Whitewater Rafting | Millinocket, ME

Last summer, we went whitewater rafting with a group of friends. It was our first time and, well, it was pretty epic.

We rafted 13 miles down the Penobscot River, outside of Millinocket, ME, with Three Rivers. The Penobscot is a class V river, which, according to wiki means: "whitewater, large waves, continuous rapids, large rocks and hazards, maybe a large drop, precise maneuvering."  Exciting for a first time adventure, yes?  All I can say is thank goodness for the amazing raft guides who basically keep you alive and moving down the river. By the end of the day we were affectionately calling our guide, Kris, raft-daddy.  Seriously, dude protected us.

After a safety talk and getting life jackets, the day starts by loading school buses and driving to the drop off point.  The rafts take turns maneuvering down the river and through each rapid. The most popular part of rafting down the Penobscot is the waterfall.  If memory serves me, it's about a seven or eight foot drop.  This is the main event. Each raft goes down, lucky if everyone aboard doesn't fall out. Once you regain your composure (and collect any lost passengers and paddles) at the bottom of the drop, you're able to climb back to the top of the waterfall, hauling the boat, and do it all over again.  And, so, our raft wanted to do it again.  Problem was, because we had quite a few ladies in the raft, it proved difficult for us to paddle against the current and line up for the waterfall... so we went down rather ungracefully.  You know, flipping over the boss's boat once we crashed to the bottom of the fall.  No big deal, especially since it was raft-daddy's first ride down the Penobscot.  Ooops. This definitely allowed for some good laughs during the video viewing later that evening!

Rafting down the Penobscot is not just about the waterfall. There's one stop in the afternoon for a river-side grilled lunch, which was notably delicious (I can taste the sun-melted chocolate chip cookies even now). There is also falling out of the raft, an event in and of itself.  The first couple of times someone falls out, the rest of the passengers scurry to remember the tips for pulling the person back in.  Chaos.  I never fell out, but Taras did - we were floating down a calm part of the river and he just plopped right over, ha!  And the river is beautiful.  Seriously, gorge.  There comes a point where there are no rapids and you can get out of the raft and float down the river. The downtime gave us a chance to look around and really take in the beauty.  Mountains. Birds. Nestled cabins. By the end of the trip I felt surprisingly calm and relaxed (one thing I did not expect to say about my first whitewater rafting experience!).

Other details? We camped in a yurt at the Penobscot Outpost.  Four sets of bunk beds and a working bathroom - now that's camping. Nights were spent around the campfire and at the onsite Boatman's Bar and Grill, where adventurers and locals alike come for live music and drinks.

Millinocket is about a six hour drive from Boston.  I recommend stopping in Portland, ME on the way up for lunch at Flatbread Pizza, then making a detour to Ogunquit, ME on the way home for lobster rolls and sea-side views.

Most of these photos were purchased from Three Rivers.  A few at the end were taken by our friend Katie, who was smart enough to bring a disposable water proof camera.

-Amanda

The white boat that is on its side is the boss's! You would think our whole boat fell out, but only a couple did!

Do you see the air-borne paddle?  This was a common occurrence!

 

Millinocket on Dwellable

Portland to Portsmouth by Bike | Day 1

One of the most adventurous trips Amanda and I have taken to date was a bike ride from Portland, ME to Portsmouth, NH over Labor Day weekend in September of 2010.  We covered over 100-miles of coastal Maine during our 2-day ride and fell in love with cycling in a completely new way. We outfitted Theodore and Caroline (that's right, our bikes have names :) ) with bike racks and panniers, prayed for good weather, and set off on the one-way Amtrak from Boston to Portland on Friday night. I've been to Portland a couple of times as a teenager, but we were excited to explore the city together and see what the hipstery, foodie hype was all about. Dinner at Caiola's was fantastic: the bruschetta dish featured the chicken of the woods - that mushroom cap looking growth you see on trees. It was delicious, and, true to its name, resembled chicken. The cannelloni and paella were also incredibly tasty.

We spent the night in Portland. After a hearty breakfast the next morning and frolicking around town a bit, we headed out on the first long leg of the ride. The ~40 mile trek on Saturday was the more challenging of the two days, with a lot of up-hills and not-so-amazing scenery. Part of it is my fault as I mismanaged our expectations with the following logic: we'll be biking right along the coast, it cannot possibly be that hilly. Epic fail. My lightweight road bike made the experience bearable, but Amanda's 7-speed steel-frame comfort cruiser almost made her cry on a couple of occasions. A special mention goes to the hill that we climbed, only to realize we were going the wrong way. I take the blame for that one... We did find a neat path built along an abandoned railroad tack. Part of a national effort to convert unused railroads to bike and recreation trails, the Scarborough-Saco Trail had some amazing natural scenery.

-Taras

These figures were made from foil wrappers used at Ohno Cafe to wrap bagels and the such. I made Amanda her own foil figure!

Portsmouth on Dwellable

Portland to Portsmouth by Bike | Day 2

Arriving at Kennebunkport Saturday afternoon was a treat - we changed out of our sweaty biking clothes and took some time to walk around the cute coastal town. We even managed to take some pictures of the Bush family's waterfront summer home. We had dinner at Mabel's Lobster Claw and thoroughly enjoyed the well deserved meal. We even splurged on dessert, which we took back to our inn and ate in the adirondack chairs while stargazing - best dessert ever! Oh, and the bike ride to the hotel after dinner was terrifying - the 2.5 mile trip would be a piece of cake during the day, but after the sun sets, Kennebunkport differs from Boston in that there are no lightposts anywhere, and the road is literally pitch black.  The safety lights on our bikes work fine in the city to forewarn cars, but they do little to light dark roads. We made it safely, but next time we bike in the dark, we'll invest in some heavy duty Maglites.

On the second leg of the trip we had more beachfront views and had an easier ride overall. We went through a few New England beach towns (Wells, Ogunquit, and York) enjoying the town centers and antique shops along the way.  By the time we made it to Portsmouth, NH that evening, we had managed to hit the 100 mile mark and spent the night and Labor Day morning with our family.

-Taras

Carbo-loading with an everything bagel before heading out of Kennebunkport, ME.