Road Trip + Lots of Mushrooms!

Consider this a photo dump, with a few captions for perspective.

First, I'll preface this mass of photos by saying that Dustin and I, plus Caleb and Amy and also Stan, took a road trip to camp in Western Maine at Rangely State Park in mid-September.

Frosty Delite.  Serving only Giffords Icecream, a Maine-based icecream company.
So, I was debating between Choc. Chip Cookie Dough and a Maple Walnut flavor because, you know, I'm in Maine, maple's yummy and the weather's autumn-esque.  Cookie Dough's my favorite and my go-to, sometimes boring, but always trusty to please.  Well, I asked the 15 year-old behind the counter what she thought about the Maple Walnut.  Her response, "I don't know.  It's an old person flavor.  I mean mostly old people get it".  My response,  "Give me the cookie dough".  Stat!

Dustin looking out over either Rangeley Lake or Mooslookmeguntic Lake.

It rained on us for a day and a half.  You can see the rain moving to the right in this picture.

I'm not sure what Dustin's thinking.

Me, Dustin, Stan, Amy and Caleb

A Rainbow!!!

Stan and Dustin being their 2 mile canoe through a torrential downpour. Smart.

Blueberry Festival.  Dustin and I get an explanation of  some of the local history.

Enjoying some local confections.  Blueberry Cheesecake and Maple Walnut Fudge.  I am overwhelmed by it's tasty factor and Caleb is tranced out due to the levels of sugar coursing through his veins.

Beautiful Deer. 

They saw Sasquatch.

This is Rangeley Lake, where we camped.

Hoping to catch some fish.

The girls and Stan went hiking, while the guys were fishing.

We saw so many different types of mushrooms.  

I think this is called Purple Corts.  May be edible but I wasn't interested in finding out.

Blueberries! 

We spotted some animal hair caught on a random piece of metal.  We're pretty sure it was a fox.

Hobo Dinners, in the rain.

Wild Turkey! 

Now that's a view that's hard to beat.

The Ponderosa.

Our creative attempt to cover our eating area.  It became nicknamed "The Gut".

Group Hike.

Pear Shaped Puffball Mushrooms, aka, Lycoperdon pyriforme.  They are edible and the "puffball" mushroom variety spray a cloud of spores from the hole at the top to, essentially, reproduce.  A touch of a finger or the movement of the wind is enough to produce the spore explosion from these guys. 

I haven't been able to identify the white mushroom but the red ones are Vermillion Waxcap or Hygrocybe miniata. 

These have the potential to be Goblet Waxcaps or Hycrocybe cantharellus.

I think this is a Cortinarius mushroom.  Unsure of the species.  Could possibly be a Russula of some sort.

This is known as a Moss Garden, I think.  I thought it was interesting because if you get really close up, it looks as if it could be it's own forest, with vegetation that could be thirty feet tall if not put into perspective.

Pesky red squirrel.

He loves me.

We're in love.  See.

Chipmunk and bird messing with our stuff.

Russula emetica.  The varieties are hard to distinguish, so most red capped, gilled, white stalked mushrooms are left to the genus name, Russula.  They are inedible, aka poisonous.  Though they are not fatal, the effects they have on your gastrointestinal organs will most likely make you wish they were.  They are cute.  They remind me of Mario's buddy, Toadstool, though he had spots.

Unknown, to me.

Could be Aminata virosa, aka Destroying Angel.  Can you guess if it's poisonous?

Aspens.

Canoeing roughly 2 miles, in choppy waters, going against the wind.  Somehow, our marriage survived it.

My most educated guess is Clavaria rosea or incarnata.  Though both types are largely found in Europe.  It's definitely a club-like, coral fungi.  And it's pink.  That's pretty cool too.

Devos and Smores.

Heavenly.

Also, heavenly.

Coos Canyon, Maine.

My husband does crazy things and it makes me nervous.

LIGHTHOUSE!!!!!!

Portland Head Lighthouse, Maine.

Bald Eagle.  They are real, not mythical, creatures.

Unfortunately, we didn't see a moose on this trip.  That only gives me a reason to go back!


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