Last week I desperately needed a getaway. I needed to get away from everything. It seemed as if everyone and everything was conspiring against me. I think part of the reason I felt this way is because I knew I had a mini-vaca coming up. Does that ever happen to you? You have planned a little escape that’s just on the horizon but it honestly feels like it will never get here? And while it takes it’s time arriving it seems as if everything that can will go wrong? Ya. That was me last week. I needed to get away and that’s exactly what I did. I got far, far away from everything. From civilization, from cell service, from internet connections, from electricity and running water. I unplugged completely and spent three blissful days in technological silence with Ollie and three of our friends. I almost didn’t come back.
My dad’s family has a small cabin on a lake in Maine. It was built by my father’s father (with a little help) in the 60′s. To say it is remote would be a serious understatement. You have to travel down 9 miles of poorly maintained dirt road just to find the camp’s entrance. If you didn’t already know where it was you would never find it. You loose cell phone service an hour before you hit the dirt road, and any internet connection is gone then too. At the camp there is no running water, no electricity, no heat. It may sound like hell to some people, but I think it might possibly be one of the greatest places on earth. Especially when you want to getaway.
Dirt road anthem anyone?
It is so quiet up there that the sound of loon calls and the lake lapping up against the shore wakes you up in the morning. You can’t see another house for miles. If you yell loudly enough off the back deck you can hear it echo all the way down the lake, and all the way back. At night, you can see the milky way. The sheer number over stars is so overwhelming it makes you question your place in it all.
Camp isn’t for the faint of heart, or the dainty by any means. Its a place where a man (or a woman) can be a man. No bathing, no hair gel, and certainly no GTL. Just chopping wood, doing yard work, building bonfires, grilling, and adventuring. When we were kids our favorite activity was scrambling along the shore line looking for undiscovered sandbars and moose. God only know what would have happened if we actually stumbled upon a moose. My best guess is run in the other direction screaming for our parents.
You have to actually spend time with people at camp. You have to really engage and connect with them. There are no modern day distractions, no angry birds (well the kind you launch at green pigs), no televisions, and no computers. The most advanced piece of technology at camp is a battery powered radio from the 70s that only picks up one station. Thankfully its country.
Camp isn’t a place to diet. You eat a lot up there. Something about the fresh air, and unintentional exercise makes you crave large portions. Jiffy pop and s’mores are a camp staple. Along with home fries, shrimp on the grill, bacon-lots of bacon, and salsa con queso. No, camp is not the place you want to be if you’re counting calories.
I needed a getaway. And getaway I did. Got away from the people, the things, the noise, the problems. But I’m back now. And I’m recharged, revamped, and ready to go. That’s what a weekend at this place will do to you.
.
Can I go back yet?
Thanks for reading! xo Whitney
