Camp Mechuwana, Winthrop Maine

 Camp Mechuwana

September 20, 2021 – Last night we met most of the group that will be here at Camp Mechuwana for the next two weeks. We had a light supper of hot dogs and then had a meeting to discuss the projects we will be working on. Before I get into projects I need to tell you about this group, the 29er's Work Mission Group and the camp we will be working at.

The “29er's” is a faith based group who enjoy helping others by giving of their time and talents and having fun. It was established in the 1980's after a group of people from several smaller Methodist churches participated in a work mission in South Carolina. The project was a success and everyone enjoyed the experience so they decided to form a group to plan and work on additional projects. The name was chosen because there were 29 participants at this first project. We became aware of it through our RVing friend Jill who winters in Arizona. She summers in Ludington Michigan and most of the members are from Michigan as well as other states. Every three years the 29er's travel to Maine and Camp Mechuwana to work on projects.

Camp Mechuwana is a faith based non-profit camp located near Winthrop Maine on the shores of Lower Narrows Pond and Lake Annabessacook. The property was purchased in 1948 by a Methodist Church Commission to establish a permanent site for summer youth camps. Formerly known as Camp Naomi it consisted of a large lodge and four small cabins on the shore of Lower Narrows Pond. The current property consists of over 200 acres and 50 plus buildings. There is housing for over 300 people, several bath and showers houses, facilities for dining and meetings, a chapel and theater as well as outdoor gathering spots. The name Mechuwana comes from combining MEothodist CHUrch WA (an indian name for deity) and NAture.The camp hosts several youth camps during the summers as well as youth and adult retreats year around. The camp is mainly self supporting and there is a small permanent staff so they rely heavily on volunteers and donations to keep things running smoothly. That is where groups like the 29er's come in.

Monday morning we gathered at the dining hall and had a delicious breakfast prepared by some of the 29er's after which Norm Thombs, Executive Director of the camp, outlined the various projects we will be working on.

• Arts and Crafts Building – This building is being re-purposed – Remove existing furniture, jack up and level floor, remove battens from exterior to prepare for cedar shingles, remove shingles and repair roof as necessary to prepare for steel roofing.

• Continue shingling one of the lake cabins – This work was started three years ago and was never completed.

• “Dog House” - This project consists of adding a building onto the existing dining hall to provide storage for chairs and tables. It is being contructed over a existing basement space. The new floor was already in place so our work consists of adding the walls and roof. This building will get a steel roof as well.

• Painting – With so many buildings on the property painting is a never ending chore. The 29er's have been providing this service every three years for many years. Consists of painting exterior walls and trim of many of the buildings and interior floors of the lake cabins as well as other smaller painting projects.

• Food pantry – the handicap ramp at a local food pantry is in disrepair and requires repair and/or replacement.

• Kitchen – Each 29er paid $50 toward the weeks meals. All meals are provided and prepared by the 29er's. There are 29 people to feed this week so these folks have their work cut out for them.

After breakfast I went with the a group over to the Arts and Crafts building to begin work there. We spent the day removing the furniture, began removing the shingles and completed the removal of the batten. Dennis spent the day helping build walls for the “Dog House”. Mica's job was to greet people and be cute! On Tuesday I moved over to the Dog House to help Buzz and Dennis as one of the guys was pulled off to work on the handicap ramp. Dennis and I spent the rest of the week helping Buzz with the construction. By Friday the space was roofed. Yeah!

By the end of the week the Arts and Craft building was ready for the roof and shingles. Much painting was completed. Shingling the cabin is almost finished. The handicap ramp was in worse condition than thought and required a total rebuild but all of the demolition was complete. The group made awesome progress and had lots of fun in the process. By the way did I mention that the average age of this group is 74 years young!

Now about the food! Holy cow I don't think I have ever eaten this well! We get three meals a day and they are all filling and delicious. We've had egg casserole, blue berry french toast bake, breakfast burritos and European type breakfasts. Lunches were chili, taco salad, soup and even a lobster dinner provided by Norm. Dinners included beef stroganoff, turkey with all the fixing, Italian pasta and leftovers. And the desserts...cherry crisp, pumpkin dessert, chocolate brownie with lemon sorbet and ice cream. Yum!

Where we are parked: Mechuwana Methodist Church Camp – Winthrop Maine- Parked near one of the cabins with electricity.

Arts and Crafts Building

Shingling

The "Dog House"

Painting

Handicap Ramp

Snack Cart

Eating!

Maine here we come!

 September 12 2021 – Maine here we come!

After checking the house to make sure everything was buttoned up for the winter we headed out. First stop was the scale at the gravel pit to weigh the rig. Apparently I packed too much stuff and we were slightly over weight. We will just have to eat more of the food we packed to lighten the load! Henry had stayed over last night for one last visit with us. No he will not be coming with us this year. So next stop was 3 Sweets Bakery in Dundee for breakfast then on to Sheboygan to drop off Henry.

