Friday, July 22 - Maine Day 3

We went to the Visitor's center and watched a 15 minute movie about Acadia National Park. The kids also found some souvenirs that they had to have. We drove on the Loop Road and went to Cadillac Mountain. It was hot. Unseasonably hot for Maine. It was in the upper 90s. 

Take the picture quickly!  Its hot!

Rogan wanted top be the highest person on the Atlantic Coast (north of Brazil, excluding airplanes)

Cadillac Mountain is the highest point on the Atlantic north of Brazil.  Go all that?  As a result, you get a great view of the entire area.

We were going to go to Thunder Hole but we went the wrong way to the loop road.  We ended up going to Jordan Lake. We started to go on a trail along the lake, but it was hot and we didn't feel like listening to the kids complaining, so we didn't go very far. We saw some wild blueberries on the trail. They were small and a little sour.

Those are the Bubble Mountains in the background.  They remind me of something - oh yes, bubbles.

We could not even dip our feet into the lake, which was very clear, because there was a sign that said it was the public water source. It said, No Swimming or any bodily contact.

When we got back to the car, we enjoyed a water break and tried to call the whale watch place but did not have a signal. We were planning on going on the Whale Watch so we had to be ready by 4:00. 

So, we decided to drive into Bar Harbor to get some dinner and contact the whale watch place. As we approached Bar Harbor, Beth called the whale watch place and they were not able to confirm if it was going until 3:30. Although, the first two cruises did not go out because of rough seas. 

Our criteria for the restaurant was it had to have air conditioning. We chose a restaurant called Route 66. It was a 50's theme.

Jen finally got her lobster.



In the women's bathroom, there was a button in one of the stalls that said, For Maximum Enjoyment, Press This Button. I think that Lilly was the only one that pushed it. It was supposed to be connected to a door bell, but nothing happened when Lilly pushed it. We enjoyed ice cream for desert. 

The whale watch was canceled again. We took another "swim shower" in Echo Lake. 

The water felt much better that day. The kids enjoyed digging and burying each other in the sand.

  

In the meantime, we rested and slept.


When we got back to the camper, Jen and Beth went and did laundry and Greg and I got some dinner around for us and the kids.  

Thursday July 21 - Maine Day 2

Jen woke up first and got the back of the van ready. I was awoken early in the morning by a mosquito that bit my face. I guess that it was about 5 o'clock because the sun was already up as it rises and sets much earlier here on the east coast. After that the mosquitos bugged me for about about an hour as they buzzed in my ears every time I was about to fall asleep.

We drove to Eagle Lake to bike but the parking lot was full so we drove to the Visitor's center where there was another access the carriage roads that we were riding on that day.

The carriage roads were built by Rockafeller Jr. and are now used for biking and hiking through much of Acadia National Parks. The trails are very well marked and are paved with a nice crushed stone.

Before we started Rogan was already saying his stomach was hurting. We got started out on the trail, a tough climb right from the start. The trail went up and up some more, around a curve and still up, one by one each of us except Greg had to hop off our bikes to walk it up. It was a real quad burner and the tough start put the kids in a negative mind frame. Each time we would stop the kids would begin whining, gently at first and then increasing over time. Not even a mile into the ride, Rogan had given up and Jen rode back with him to the van. Lilly commented " mom, i dont mean to hurt your feelings but this is the worst time i've had on vacation ever." The rest of us soldiered on.

The ride itself was really nice. We came into Eagle Lake and took a short break for some pictures. A couple places throughout the trail we would pass under stone bridges built in the 1930s. We made made a decision not fully supported by the kids to continue on to bubble pond, so named for it's view of the bubble shaped mountains beside it. Again we paused for some pictures and then started back to the visitors center.

The ride back seemed much easier. The 200 ft. descent at the end was very fast, and it took some careful braking to to keep from flying out of control. When we got back to the van, Rogan had read his book and seemed fine. After all the previous complaining, Lillian said, " I guess this wasn't so bad after all. "

We decided to try to clean up a little bit to get ready for lunch in the visitors center. The visitors center was really cool with a large 3D map of the entire island along with lots of books and a theater for listening to information about the park. We changed into warm clothes because we were planning on doing a whale watch and the temperature was supposed to be only 40 degrees out in the ocean.

