Maxx's Maine Camping Blog

Memorial Day Weekend 2010

What an awesome Memorial Day Weekend!  We were full, full, full – and the weather was so amazing,   people were swimming in the lake and the pool!

Tami wouldn’t let me get my fur wet, so I put my tail in the ice chest

The things I have to do around here to stay cool!

Of course, Debbie and Bryant loaded up the recreation program for us.  There was a ping pong tournament, family bingo, arts and crafts, waterballoon slingshot, jewelry making, horseshoe and dart tournaments, story time with Tami and Moi, volleyball, bubble play . . .

and wiffleball, a scavenger hunt, two movies and one very noisy pots and pans parade!

My little camping buddies made so much noise, Tami covered her ears! It was awesome!

We had a hayride too!  David went around and around and around and around the campground while I got to hang out with my friends

Then there was trash bag theater with Alex and Bryant on Saturday night.   I couldn’t go, ’cause it was past my bedtime . . . but Tami said people dropped by the office to tell her how much fun it was.

We have some very talented campers here at Poland Spring Campground!

I hope everyone had a grrrrrr-eat time, ’cause I sure did . . .

Come back and see us really soon, okay?

Like, maybe next weekend?

Eagle Babies (Yes, babieS) by Brian Lovering

There’s two babies eagles!

Count ‘em, two!

Here’s Dad bringing home some supper . . .

And here’s Mom and Dad feeding their little ones.

A big, big “thank you” to Brian for these photos!!   They’re awesome!

Face painting and ice cream!

There were lots of cool things to do at Poland Spring Campground last weekend!

We had arts and crafts -

played with the water balloon slingshot -

had a kickball game -

then Bryant did some face painting

while I hung out with my little camping buddies!

I tried to ride a bike, but Tami wouldn’t let me.  Sigh.

While she was busy on the phone though, I stole Alex’s camera and took a self portrait

What?  It’s hard to get a moose this awesome into one itty bitty picture, you know.

I was really, really, REALLY  glad to see everyone!

Some people I didn’t see until it was too late, and look what happened . . .

Then after supper (because Tami seems to think you can’t have treats until after your meals) we had an ice cream party!

When you put two awesome scoopers

and a whole bunch of yuuuuuuummy toppings together

You get super, duper ice cream sundaes!

somebody’s Mom put a liiiiii-ttle too much chocolate on top!

HA!  As if!  There can never be too much chocolate on ice cream!  Right?

Coming up . . .

Memorial Day Weekend!  We have some great stuff planned . . .

And on June 4th, we’ll be setting up the bouncy house again with Yours Truly!   Plus, we’re having a spaghetti supper Saturday night!   Hurry up and make those reservations, or you’ll miss out on a fabulous meal!  Mmm-mmmmm!

Clean Up Weekend 2010

WOW!!

We had seventy campers check in last Friday and Saturday . . .

70!

And that doesn’t include our 50 seasonals.

Poland Spring Campground went from totally deserted to hopping in just a few hours.  Everyone seemed so happy to be here, which was kind of strange because  Tami was about to   make them her slaves put them to work cleaning up the place.

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny.   Tami laid out 10 dozen donuts and 5 dozen muffins at 8am and two hours later, they were pretty much gone!

Of course, she came right to me.  “Maxwell!  What did I tell you about scoffing down all the donuts and muffins!  Those were for the Clean Up crew.”

But I was ready for her.  I had proof that I wasn’t the only one enjoying their sweet, gooey-ness!

“Well,” she said, “that explains 7 of them. Where’d the other 163  go?”

Why does she always blame ME, when food goes missing?  Didn’t she see all the hungry rakers out in the campground?

They were working hard

Everyone did an awesome job!   From the tallest and oldest, right down to the littlest

And not just at raking. There were sweepers

and dog watchers

and Paula too!

In the afternoon, some of my camping buddies came up to the store to get their trees. We like to encourage them to plant between the sites to replenish what might have been trampled or crushed the year before.

After all, what would a campground be without it’s trees??

A parking lot!

When the work was all done for the day, some of our campers found time for ice cream

while others found a quiet spot to fish

right alongside the loons.  Do you see it, to the left of the boat?  The fishermen were sitting so quietly, that the loons just kept diving and surfacing around the boat.  One of the loons came up with a big fish in its mouth, threw it back and swallowed it whole!

