Day 20

I slept in this morning as Amy and I were up pretty late talking by the fire.  Bonus - our neighbor also decided to noisily pack up and leave at 3am!  Instantly I was fully awake listening as I thought maybe there was a big storm coming and they were trying to beat it. I drifted off back to sleep listening to every rustle and rumble wondering if it was the wind of an approaching storm or distant thunder.

It always seems the birds are especially noisy on mornings I'm hoping to sleep in, so I tried Brayden's tactic of covering my head with my sleeping bag and it worked!  I slept until 7am - wow!

Our plan was to get going pretty early this morning, so I got everyone's clothes together and started to feel the sprinkles.  I grabbed bowls, spoons, peaches, bananas, milk and cereal and broke one of the cardinal camping rules - no eating in the tent.  There weren't bears here, but there were raccoons and squirrels so the girls took an oath to be especially careful.  We had about 45 minutes before we were supposed to meet Grammie at the bus stop so I thought we'd be cutting it pretty close.  The girls dug into their cereal as it's a supremely coveted treat reserved for camping and then only once or twice during a long trip like this.  Just as we were finishing the sprinkling stopped so we packed up for the day and got to the bus stop just in time for the bus.

We'd decided to hit some of the must-see stops around the northern side of the island - Sand Beach and Otter Cliffs.  The fog was sticking around with the weather so visibility was shallow, but for some of the pictures it looked nice.

At Sand Beach there were tons of tide pools in the rocks we took a little time to explore.  Brayden and Ryan enjoyed mining for rocks and shells in the sand.  The water was beyond cold and I honestly could not believe there were children swimming.  In bathing suits.  And they weren't blue.  I would've required at least 3 wet suits just be go into knee deep water there!

At Otter Cliffs we took our time to explore the cliffs and walk around the paths.  We sat down and enjoyed a snack at the perfect picnic spot on the cliff.  There were climbers all around us on the rocks below.

Next up we headed back up to a visitor's center to check out the day's program.  We were about an hour early, so the kids worked on their last junior ranger activity then enjoyed finding the Cadenas girls to play tag.

"A Small World" was another great program about all the little things we miss when visiting a park like Acadia full of huge mountains and tall trees.  They learned lots of interesting facts about the insects around them then went out a nature hike to complete a sound map and scavenger hunt.  Fun fun!

We then hopped on the bus again to head into town for lunch.  We decided on a brewery (lucky day for me) where I surprised Grammie by immediately ordering 6 beers.  I had to explain to her I was only here once and I was going to have to sample the local beer of Maine, so this would be the perfect time. And they were only 4oz each.  I love that they wrote me a list of the beers as I usually forget what I ordered within seconds of ordering it!  It immediately began to pour outside so we were happy to be warm and dry with our food (and beer).

One the rain slowed, we power-walked to the bus stop to head to our campground to pick up Grammie's car.  The rain looked as if it were going to be steady for at least an hour so we thought the best spot for us would be to hang out in Grammie's cottage and play games.  But first we stopped by the main visitor's center to swear in some new junior rangers!











After games and a snack (yep, they are still hungry!) we headed to Cadillac Mountain just before sunset.  Going up the view just kept getting better and better and the kids kept getting louder and louder.  They weren't excited about the sunset so much as annoyed by eachother.  They are admittedly in close quarters in Grammie's car but the amount and volume of fighting and arguing had definitely reached a new level.

At the top of the mountain we were in a fog envelope.  The eco-store was open, so we popped in for a minute to visit before we headed down.  The kids love going into these stores as they have money burning a hole in their pockets.  They pick up things like magnets and pencils thinking they want to buy them, then change their minds over and over.  Laney decided on a pair of earrings and we left to find a better sunset-viewing spot.  We didn't have much luck as the fog moved in so we ended up heading back to the campsite.

Laney left with Grammie and we hopped into the tent for bed.  The kids were snoring within seconds as I debated new parenting tactics.

Quote of the Day:  Uttered by multiple kids and multiple times - "Sto-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-p it!"

Day 20 - Fun, fights, and fog

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

Day 18

We were up and moving bright and early again to get on the road to Maine.  I knew it was going to be a long day in the car, so I tried to fill the two little people I had up with breakfast.  They had breakfast burritos, yogurt with fruit and granola, toast, and an orange.  And what did I hear?  "Is there anything else?"  Hopefully the mountain of snacks would be enough for the day.

This is the mountain we were camping next too - absolutely beautiful!

Once Grammie made it to us, we got on the road in our little caravan of 3.
After some gps worries and an unproductive stop at McDonalds for wifi, we made  it to our first stop - the Penobscot Narrows Observatory.  But first....we made it to Maine!!

The year before our first summer trip I'd bought a book called "Off the Beaten Path" to aid me in planning stops around our drives or where we were camping.  Flipping back and forth through the years of planning, a picture of this place would always catch my eye.  Well, finally we get to stand there next to it!

This is the tallest bridge observatory in the world and the only one in the country!  It was build to replace a bridge across the Penobscot River and rumor has it, a woman came up with adding an observatory at the top for tourists instead of having a toll on the bridge.  Women are genius!  The unique thing about this observatory is the top 2 floors do not have elevator access so there is no elevator shaft in the middle of the room.  You have a complete 360 degree view from the top!

Brayden seemed a little nervous, but warmed up to the view after a minute or so.  It was pretty spectacular.

Here is a view of the other support from the top:

Here are some views:

After visiting each window for their particular view, we headed down to Ft. Knox for a visit.  The 3 adults instantly turned out heads to the side in a questioning look as if to say, "Is it THE Ft. Knox?  The one where everything is locked up as safe as Ft. Knox?".

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Here is a view of the bridge and observatory from the fort:

And a cool little city actorss the river:

We searched and searched, but never quite found the answer.  This fort was build to protect Maine and other eastern territories in several wars - 1812, the Spanish American, and the Civil War.  Soldiers in this fort would fire on ships as they entered the river aiming to take over the land nearby.

Our tour was quick with a lot of similarities to our beloved Ft. Pickens.  The kids enjoyed the semi-spooky walks through the darker tunnels.  This place would be a great place for haunted Halloween fun!

And of course, I have to take pictures in the tunnels all this wonderful light!

And what is it with every kid's fascination with cannonballs?

There was much more information in the visitor's center than we could digest with kids anxious to get on the road, so we left and headed to our final stop - Acadia National Park.  While the park was very confusing to navigate, I caught glimpses of the rocky coast and islands in the distance.  I was ready to sit still for awhile as we were staying here for 3 nights!

We were excited to grab a flyers with tons of programs for the days we were here as well as a bus schedule - NO DRIVING!!  Let's just hope the lines aren't like Disney World!

While we were setting up the kids make some friends with a couple boys just down from us and attempted to teach them their camp ball game.  It's similar to a home run derby but with points subtracted for strikes and a race to ten.  I do believe it's still evolving as I heard a new rule tonight.

After a quick dinner, we were off to read and for me to plan what programs we could attend. So many choices!

Quote of the Day: "Boys?  Where?"  This was Sofia after learning the kids had a few new friends tonight.  She abandoned unloaded and immediately had to investigate!

Day 18 - Views and Settling