Activities
Here we have stories about the activities in Maine.
Skiing In Maine
I can't remember the first time I went skiing. Cross-country, not downhill. You can downhill ski in Maine, but really the thing to do is cross-country. Usually I ski behind my house, because it's right on ITS (Interconnecting Trial System) 82, which is a snowmobile trail, but it is always great for skiing.
When you get out on to the trail it's either A). Good Skiing or B). Bad skiing. The snow can be fluffy, and piled waist high, or, if a pack of snowmobiles came through earlier, it can be compacted down. This makes for great skiing, because you can get up a lot of speed without working very hard. Very occasionally, they will drive a truck with a block tied to the back alone the trails, which is called grooming, and it makes the trails wonderful! The only thing that can mess up the trails then is if there is a storm of freezing rain, which makes the trails icy, which is terrible for skis, and you slide all over the place.
When we go out to ski, we can go for miles without ever leaving ITS 82, but it's much more fun if you cut through the woods. My dad and I actually cut a trail through the woods, that comes out at the top of a huge hill on ITS 82, which we ski down, or sometimes we go further up to an even steeper hill. But anyway, when you're not on a trail, through the woods, and you can smell all the pine trees, and hear the squirrels, and taste the snow falling off the pine boughs that hits you in the head, it is a wonderful time. You can go for miles through the woods, and not even get board just looking around you.
Sometimes, you will see the snowmobilers going along the trails, and you all move off to the right side (or the left if you're feeling adventurous) and let them pass. Sometimes, it's someone you know. A friend of mine snowmobiled right past my house once, and I was inside and didn't even know it was him until he called me. Another time my other friends were coming over to my house, and they came over on snowmoblies instead of driving. I haven't seen anyone I know while I'm actually out skiing, but the day will come.
Anyway, if you are thinking about coming to Maine, make sure you get some cross-country skiing in. Just make sure you do it on a good day. Skiing for the first time on an icy, half melted trail can put you off the sport for a long time.
by (C.E.)
Snowmobiling (Maine’s pastime)
When the winter comes so dose the snow, and with the snow there is snowmobiling. Most people are wishing winter was over, because of the cold and the snow and the ice. But, not me I enjoy every minute of winter, I welcome it with open arms, because I am a snowmobiler. Snowmobiling can be a family sport, it is like nothing else. The wind in your face, the smell of the fresh air, the white beauty covering the world, it is an intense rush of senses.
In maine, you aren't living until you go snowmobiling. I can’t remember the first time I went snowmobiling, because I have been doing it all my life. I usually snowmobile out behind my house, because I live right on the power line, which can take you just about anywhere. Sometimes the trails can be a little rough, like when they haven't d dragged the trails yet. They drag the trails by pulling what is called a drag, behind a snowmobile or a truck. This always make the trails a lot better.
When you go to a place up north that gets more snow then the coast, where I live, everyone has a snowmobile. The trails are like an interstate, and the lakes are like drag strips. The lakes are always fun, because you can go as fast as you want, without worrying about hitting anything. The lakes are great unless it is really cold, in which case the wind blows through you and makes you cold no matter what you do. But most of the time the lakes are good.
Snowmobiling can be hard sometimes, like if you get stuck and have to dig it out. Even though it doesn't sound very hard, trust me, when you are wearing 5 layers and a helmet, it can be difficult. Especially when it happens over and over. Snowmobiling can also be hard when you break down and have to walk to a house to get some of the tools that are needed to fix it. I know what your thinking, why didn’t I just bring tools? Well it is hard to fit everything that you could possibly need. But as long as the trails are dragged and your snowmobile is running good, then you usually have nothing to worry about.
So if you are thinking of coming to Maine, make sure that while you are here you hook up with some friends and go snowmobiling. Or rent a snowmobile, just get out there and go snowmobiling. Snowmobiling can be hard, but the experience is worth it. You get a chance to see wild life, see breath taking scenery, and even let go of all your worries. Trust me there is nothing else like it, snowmobiling isn’t just a hobby, it is a life style!
by (J.B.)
First Fishing Trip
The first fishing trip I ever went on was not what you would call “the best day ever” but it was enjoyable, so listen and I shall tell you of my tale out at sea.
