Maxx's Maine Camping Blog

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 . . .

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 . . .

Clean Up Weekend

What an amazing weekend!   It was so much fun to see everyone again, and to meet new friends.  Tami checked in over seventy campers on Friday, and that doesn’t  count the seasonal campers who were coming out of hibernation!

Early Saturday dawn bright and sunny. We started with coffee and conversation

and donuts of course.

Then everyone got to work raking the playground, roads, walkways and sites

Then we took a break for more donuts

Tami caught this little guy sweeping the porch  . . .

and these two offered to window wash in the campground office

So she handed out more donuts!

All in all, thirty pine trees were planted through out the campground

And 132 campsites were raked!   Tami saw the blisters to prove it

Lots of campers told me that the eagles were both flying around the lake.  One of them was sitting on the edge of the nest, and dipping her beak down into it.  I think those eggs have hatched!  Tami’s going to try to get to the lake and take some photos this week.

Stay tuned!

Four more days . . .

until Clean Up Weekend!

I just received a call from the nursery, and we’ll have trees for planting this year. In 2007, there was a little mix up, the trees didn’t come in on time, and the kids were so disappointed. We ended up sending one of our employees into the woods to carefully dig up one-foot baby pines. It’s always warms my heart to see how much the kids enjoy this ecological activity.  Some families request the same site year after year so they can check on “their trees”.

Every year we lose new growth between the sites, due to people cutting between sites, kids riding bikes off road, or campers setting up their equipment off the cleared site area. If we didn’t transplant trees, over time we’d end up with a tree-less campground.

Those of you who are camping this weekend, don’t forget about our pot luck supper on Saturday night! We’ll have a sign-up sheet in the office.  Hmmmm . . . maybe I’ll bring chili.

A snow update: Cookie and I walked the park early this morning and found only four little areas with the white stuff. Yea! There were still a few spongy road spots, but between the rain (to help get rid of the frost) and the sunshine they’re predicting after it, those areas will be firm enough by the weekend.

Halfway through my walk, the haunting sound of the loon reached out to me.  It was sweet, sweet music to my ears!

I would have headed down to the water’s edge to sneak a peek and catch if there were one or a pair,but alas . . . I had to get Ben ready for school. He was not a happy camper this morning. April vacation went by much too quickly . . .