Day 19

Wow!  As I wrote that title I realized we're already halfway through our trip!

I woke this morning with a jolt as I'd wanted to walk down to the beach for the sunrise but I peeled my eyes open, the dark woods were already light and I could hear the birds chittering away.  I turned my phone on to see what time it was - only 5:19am!  I knew we were pretty far east in the time zone, but goodness!  I grabbed my camera and headed for the trail.  I could see light orange and pink through the trees so I thought I'd missed it, but it looks like I was just in time. This spot is just a small area about 10ft by 5 ft with 2 crude benches perched about 50ft above the water on a cliff.

Our plan today was to start junior ranger activities and see as much of the park as possible.  We now only had 2 days to experience all the things this park had to offer.  What better way to start a long day that with a pile of pancakes?!  We ate away and waited for Grammie to get to us so we could head out to see the park.

Here's another shot of our wonderful little spot in this beautiful park:

Our first stop was a viewing spot of peregrin falcon nests. This past year, we'd read "My Side of the Mountain" and everything related to it.  The kids made up stories about these falcons and definitely wanted to see some when they heard about this spot. After finding our trailhead and squeezing to park in the cars lining the road, we headed to see the birds.

The beginning of the trail was like any normal trail with a boardwalk and climb up through the woods.  Then we see the wall of boulders to climb in front of us and are instantly reminded of the tricky climb up Grandfather Mountain.  Grammie and I both think twice or five times about continuing, but the kids are already halfway up the rocks so we go.  I think maybe the viewing spot is up at the top of the rocks, but nothing.  There are hikers all around us going us so we just get in line to follow them.  This must be pretty neat!

See those little people up there?

The next obstacle was a scale up the side of a boulder that was at least 10 feet high.  There were 3 ladder bars wedged into the rock to assist us, but again I'm thinking this really should be that difficult to see some nests.  Once I reach the top I see a break in the trees and figure the spot must be around there as there is a great view of the cliff where they nest.  So we continue on, passing people resting with the kids receiving big compliments for being such great hikers.

Beautiful view....

We finally reach a trail marker and see that the SUMMIT of Champlain Mountain is half a mile up the trail we're on and we again think we're not where we think we are.  Grammie asks a hiker going up how far we are and he responds with probably a little over halfway.  Well, between us we have an orange, 5 granola bars, a bottle of water, and a fruit strip....not good for five people.  We make the executive decision to take the trail at the fork that leads down the mountain back to the road and our car.

The kids were troopers and had we all had backpacks with snacks and water I think there would have been no problem for us to make it to the top.  The kids were thrilled to polish off my entire liter bottle of water when we got back to the car.

Once we get back on the road, I realize we have just enough time to make it to a bird program so we head there.  Usually kids are required to attend at least one ranger program in order to complete the junior ranger book and this one looked great. The kids sit down only to find our Cadenas girls there, so we know we are in the right place this time!

As the program begins, I go to the visitors center to refill water bottles and get junior ranger books for the kids.  I ask the volunteer there about the peregrin falcon viewing and find out we were in the right spot after all!  We were just a few weeks late.  Apparently when the falcons are nesting, they close the trail we were on to give them their space and have scopes set up for viewing of the nests.  Once the falcons get big enough and leave the nest, the trail is reopened for hiking.  It would have been really really awesome had the ranger program schedule said that! Ugh.  Oh well, as if I didn't already know it I have definitely confirmed my kids are great hikers!

The ranger ha a cutout of the size of a medium male bald eagle.  Laney learned she has the wingspan of an osprey.

Brayden has the wingspan of a turkey vulture.

Ryan learned she has the wingspan of a hairy hawk.  If that actually exists.

The Feathered Friends program was fantastic!  The kids loved all the hands-on opportunity to learn about the adaptations of birds - especially when the ranger dressed up at the end!  They went on a simulated birding hike afterward to find many of the local birds and learn their songs.  

Look - Amy and I are trees!  My kids won't volunteer for much, but they love it when I do!

After the program we headed took Grammie's car back to our campground and hopped on the bus.  Acadia is one of those awesome national parks that offers free bus transportation - most bus stops every 30 minutes or more! - to all the most popular spots in the area.  We went into Bar Harbor to find some lunch  and shop a little. It was after 3pm and we were starving so we settled on one of the first places we found.  I settled on trying my first lobster roll and a local beer - it was delicious!  The kids loved seeing Grammie have to wear a big with her lobster!

On a whim, I took out my laptop in hopes there might be wifi and I was pleasantly surprised there was tons and tons all around me.  I immediately got to work to post the last 2 days of updates.  Even if I don't have internet, I usually edit pictures and write each night of the day's activities so should I happen on internet like today I can quickly update the blog.

Next we walked around the city a little bit to check it out and mail postcards. Bar Harbor reminds me a lot of some of our beach towns in Florida - very commercial and touristy.  We walked down to the harbor to check out all the boats and the beautiful view.

We returned to the square with some ice cream to sit down and plan the rest of the day.  In my research I found the best place for the sunset was the Bar Harbor light house on the other side of the island. Unfortunately, I'd left my map and bus schedule at the campsite so Grammie and Brayden headed to the visitor's center to make a plan to get us there.  We eventually found out it wasn't really possible with the bus schedule to make it to the sunset, but also found out Cadillac Mountain offered a better view in some opinions.  In order to see that sunset, we would have to hop on the bus to our campground in order to get Grammie's car and we'd apparently just missed the last bus before they change to every hour.  We headed to the store to buy t-shirts and then to browse a toy store to kill time.  Toy store in tourist town = highway robbery!

We decided to call it a night and headed back to split up for the night.  The girls were looking foward to this night because it was a no-stinky-boys night as he was headed to Grammie's cottage.  We walked down to the water for a quick view of the moon.

Then we made a fire and roasted marshmallows while Amy & I talked the night away.  It was great to catch up with family and homeschooling stories as well as make plans for when we meet up again in New Jersey.

Quote of the Day: As Brayden realized there was a miniature fluffy dog being walked in front of us he admitted, "Oh, I thought they were just walking a bunch of feathers!"

Day 19 - Fictitious falcons, feathered friends and fires