I was abroad the S.S. dingy and the waves were crashing against the ship, making it sway from side to side, the rocking from below in the cabin made me sick to my stomach and we were hanging on to dear life, waiting, waiting for some sign of relaxation from the harsh waves, then, it finally stopped.
We scurried up to the deck to hear my dad and mom yelling for me and my sister in excitement, as we looked over the ocean horizon we saw the beautiful sight of the sun set as the clouds moved away from the sun lit sky and by the reflection just as the moon, you could see two suns from the sky and the sea, the sound of seagulls filled the air and the smell of salt was all too familiar for me to realize, the clouds seemed to dance in my mind from one side to the other and looking over the ships deck we saw dolphins jumping in front of the boat and then I heard a familiar voice coming from the sky “Wake up Emmy, we’re here.”
As I woke with a jump from the nap I had just taken, I tried to think that this was all just a dream when I saw the little boat dad was dragging off of the car but with a few pinches on the arm I realized that this was going to be my first fishing trip.
I got out of the car and got my little spongebob fishing pole out of the trunk and my life jacket was put on from my mom with a few difficulties, and we got on the boat and paddled out on the lake with our motor-less boat and as soon as we got to our destination we got on the sun-block and put on the bait and then we waited, and waited, and waited, and an hour later we were still waiting, finally we got to a certain area of the lake and with a tug and a pull I felt the excitement come over me, I felt confused, scared, and most of all nervous trying to control myself and not tip the boat over.
My dad got ahold of the rod and yanked and reeled in until a bass about a foot and a half and in return from the fishes revenge he broke my fishing pole and as we rowed to the car we got packed up and drove home, and even though I didn’t have a fishing pole anymore, the last 30 minutes or so my dad let me fish with his fishing pole and again, I ended up falling asleep with a fish, a sunburn and dreams that were to light my way through the darkness of the night.
by (E.M)
Maine Sledding
Maine sledding the wind And the thrill of not hitting a tree. Sledding in maine is a Experience. It is cold but Fast and fun.
One style of sledding is The “train” The Train Is more than 1 sled connected by each other, The more People The more Fun if the Lead person flips Every one I mean EVERY one Crashes Bam.
There Is a game with sleds it is called Battle Sleds the object is to make it down the hill by Not crashing OR your opponent Crashes. Here is the Rules No Hitting Or Kicking, You Can Push your self to go faster or slower. You Can Push your opponents sled but you can crash doing it. At the end of the day, the sunset is beautiful when you are going down a hill looking at the sunset.
By (C.G)
Tubing
The rush of going down hill on an intertube and picking up speed is so exciting! I go tubing every year at my friend’s birthday party. It is so fun and exhilarating going far and fast.
Once my friend was going down a hill and he went off a jump about 6 feet high and he must have flown at least 15 feet in the air. When he came down he didn’t move for 2 minutes. So we rushed over there and it turned out he had the wind knocked out of him. So even though I saw what happened to him I decided to try that jump also. When I was going down the hill it seemed never ending. But I didn’t get a good start so, I only went about 10 feet in the air. What I forgot about was that I had 5 dollars in change in my back pocket, so when I landed on it it stung like a welt from a paintball gun.
We also made a chain of intertubes and sat all together as we went down the hill. The chain of intertubes wasn’t really constructed well so it fell apart as we were going down the hill and in consequence a lot of people got trampled by it.
As you can see tubing down a hill is one of the best things to do in Maine.
By (J.B.)
My First Snowmobiling Trip
I woke up and went to Jordan’s house to go for a snowmobile ride. When I got there I put on my ski pants,jacket, gloves, hat,boots,helmet,because I didn’t want to be cold on the ride. Then we prepared to ride on the snowmobiles we had to gas them up and change the spark plugs on one of the sleds. We wanted them to run for the whole trip.
We took off I was not cold I was really hot. The feel of the breeze going in to my open helmet. It is very relaxing for some but for others it is fast and fun. I thought it was rellaxing and exciting.
It is fun if you jump them over the snow banks, but you need to know what you are doing if you dont want to get hurt or hurt the sled.But at least you have a soft landing into the snow, but watch out for the ice! Be very careful if you are a beginner.
