Closing out our big summer trip

The Captain sometimes complains that I cast him in a less-than-flattering light in these missives, so today, I share with you what happens when your sister-in-law abandons your plan to share craft Maine beer and leaves you to finish your "Lunch" all by yourself. 

It's also possible that our coast-to-coast flying and walking the Maine countryside contributed, but mostly I blame Jen, who also took this picture and has been (justifiably) chortling about it ever since. 

Suffice to say, we had our usual great time in Maine.

We got to see everyone - including a slimmed down and dapper David Cowan. James brought Zeke down and I nearly let him escape to the wilds of Maine but Jen or James lured him back with doggie treats. That little beagle is a bullet, man. We got to visit with Mary and Rory, too, and we visited a new cidery and winery where Jen and I had wine slushies, the boys had cider and Ali, Jeff and Peter were in the b-roll of a Bangor TV news channel bit on the place.

It was rainy - but not as rainy as forecast - so we got into the lake for a bit, had a near daily walk with Jen and Nicodemus, worked out a puzzle and ate and drank more than we should have. James and Peter worked on Zeke's swimming skills, and Nicodemus gave him a good example before coming back tot he deck to rest up. Why he chose my chair to dry out, we don't know, but it was fun little snuggle regardless.

Ali had a Goodwill gift card to spend - it's her go-to for anime costume supplies - so we spent some poor weather time shopping and we scoped out where Jen and Peter will be building their full-time lake house. It's at the bottom of the legendary lupine field and will be amazing. We're lucky they like us.

Alison's need for anime conventions meant we returned home from Maine sooner than we would have liked but it also gave us some free time to recover from summer travel. Or so I thought. Sure, Alison scooted off to Chicago with Becca and Levi for a convention, but that left Jeff and me with:

• a yard littered with small limbs from storms we'd missed (thankfully no damage)
• a mountain of dirty clothes, and
• more client work than expected given three of them had closed down shop for the week (for me) and an unexpected extra assignment for Jeff at the job he left but returned for a training project.

It's a good thing we still have a weekend. We do need to make a quick run to Orlando with Ali next week to tour prospective apartments for her. It'll make next week a bit harder work-wise, but I'm glad we're doing it.

I don't know about you, but my first apartment was just hours away from my childhood home, and my parents knew someone who knew someone from the big city of Evansville and they insisted I live in a safer area - Newburgh - and they knew someone who had a vacancy. I don't remember who all went down with me - siblings with trucks - but it was a quick drop-off and I was on my own. 

Jen remembered moving to Boston and her folks dropping her off at a hotel where her new employer was putting her up for two weeks. She got her bags out of the car and back to Maine they went, leaving her to scan the newspaper to find her spot, with a little advise from co-workers.

Are we going overboard to get Alison settled in Florida? Maybe. Having her in West Lafayette was one thing. Orlando is a harder spot to meet for dinner, so I'm trepidatious.

But I'm not going to dwell on that. We still have a bit of summer with her - if she ever returns from playing dress-up.