In this installment of Bettie and Trevor Adventures, we traveled so far north we nearly needed our passports... Welcome to Northern Maine, Labor Day Style!  

Hosted by the lovely Beckler clan- Ally and Mike invited us up to spend the long weekend with them, Ally's parents, and a whole herd of dogs.  This was a dog loving bunch, and Olive fit right in.  

hard to tell, but the sign says Camp Kwitcherbitchin'.  Welcome to Vacationland!

inside the cabin

Moose!

 We were ready to do some aggressive relaxation via fishing, campfire, tubing, cooking out, eating... you get the idea.  No pagers. No cell phones.  No email.  No electricity! No crowds!  actually, almost No Other People on this gorgeous lake- I think we doubled the population in dogs alone. Here are some pics of the family clan:

classic father-daughter shot

Oddie and Otis, camp veterans

trying to look like they like each other :) Ally, Doug and Mary Lou

 If you fish in a canoe, you can try and sneak up on them stealth- style.  You also run the risk of Bettie stalking you camera-style.

Mike says this is my creepy stalker shot.  I may have a backup career.

 Since we are at "camp" there are always some camp idiosyncrasies, this charming outhouse being one of them...

spiders the size of your palm in there- must be on your guard.

 Despite our last boating disaster with Miss Olive, we press on- and in fact she was an excellent co-pilot in the camp motorboat.  Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks!

Olive resents the fact that I called her old. 

glamour shot- the grays add character.

 
 Mike manned the helm like a pro, and could scout out all the best fishing spots- sort of like he's been doing this all week or something

perch-o-saurus!

.

Cleaning perch was only for the brave and those who do not mind being stinky.  There was weird stuff in those fish bellies.  Luckily, they were delicious fried up- how often do you get to eat the food you caught and then your man-folk so kindly cleaned for you?!

I caught one of these at least, maybe this one?

 During our stay we saw lots of wildlife, but mostly just obsessed over how awesome our doggies are.  This dragonfly was absolutely huge-

Otis looking pensive

 The day started out overcast but ended in a perfectly sunny, gorgeous afternoon and stunning sunset.

Bella cast in the afternoon sun

nom.

Ally and Bettie- this photo is purposefully far away, as we are both looking kind of camp-like and are wearing sketchy sweatpants.  Trust me, its better this way.

 Bella is the swimmingest dog I have ever seen- she would not stop water-sprinting until she was panting with exhaustion.  Here is a montage so you can see what I mean:

Due to the lack of light pollution, it was a perfect opportunity to not only see stars but to get a long exposure of their path along the night sky. 

Our end of summer escape came to a close with a rousing game of "cards against humanity" during which Doug and Mary Lou teamed up, feigned ignorance, and annihilated the rest of the players with a cold vengeance.  I now am slaving away designing the trophies and commemorative tee shirts for the occasion :)

Couldn't have asked for a better getaway. Thank you Beckler Clan!