We stayed out for a couple hours, we could see the ice fisherman as we flew across the lake. It was great to stop for hot coco at the Swanlake village store.
After a few hours we returned to Jordan’s house. We were starving after the trip, something about snowmobiling makes you really, really hungry. We went in and had sandwiches. It was a good day to live in Maine.
By (J.H.)
Ice Skating With an Old Friend
One day I went to visit my friend, Chelsey Salls and her sister Ashley. We all decided to go ice skating. We first went and found our skates. After we found our skates we went and sharpened them. Their dad had a sharpening stone down in their basement so we had their dad sharpen them for us. The lake was called Papoose Lake. Located in Mohawk Estates. When we went we thought that the ice was throughly frozen but it wasn't. We were skating on the lake for about five or six hours. Every time we went ice skating and fell each of us would laugh until we had stream's of water called tear's running down from our faces. We were so cold our faces were all red and numb so was our legs and arms. Plus when we fell it made it worse. Then the ice started to crack. But trust me you never want to be on ice that is cracking especially when your right in the center of the lake. So we started to skate to the edge of the lake. When we got to the edge we took off all of our skates off. When I took my skates of I covered the blades with plastic guards. Then I tied my skate laces together with Ashley and Chelsey's skates.
Ashley was fifteen, so she was the only one that had a cell phone. So she called her parent's to come and pick us up from the lake. They lived two towns away so we had to wait at the cold park for about an hour. While we waited we played on the see-saw, the swings, the spiral slide, the merry-go-round, and the monkey bars. We were all goofing around. But it was so cold that we all just wanted to die. It was like if you woke up in the morning and had to wait for the bus in the frigged cold. When we were skating and waiting it must have been at least ten to twenty below. The last five minutes that we were waiting we were all sitting at the picnic tables huddling because it was so cold. Then when her parent's got there we all jumped into the backseat of the truck, all three of us had to be shoved in the backseat so we were all squished.
We then went to the store to go and buy a whole load of snack's. We bought. . . doritos, cookie dough ice cream, cookies n' cream ice cream, bar-b-que chips, hot chocolate, campbells soup, and some Sunny D. Then we went to the video store and bought about nine movies. When we bought the DVD'S we all of course agreed that we wanted comedy, horror, and adventure. After we were all done getting what we wanted at the store's we got back into the stuffy old truck and we were headed home.
We were all excited to get into the warm house that smelt like freshly cut pine wood because of all the pine wood burning in the big steel wood stove. We all went and took a shower, got in to our pajama's, and sat on the couch with all of or snack's and movie's. We put in a movie and started to eat our snack's and our hot beverages. I will never forget all the fun I had with my friends from Massachusett's.
By (S.U.)
Skiing
I’d never skied before. It was winter in Maine and my cousins were visiting. Then my dad had the crazy idea to take us all skiing.
We got to Hermon Mountain and waited for what seemed like an eternity, excited and scared. My dad and the man at the lodge (that’s what they call the building where you get your skis and hot drinks) helped us find boots and skis of the right size. Then the guy and my dad talked and decided we didn’t need any ski poles. (That really scared me.)
My sisters and I (there were three of us) practiced skiing outside. Then we went in the lift.
The lift, incase you don’t know, is the benches hung on cables that go up the mountain while you dangle, hanging on for dear life, afraid your handle will fall off and you’ll tumble down the mountain to a serious injury or your death. Or at least that was my first impression.
I rode in the lift with my cousin and she showed me how to get off at the top. (you kind of have to jump and slide down a little hill so the bench won’t whack you.)
We went down the bunny hill mostly that day. We learned how to snow plow (go slow) and my dad made us do that the whole time. It was fun though-seeing all the trees and snow fly by (that is, when you didn’t wipe out).
We had plenty of mistakes though. My older sister didn’t get out of the lift fast enough so she got pulled around towards the down side of the lift. I forgot to snow plow and went flying by my sisters and dad down the mountain where I got a stern lecture afterwards. My little sister had the best wipe out. She must have got the tips of her skis crossed because she went whirling through the air in a swirl of red and white and landed in a tangled up heap.
After all the pain and embarrassment, it was still fun. I remember it to this day.
By (H.P.)
