Winter Fun!

The 1st of February and we welcomed another snowfall. After shoveling the 8” that had fallen, we were craving something chocolatey and sweet – we made a batch of no-bake cookies which I consider “health food” since they contain oatmeal – yum!

On the 4th we hosted our Wesgat Sipu friends for a day of ice fishing. Every Saturday the families plan a “child-friendly” outing – this Saturday they fished in front of the camps. While there were only a few fish landed, we also enjoyed snowmobile rides, hot dogs, and the opportunity to visit and share stories. They kindly thank us with a beautiful gift – a dream catcher which will be a reminder of our friendship and love of the outdoors and memory of the day we shared.

On the 6th I started my new job – bookkeeping for Brian Bouchard Trucking in Winterville. Gisele Charette started training me to do the accounting for all the wood that comes in to, is processed, and leaves their log yard in Portage. Brian gave me a guided tour of their operation after having lunch at Dean’s in Portage. Then on the 7th I finished packing and headed south on the first leg of my journey to the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I stopped at Wendy’s barn and spent the afternoon with my horse Magnum then spent the night with mom and dad. They dropped me off at the airport in Portland on the 8th where I met up with warden sergeant Tim Spahr. We’ll help staff the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife booth with deputy commissioner, Andrea Erskine. Our flights from Portland to Philadelphia, then Philly to Harrisburg were uneventful, we found the rental car at the airport, checked in to our hotel, then found Andrea at the show. It is a HUGE show with 200,000 or more attendees! Tim, originally from neighboring Carlisle, gave us a tour of the area in the evening. We met his parents, had dinner at the “Gingerbread Man” one night, and did a lot of networking with others in the outdoor industry from Maine and other eastern states. It was fun inviting and encouraging folks to visit our state; I hope to see some of them in the coming years. While I was there I also had the opportunity to visit outfitters who offer buffalo hunts - dad is hoping to book a hunt in the future. I didn’t get back to Maine until the 13th, stayed over with mom and dad, visited Magnum again, then drove home in time to celebrate Valentines Day with Wayne. He made a nice chowder from the 8 lb. togue he’d caught a few days earlier.

With February half gone, I felt like we were sprinting through winter! I got back to training at Bouchard’s, Wayne continued working, and in between work we’d get some ice fishing in.

Tom Webber and Megan Carr returned on the 19th for another weekend of snowmobiling. This time temperatures were much more agreeable! We planned a ride to Portage for lunch, then completed a loop back to Eagle Lake that took us toward Caribou, on to Stockholm, Cross Lake, and back home. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, the trails were great and we all agreed we could have ridden many more miles!

John and Mary Lu Medina were up snowmobiling during school vacation week. They found me walking on Eagle Lake on the 21st, which was another beautiful, sunny day. I love to walk on the lake in winter! Allie and Grace, and often our cat Trouble follow along – we’re quite an odd group parading across the lake!

I attended my first Maine Professional Guides Association meeting on the 26th. I’ve been nominated to their board of directors. I am honored to have been asked and graciously accepted, looking forward to representing the guides of the St. John Valley.

Giselle treated me to lunch at Custom Cake Factory in Fort Kent on the 27th. After running errands and making our deposit at the bank we had a delicious lunch of a hearty, homemade tomato soup and sandwich on homemade bread. Definitely plan lunch at the Custom Cake Factory in Fort Kent – their soups, breads, and desserts are all homemade and delicious! I felt a little guilty when I got home – Wayne had been shoveling roofs! On the 28th, when Cody Jandreau came down looking for a job, I suggested he help Wayne finish shoveling the roofs. The two of them removed a season’s worth of accumulated snow by week’s end!

We got more snow on the 28th but the sun shined brightly on the 29th…so long February! The longer days with warm sun are making us anxious for spring!