managed to squeak out all of the activities we wanted to do on Wednesday up here in Carrabassett Valley, in between the rounds of thunderstorms. Rain in the morning stopped just in time for the parade, clouds cleared around lunch for the kids bike parade and swimming, and then the next band of bad weather broke just at 9pm for about 20 minutes– perfect for watching the fireworks from the back of our truck at the local airport.

The National Serro Scotty Association is having their Eastern rally this weekend in Slippery Rock, PA and I’m glad it appears that a good portion of the campers have A/C. As much as I love my little camper, I’m not sure I could stand 90 degree weather for sleeping, no matter what kind of fans we had going (we are northerners, so no A/C in our rig). Whatever the temps, it does appear that everyone is having a great time.

Upcoming projects with Scotty include new tires, and a go at re-greasing the bearings. I’ll try to post pics of that adventure when it’s done. As they always say… “how hard could it be”? hahaha!

We took our first road trip of the summer with the Scotty camper to NH last weekend. Let the camping season begin! We went to Storyland in Glenn, NH with some family friends and had a blast. The kids are finally old enough to hold their own and they really enjoyed the freedom of riding some of the rides without us hounding them the whole time. We stayed at Glenn Ellis Campground and it was a really nice campground. Definitely not roughing it there…

We had made the same trip last year at this time, and I think it’s definitely the right weekend to do it. Great weather, no lines and a quick drive (relatively speaking- when you live in rural Maine, everything up to 3 hours is a “short” drive. Driving to NJ, well, that’s actually a full on “trip”). I’m looking forward to the rest of the summer. Another “short” drive to Acadia National Park this coming weekend 🙂

It’s almost time to bring Scotty (our little camper) home from storage for the summer! I stopped by the garage today to grab a few things and I love that the only thing we really need to do is to check the tire pressure and dust it out a bit. Other than that, the camper is ready to roll. Perhaps I’ll pick up some shiny hubcaps for it this season…