Hunting
Beep! Beep! Beep! I had finally woken up to the sound of my alarm clock going off, I turn to see what time it was. The clock said 4 o’clock a.m. I had to drag my myself out of bed for the fact of I just when to bed at 12 o’clock a.m.
After I had gotten out of the shower, (that I just took to wake myself up.) I went out to the kitchen to see if my mom had been cooking anything. I saw that for had been cooking some eggs. After I had sat down to watch what was happening in the world wide of sports on Sportscenter. My mom came in and give me some breakfast.
After finishing my breakfast, my dad came out of the bedroom, asking if I was ready. I said “yes”. He then sat down and started to eat his home fires. After about ten minutes of him eating and I watching T.V. We finally got all of our things and started to head out of the house.
It was about quarter of five by the time we got to the tree stand. My dad told me to go up first and told me to put my gun on my back. I told him to was set and he started to come up. After he got up we just sat there and hoped to see a deer of a life time.
Six o’clock came around and still no sign of any deer. I tried rattling, after of minute of that I started to grunt to see if they would come out. By now the sun had come up and you could see for miles around you. I was thinking to myself that today might not be the day of luck.
Nine o’clock came around when a little fawn came out of the woods to feed and then left once he heard a gun shot in the back ground. I try to rattle a little more to see if i could some deer in.
It was about 12:15 p.m. my dad and I went in to get a bite to eat. My mom cooked us some food. After we got done with the food we when back out to the tree stand.
It was about 3:30 pm, and my dad told me that it was about an hour and a half until sundown. So I started to think if a deer would ever come. I told myself that they wouldn’t.
It is 4:45 and a deer had finally came out, it was a buck. My dad had pointed it out to me and told me to shoot. I raised my gun and look inside the scope and saw the front of his chest. I shot right behind his left front leg and he went down. He didn’t even move I was so happy. My dad and I waited for five minutes to make sure it was dead. My dad had knelt down and showed me how to gut an animal. After all of that we when to a store to tag it.
That is a day of deer hunting in Maine.
By (A.C.)
Sledding
Flying down the hill as if I had wings. Skating across the white snow, glazed with a thin sheet of ice. Speeds reaching 20 mph. All that’s between you and the cold hard ground is a tube.
I’m talking about Herman Mountain. It is a great place to go for an afternoon of fun. The snow is always fluffy and white. Yet on the actual sliding area it is hard and packed down for the optimal sledding conditions. It is always extremely cold when you go sledding. When you go outside you can feel the frost nipping at your cheeks. When you get too cold to slide, you can go inside and enjoy video games, hot chocolate, freshly made pizza, and fries. Whatever floats your boat.
The real fun though is the actual sledding. You can pick out the tube you want. A tube is like a giant air filled doughnut. You sit in the middle where the hole is and you can soar down the white hill side. When you get to the top you can look down and the excitement below. You have family and friends cheering you on. Believe it or not the more weight you have on the tube the faster you go. That’s why a lot of the time we hook three or four of the tubes together when I go down. It’s really quite exciting. You can feel the cold air ruffling your hair. The snow in front of you is swirling which makes it almost impossible to see what’s ahead of you.
I remember one time when I went sledding with a couple of my friends. We built a jump made of snow at the end of our run. One of them took a sled down and hit the jump. Closely followed by me might I add. Well, they didn’t make the jump. They came flying off the sled and face-planted into the packed snow below. Where I was right behind him, I hit the jump too. Unfortunately, I landed on top of him. It was quite a funny site! That is one of my favorite sledding memories!
If you like the speed and thrill of other sports like skating out biking, you should try sledding. It can be a blast! Just make sure you have some proper winter clothes first. It gets mighty cold some days in Maine.
By (J.K.)
A Boring Day in The Life of a Mainah
Alright, so first I wake up. It’s like 9:30 and I can’t fall back asleep on this insanely boring summer day. I decide I might as well just get up. I feel pretty disgusting, my hair being greasy and all so I think I will jump in the shower to get not so.... disgusting.
After I get out, the dog is barking and both my parents are awake so it just figures that they make me go feed him. I do that and then come back inside and I’m already oober bored.
