Where are Cheryl and Dennis?: Camp Mechuwana Week 2

September 27, 2021 – Last week the weather was awesome with temps in the 70's. This week started out similar but a cold front moved through and brought rain and colder temperatures. Luckily the heavier showers were at night so work continued during the day. And work we did! A retreat group is coming in on Friday so we need to have everything complete or as complete as possible by end of the day Thursday.

Painting continued as well as shingling. I don't know what was all painted but I think they went through at least 25 gallons of paint! The shinglers were able to finish the cabins and started on the Arts and Crafts building. The handicap ramp required an almost total rebuild but was completed by the end of the week. We got roofing and wall sheathing up on the addition and siding up on three sides. We couldn't finish the siding as the soffit and fascia need to be installed first. Several folks left this week but even with less people we got a whole lot done.

Of course it was not all work. After great evening meals each team reported their progress for the day then there was devotion and prayer. After that we played dominoes. Or the 29er's version of dominoes which is played with 8 players on two teams. It was lots of fun!

We also did some sight seeing. On Saturday the 18^th we hopped in the truck with Jill Iteen and her friend Kathy Olson and went on a waterfall drive. We visited Snow Falls and Auger Screw Falls. We tried to find The Cataracts but it was further off the road than we cared to walk. We stopped at Crossroads Diner and Deli in Bethel Maine for lobster rolls. Later we spotted a roadside market that was selling frozen custard and we stopped to have custard for dinner!

With the group coming in for the weekend, everyone staying in cabins had to be out of the cabins on Friday October 1. So everyone but us headed home. We were given permission to stay the weekend as we had no reservation for the weekend somewhere else. We just had to move to a different spot near the maintenance shed.

Since we did not have to work on Friday we headed out to do more sight seeing. The destination was Bath and the Maine Maritime Museum. This museum is located on the Kennebec River. The waterfront campus includes indoor galleries, the country's only surviving historic wooden shipyard, a working boat shop, a newly restored 1906 schooner and a full size “sculpture” of the schooner Wyoming, the largest wooden sailing vessel ever built in North America. We spent a few hours checking out the gallery and took a volunteer let tour of the grounds. Then we went to Popham Beach and Fort Popham State Historic site. This is a Civil War era fort built to protect the shipbuilding interest in the upriver city of Bath. We had dinner at Taste of Maine restaurant in Woolwich.

Saturday was a drive north to Rangeley. Rangeley is a tourist town located on Rangeley Lake in the Western Maine Mountains, elevation 1614 feet. It was a beautiful drive with more and more fall color the further north we went. We stopped at Smalls Falls and a couple of the area overlooks. We also stopped at an Appalachian Trailhead and talked to a trail angel couple providing aid to trekkers on the trail. Sunday we took another drive looking for waterfalls but were disappointed as one of them was across private property. The other was Great Falls in Lewiston but there was just a trickle of water coming over the falls. It was still a interesting drive through Maine countryside along the curvy, hilly roads. Sunday night we shared a pizza meal with Buzz and Ellen Ditto at the camp.

Buzz is the person Dennis and I have been helping on the building addition. He and his wife, Ellen, are volunteers here at the camp and stay here all summer. Buzz was a contractor and builder before he retired and they started doing volunteer work. He is a huge help here at the camp helping with all sorts of building projects. Our plan was to to leave on Monday but we decided to stay until Wednesday to help Buzz finish siding the addition.

Where we are parked: Mechuwana Methodist Church Camp – Winthrop Maine- Parked near the camp maintenance shed with access to electricity, water and sewer.