Our days as of late have taken on a steady, simple rhythm:
ingest calories, burn calories, repeat.
Egg, turkey sausage, and cheese breakfast sandwich (don’t forget the slice of tomato- tomato makes it); hit the trails on the bikes.
Homemade vegetable soup (Stéphane makes the best vegetable soup); a session of sweaty P90-X plyometrics upstairs.
Hike up Mount Megunticook for a view of the ocean (all we saw was fog); flatbread pizza down in town (I might add that the Flatbread Pizza Company of Rockland, Maine, definitely rivals Colorado Boy for the Hefti’s vote of best pizza ever).
Crusty, fresh-out-of-the-oven bread slathered in brie or camembert; strawberries for dessert; hit the lakeside trail for some mileage with Myra.
Homemade apple pie (yes, Stéphane makes the best apple pie too), and…oops, a movie. Meh, hit the gym tomorrow.
Hiking up Mount Megunticook down in Camden, Maine. Behind me you’ll just have to imagine the ocean spreading out in the distance. It’s there, just not on this day.
Post-hike splurge: AMAZING pizza at the Flatbread Company. With each bite we were torn at the thought of de-throning our beloved Colorado Boy pizza but…Flatbread Co. just might take the crown. We’ll need to go back again (and again) to confirm.
Flatbread Company lives in this super cute red barn-type building. Inside, although large, is cozy and homy with a funky bar and large pizza oven dominating the back. Another cool thing about this place? They are one of the many Maine companies that support Life Flight of Maine. A month or so ago they had “Life Flight of Maine Night”: money earned that night went directly to LifeFlight. It is so great to see the people of Maine come together to support a company that they trust, believe in, and are proud of.
Myra dipping her feet into the chilly stream on our way down Megunticook.
The landscape of Maine reminds me a little of Michigan (not the SE Armpit-of-Michigan but more Up North): lots of roots, pine trees; dark, rich soil, wet, lichen-covered rocks.
Taking advantage of one of the nicer days we’ve had in Maine, we hiked up Chick Hill, one of the larger local hills in the area with really nice views – the mountains of Acadia National Park behind us.
Of course, a photo of food must follow a photo of exercise. So this apple pie doesn’t look like much but let me tell you – I have to start rationing what I ask for because when your husband is the amazing Stéphane Hefti, Ask And You Shall Receive. One evening I was talking out loud about how yummy a piece of pie would be. Of course we don’t keep pies or cakes around the house but we do keep the ingredients and my husband, being the fabulous baker that he is, decided to whip one up, no problem. Me: “but we don’t have that pie crust thing or the filling, do we?” Him: “We have flour, sugar, and apples. We’ll be fine.” This pie did not have a very long life after emerging from the oven. Soooooooo good.
So Stéphane’s been working quite a few shifts down at the Lewiston base (about 1.5 hours SE of us) this past month. One weekend I met up with him and got to check out the base, meet some of his co-workers (so nice and drama-free! What a happy change!), and get a quick tour of the helicopter!
It might be hard to see on the picture, but all the little points of glowing light? Yeah, those are all different switches and buttons and screens – so much data to take in, so many things to keep track of…nuts.
MORE screens. I’m not even going to pretend I know which one tells you what. I think there’s a weather one in there somewhere, and an altimeter and a…gyroscope? That is the extent of my helicopter vocabulary.
While in Lewiston we found the PERFECT mountain bike on Craigslist! It’s been quite a while but I am excited to get back into mountain biking! Check out my new ride: a 2014 Santa Cruz Juliana – dual suspension, 27.5″ wheels – yeah!!
Getting the bikes ready for our first excursion.
Please note that Stéphane took these photos within a few seconds’ time. Look at Myra: have you ever seen a more ridiculous dog? Her absolute favorite thing in the entire world (after licking our yogurt tubs clean) is to be outside running around and rolling in the snow. If you can’t tell, she is smiling. Pure happiness.
On one particularly dull day, Stéphane decided to call the local creative arts center in town and see if we could come in and “play with clay”. The woman on the line seemed confused at his request saying, “I’m open but not teaching any classes today…” To which he replied, “That’s okay – can we just buy some clay and mess around with it?”. A pause on the other end then: “Ummm…okay”
I felt like I was in Ms. Katanick’s pottery class in high school again! Just like back then, I could not for the life of me center the dang lump of clay on the wheel so I worked on a pinch pot instead.
Taking his work very seriously.
There’s this shop in town called “The Christmas Tree Shops”. I’ve seen it in a few other towns in Maine. I just assumed it was a seasonal shop that was only open during Christmas-time until one day, bored and driving around, we decided to pop in and check it out. The Christmas Tree Shops is like Jo-Ann Fabrics meets Bed, Bath, and Beyond meets Walgreens: selling an assortment of random knick-knacks (shnick-schnack as Papi would say), makeup, candy, decorative pillows, and…MOXIE.
I actually have no clue with the drink Moxie is all about, but the WORD Moxie (mox·ie / noun: force of character, determination, or nerve) is in homage to my friend Sue McDonald and her Crescent sailboat, Moxie. Back in my sailing days I would race against her on another Crescent. Here she is, ripping it up in the Detroit River. Badass.
Consider yourself caught up on All Things Hefti! We are doing our thing in Maine and looking forward to spring: some climbing, more hiking, trail running, mountain biking, and exploration!! But first we need to get through mud and black fly season…To Be Continued…
The Grizz (Winnebago View - active duty)
1,800 miles and counting
The Hungry hippo (Popup camper - retired)
1,200 miles
The Gruffalo (Tow behind camper - retired):
12,000 miles and counting
The Baby Bison (Tow behind toy hauler - retired):
7000+ miles
Maine > New Mexico + adventures in between
The Great White Buffalo (5th wheel camper - retired):
3,000 miles
Free Range (Slocum 37 sailboat - resting; getting overhauled in Nova Scotia):
Traveled 2,400 nautical miles from Oriental, NC > Antigua (end of the road).
