That's all we've had to eat for the last 2 days--- BLECH!!

We are back from our trip to Mattawamkeag (Population 132... including the moose!) a day earlier than anticipated.  Violent thunderstorms hit us last night, including hail, and more were on the way tonight.  No one (except for M) got any sleep last night, so we opted to head out early. 

Never fear, my friends.  I documented the ENTIRE trip with both words and pictures to prove to you all that I did, in fact, spend more than 24 full hours in a place without running water or electricity.  If you have no interest in the finer details of our trip, you can feel free to skip this post and look for a slide show of pictures later.

July 28, 2008  7:45 a.m.

And we're off... almost!  The van is packed to the gills and the doors barely shut, but we managed to cram everything (and everyone) in.  Everyone is all potty-ed and ready to go--- except Hubby.  If he could only find his wallet, we could actually leave the garage.

8:20 a.m.

Coffee and doughnut break.  Everyone is much happier--- especially Hubby!

9:10 a.m.

M is playing his Chicken Game (aka Leapster) and the girls are watching Hannah Montana.  C is falling asleep.  Ahhh, a peaceful start!

10:48 a.m.  Orono, ME

Making good time.  I have been writing down all of the different state license plates to see how many we see on the trip.  (14 states and 4 Canadian Providences at the end of the trip!!)  It is becoming something of a sport for me and Hubby.

10:50 a.m.

C is awake and grumpy and throwing water from his sippy cup over his car seat and hitting me in the back of the head, M is screaming that his car seat is too tight.  Hubby pulls over to stretch his legs.

11:10 a.m.

The girls have become Hannah Montana zombies.  C is screaming my name over and over.  M is yelling, "I think it is NOT FUNNY!" because C keeps putting his body parts in M's car seat.  What were we thinking?????

12:00 p.m.

Bathroom stop.  Last chance for a real toilet!

12:45 p.m.

We made it to our destination and I am going to have a heart attack!  The "road", if you can actually call it that, is nothing but a mucky tree lined trail is the driveway to the camp!  Hubby stopped long enough to check the status of the "road" and we actually drove through the stream!!!

Okay, so my first impression was not great.  It is dark, dirty (think mouse poop on the counter) and there is a weird smell.  It is a little more... rustic, than I imagined.  I set to work sweeping and bleaching everything in sight while Hubby empties the van.  R has a not-so silent panic attack about the bugs and dirt.  I tried with every fiber of my being not to join her!

After unloading, Hubby set up the port-o-potty that we had brought along.  We had both decided that the outhouse would be pushing it for all of us!  (The port-o-potty worked out great!  I think R would have held it for the whole time if she had to use the outhouse)

Lunch was an experience, but fun.  (Check out the slide show later, I took pictures of every meal!)  We had packed a huge cooler full of supplies to prepare on the propane stove.  I managed to prepare ham sandwiches and only slightly burnt grilled cheeses for the kids.  The kids were stoked to have Cheetos for the first time.

After lunch, everyone was happy.  The boys had been enjoying themselves from the time we arrived--- so many places to crawl, poke and explore.  The bunk beds were a HUGE hit--- a jungle gym right in the house!

We played outside together for a while (the girls are really good at Freeze Tag), but the bugs and rain drove us back inside.  We had to wait out our first thunderstorm of the evening.

We pulled out some art supplies for the girls and Little People for the boys.  The girls also worked on the journals that I packed for them. (gotta get some writing in where I can!)  We listened to book one of The Children of the Lamp series on CD through R's I-penguin and disc man.  Thank goodness for batteries.

After all that activity, it was only 3:15.  Time moves so slowly there!!

We had dinner at 6:00--- hot dogs and buns, pierogies, chips, cut-up cucumbers, yellow peppers, carrots, and applesauce.  The kids all enjoyed using the pump to pump up water from the stream.  I am so glad that I didn't listen to Hubby when he said we didn't need to bring water.  That stuff is NOT drinkable.  It had sticks in it!

We read Stand Tall Abe Lincoln and talked about his life in comparison to how we were living.  The girls worked on workbooks (A- reading, R-geography) by oil lamp light.  Funny how school work is more fun in the dark!

Everyone was exhausted so we tried settling them in bed around 8.  We had gotten up so early to leave for camp that I thought they would all just crash.  A conked out right away and M shortly after that.  Hubby made a little tent for R that she read in for a while.  C, the little Energiser Bunny, ran around the cabin for an hour before he nursed himself off to dreamland.

At around 9:30, a giant thunderstorm, complete with lightning and hail, rolled in.  The periodic lightning provided the only light (hence air) in the cabin until Hubby got up and lit a candle.  The next 3 hours raged and roared and woke everyone except M.  C was terrified and clung to me  like a spider monkey.  A woke up and ended up in the twin bed with me and C.  M slept through the ENTIRE thing while the rest of us prayed the cabin didn't get struck by lightning!

I lay in bed hoping that the road didn't wash out and wishing that I had taken Michelle's advice to pack a carbon monoxide detector!

July 29, 2008

C got up at 6 and was raring to go.  He crawled from our bed to Hubby's to snuggle with Daddy.  Hubby and I discuss the night and wondered if we can convince the kids that one night was enough.  Everyone is tired and cranky and we are expecting more thunderstorms later in the evening.

After a yummy breakfast of bacon, eggs, apples, bananas, red potato home fries, and orange juice, the kids made place mat pictures (with smelly markers) to use for lunch.  It was raining again (still?) but we decided to try to take a hike anyway.  The big kids had a great time on the trail.  M wanted a piggy-back from Hubby, so I ended up wearing the backpack containing C.  He fell asleep before we decided to turn back and slept for another 2 hours upon our return.  We took advantage of the the quiet time and read and rested while the big kids watched a movie on the portable DVD player.

After the movie, R asked to do the Model Magic we had packed.  We all sat and created little masterpieces that the girls decided to leave behind to decorate the camp.

We packed up after lunch (macaroni and cheese and leftovers) to head home.  More storm clouds were approaching quickly.  I think the last thunderstorm scarred C for life!

The ride home was interesting.  The weather changed drastically from bright blue skies to torrential down pours.  We got detoured 15 miles out of our way and it took us almost 7 hours to get home!

For all of my comments and complaints, the trip was wonderful, and just long enough.  We all enjoyed the camp and the togetherness and the kids are looking forward to another trip next year.  I am, however, so relieved to be back to civilization, running water and electricity. 

I am off to upload all of our pictures to make a slide show!