We made good time from Sheboygan and after a few stops for coffee, fuel and Michigan pasties we arrived at our first camping spot around 4:00 eastern time. The campground is directly on the shore of Lake Michigan about 15 miles west of St Ignace MI. After parking the rig we headed to the beach to take a walk. Mica was excited to get out of the truck and she had fun smelling all the new smells. The weather was very nice today with slightly overcast skies and temps around 68 degrees. Supposed to get down to 49 tonight so we will need to run the furnace.

Monday morning we headed toward St. Ignace and crossed the always scary Mackinac Bridge. Once over the bridge we turned left onto Hwy. 23 which is the route of the Lake Huron Circle Tour. It was a very pleasant day and a very pleasant ride. We stayed at Bay County Pinconning Park. Apparently this campground used to be a state park but was turned over to the county. The park could use a little tender loving care but was adequate for our needs. There was a nice nature trail that we walked on and we talked to a few local campers about the fishing on the lake.

We left Pinconning Tuesday morning heading for Port Clinton Ohio and East Harbor State Park. I noticed Frankenmuth Mi was on our route so we decided to stop for a few hours and check it out. We spent a few hours walking the main street, checked out the covered bridge and glockenspiel tower as well as several of the shops. Lunch was carry out sandwiches from Zehnder's Market. Mica got lots of attention as usual but was really well behaved. It was very hot with temps in the upper 80's and humid. Once we left Frankenmuth we jumped on the interstate and headed for our next overnight stop. The trip was not without some issues as the gps messed us up a bit and we ran into a couple of areas of construction but all in all we made good time and arrived at the campground around 5:00.

After a pleasant stay at East Harbor we continued our journey toward Maine. Next stop Letchworth State Park in New York. After leaving the park we drove around Sandusky and then took Hwy 6 along the shore of Lake Erie. It was a nice drive but as we got closer to Cleveland the speed limit never got over 45 mph. Time to jump onto I-90 and get through Cleveland. We stayed on I-90 then took I-86 toward Bath NY. After leaving the Cleveland area the scenery was beautiful and the traffic light. We turned off the I-86 near Angelica and took state highways north to the park. There are several entrances to the park. We entered at Perry since its was the closet to the campground.

Friday we ate breakfast and got on the road to check out the park. The park is long and narrow as it runs along both sides of the Genesee River for about 16 miles. It is touted as the “Grand Canyon of the east” as the Genesee River has carved its way through the rock to create a canyon. It is named after William Pryor Letchworth who purchased the land back in the 1800's then donated the land to the state to be used as a park. There are three large falls on the river and several places to view them. Along with stopping at the various overlooks we stopped at the Glen Iris Inn, the former home of Letchworth, for a bit of lunch. It was an awesome day as the weather was very nice and the scenery was gorgeous.

Saturday we continued East and ended up staying at Woodford State Park in Vermont. No hook ups but a nice park. Its claim to fame is its the highest state park in Vermont. It was nice to have a smaller camper as the sites were a little small. We continued on our last leg on Sunday. The plan was to continue across country on two lane roads but they were so twisty and hilly that we opted to jump on I-95 north up then cut over toward Winthrop. Still a little twisty and hilly but we think it was better. Arrived at Mechuwana Camp around 2:00. The weather was awesome the whole trip with highs in the 70's. The color was starting to show in the northern parts of New Hampshire and Maine.

Where we are parked: LAKE MICHIGAN NF CAMPGROUND, Hiawatha National Forest, St Ignace MI 49781 - 35 sites, May 11-Sep, All ages, Tents Only sites: 2, 45 ft max RV length, 450 ft elev, Accepts Big Rigs, 1 pull thrus, tables, grill, water, toilets, firewood - $18/night, Senior rate $9

Where we are parked: Bay County Pinconning Park, Pinconning MI - 42 sites, All Year, All ages, 35 ft max RV length, 584 ft elev, 42 electric only sites, tables, grill, water, toilets, showers, dump, pet friendly $25/night

Where we are parked: East Harbor State Park, Lakeside-Marblehead, Ohio- 365 electric sites and 205 non-electric site sites, Apr 15-Oct 31, All ages, 50 ft max RV length, 925 ft elev, Accepts Big Rigs, 20/30/50 amp, tables, grill, water, toilets, dump, laundry, firewood, internet, playground, fish, trail, hike, reservations required, rates vary, we paid $31/night plus $6.50 reservation fee for a electric site.

Where we are parked: Letchworth State Park, Castile, NewYork - 270 sites, May-Oct, All ages, Tents sites: 270, 50 ft max RV length, 705 ft elev, Accepts Big Rigs, 270 electric only sites, 20 amp, tables, grill, water, toilets, showers, dump, laundry, firewood, pool, playground, fish, trail, hike – Site 735 $33/night with electric plus $7.25 reservation fee.

Where we are parked: Woodford State Park, Bennington VT 103 sites, Mem-early Oct, All ages, Tents, 2299 ft elev, tables, grill, water, toilets, showers, dump, firewood, pet friendly extra rules, playground, beach, trail, hike, boat launch – We paid $19/night no hookups.

Where we are parked: Mechuwana Methodist Church Camp – Winthrop Maine- Parked near one of the cabins with electricity.

FRANKENMUTH

LETCHWORTH STATE PARK