We ate dinner at Bar Harbor Blues Cafe and then headed to buy the whale watch tickets. We were disappointed to find out that the whale watch was canceled due to rough seas.

So instead we decided to take a "Swim shower" at Echo Lake.



The water there was about 60 degrees, so it was warmer than the swim hole in Ithica, but it was nonetheless still pretty cold. We were told that this was the only place that is really swimmable in the area. There is an ocean beach called Sandy Beach that is supposed to be much colder. Some people said it is too cold to even stick your feet in. Greg and I intend to try anyway.

That night we checked out the tide pools around the campground before the sun set. It was low tide so you could see a lot of crabs and other sea plants and animals in them. It was also great light to take some pictures.

The sunset looking toward a small lake near the Atlantic Ocean.

Wed, July 20 - Maine Day 1

Arrived around noon.
One unique feature of Acadia is that there is a complex bus system that travels all over the island. It was funded by a 3 million dollar grant from LL Bean and is absolutely free. It even allows you bring pets and transport your bike. We took the bus to Bernard and all the way to village square in downtown Bar Harbor. 

The bus ride was more exciting than we expected as the road swerved and curved and the driver drove pretty wildly around each corner. Luke was appeared either annoyed or car sick (or both).

We ate at Epis Pizza in Bar Harbor. Make note of the shorts Rogan has on in this picture. As it turns out, this was one of only about three pairs of shorts that Rogan packed for the trip (one other pair was too small to fit). We had told the kids to pack for 10 days of clothes.

Luke gets in a photobomb.

We walked around Bar Harbor to take in the culture a bit. The kids were drawn to every souvernir shop like moths to a flame. We decided to get some ice cream at one of the many shops in town. We saw pictures inside of Barack Obama and his family getting ice cream there on a summer vacation they had taken earlier this summer.

We returned back to the campground to get a good night's rest so we'd be ready for our bike ride the next day.

July 19, 2011 - Travel Day to Maine

We packed up and left Robert Treman State Park at 11:15 (check out was at 11:00). We had to dry things off, because of the storm in the night. We also had trouble getting our camper lights working. Finally, I adjusted the part that hooked to the hitch and success! The drive was scenic for much of it but got pretty horrendous around Boston. We never actually went into the city but it was obviously close enough to get very busy and aggressive. At one of the toll areas Greg almost couldn't merge in the correct lane to go to Maine.

As we entered the state, we learned that Maine has many slogans. In addition to many signs warning of moose crossings, we saw signs that said:

1. Maine: Vacationland

2. Maine: The Way Life Should Be.

3. Maine: Worth a Visit, Worth a Lifetime.

4. Maine: a natural treasure.

My new slogan about Maine:

Maine, We like slogans about ourselves.

Mikah's slogan was: Maine, A big pain. (she liked the way it rhymed).

In keeping with Mikah's rhyming, I thought we should try: Maine, we're a bit vain.

We settled in at our hotel in Portland, Maine that evening and relaxed after our long drive.

July 18, 2011

We went to Collegetown Bagels for breakfast. It started to rain on the way there. After breakfast we went to Buttermilk Falls for a hike. Greg's gps took us a weird way to the falls and on the route we saw a store called, Rogan's Corner. We wanted to hike the trail and to swim afterward, but the swimming hole was closed. The Buttermilk Falls swimming hole was only open on the weekend. So, we hiked up the Gorge Trail which the girls counted 530 steps up.

In the beginning of the the trail, by the swimming hole, there was a three foot snake eating a fish or something that could not quite be identified.

The trails had many very pretty views. It really reminder me a lot of Hocking Hills in Ohio. As they say, "Ithaca is gorges."

Along the trail were some really inviting looking pools of water. Some younger boys decided to use them for a swim. Geronimo!

Instead of hiking the Rim Trail back, which would have been more in the forest, we came back down the Gorge Trail. After the hike we went to the Ithaca Beer Company and had some samples. The adults sampled Apricot Wheat, Partly Sunny, Ground Break and Flower Power (which none of us finished). They also sold Root Beer and Ginger Beer. The kids got to sample those. They quite enjoyed the experience.

