A cold but cozy weekend in northern Maine....

 Alright, it's a holiday weekend and we are ready to head up North.....hurry up, let's go!

 Temperatures are plummeting as we head north.....

I present to you, Mt. Kathadin, the tallest mountain Maine...isn't she majestic!

Being a Maine native, you know I love my winters cold and snowy (otherwise, I would have moved out of here years ago!)...so, I was very excited when our friends, Gordy and Joyce, invited us to spend a weekend at their cabin up North....what a treat!

Once we arrived at our destination, our provisions for the weekend were unloaded and piled on the sleds which were then harnessed to Mike and Joyce and we set off...a mile or so into the woods....it was a beautiful sunny day....but pretty damn cold, we didn't waste much time setting off.

Our home away from home!

Lots of wood to burn...

Gordy got the fire started.....

Ready to set off snowshoeing!

Plenty of snowshoe hare tracks....

Exploring and taking pics.....

Checking it all out!

Heading back......

Love my Bear Paws!

 When we got back to the cabin, it was pretty warm....and we were hungry!....

Took off the snowshoes....

A warm fire.....

Now the fun begins!  (Not really....we were already having fun, I was just challenged to do this!)

The table was set

Gordy was in charge of the bacon wrapped scallops!

We had a yummy dinner of fresh salad, roast pork tenderloin, baked potatoes and chocoate brownies thanks to Joyce!  After dinner, we had fun playing a cardgame.....I lost!

The next morning.......

We had a big hearty breakfast of homefries, muffins and scrambled eggs...plans were to go off on a 16 mile x-country ski tour; our destination would be a small restaurant at Shin Pond Village.....

 Happy as we set off.....

At this point, we've skied for 3-4 miles and we were getting pretty hungry!

Major intersection!

Still smiling....

Whee!

Oops!  Not so lucky...had a spill and decided just to walk down....it was narrow and there were lots of snowmobilers around!




Gordy had driven to Shin Pond Village and skied from there....Mike decided to drive over to the restaurant with him but Joyce and I wanted to ski across the lake over to the restaurant.....

We've arrived!....Clearly, this is a popular hangout for snowmobilers!

A sign of the times....

We had the best burgers I've eaten in a wicked long time...none of those  frozen patties, these were clearly grass-fed burgers.....I apologize for not taking a picture, I was way too involved with the burger, fries and onion rings!

After lunch, the guys decided to head back to the cabin by truck, but Joyce and I were determined to ski back the same way we'd arrived...although it wasn't sunny anymore, there was little wind and the temperature was perfect for skiing.

Pretty heart shape, isn't it?

By the time we got back to the cabin, well, I was pretty pooped!!!   I was relieved that Id already prepared our dinner, chili, all we had to do was heat it up...I wasn't hanging off of the beams that night; I didn't even have the energy to play cards with the group!  I think I was in bed by 7:30....

to be continued......