Breaking Ground

Winter is ending! Winter is ending! It’s supposed to snow a little tonight but we’re starting to see life all around us up here. So we’re going to ignore the snow. There is no snow. It’s beautiful sunny 45 degree days from here on out, goddamnit! The hibernation is ending. And I know this because I see people. Living people all around. I don’t know where these people were from January through March but now they are out and it’s so wonderful. Neighbors are talking to us. They smile. We smile. Everyone smiles and talks. We see cars drive by. We see people sitting outside at The Pickled Wrinkle, a local restaurant within walking distance. A park ranger stops to talk to us. We see the bikers in their cute little spandex suits passing us as they exit Acadia National Park’s Schoodic Loop. I’m sure in a month or so their winter weight will be a distant memory and those suits will fit just a little bit better. Keep it up guys! You’re so brave!

I’m not joking about the hibernation. The hibernation is real. If you think i’m kidding, know this: Our family was so excited about a local takeout place opening back up on April 14th that we took an hour long round trip together to sit and wait with a crowd of 15 other cars for 45 minutes to get some burgers and Szechuan Chicken. We anticipated the reopening of this little takeout place for months!

But the weather is turning now and our spirits and motivation turn with it.

We have just finished phase 2 of the Camp Gleason project. This is the figurative breaking ground phase since the earth has just begun to thaw. We will soon enter the literal phase. Our general plan goes a little something like this…

1. Renovate the house
2. Prepare the Camper for AirBnb guests
3. Build gravel camping spots for Tents, Vans and Small Campers

Some people will assume that given our limited human resources, phase 1 should be complete prior to phase 2 but those people are wrong. Renovation burnout is a real thing. One day you’re sanding, staining and polyurethaning hardwood floors and saying things like “I think we could really do this for a living”. Then the next day you can’t seem to get off the couch as you browse UX contract jobs on Linkedin. You’d rather drink the paint than have to brush any more stupid window trim. You want to go on a crusade to tell the world that there’s no such fucking thing as a 1-coat paint. You can pay as much as you want. A thousand dollars a can. Five thousand. You’re still going to have to do 2 coats. Face it. You do the entire job. Then you do it again.

Oh and whoever invented wallpaper. Fuck you, you absolute beast.

Thankfully Sarah picked up the rollers and brushes and got us going again. We now just have to finish off two bathrooms and we’re done. Here are some before and after pics…

Before:

After:

In the meantime, we’ve gotten the camper ready for AirBNB. And when I say we, I mean, I moved it to it’s spot and sprayed some Flex Seal on the roof while Sarah did everything else. Have you ever wanted to stay in a camper that a family of 6 (plus dog) just took on a 7 week road trip across the United States? Well…now you can!

Phase 3 was originally Phase 1 because we do the widely known best practice of planning before researching. It’s supposed to be a campground so obviously we need campsites. Easy. Pour some gravel. Buy some picnic tables and fire rings and we’re off. What we didn’t really think through is that there are a lot of factors that prevented us from doing this in Phase 1…

1. Frozen ground. You can’t do anything with it. It’s all frozen and hard. It happens, I guess.
2. Blocked roads. Apparently, roads to collect gravel aren’t open in the winter.
3. Hibernating people. Would you want to work outside in the winter? Neither does anyone else.

So it was disappointing to hear but the contractor said he’d be back in May to put in the campsites. Once those are in, Camp Gleason is open for business, baby!

We will have around 5–6 sites which will all have picnic tables and firepits. The camping is off-grid so there are no hookups but you’ll have access to a real-life indoor shared bathroom w/ shower. Electrical hookup is available in the barn for charging needs. Note that two of the spots have been reserved through the summer so they are filling up fast. Like hotcakes.

We are walking distance to a market and the famous Pickled Wrinkle pub as well as the Schoodic Loop section of Acadia National Park. For all of you mountain and road bike warriors, I’ve been told that it’s one of the best biking spots in the world. One of the spandexed bikers told me this yesterday after I flagged him down for some good ole fashion human to human interaction. I can’t vouch for the biking myself because the last time I tried biking in Atlanta, I ran into a pedestrian and sent her to the hospital. I’ve been a little hesitant to hop back on a two-wheeler ever since.

Come and see us! I’m sure it will be an experience. Whether it’s good or bad is really up to you, but it will be an experience.

Yay!

Chris