One of the tough parts about coming up to Swans Island used to be that you were out of touch with the rest of the world for however long you stayed there. For some, that was the whole point. For me, it was torture. I’m admittedly a bit of a slave to my Apple devices. It’s rare when I go anywhere without at least my iPhone. I probably check email 50 times a day, tweak my fantasy baseball roster and surf the web any chance I can get. These aren’t stats that I am proud of, but that’s just what I do. A couple of years ago Sara’s dad installed a wireless network for the house. We still don’t have a cable TV setup, but through the wonders of the internet and Apple TV, we can at least stay in touch with the goings on of the world if we choose too. Late Saturday night, all of that changed.

For a horrifying 72 hours we were without internet. A tear in the cable fiber left the ENTIRE island without an internet network, and us in the dark. It is embarrassing how upset this made me. We were left with nothing but the data plan on our iPhones, and at a house in the middle of the ocean, that means the dreaded “E” on your iPhone. The E stands for Edge, as in the Edge network. In layman’s terms it means good luck getting what you used to get instantly, in less than 15 minutes. It reduced me to hanging off the front balcony and doing the trick of holding my phone in the air as if that extra foot of lift would suddenly activate the LTE network.

In my former life that may have actually been a bit of an issue. Like most, my vacations from work were never truly vacations. Sadly it became expected that I would occasionally check and chime in on emails while away. These days, it was mostly just the shock of not being able to hop on Amazon and order the next item we forgot to bring up here in the first place. Or being delayed in “liking” something on Facebook. We had a few moving type of things to take care of, but nothing that couldn’t wait 72 hours it turned out. Perhaps the most stressful part of not having an internet connection, was that Sara couldn’t monitor Cam as he slept via our Dropcam. Even though he sleeps somewhere between 3-5 feet from our bed! He’s doing great by the way. His napping schedule has gone to hell since we got here. But we’re hoping he’s either growing, or he’s not loving his pack and play.

Sometime late Tuesday evening the fiber tear was repaired and our world returned to normal. We are left with memories of life when we couldn’t just check our phones instead of having an actual conversation at the dinner table (we did anyway). I almost slept a little better knowing that I couldn’t check the Orioles west coast score or my fantasy team from bed (I tried for close to 90 minutes late one night).

There are many things we take for granted in life. Hot meals, warm beds and our health. But I’d argue a fast internet connection is pretty close to the top of that list. For almost three days we lived like we turned back the clock almost ten years. And I didn’t like it one bit!

Sara graduated from her fellowship almost two weeks ago. She has now graduated three times in the last seven years, but this is the last one. A “real” job awaits in Baltimore this September. But before then, we will get to enjoy a very rare family summer off. That started this week.

If you don’t know where Swans Island, Maine is, don’t feel bad. I lived in Maine for a year when Sara first started medical school and almost nobody I worked with had heard of it. And those guys lived in Maine most of their lives. Swans sits six miles off the Maine coast, in the middle of the frigid North Atlantic ocean. About a half hour from Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, Swans is a little out of the way but once you get there, it is paradise. Getting there is easier said then done.

The house on Swans is owned by Sara’s father. He bought the land decades ago, and built the house just over twenty years ago. The trip from Bethesda can take close to 14 hours by car. We thought our trip from Rhode Island should take about half that long. Long road trips are fine by me, but the tricky part about making the trip to Swans is the last hurtle. The ferry. Leaving the mainland just a handful of times a day, and never later than 5:15pm, your entire trip has to be planned around  making the ferry across. The alternative? Trying to find a last minute hotel room during the summer in Bar Harbor. Not good.

My first ever trip to Swans was back in 1995. Sara and I had been dating for just over a year. She left with her family for three weeks as she always did in August. As lovesick teenagers, we decided that I had to visit while she was gone. We couldn’t possibly not see each other for twenty days! I ended up getting there by way of an overnight Amtrak to Boston from DC (10 hours). A bus ride from Boston to Bangor (4-5 hours). Sara and her mom (Sara couldn’t drive yet!) picked me up at the bus terminal in Bangor for the final two hours to Swans. An epic trip that resulted in me sleeping for the first 14 hours of my stay in the house.

As we try to set the world record for most 9+ hour road trips with an infant, we braced for a long trip to Swans this week. There are many advantanges to having a house on an island. Peace and quiet is probably at the top of the list. A true relaxing vacation is easy to achieve. The downside? Packing. We are serial over-packers to begin with, but when you factor in trying to bring enough food for a month, you almost need two cars. There is one “general store” on the island but it’s very expensive and tends to only really carry the bare essentials. Going off island for just a grocery trip is something to try and avoid.

We packed the car as full as any car I’ve ever driven. Tons of groceries, baby stuff, dog stuff, and clothes for the adults. Also booze. The island is dry, so it is the ultimate BYOB. If you don’t think my case of Pacifico beer didn’t have a good seat, you are kidding yourself! We packed the car on Tuesday night and finished with the cooler of perishable items in the morning. To the surprise of all of us, we got up and on the road by the target time of 6:30am.

Our first stop heading north was in Newton, Massachusetts. Slow traffic and a fussy baby made getting breakfast at McDonald’s a no brainer. Once we escaped the rush hour of the Boston suburbs, the rest of the drive was fairly routine. 95 North is WAY better than 95 South! As we are cruising through southern Maine, Sara makes a realization. Despite the fact that we packed almost everything we owned into the car, we forgot one very important item. The baby carrier. When you plan on hiking and taking long walks for a month on bumpy roads, that thing is essential. And it was left in our other car. Thanks to the technology of the iPhone, we find a Toys R Us in Bangor that sells Baby Bjorns. Hooray!

The final stretch from Bangor to Bass Harbor is on two lane roads and slows you down through small towns. This is the most stressful part of the drive because the ferry is just waiting for you. Taunting you to make a mistake and ruin your trip. We had a reservation on the 5:15pm ferry. Each ferry takes 4 reservations, the other 10-12 car spots are first come, first serve. So while we were guaranteed a trip across at 5:15, the problem now was, it was 3pm. Yes, we were AHEAD of schedule. We were able to get in line and make the 3:45 ferry instead. Getting 90 minutes of our lives back in the process. This is a first for us on our many trips up to Swans. It’s a little like showing up to the Bay Brige expecting to sit at the toll for an hour or so, only to be waved through a secret lane that gets you over instead. A true victory. We must be getting better at these road trips.

So we are in Maine for about a month. This is the island where Sara learned how to crawl, so maybe Cam can follow in his mother’s footsteps, or handsteps, I guess? More soon, meanwhile enjoy our daily view!