A mist hung above the waters of the lake when we woke up this morning. The temperature was in the mid fifties so we took our time getting going. We had coffee with Laura out on the deck watching the eagles fly across the lake searching for fish. An osprey encroached on their territory and a large eagle took exception and chased the offending bird out of the area. The quiet is amazing, the only sounds being birds and the gentle lapping of the lake as the ripples reach the shore.

We decided to take advantage of the calm winds and go paddling down towards the north end of the lake. We went straight across to the far shore then turned right and paddled up to the end. Cute cabins and cottages line the shore leaving enough space between neighbors to allow a feeling of separation.

The wind let off even more and the surface of the lake became a mirror for the clouds floating above. It was a surreal scene, the reflection of the clouds appeared as if they were floating under the surface about 30 feet below. It was paddling through Alice in Wonderland, clouds above and clouds beneath us. We reached the end of the lake and paddled home hugging the near shore and saying hello to people waving to us from the shore.

We made sandwiches and sat with Laura on the deck enjoying our lunch. Lance was going to run an errand on the quad and invited us to go for a ride so as soon as we were refueled and dried off, we hopped on his armada of four-wheelers and roared off into the trees. There are trails for quads carved throughout the Maine back country and Lance led us down a series of them, some wider others narrow, until we emerged in Sinclair only to find the post office had closed a little earlier. PJ wasn’t sure about getting on the ATV at first but she was as excited as a little kid once she got going and was soon pushing us to ever higher speeds.

We were having a blast so Lance decided to take us on a few other trails to get a view of Long Lake. We passed through more forest and some potato fields buzzing among the trees. We passed a few other groups of ATVers, the lead rider holding up the number of fingers to let us know how many were coming up behind to look out for. Lance would give them the peace sign to let them know to be expecting PJ and me.

We reached a picturesque point and took some photos of the valley. On the way up one trail, I felt a stabbing pain in my thigh. We stopped at a rise and I reached up my shorts leg to rub the spot and got stung on the hand too. It was one of those large furry black and bright yellow bees that had flown up my shorts. I’ve been stung by some bees and even a couple different types of scorpions, but I’ve never felt a burn like this one before. The bee flew out and went on his way and we started rolling towards home.

We turned onto a long stretch of dirt road just ahead of a giant logging truck coming from the other direction. He pulled in behind us and chased us through a dusty post-apocalyptic scene right out of Mad Max. He was bearing down on us hard as we scrambled to stay ahead. We were saved by a large piece of farm machinery that blocked our path leaving enough room for us ATVs to squeeze by but causing the truck to slow to a crawl to pass by. We zipped through a gate into another skinny trail and were safe. We were out for for close to three hours combing the Maine countryside. Watching NorthWoods Law will never be the same after being in the places you see on the show.

We parked up the quads and having brought up the rear, PJ and I were covered in dust. We jumped in the lake to rinse off and get cooled down. I paddled out on the board to the spot where Lance had placed a buoy to warn boaters of a hazardous rock where I jumped off and had swim around. Lance came out on his waverunner to see if the marker was holding and we got the bright idea to grab his tow rope and pull me around on the SUP. We started slow then picked up the pace and he sped around a few big circles in the middle of the lake. Not as easy to whip around on the wake with an eleven foot board but I muscled it around and it was an absolute blast. We were laughing and hooting while PJ was watching from the dock. We were well tired from a big day of activity. Two hours boarding, three hours ATVing and our little water skiing round. Pam has dubbed Lance the fun maker. We were bushed and barely had enough energy to scrape up some dinner.

Lance and Laura headed off to a neighbors for a regular “Taco Wednesday” night on the lake. I started up a small fire then we sat around grilling hot dogs on my little telescoping fork thing. Relaxing by a fire as the sun descends across the lake. It doesn’t get any better than this.