Loon's Haven Seasonals

Mainers as they are called spend the summers in the woods and are known as "seasonals" in the campground world (versus "transients" or "over-nighters" or "off the road" campers as we are called.  Loon's haven has a very friendly seasonal group who have welcomed us warmly.

Lars and Jim discuss antique car restoration.

 Lars is a pretty happy man.  He’s old enough to retire but just hasn’t been inclined to do so yet quite yet.  He restores old cars and trucks and works part time for a local Peterbilt Dealer delivering trucks and truck parts.  He says it is not unusual to put $150,000 into restoring some antique cars and trucks.  He belongs to a club of guys that all do restorations and drive their vehicles around to "old car" shows.  He and his wife Terry enjoy a summer camp on Trickey Pond commuting 38 miles back and forth to “home” whenever they need to do so over the summer months to mow the grass and check on the mail.  This is the pattern for many “Mainers” in the summer and the reason that there are so many campgrounds.  The locals just want to be outside and in the woods. 

Antique Ford Truck restored by Lars

Tom, another retired seasonal resident in our campground traps chipmunks and red squirrels.  He relocates the chipmunks several streets away to a road called Chipmunk Lane and the squirrels go further to the other side of Long Lake across the causeway.  Both can create problems with RV’s left in the campground over the winter, climbing inside to chew up wires and burrowing into insulation.  He and his wife T.J. live next to Lars and Terry and all have been coming here for years.  That is not the first time we've heard that people come here for the summer and just stay year after year. 

Antique VW with a dainty little rock behind it the same size!

Snow is fairly light here, but it is still necessary for these owners to occasionally come up and brush it off the roof of the campers after a good storm.  In the spring the seasonal campers come early to clear up the leaves and brush left over by the winter storms.  Spring fed Trickey Pond is crystal clear and favored by ice fisherman in the winter when the ice covers the lake two feet deep down into the water.  Only 40 miles from the seacoast, even a few seagulls and ducks share the shores of the pond.

Trickey Lake at dusk

 Here long rows of picnic tables are filled with campers enjoying the annual Lobster Bake with paper trays of delicious and tender steamed lobster, red potatoes, corn-on-the-cob and blueberry crumb cake.  Disco music from the 70’s fills the air and some of the younger campers “move” their hips and arms to the sounds of the music as if they want to emulate John Travolta’s dance style.  The shadows lengthen, the campfire is started and the evening is ended with S’mores and a beer around the glowing flames with the aroma of butter and lobster on our fingers.  This is truly what Maine camping is all about.

Snoopy's Corner:

I don't know what all the fuss around here is about lobster.  Nobody brought any lobster to me to try.  But I have met lots of people here who noticed me sitting in the front window.  They told Mom and Dad I am really cute, but then I already knew that!