Salt Lick!

I wish I had a picture of it, two large bull moose licking our vehicles clean of the road salt in the middle of the Maine woods. How funny it must have looked! Imagine being in the vehicle as it is happening? The Subaru and Tundra both have moose tongue lick marks all over them.

A very busy first Saturday at Halfway Haven. Twenty people in less than 2 hours on a very cold Saturday. Our youngest customer was 4 years old! Looking forward to the season in full force! The trails are in need of more snow though...time for another storm.

Happy New Year!

Well, well time sure flies! We are currently experiencing blizzard conditions and I am very happy that snowmobiling has officially begun! Unfortunately we have spent the New Year in town, but Fearless Leader has accomplished some serious, much needed, hard work. Front struts on the Tundra, a new clutch in the Subaru, and much needed snowmobile maintenance to get us up and running in the woods. Not to mention Gram's birthday. She turned 92 New Years Day.
This blizzard should wind down this afternoon and we will hopefully be home safe and sound. Monday, January 4th, Halfway Haven is open to our snowmobile friends and we are all excited to begin another season exercising our service skills. As Crazymountaingirl says, "Mom. it's like we wait all year just to do Halfway Haven!" I have to agree with her, we all absolutely love it.
When we left home on December 31st, I still had my car there! We put signs up alerting the snowmobilers to the possiblity of meeting a vehicle on the trail. It is only for 2 miles. The loggers are still very close to home, and they asked me to follow a truck out when I was leaving that day for safety sake. They are concerned because we have not had a CB. We do now though!
Also, we were blessed with a visit from Safety Man whom also just recieved his driver's permit on Christmas Eve. Congratulations Safety Man!
Well...that's all for now. I'll let you know how opening day goes!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Brrrrrrrrr Chilly Christmas

Very cold weather has swept through and froze everything up creating the highways we've been waiting for! It appears they are logging at mile marker 1 on the Grand Falls road. If that continues all year then our ride in on snowmobile will be only a short 2 1/2 miles. That would be too awesome! My Fearless Leader has done a marvelous job plowing the rest of the way home. I had a perfect path all the way out yesterday.

The kids wanted a little bit of Christmas at home, so we did a few presents Wednesday morning. It was a very special first Christmas in our new home. Before opening any presents, we all took turns reading from Luke Chapter 2, a nice reminder of the real Reason for the Season. We are truly blessed and our children affirm the fact everyday.

Our Charlie Brown tree came down yesterday in preparation to carry out the remainder of the holiday at Gramma's house. Fearless leader will head down with Crazy Mountain Girl and Mud Slosher on Sunday for dentist appointments and Christmas activities. When we return, hopefully we will have had more snow and snowmobile season will have begun! Our favorite and busiest time of year! So far, there is not enough snow for grooming.

Snowing...Finally and Thank God!!

The ride in Friday evening was again different than a few days before. The lovely 12 inches of snow Eustis got this past week did wonders for the dirt road. Much smoother. Still driving in to the house although I think my days are numbered. It is snowing again now...we'll see. Halfwaybrook's Fearless Leader has plowed three miles of the road. The Loggers took care of the rest. We are all looking forward to another exciting winter. Can't wait for snowmobile season...coming soon!

In Transition

The ride back home on the evening of December 6th was indeed a bit hairy! The first incident was on Route 17 just past the Height of the Land. The road was still patchy with snow and ice from the small storm on the 5th and moose just love salt. I approached one darling swamp donkey kneeling in the road licking the salt! Thankfully, the Lord helped me avoid it..I have two young witnesses who were as fearful of the event as I was, adrenalin just a pumping after the event! Voices affirmed, "You did good Mom, you did good! I thought we were going to hit it!" We continued to see three other moose enjoying the same flavor as the first, but we saw their beedy little eyes much sooner.
The dirt road to home however was another story. Simply destroyed by the previous week's warm weather, the hunters and loggers had rutted the road up aweful. What was once some good cruising at 35-40mph this summer was transformed into a slow, 5-10mph mess. Friday it was mud, by Sunday night the weather had gotten colder and the ruts were now deep, frozen solid, and evidence of mutliple vehicles that had traveled every which way, in hopes to select the best path were obvious and treacherous.
After an hour, we arrived safely. We got our last load of wood on Monday, stacked it on the porch, cleaned up the yard, and we are officially ready for Winter! Today is December 9th, we are currently getting a nice snow storm, a predicted 9-14 inches. By the time I head home again on Friday, the ruts will be a non-issue...at least not muddy ones! Almost time to fire up them sleds!
Until Next time...

Patiently awaiting the 3rd Winter.

Our beautiful home is nestled quietly in the Maine woods. From "Oh my God! How are we going to do that?" to "Wow, we did it!" When opposite personalities, characteristics, and qualities are imperitive to the functioning of our peculiar homestead, we can look ahead to the future with excitement. Every season brings forth a new adventure and challenge that forces change, flexibility and endless opportunities to learn for our entire family. From dodging pot-holes for 14 miles in the summer, to carting groceries in by snowmobile in the winter, the excitement is ongoing. Let me not forget to mention the transistion seasons of spring and fall when one mode of transportation could end over night by the hand of our Mighty Creator!

We had our first real snowfall the morning of November 28th. When I turned off the tar there was 4-5 inches of snow, but by the time I reached mile marker 9, I was driving the Subaru through 8-9 inches! The dirt road was far from frozen as we had numerous hunters traveling our road during heavy rains throughout the month of November. The mud and deep tire ruts in numerous places made driving tricky...not to mention trying to recall where the deep potholes were. The advantage of the snow was the lovely cushion it provided to the previous unforgiving potholes and hidden bumps.

We look forward to providing a place for our friends, family, and aquaintances to stay updated on our family happenings here on the Griffs road. Hope you enjoy this new adventure with us!