I sit down on the couch and see what’s on the tube. NOTHING. It’s a Tuesday morning at 10:15. So, I get up and grab a snack. The Spongebob Squarepants gummies are pretty delicious but there aren’t many of them in the package so it’s pretty depressing. And, they gave me way to many Squidward pieces and not enough Spongebob! Rip-off!
Feeling quite upset and taken advantage of over the snacks, I head back upstairs to my room. I’m too uncool to have X-Box Live, so that rules out playing Halo 3. I guess I will just pop in Madden ‘09.
I start up good ol’ reliable X-Box 360 (I call him Joey) and play a game of Madden. I got 5 minute quarters going and it’s my Patriots against the stupid Chiefs. I knew it would be a blowout before it barely started because I set the skill level to rookie, and sure enough, I get like 8 interceptions and it ends up being 72-3, final score. HAHA.
I get bored of Madden seems how I can’t really stay focused on one thing for very long and I head back downstairs. I am quite hungry seems how I didn’t have breakfast besides eating Spongebob and mom had to work. So, I make one of the only things I know how. A grilled cheese sandwich with beef flavored Ramen noodles on the side.
It ends up being quite the amazing lunch and fills me up very nicely. I am bored again so, I decide I will go ride my wheeler. This is probably the most fun part of my day which is sad because I do it at least once a day so it is a little on the boring side, but, oh well. It kills time.
I start up the wheeler and speed off into our quite large field that pretty much surrounds our house on all sides. I do some wheelies. I do some doughnuts. I hit a few small jumps a couple of times. And the whole time I’m thinking “Man, this would be YouTube potential”. Hey! A kid can dream alright!
Once done riding the wheeler, I head back inside to a once again boring house. I sit down and text for a little while, and then I decide I will call up my cousin Matt and see if he wants to hang out. Of course this happens to be the weekend he is going to visit his grandparents in Connecticut and he is leaving tomorrow so yeah. The story tells itself.
Then I call up my friend David. Now not to be mean to good old Dave but he has NO LIFE. His life IS his myspace, his X-Box 360, and the very little time he gets to spend with his girlfriend. So I pretty much know he isn’t going to be busy. Sure enough he isn’t and says he can hang out anytime after 7.
So I tell him that my mom and I will pick him up around then. After getting off the phone, I decide I will put in my favorite movie, Transformers, because I really feel like a nap and ANY movie could put me to sleep. Especially one of my buddy Clayton’s old 70’s movies.
I slip in Transformers and lay on the couch. I pretty much remember Optimus Prime in that really deep almost Elvis-like voice talking about the cube coming to Earth(which is the very beginning of the movie) just before I fall asleep.
I wake up feeling like I slept for days, very well rested. Mom is home now and I remind her that we have to pick up Dave at 7. She says we will leave in fifteen minutes because it is 6:30 now. So I decide I will go get a sweatshirt on because I figure it will be kind of chilly outside. I come back downstairs and watch t.v. for a few minutes and then we leave.
David’s house is only like ten minutes away, so it isn’t a very boring ride. We get to Dave’s and he gets in the car. We talk for a second and then I get bored and listen to my Ipod. We get home a few minutes later and I feed and water the dog.
After that, we go outside and Dave and I play some catch with the football. We both make some pretty sweet catches, and a lot of nice spiral throws. I am pretty sweaty and disgusting by now so we decide we will go for a bike ride to the store to cool off. Plus I really need some gummy bears; I have been craving them for like six hours!
The store is like two miles away so it takes between fifteen and twenty minutes to get there when taking your time. Anyway, we ride to the store and I get a Mountain Dew Revolution (the awesome blue kind) and two bags of gummy bears. David gets the ninety nine cent, tall can of Iced Tea. We leave the store and ride home, me sipping on my Mountain Dew, saving my gummy bears for later, and Dave drinking his Iced Tea.
When we get home, it is pretty much dark outside, so we hurry inside and head upstairs to my room to play video games. That will probably be just about all we do for the rest of the night. Maybe tomorrow, something intense will happen! Probably not.
By (T.W.)
A Day of Snowbording
We arrive at the mountain and I’m super pumped. I jog to the lodge and set my board outside the lodge on the rack. Then I head inside and buy my lift ticket. I go over to a table and get on all my gear. My boarding pants, my boots, my hat, and my gloves.
