The drive from Boston to Waterville Maine was an easy 3 hour drive. We got out of the city pretty quickly and it was onto the highway for the next couple hundred miles. We drove through New Hampshire for about 12 miles and then we were in Maine! The first thing I noticed about our drive was the green forest we were in the middle of. On both sides of the Highway it was just tall beautiful green trees. It felt very dense. In CA, our freeways and highways are lined with houses, restaurants or shopping centers. It was a breath of fresh air to be in the midst of all the green!
Welcome to Maine! Bucket List Check!
The first thing we did was send the kids on an adventure! Winston and Sterling live with a creek in their backyard so I asked, young strapping Winston, to take the kids in their canoe down the creek! He was more than happy to show them around. They hopped in the canoe and off they went!
Victor and I enjoyed some adult time while we waited for the kids to return. They were gone at least an hour, Winston just keep going and going. None of them had their phones so I have no pictures from their trip, but I like it that way. The four of them have been friends for 5 years and don't see each other often, so I'm sure their were some fun conversations had.
Some end of the evening down time playing video games like old times.
Since we were in the Lobster capital of the world, I had to eat my fair share of Lobster! Jay is a really good cook and an even better host. We went to their little local lobster shake to buy 6 of their biggest living lobsters to cook! I had been looking forward to this night since summer when Jay said we should cook Lobster. He took the bag of live lobsters out of the fridge, and since we picked them up, I had been wondering for hours what they were doing in the fridge. Just hanging out in a bag, ready to meet their doom. It started to really weird me out. I LOVE lobster but somehow I was freaking out a bit about taking them live and cooking them. The water was boiling and it was time to add them to the pot. It was weird and I was freaking out.... I picked them up one by one for a picture opportunity and was having second thoughts about what I was about to do. One of the lobsters in my hand flapped it's tail at me and I dropped it on the floor. The experience was weird and I was not a fan of it all.
Day 2 in Maine and we planned a White Water Rafting Trip! Victor and I have both been together twice before, but this was going to be the kids first time ever on a river White Water Rafting! Since I booked this trip weeks ago, I had been looking forward to this day for myself and for the kids to have such a cool experience. Alana was nervous, not knowing how things were going to go, and was a bit scared leading up to it. Rightfully so, you just never know what to expect when you try something new. But I always stick to "try something once, and if you don't like it, you never have to do it again". The kids trusted us and were in! Jay's back had been bothering him so Victor and I took the 4 kids and headed an hour out to the Kennebec River. The day was gloomy, no sun in the horizon but warm enough to be on the river! We pulled up, listened to the orientation and suited up to head out on the river! We are a good looking bunch to toss in a raft and throw down the river!
When I booked the trip, Victor definitely had some hesitation about taking the kids out. The first time him and I went out rafting, I got tossed out of the raft pretty quickly and it was a scary thing to happen. So I'm sure he was thinking, what the heck are we getting our kids into? I called down and spoke to the girl at the front when I was booking and confirmed it would be a safe trip for kids. She assured me they have kids that are 5 who go on this trip, it's safe for everyone.
It was about a 45 minute drive in a bus up the river. We left our phones, clothes and everything we brought with us in our cars. The bus trip was rough, as we all sat and anticipated what was to come. The guides were fun and went over all the rules and safety guidelines. Things you didn't want to hear, and things you needed to hear and remember. We got out of the bus and grabbed our raft and headed to the river. We had a rehearsal on land and decided that Winston and I would take the front lead of the raft. I think we were more "voluntold" than anything. We had to walk our raft down, what felt like a thousand stairs to get there. We loaded it in the river and we were off! It wasn't until right then all the hesitation Victor had before hand and the nervousness of being a parent, taking our kids out on the river HIT me like a tons of bricks. What the hell was I doing? What kind of danger was I about to put my kids in. Not only was I responsible for my own two kids, but I had two others with us. Winston and Sterling had been twice before, so thankfully I was more comfortable with them. Oh boy, this feeling was not fun and it had my blood and adrenaline pumping probably way more than normal.
We were about to go down some class 4 rapids. 4 is pretty big and scary, but fun. We were starting off with some 2's and 3's, then hitting a couple of 4's, more 2's and 3's and then we were going to be done. I can DO THIS. Paddle, dig into the water, keep my kids in the raft. If they fall out, I grab them and pull them back in. They will be fine. Keep myself in the boat. Lock my feet into those spots and secure myself. HERE WE GO!
Lucky for us there were some professional photographers standing out on the rocks taking pictures of us. Hence the big smiles, and the very nervous smiles. So grateful for these pictures of our amazing adventure on the Kennebec River.
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WE MADE IT!!!
The last hour and a half of the trip was just us floating down the river with very tiny rapids or none at all. The boys got a chance to jump in the river and float down outside of the raft. They weren't pushed or popped out, they were allowed to jump in and ride the river. As sad as I am that I didn't have a phone or go pro with me to capture it all, it's probably for the best. Floating down the river in the middle of the gorge in Maine was such a amazing experience. We saw a beautiful bald eagle perched up on a tree and sat and listened to the sounds of the river. I said a few different times as we all sat and looked, and soaked it in.... soak all of this in kids, we don't have anything like this in California. They did! They soaked it all in and will have these memories for the rest of their lives! The time their parents took them for their very first White Water Rafting Trip in Maine. What an amazing family adventure. No regrets!
The day we were leaving Maine, Erica asked the kids, what was their favorite part about this trip. They both said White Water Rafting! Parents for the win!
The rest of the trip was lots of resting, a little bit of exploring and visiting with our favorite family. Lobster Musubi, rain, Two Cent Bridge, in door pool time at the hotel and a goodbye Dunkin (check mark) breakfast.
Saturday morning we drove an hour into Portland to explore on our own for the day and then to catch our flight that evening. We walked through the Harbor and shops, grabbed a few souvenirs and had our very last lobster roll. Oh, and let's not forget the trip to the Sasquatch Museum. Weird, weird place.
Our flight out of Portland to JFK was easy peasy, 45 minutes. Unfortunately for us the next leg home was no fun. Delayed in the airport for 2 hours, LONGEST plane ride ever from JFK to LAX (no sleep for me), landing at 2:30am, got our car and home by 4am. As we pulled into the garage at home, "Hurricane" Hilary was just starting to bring the rain to OC.
Our East Coast trip was definitely an amazing experience. We got to visit our friends, have new first time adventures and spend quality time together as a family. Sad its over, but so incredibly happy we made it happen! We work damn hard for every penny we earn and I'm so grateful we create these opportunities for us.
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