Porterholtz Vacay 2024: Costa Rica

So many things to celebrate in 2024!  The Lili graduated high school; SE turns 16; the dads turned 50; Tripp and Angie celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary; and lucky me gets to come along for the ride!  Our destination this year: Costa Rica. The girls have been saying forever that they wanted white sand beaches, clear water and a fancy resort.  In other words: no national park this year!

Our three hour ride from the airport to our first resort. Beautiful, lush countryside and many small towns. 

We spotted a waterfall along the way and our driver pulled over for us get a better 

The girls wanted luxury, they got luxury.  Our first resort is The Springs Resort and Spa.  It was dark and storming when we arrived, but who cares, this place is amazing!  I seem to remember another great vacation that started with a terrible storm. 

Day 14: Back to Boston

 While we were sad to leave this beautiful part of Maine, we were ready to make our way back to Charleston.  We had about a six hour ride to Boston.  I spent the first 2 hours with my eyes peeled for moose.  NOTHING!  Not a single moose.  I read that in this section of Maine, moose outnumber people 3:1.  What?  I suppose it was just not meant to be.  I am thankful, however, that it got us to the wilderness of Maine, and we were able to experience what Don and Angel have created at Lake Nahmakanta. 

Can't wait to get home and see the best Moose of all!

Day 13: More Fishing and Hiking

 SE was pretty bummed that she didn't get to cook a fish with Don the day before.  Her goal for the day was to bring him a fish.  Don gave us some suggestions of local ponds to try.  We drove about thirty minutes to the trail head and hiked a half mile in to Leavitt Pond.  The hike was well marked and maintained through the woods - so many ferns and moss.

This was us looking for the trail head.

We found Don's row boat and all hopped aboard.  Lily and I were thinking we might paddle around for bit and then sit by the shore and read or hike around some of the trails.   Well, this pond was surrounded by rocks and brush, so we were stuck in the row boat - not exactly comfy or relaxing.  It was windy and James was doing his best to keep us in the spot Don told us to be in.  

We finally saw a loon we had heard so many times.  They are crazy loud and have many different calls.

Nothing biting at all.  We hiked back out and evaluated our options.  We could hike about a mile into another smaller pond, Rabbit Pond.  SE was on a mission to catch a darn fish, but Lily was done. My body was pretty done, but Don said it was a beautiful hike, so we went for it.  He did say that this pond had a pretty picnic spot, so Lily and I could sit and read while they fished.

Don was right - the hike was beautiful.  Look at this rock!  I felt like any minute it was going to wake up and yawn and start talking to us!

Did I mention that Lily was done.

This seafoam green moss was everywhere.

Look at these ferns!

We made it to the pond and SE already had the canoe ready before James could get to it.  They set out to fish, Lily laid out in the sun, and I explored the area.  It was a very pretty spot.  I wanted to go up a little farther to a lookout, but I decided to hang out close by.  Lily kept swatting and slapping and grunting at all the bugs.  She doused herself in bug spray and was still swatting nonstop.  I didn't think the bugs were so bad until I sat down beside her to read.  They were relentless - biting flies, ants and mosquitos.  We hiked back down to the car while they continued to fish.  I read and Lily slept for about 45 minutes until SE and James showed up.  SE was not happy.  Apparently, they did catch a few small brook trout, but James thought they were a little too small to keep.  She insisted Don said they could keep 6-inch fish from this pond, but James wasn't sure.  Guess who was right??

We made it back to camp around 4:45.  Don saw us coming in and asked how it went.  He could tell SE was upset.  He told them about a tiny pond a mile up the road where they were guaranteed to catch a fish, hopefully a little bigger.  He loaded them up with some lures and gave specific directions.  There was no trail here.  They thrashed through brush about 300 yards and made it to Beaver Pond and...

Success!   SE didn't care how big it was.  She was going to cook and eat the darn thing.

They made it back just in time for dinner.

They cleaned and cooked the fish.  SE was determined and her daddy made sure it would happen.  We ended up spending the evening with our cabin neighbors: a dad and his two sons, 10 and 12, from NC.  We all had a good time sharing stories and getting to know each other.  It also started pouring outside.  We got to snuggle up one more night in our cozy cabin in the rain.

The girls didn't share a bed, but I did find them snuggling up getting warm before bed!

Day 12: Fishing and Hiking

 I booked a guided fishing tour for James and SE for the day with Don.  He could only take two people so Lily and I explored the nearby trails.

SE will be blogging the fishing trip:

First we set off on a little boat to our destination. It was about a 20-minute ride, but it was very pretty. 

Once we arrived, we had a short hike, which was also very pretty.

We then go onto a rowboat in a big pond and jumped right into the fishing. Mr. Don showed us the ropes and gave us helpful tips and tricks. 

By the end of the day we ended up catching 7 fish, I think. We took a break halfway through, because the fish weren't biting, and lay down in the grass. We were allowed to keep one fish and Mr. Don even told me he would show me how to cook it, but once we got back on the lake we caught a fish immediately, so we put it back. Then we didn't get many more bites after that so, sadly, we didn't get a fish to take home. Mr. Don even stayed out an hour later and we got home 5 minutes before dinner. Perfect!