I meet up with some friends outside and we walk over to the lift. I strap on my left binding and skate to the loading zone. I am so pumped that I could probably run all the way to the top of the mountain. A friend of mine and I double up and get on the lift. This is the last relaxation I will have for the next 4 hours.
After we get to the top of the mountain, we strap onto our boards and get up. We are in a group of 6 so when we ride a trail, we take up most of the space. During the first run, I am warm from all the layers of clothes I have on, but I know not to be fooled on a night like this. It will get colder as I board into the night.
I start to get hungry and I know that it was a stupid move on my part to not eat before I left home. I have $10 to spend but I want to make sure I use it right. I will probably get some pizza and hot chocolate but I want to wait because I will be getting even hungrier.
We come up to a terrain park and there are two jumps. One with a box transfer and one with a rail transfer. My closest friend that is with me dares me to hit the first jump and do a 360 grind off the box. I have to show off a little bit so I accept the dare.
I hit the jump and land on the box, but I have too much weight on the right side of my board. I jump off the box trying for the 360 but my weight was to my right. I come down from 4 feet up, straight onto my back. A sharp pain goes through my tailbone and up my spine. That will be sore for a while...
After everyone has had their fair share of laughs, we head a little ways farther down the mountain. The signature “10 Footer” is up ahead and I follow everyone to it. Just as I think someone is going to try it, we veer off and head down the last steep hill to the bottom off the mountain.
Two people from our group go inside the lodge but the rest of us just head back over to the lift. We pair up two and two, then head back up the mountain. It is getting a little chilly and my fingers are getting icy cold. The wind feels like a thousand different needles doing a horrible job at trying to give acupuncture.
We get back up top and decide we are going to head into the lodge for food after the run. We head down the mountain at a pretty good pace. I hit a few jumps on the side of the trail along the way. Soon enough, we reach the “10 Footer” again. This time, my best friend and I try it.
I go first because I am always the person that has to test things out. See if I’ll get hurt. I hit the jump and get a ton of air. All I do is an Indy because I don’t want to crash and burn on the first big jump. I land very cleanly and slowly stop. I watch my friend hit the jump. He doesn’t try any tricks, just gets air. He lands a little sketchy but gets control and stops beside me.
“Pound It!” I say and we bump fists. Everybody else catches up to us and we head down to the lodge. The four of us go inside and the first thing we check to see is if our two friends that had come in earlier were there. They weren’t so we just headed over to grab some food.
I decided to get a hot chicken and gravy sandwich and a cup of hot chocolate. Both were really hot and felt good to put in my system. I wished I had a spoonful of fluff to put in the cocoa though. The chicken was really good, especially on top of the huge slice of bread. The bread was better than most breads I had ever eaten!
Once we were all done eating, we headed back outside, our group of six again (the other two had caught back up with us). We head back up the lift for another awesome run.
By (T.W.)
Hamden Mountain
In the winter we go to Hamden Mountain we get are snow tubes(like a water tube with a cloth cover and a leash) and go to thee top of the mountain. we put are leashes in each others tubes then we sit in them and go flying down the hill. Then we get up and get on the tube lift and we go to the side of the mountain it feels like your slipping in reverse. when we have done it several times your freezing cold. are face and hands are num. So we go in side and have hot chocolate and lunch. Then when we warm up we go back. And play some more. One time I was tubing with my Brothers,Mom and Dad. We were going down the mountain and another group was getting up so we were going to collided are hearts were racing. Then it happened we collided. we hit so hard that one of there tubes popped. So dad bought them a new one. they attached their tubes to ours and we all went down together.
By (L.C.)
The Camp Out of DOOM!
What happens when you’re on an island in the middle of nowhere.
All alone, with no flashlight? Read this true story and find out.
Ok, my dad and I were going to a island overnight, named Warren Island, near another island named Islesboro. We were sailing there on my dad’s boat. It was a beautiful day, not one cloud in the sky, we saw a few seals on the way too.
As soon as we got to Warren Island (It was about 3:00 in the afternoon) We claimed a camp site and set up a picnic table, with food we brought from home. As soon as we finished our meal of hotdogs, hamburgers, chips, salad, you name it, we explored the island a little. We pointed out some trees we knew the names of, and some birds, like chickadees (our state bird) and loons.