I’d like to give a big, big thank you to our entire Clean Up Crew.

We couldn’t have done it without you!!

And Tami probably would have made me her slave for the month if you hadn’t of shown up.

Come see us again real soon . . .

Upcoming Camping Weekends

Hey everyone!

Now that we have that Clean Up Weekend out of the way, why not try Mother’s Day Weekend May 7th to the 9th??  We’ll make Mother’s Day presents at Arts and Crafts, and on Sunday morning, David puts together an awesome Mother’s Day Breakfast . . . and it’s free .  . . as long as one family member helps cook, clean or serve.

And it can’t be Mom!  (nice try!)

Or you could come stay with us May 14 – 16 when we take out the bouncy house!    I’m gonna find a way inside this year!  You just watch!

Open for Camping!

Finally!  The campground is open!!

I can’t wait to hang out with my little camping buddies . . .

eating donuts and doing some of this  . . .

and maybe some of this

and even some of this

Wait a minute . . .

Tami’s trying to tell me something . . .

WHAT??!!

What do you mean this weekend’s all about cleaning up?

You mean I have to  . . . gulp . . . rake?

or do some of this

or some of this

to earn my donuts??

TAAAAA-MI!

Clean Up Weekend

Hey Camping buddies!

Those of you who are signed up for Clean Up Weekend, are you ready??

Don’t forget to bring your favorite rake . . .

and a shovel to plant one of these

And we’ll make sure to have plenty of donuts on hand for our hard working friends

Oh!  And don’t forget about the Saturday night Pot Luck Supper either!  The more the merrier!

I think Tami’s bringing the chicken wings . . .

Eagle Update

Hey everybody!!

Tami, Ben, Cookie and I and got down to the lake this week.  It’s been 35 days since the eagles started sitting on the nest, and we wondered if we could see any eagle babies.

B and I looked through binoculars while Tami stood in her usual spot

I’m surprised she doesn’t have a circle around her left eye, she spies at the eagles through that thing so much!

Anyway, we looked and looked and looked, but we didn’t see any little gray heads poking up.

We did see her poke her beak into the nest though.  Either she was turning the eggs or tending to the baby(babies).

Tami really thinks those babies have hatched.  The nest is wicked deep though, so we might not see the babies for another couple of weeks. But we’ll keep trying!

While we’re all enjoying this wicked warm weather, Tami worries about the babies. When the game warden came to tag them a couple years ago (click on the eagle tag to the right to see the post) he said that hot, dry weather can dehydrate eagle babies.  This nest especially, because it has no shade.

But we’ve had two eagle babies survive before!  And we’re hoping we do again . . .

banding of the baby eagles by the warden

Spring has arrived in the campground

Yesterday,  I wanted so badly to go to the lake!

But Tami said she had to “beautify” the campground entrance. She wanted to rake and pick up and put out some brochures.   “When I’m done, we’ll take Cookie and go,” she said.

So I sat on the porch to wait.

When I saw her get into the gardens,  I knew, we were never gonna get that walk to the lake.

And I was right.

She spent the whole darn afternoon talking to her plants and pulling weeds.  Sheesh.

Buds are popping, birds are singing, and Tami’s flowers are peeking out of the bark mulch.

Spring is here!

Have you made your reservations yet????

Fishing at Poland Spring Campground

Hey all!

Did you hear that Governor Baldacci signed an emergency law into effect for open water fishing to begin a week early?  How cool is that?

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife says effective immediately, all lakes, brooks and ponds are open for fishing except for those that have normal opening dates later than April 1.

When the ice went out early, all my fishing friends couldn’t wait to drop their lines in the water and try to catch some big ones!  That was really good news for them.  But Tami read an article that said none of the bait shops were ready . . . that was really bad news.

Speaking of big fish, David got a chance to talk to some ice fisherman back in February, who were fishing right off our point.

The fish in the photo below was caught on a earlier day, but in the same spot, and the fisherman e-mailed it to Dave for the blog

They said they were having great luck, in spite of the eagle stealing a fish right out from under their noses!

Sneaky eagle!

Then again, if you fish within a few yards of an eagles nest . . .

Here’s a couple more fish pictures Tami really likes,

To see all our fish pictures, click the fishing tag to the right.  You’ll also see the photos from the day the game wardens released brown trout right off our point.

Happy Fishing Everyone!!