Black Flies in October???

My oldest brother & his family (wife & two adorable little girls) arrived from California on Saturday. They come east for a visit about every two years or so. So far he has managed to bring his wife east for spring, summer, & winter so they came to see what Maine is like in the fall. Perfect time right now too since the leaves are peaking around here. So beautiful!


We did our schoolwork this morning. We did get a late start as I did some quick clean-up detail in case they all wanted to come back to see our place. :-) They ended up going straight back to my Mom's, but at least my trailer is tidy now! LOL After lunch we headed north to Bingham (only about a 20 minute drive for me - which I did mainly on dirt roads - got to love rural living!!!). We - meaning myself & my three boys, my older sister & her son, & my brother with his family - met a gas station there & then drove another 30 minutes north on Route 201 to check out Moxie Falls. Only my oldest son & my sister had ever been there. It was so worth it.


However, we got to the parking area & literally were inundated with black flies. Now, I know I live in Maine & this is the norm - for AUGUST! I guess it was a bit too warm today. We started down the trail to the falls (only 1/2 a mile) & I ended up going back, jumping in my truck & heading in to town to see if I could buy some bug spray. I went to the ONLY store in town - this is rural Maine!!! - and they had NO bug spray! I think they should carry it all year, but we were out of luck. Unfortunately, I live an hour from where we were so I couldn't just run home. I headed back to the parking area & booked it down the trail trying to catch up with everyone. I managed that just after they had made it to the falls.


The Falls were fantastic. We have had some rain in the last couple of days & it made for an impressive show today. I was concerned as the river was pretty low down in Madison. Yesterday we noticed that it had risen back up to level so I was hopeful. Here's a link to an article about the Falls: http://www.neoc.com/sightseeing-shopping/waterfalls.asp

I still use a film camera so I don't have immediate photos to load up. It's times like this I wish I did!


The walk wasn't bad - just over a mile round trip. J even managed to walk it although he asked to be carried a couple times. I had a low blood sugar reaction about halfway back. I took all the glucose tabs I had with me (only 3 so that was 12 carbs) so I gave B the keys & he ran back to the truck to get a granola bar for me. My sister & J stayed with me & Chip & his family headed back with N & my sister's son. I started to feel better so we headed slowly back. B finally caught up - almost near the trail head. He said he stopped to pee, get a drink at the truck, & tie his shoe before he headed back. I guess I should have a chat with him about how important it is to get my sugar up *quickly!!* All ended well though.


The drive to the Falls is really great as it follows along the Kennebec River. The trees are really putting on a fabulous show right now. We stopped a couple times along the way at pull-offs to take some photos. I let B take some - he was pretty happy. It was a nice way to spend the day today. Tomorrow we are heading down to my sister's area & I think we are all going to check out the Inside/Out Playground - an indoor playground for kids.