An hour after we began searching the island (It was a big island!) we sat down on the picnic table at our site and relaxed; It was about 5:00 then.
After about ten minutes my dad asked me if I wanted to camp out on the island by myself until morning. I thought for a minute or two considering my options which were 1. Camp out on the island by myself with no one around, and no way to get back on the boat until my dad woke up to come and get me. Or, 2. Sleep on the boat with my dad snoring so loud it rattled the boat and me staring at the ceiling of my bunk seriously considering strangling him; not getting a wink of sleep. I finally decided to camp out on the island. I thought “Hey, maybe it will be cool camping out, I can hear the sound of the waves and the loon calls that will put me to sleep instantly, with no one snoring in my ear. I could get some sleep. It won’t be scary at all!.” Wrong.
As soon as my dad and I were finished putting up my tent (It was about 7:00) I climbed into it and he said goodbye, then left me alone. To keep myself busy before I went to bed, I turned on my lantern and read my book
I brought. After about an hour of reading, wide awake, suddenly, my lantern went out and I was in total darkness. My heart started beating very hard and my first thought was, “What am I going to do now?”
Then I remembered, with relief, that both my dad and I had walkie talkies in case of emergencies so I immediately called him and he answered with “What’s wrong?”
I said “My lantern just went out and I am not even tired! I’m kind of scared so will you come and pick me up please?”
“You’re a big girl right? I bet you can make it through the night, right?” he said.
“Uh... uh...sure!....sure, I can make it...yeah! I’ll be fine.” I choked, tears welling up in my eyes.
“OK, I’ll see you in the morning, don’t worry you’ll be just fine!” he assured me.
“Yeah, okay, bye Dad.” I stuttered, then hung up.
I laid down in my scratchy sleeping bag. Looking around in the endless darkness, I realized that I had to deal with this and closed my eyes only to realize that I forgot my pillow, and was resting my head on a giant jagged rock.
I got up and tried to shift my sleeping bag so I wouldn’t be laying on the rock but it was so big that no matter what position I got into, I was still laying on it.
I decided to just deal with it and tried to ignore the spikes going into my back. I relaxed my back and closed my eyes, feeling suddenly sleepy... when heard a high howl, then another, then a whole group of howls. I held my breath, scared for my life, and hid in my sleeping bag until the end of the night.
When I woke up in the morning, I felt like I had been stepped on by a elephant. I got up, pain shooting down by back, and I saw my dad waving to me and I motioned for him to come over. As soon as we packed up the tent and got on the boat I immediately fell asleep until we got home. Well thats what happens when you visit the Camp Of Doom!
By (B.H.)
Scuba Diving, The Maine Way
I fitted my regulator into my mouth as I waded into the dark, frigid water, the weight of my tank pressing on my back. The water engulfed me as if pulling me in, wanting me to see all the wonderful things it has to share. The sound of people laughing disappeared as my head was the last thing sucked in by the water. Now all I could hear was my own breathing, followed by the sound of bubbles racing their way back up to the surface. I descended the 30 feet slowly, almost weightless, like a leaf floating in the wind. Until I finally stopped just above an enormous reddish rock. Now my adventure has really begun.
I waited for my mom before continuing forward, meanwhile a flounder stared up at me from the coarse sand, almost as if to wonder how such a strange creature got into it’s world. Though I had to squint to see more then ten feet in front of me, the things I saw were amazing and filled me to the brim with excitement and wonder. Lobsters everywhere, darting in and out of the crevices in the rocks, zooming backwards as if they had eyes in the back of their heads. Bass swam away, trying to get out of the path of my fins. It made me think, wow, Maine really is something special. I swam over the countless number of lobster traps that had snapped off their rope and sunk to their watery grave. Their was also an anchor, now turned greenish, brown with rust and algae. The water makes everything look so much more amazing, things sound different, are magnified so much more, and everything just has that special gleam.
So you see, though Maine’s waters are not a tropical paradise they have their own amazing sites, from lobsters and fish to abandoned traps, when you dive in Maine you feel like you’re in another world, everything just feels different, that's why I prefer scuba diving the Maine way!
By (Z.B.)