http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/ThePilgrim/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from ThePilgrim en-us Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:51:24 +0000 Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:51:24 +0000 Ice Skating and Snow ShoeingOne of the great perks about living on a lake is that in the winter you can take out the ol' shovel and start shoveling away. So this winter Jake and Nicole Bouchard and Mike Fabio came over to join Lisa and I in some ice skating and winter fun. After skating for awhile we did quite a number on carving up the ice and Mike made a homemade hand pushed Zamboni. Didn't wo http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/New-Gloucester/blog-425348.html Enter the Pumpkin ChuckerHere was a learning opportunity if there ever was one. At Poland Regional High School we had a half day and decided to combine many different learning areas Math Physics History in one fun filled event of Pumpkin' Chunkin' glory. Jonathan Doughty a very energetic and awesome science teacher at PRHS has a good friend who constructed a large trebuchet and was willing t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/Poland/blog-338115.html As fall is fast approaching I wanted to take some snap shots to send out to the folks from away as we say here in Maine also known as the 207 according to a fairly popular radio station in the state. I haven't had a New England fall in a long time and do to the large quantities of water received this sumer the foliage was rather super duper. So over this last weekend I took a nice drive throu http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-334845.html Not even hurricane Kyle could stop the free flowing Brew at point SebagoSo before I get on to telling this story I would like to precede it with some helpful hints at attending ANY Brew Festival.1. Always have a designated driver. 2. If you don't have one make sure you have at least an hour per drink to sober up before heading back to your desitnation Tons to do at Point Sebago so that shoul http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/Casco/Point-Sebago/blog-328754.html I didn't want to make my first hike back east too easy...So my friend Tom had this hike out in the White Mountains that he had been planning for twenty years or so. He pitched the idea of doing this hike before I started my new job as a public educator and suffering from a little mountain withdrawal I said sure let's see what the White Mountains look like. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Hampshire/White-Mountains/blog-325725.html So before I begin this post it is only fair that it contains a precursor. This is a long post as it contains the remaining portion of our journey from Rangeley to Fort Kent so make yourself comfortable go make a nice sandwich and cold glass of your beverage of choice...I'll wait. OK you back Did you get a pickle they compliment sandwiches very well No well go ahead I'm not going anywhere http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-298897.html Well the last couple of days have truly been adventurous. After finishing the floating down the Nulhegan we hoped into the Connecticut river. There is a sweet class two wave during high water if you take the left off from where the river forks in three different directions. When I say forks I mean you can either go left right or straight. I've never seen a river do that before in my life. We t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-292978.html So it has been a long and arduous journey UP the clyde river which is very labryinthine and swampy and beaverish and slow moving. You definitely get to see a lot of river birds we saw some hawks ospreys and a bald eagle and it is kind of easy to get turned around but after a long day of oxbows reeds blowdowns lots of trees in front of the river lillypads and rain we made it twenty miles http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Hampshire/White-Mountains/blog-291228.html This may be another quick post here as we are enjoying a day off and a resupply in Glover VT home of the Bread and Puppet festivals with Uncle Bob Townsend Brett's Uncle. The day of rest in Plattsburgh went well and we actually missed some very nasty weather on the lake that sadly claimed the life of a young canoeist celebrating his 21st birthday. The following day we took the ferry across fr http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Quebec/Sutton/blog-289281.html It has been an arduous three days. We've switched from DEET to sunscreen as the intense heat has kept the bugs down plus we're further north and the bugs don't seem that bad. The Saranac River is what we have been traveling since Saranac Lake Village and it has many different facets. It's very snakey and slow moving coming out of Saranac Village as it meanders through town and out into the marsh http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/blog-285846.html Hi everyoneI'm just ducking into the public library to give you all a shout out from Sarnac Lake Village NY. The bugs weren't so bad but there was a tough little portage and up stream paddle along the Raquette River Some very low class II rapids mostly a walk and less of a paddle. Brett and I are doing well and actually have seen some sweet wild life. There was a very curious pine martin that http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/Adirondacks/blog-284514.html Hi everyoneThis is just a quick little blurp about how our trip is going so far. Brett and I have had a productive and busy couple of days. We have canoed across ten and a half Brett doesn't want to get short changed lakes and two riversstreams the Raquette was WAY low this morning and we had to walk the canoe through most of the knee high rapids. We are currently resuppling in Long Lake b http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/Adirondacks/blog-283406.html So in preparation for the Northern Forest Canoe Trail which I start on June 1 my friend Tom O'Donnell and I took my uncle John's canoe out for a nice outing along the Sebasticook we put in a couple of miles after the damn and started our way towards the very lazy very windy very wide Sebasticook river. The black fly hatch was pretty bad that day and I actually ended up wearing a head net to k http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/blog-282133.html Here is a short entry to let you know what I did on my birthday I attended Montana States American Indian Council AIC Pow Wow and had a rip roaring good time. It was nice to get a chance to see a bunch of people one last time before I left the state eat some delicious fry bread and see some amazing dancing and drumming. Little did I know that the head advisor of the AIC had something special http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Montana/Bozeman/blog-282127.html This last weekend a couple of friends and myself went on a nice 30 mile paddle down the Big Hole river in western Montana just south of Butte. We put in at Brown's Bridge and just rode down the wide bloated Big Hole to the High Road fishing access by Twin Bridges. The weather was beautiful which was a good change from the weather in Bozeman which seems to have trapped small pockets of winter eve http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Montana/Big-Hole-River/blog-271935.html I had the most amazing week. First and foremost I used my passport for the first time ever Pretty spectacular. I had a job interview at the the Island School for the whole week of April 13th to April 19th and it was a very positive experience and I am pretty sure there is no other secondary education institute quite like it if anyone thinks that there is please let me know.The Location and Get http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Bahamas/South-Eleuthera/Deep-Creek/blog-268352.html Now compared to my last years spring break see the following entries here here here and here. This one was fairly mild in terms of mileage but not in terms of excitement. Before we embark on this tale of mischief debauchery prophecy and danger I would like to say it wasn't quite the same without my travel companion Mr. Andy Bouwman and that I know I gave the grand canyon a bad rap last ye http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/blog-256159.html One thing that the west has that the east seems to be lacking is these remote mountain forest service cabins you can rent for yourself for a night or two at the cheap cheap price of thirty five dollars a night. I know some of you will argue that the AMC huts fill that purpose but the NFS cabins are a bit different. For one they are not manned by anyone and are owned in the public domain not by http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Montana/Bozeman/blog-254836.html My friend Michael Sulock and I took a weekend trip out to Seattle to see the sites and go to my friend Mike Daisey's show Monopoly at the Capital Hills Arts Center. This blog entry is more a review of the Hostel we stayed at then a synopsis of events of that weekend which were a blast at Pike's Market and the Aquarium and the theater.The Green Tortoise Hostel is located on Pike Street between fir http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Washington/Seattle/blog-238391.html It is official. I have passed my Master's Comprehensive Exams and can now be called Master Luke. I took my Topology exam on Monday and my ProbabilityMathematical Statistics and Dynamical Systems exams on Friday. I found out today I passed all three Now all I have to do is finish up some course work and call it good. Many thanks to all the good wishes I received. Now I'm off to Seattle for the we http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Montana/Bozeman/blog-237162.html