In Maine - if you haven't been, its coast will seduce you

My wife's family is from Bangor..We have close friends in Portland and Brunswick..Very perty up there, but from southern NY it's too much of a drive from hell..

The loaf is around 2.5hrs from Portland...

Marcski wrote

Maine is pretty awesome. I need more ski days there.  I only have one a very long time ago in some pretty dismal weather.

We spent 5-6 days in York at the end of August.  The wife and I hadn't been to the coast of Maine in over 25 years.  (We loved it so much back then that we went 2 years in a row, all the way to Acadia, while exploring the coast on the way).   It is quite stunning and like Ray said, offers a whole bagful of fun in many different ways.  

How long is the drive from the Southern Maine coast up to the the 'loaf?

MarcSki -

We hope to get some skiing days in Maine this winter too. We hiked Shawnee Peak earlier this summer (well late Spring) and the profile of that mountain is incredible for its size. Not a ton of vertical though what looks skiable - looks awesome.

Alicia and I eloped in Maine 25 years ago  and have tried to be back at least for part of our summer every year since then. There were a few years where we didn't make it up   - though for the most part we find ourselves there at some point of the year.

There was a time when Alicia and I were through with winter as our oldest son Rocky (who was ill as you might recall) didn't do well with cold weather.  Due to that and his disabilities, we grew tired of winter and were planning to move to California.  We found ourselves flying out there a bunch then when that move fell through, we stayed in NYC and now live where we do.  

When we started to ski again after taking 10 years off from it, we now find ourselves mentally in Maine.  It's really all we think about is how we move there.  Don't get me wrong - Vermont is in our hearts, we could move there and love it as much though Maine is in our soul. It really is a huge part of us and its coastline is what draws us there more than its mountains.  Though it's mountains are AMAZING too.

Now to answer your question .. Since I am the King of digression, the drive from Portland area to Sugarloaf is shy of 3 hours ad most say they can do it in 2.5.  To Sunday River, its about 2 hours and Shawnee Peak about 1 hr 15 minutes.

We hope to make it up there this winter - though dollars and  kids school schedule predicate where we go.

In looking back at our videos today, its amazing how big our kids have gotten and also how much better we are at filming and editing.

Thanks MarcSki big time for watching and commenting on the thread.  We should make it a point to ski together this winter.

JasonWx wrote

My wife's family is from Bangor..We have close friends in Portland and Brunswick..Very perty up there, but from southern NY it's too much of a drive from hell..

The loaf is around 2.5hrs from Portland...

Where in Southern NY are you? We live in NYC and make this drive often and agree, it can be hell though once there - all that hell goes away in a breath once you are the coastline. Well at least we feel so.

I mean, driving to Acadia straight, well we agree that is LONG LONG LONG.  Though to Portland area, very doable. We have friends that do this almost every weekend.. We are troopers though will agree that even for us, that would would be hard.

We have not been to Bangor in a long time. Long overdue to make it Down East.

Funny thing is, when Alicia and started going to Maine together, we would not consider that we were in Maine until we crossed the bridge in Thomaston, Maine.. I think its called the Cushing Road Bridge.

We live near the TZ..I agree the ride to Portland is easy, and on the off season it's almost enjoyable.

Ray, I look forward to meeting and making some turns this winter.

The longest drive I ever did straight was from Acadia back down to NYC.  9 hours with no real traffic and only one or two quick stops for a bite and the restroom.