We saw lots of small animals on our little hike. We saw many frogs and toads, and I even found a cute little snake. Overall we had a very fun day. We are very grateful to Mr. Don.

Back to Taryn:

Lily and I stopped by the office for a kitty pet and get some hiking options from Angel.  She grabbed our map and several colored pens and set to work.  There were so many options - blueberry ledges, waterfalls, a unicorn trail and finding where the hobbits live.  We decided to hike part of the Appalachian Trail and find the hobbits.  Our camp was about 30 miles from Mt. Katahdin, the northern end of the AT.

We made it to the lean-to a little over 2 miles in.  We ran into 3 sets of hikers along the way, including a couple in their sixties that had come from Katahdin.  That is impressive!

Lily found a journal in the lean-to that hikers had signed.  She read a few to me.  Many were words of encouragement and congratulations.  Can you imagine having hiked all the way from Georgia?!

We found the Shire!  

Great hike with my great girl!

I LOVE this picture.  This is Lily kayaking.  How cool - Lily setting out on a kayak for a peaceful lake paddle to explore her surroundings and commune with nature??  Nope, this kid was desperately searching for a cell signal.  She had snap streaks to maintain.  

Lily and I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing by the lake.  I worked on my needlepoint and she made bracelets.  

SE was right in that they made it back just before the dinner bell.  They were gone for NINE hours.  

Dinner tonight was baked bbq chicken, rice pilaf and corn with a hot fudge brownie for dessert.  And, don't forget those heavenly popovers.

Here we go to set out on our Moose hunt.  Don told us some good places to try.  Animal hunting in the evenings was one of our favorite things to do in Yellowstone, so this was going to be great, right???

Factor in tired people, dirt roads, rough logging trails (that we scraped the bottom of the car on), a car sick kid and so many bugs (even in the car), and let's just say we didn't come home as happy as we left...

We eventually recovered from our grumpies, showered up, and settled into an early night in our cozy cabin.

Day 11: Acadia to Lake Nahmakanta

 Off to the wilderness we go!!

We had about a 3 1/2 hour drive to Lake Nahmakanta Wilderness Camp.  Closer to lunch time we were getting hungry and places to eat were becoming few and far between.  We found a brewpub in Milo, Maine that had great ratings.  We arrived thirty minutes before they opened at noon, but we decided to wait as there would not be much in the next two hours of the drive.  We drove through the little town of Milo for a bit.  I thought I grew up in a small town, but Maine has some small, small towns.  The elementary school was tiny and actually had a yard in front of it.  

The brewpub, Bissell Brothers Brewing Company, turned out to be a great find.  They are based out of Portland, but also have this location, as this is where the two founding brothers are originally from.  If you are ever in Milo, be sure to check them out.

As we got closer to the camp, we had to stop at this checkpoint and pay to drive on the dirt road - 26 miles of it - to our location.  I kept my eyes peeled for Moose the entire time.  We also said goodbye to cell service about this time.  I was looking forward to us all being unplugged for a few days.

We arrive at camp and instantly fall in love!  Pristine mountain lake - it doesn't get any better than this.

Look at our cabin - complete with flower beds in front and our own hummingbird feeder.

This was our bathroom.  Each cabin had its own private bathroom with shower, sink and toilet.

Don and Angel are a married couple that own and run the camp.  Don greeted us as we arrived and gave us a tour and showed us how to light the gas lights and appliances (did I mention we would not have electricity) and where we could find everything.  They have plenty of wood chopped and ready to use inside for cold evenings and we were welcome to use the above saw to gather wood for outside fires.  

James and the girls immediately check out the water.

And then try to warm up in the sun.

We made our way to the office for Don to tell us some about the surrounding area.  They provide each guest with a map that we later learned that Don created himself.  The area is surrounded with hiking trails and ponds.  At all the ponds, Don has canoes locked up for all guests to use.  You can drive or hike to any of the ponds and hop on a canoe to fish for a few hours.  The girls, of course, fell in love with their animals, Sylvia, Raja and Little Boy.

When booking your stay, via snail mail - yes, I actually filled out a form with a pen, wrote a check, addressed an envelope and put it in the mailbox - you can choose to add meals.  Thank goodness we chose to add suppers.  Angel is an amazing cook.  At 6:00 sharp, she rings the dinner bell and all campers gather to eat.

These popovers were straight from heaven.  They were warm, right out of the oven and filled with cinnamon goodness on the inside.  I was so excited about this meal, I forgot to take a picture of the main course.  Angel brought out a huge platter of turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, peas, baked potatoes and gravy.  

And don't forget the homemade carrot cake.

After dinner, we set out to explore the lake on kayaks.

We came across a beaver dam.

No moose sightings, but we sure saw a lot of beautiful!

Lighting the gas lamps

Studying the map

Goodnight, Lake Nahmakanta!