After the brewery we went to Wegman's and Mikah bought an "Ithaca is gorges" t-shirt, Rogan got a Mad Magazine and we got a bumper sticker for the camper. Next we went to Home Depot for Rogan to get a new Leatherman (he had broken the tip of his other one). We went back to the campsite and had a snack and went to the swimming hole at Robert Treman State Park. Everyone, except Lilly jumped off the diving board.

We had a great time. We had pizza pies for dinner and enjoyed good company around the fire. It sprinkled a bit while we were enjoying the fire and Greg asked mother nature if that was the best she had. Well, my guess is that Greg was answered in the middle of the night when a thunder storm came crashing through. The camper and awning faired well. The Hall's had a big stick (about two inch diameter) fall on their camper. Their roof also leaked in the same trouble spot as before.

Lilly's quote of the day ". I just don't get the point of hiking. Why not just look at pictures of nature on the internet"

July 17, 2011 - Ithaca Lucifer Falls Hike

As he often likes to do, Greg decided to go on a bike ride before everyone got up in the morning.  While on a road about a mile from our campsite, a truck pulled up next to Greg and asked him if he had seen the bear that had crossed the road just behind him on his bike.  He hadn't.

While Greg was having his near bear encounter, the rest of us got up and made breakfast casserole. It was delicious. 


This morning we hiked the Gorge trail which was 2.25 miles to Lucifer Falls and all the way to the upper park entrance.

It was a really hot day.  On the way to the falls, we swam/waded in an area lower than the main falls. It was very refreshing. 

 Jen and I put our heads in a part where the falls were coming down.

The kids actually swam in a pretty deep part and they were wearing their clothes.

The kids were struggling with the hike. There was a lot of steps and inclines.

We went back on the Rim trail, which was also 2.25 miles. It went around the rim of the gorge and at some parts you could see the swimming hole below. It led us to the cabin/campground area.

We walked to the swimming hole and enjoyed a brisk swim in 65 degree water. Luke and Greg went off the diving board, but the lines were long. We came back to the site and enjoyed hotdogs and wings for dinner. We went into Ithaca looking for ice cream at the Cornell Dairy Bar. But, we could not find it in the gps. On our search, we drove around parts of Cornell University which were really neat. Then we walked around Ithaca commons looking for ice cream. Again, we struck out. We ended up at Purity Ice Cream. It was very good. Rogan and I had chocolate chip cookie dough and Jen and Mikah had goose tracks, which is similar to moose tracks. We came back and started a fire and enjoyed good company as we reflected about our day.

July 16, 2011 - First Day in Ithica

July 16, 2011

Jen is the first one up in the morning and grandma is already up and dressed and nearly finished with breakfast. When I get up, Jen and Mikah are sitting at the table and grandma is asking what we want for breakfast. Again, I am thinking how she is like a drug dealer with food. Come to find out, in addition to the pizza and wings, she had macaroni salad, zebra cakes, brownies and chips. She obviously thought we were staying longer than we were. She has us take all of the extra food with us on the trip.

1:30pm - We leave for Ithaca, NY. On the drive we see a young fox (or wolf) in the far right lane of the road. We arrive at Robert Treman State Park around 4:30pm.

On the way to the campground, we turned in the direction the sign indicates but I stopped because there was a stream running across the road.

Jen wondered what I was waiting for and I said it is not normal to have to drive across a stream, but that is what we had to do. Our site number was 29. The Hall's are already there. We set up in record time - 40 minutes. One of the perks of our new camper is being able to store more things in it. Of course, we had issues with the door and the new door handle was sticking. It also took us some time to set up the awning. After we got all set up we went to the swimming hole and the water was a balmy 65 degrees.

Rogan, Luke, Mikah and I went off the diving board. It was really beautiful, there was a waterfall that led into the swimming hole.

After swimming we cooked brats over the fire and had left over pizza and wings that grandma sent with us. Greg and Rogan were creative and heated the pizza with the hot dog sticks.

The kids were playing on the very steep hill behind the camp site in the dark and Mikah fell and hurt her ankle. Jen and I ran up the hill and helped her down. She was good about putting ice on it. Hopefully, she will be able to go hiking. Then we enjoyed an evening sitting around the fire and enjoying good company.