Day 24

I woke up this morning disoriented wondering where in the world I was!  We were all spread out in our new tent enjoying the cool morning so I immediately tried to go back to sleep!  It worked for about 5 minutes when my brain switched on to all the things needing my attention so I got up and out to get to work.  There was laundry to be sorted and dishes to be put away, breakfast to be started and a shower to be taken.  All this is so much like home, but in the camping world it all takes SO MUCH LONGER!

The kids had been asking for days to work on their travel journals, so we got those out and they drew, cut, and wrote away!  We had a delicious breakfast of pancakes with Maine blueberries - yum!  They are so teeny, but so delicious!

All this time I'd been looking for 6ft tall blueberry bushes like we have in Florida, but we learned the other day they are actually very small shrubs in Maine.  We zoomed past a u-pick place yesterday so I'll have to keep my eye out for another one so we can see just how different they are.

We didn't need to leave for about an hour so the kids were thrilled to have a break from being a tourist to play camp ball and sit in the tent and make big plans.  Plans for what I'm not really sure, but it looked very top secret, official and important.

We made the wonderful drive down to Port Clyde still cruising through the adorable Maine towns that just look like movie sets!  The bed and breakfasts of Camden look like luxorius mansions and the cottages of Rockport look like the most comfortable summer homes.  Not to mention the historic downtown streets!

Today we were headed on a nature cruise mainly to see puffins.  We'd watched them on a webcam off and on and now were hoping to see them in real life. As we walked on board, crew member Pete put small binoculars around the kids' necks and guided us to the front of the boat for seats.  The kids were excited and immediately started looking around at the birds (and eachother's noses!) before we'd even left the dock!

Mr. Pete told us some wonderful history of the surrounding St George Islands as well as helped us spot different life around us.  This lighthouse was originally a pile of rocks with some whale oil lanterns on top!

There are many 3-season residents of the island.  We heard many stories about the generations of families that owned the islands and cottages in the area.  These guys raise sheep on their island!

Mr. Pete said this cross shows the first church service in the United States.

In Maine there are regulations about lobstering on Sundays in July and August so we weren't allowed to watch them pull up any cages, but Mr. Pete did show us some lobsters and let the kids see how to tell the different between a male and female.  He also explained their travel patterns in the area and what moms do with their eggs.

We were told the scientists studying the birds had left the island and the birds were in the middle of leaving so there was a possibility we wouldn't see any puffins.  We learned how to spot all the birds we'd see and before too long we were cruising around Easter Egg Rock, quietly searching for those cute little birds.
This is what we were looking for:

Within about 10 minutes, 2 busily flapped right across the bow of our boat!  Brayden and Ryan saw them even as quick as they were, but Laney was still looking the other way asking "Where?".  That girl is up in the clouds sometimes!  We didn't see anymore puffins, but it was fun to watch the terns squawking at each other.

Our next stop was a little pile of rocks that had piles of harbor seals napping in the sun.  Ryan wanted to get off the boat to go pet them!

At one point we got too close so a bunch of the juvenile seals made a run to the water.  The girls squealed as they jumped in and kept pointing to their noses as the peeked back up at us.

Next up was a spot to view a beautiful bald eagle atop his nest on another island.  We'd seen these guys up close at the Wildlife Sanctuary a couple times, but the kids were impressed to actually be able to see them in the wild.

As we went around to the next island we were able to spot several osprey nesting as well.  We also stopped for a view of another light - the Franklin lighthouse.

Last the kids asked to go up to see the navigational equipment and were treated with a chance to drive the boat!

I'm not sure about this captain....she's not even looking where she's going!!

And here is a view of the small fishing town where we were docked.

We returned to the dock just a bit later and had to make a stop just off the docks.  We got a coupon for ice cream with our tickets so we had no choice!  We tried our best to go local - Brayden with Cookie Monster, Ryan with Maine Tracks, Laney with Double Chocolate Brownie, and me with Maine Salted Caramel.  Of course they were all delicious!

Ryan wanted to go to the first lighthouse in our tour so we drove a few minutes down the road to visit it.

When they came down to walk around the rocks, they couldn't help but stop and save all the little snails that were stranded when the tide went out.

The kids of course found a local dog to become attached to.  They miss Austin a bunch!

I'm not used to wildflowers, rocks, and coastline all in one picture - beautiful!

I smiled and drove a tad slower through those little towns again.  I would stop, but the kids would protest heavily as we were planning on a hike this afternoon!  So we all had a sandwich and started up the Mt. Battie Trail.  After accidentally attemping the Precipice Trail in Acadia, this steep trail was a piece of cake!  We made it about halfway to some awesome rocks and decided to hike around a little bit and back down.

We found out earlier in the day the summit of the mountain would be open a little later because of the supermoon tonight - bonus!  We hopped in the car after downing some water to go check out the view.
Spectacular!

Quote of the Day: "That's Grandpa's seal!" by Ryan hoping Grandpa takes the seal with him when he moves.

Day 23 - Puffins and puffin' on the trail