The "Maine" Event (guest blog by JROD)

When 6:00 am rolled around this lazy Sunday morning the last thing we wanted to do was drive back into Maine. We love Maine, don't get me wrong....after all, we had just spent about 30 hours taking in the roads, the trees, the rocks, the antics of the crazy Burger King ladies, and the cold ass rivers of the Vacation Capital of the US of A, but it was early...and we were still cold. Let me explain...

On Friday evening, two days earlier, we had ventured from our beloved Beantown abodes into the land of the Kennebec, Dead, and Penobscot Rivers. We had Saturday morning reservations with Maine's oldest rafting company- Northern Outdoors. Nick, Abigail, and I decided to drive separately from Chuck and Liz (though we both ended up leaving the city at the same time). We arrived at The Forks at around 10:30 that night after a drive filled with Kid Rock, Gandalf, and The King (of non-healthy burgers...don't get me started on this one). After the other folks arrived, we discussed our representative drives, told ghost stories, and talked passionately about our crater sized divets on each of our beds. Despite the pre-slumber heatwave, the Logdominiums were pretty nice...little did we know that nearly 12 hours later each of us would have committed atrocious crimes against humanity in order to get some of that precious precious heat!

Saturday morning: Breakfast- check...Wet Suits- check...45 minute ride to the Dead River put-in, through the landfill- Check!
This day marked the first trip of the season for Northern Outdoors...and let me tell you...we had some really really excited trip leaders. If it wasn't for the talk of beavers and brewskies, I might have fallen asleep. When we got to the put-in we began our race to the port-a-potties... trying to put the thoughts of rotting Moose carcasses out of our minds.

Before I talk of our rafting trip, I have to mention a very important fact. Abby and I had rafting paddles and life jackets on. Those of you that know us will not be surprised about what comes next...we decided to do some kung fu fighting, some faux NBA chest bumping, and some pugilistic arena combat. Go us! Next comes the river...

The Dead River...I've heard many explanations about how the river actually got its name...such as: Benedict Arnold stacking the bodies of dead comrades along its banks only to have them washed away during the spring thaws, the fact that the river is merely a trickle during non dam release days...but NO...I have the REAL explanation of why its called the Dead River! Annually Northern Outdoors, and other sadistic rafting entities, coerce naive Massachusetts residents into thinking that its a good idea to float down the "liquid snow" (as Chuck calls it) before the ice mounds and icicles had melted into the river...Then, the afore-mentioned Mass-holes get chilled to what would be considered Ted Williams temperatures...i.e. the temperature of a corpse...Hence...The Dead River. We were ice cubes! The trip was a blast. The rafting was cold, but awesome! We returned to Boston thereafter cold, tired, and satisfied.


Then came Sunday morning...As I mentioned, we awoke to an early alarm. This alarm was the sign that we should have gotten up and driven back into Maine...this time for a 5K in Kennebunk. This race was to be in tribute of Abby's cousins first Marathon. We were going to run with him, in spirit, because as you runners know- "you are never running alone". Despite sleeping in another four hours, we were determined to run with Evan...so we headed to Ponkapoag for a beautiful four mile stroll around Abby's favorite trail. I was so happy to see all of the sights that Abby had been talking about for months. It was amazing...and just reaffirmed how much I love my new hobby- "jogging" (the "J" is silent).

What a great weekend! We will upload some pictures from the weekend when we get the film developed. Stay tuned...I know I will...

JROD