Summer Vacation Part 4 - Acadia Cont'd

We continued our hikes on the 4th of July (I think I forgot to mention it was the 4th). A great way to spend the 4th, enjoying American outdoors!

There are tons of these harbours in Maine filled with lobster boats.

We drove up to Cadillac Mountain. It is a popular site. There were tons of tourists....

I think they said it is the highest point on the coast. You could either drive or hike...we drove.

The next place we stopped was Sandy Beach. This, I guess, is their beach! People were actually swimming. Um, it was chilly and rainy. No thank you. We just saw and left. 

 Ronnie was in the restroom and this seagull was just chillin' with me.

Our last hike of the day. I can't remember the name of this one but it was very rocky and more difficult then the rest. I was quite tired from not sleeping that great all week so it was probably made it feel harder than it was.

Sandy Beach from our hike up. 

 To the top and I'm pooped!

 Ronnie's on top of the world!

Views. 

The way back we went a different way. It was called "Beach Cliffs", although I never saw the beach.

That night we went to Bar Harbour for fireworks. Apparently, 4th of July is a big deal there. It was pretty touristy. We went early to make sure we got a parking spot and then ate at a local pizza place. Pretty yummy! Then we found a spot on the curb to watch the fireworks. I guess there was some debate whether they were going to do them or not since it was so foggy. But they ended up doing them. It was the first time on the 4th that we used our blanket to cover us instead of sit on!

 Here is my lame shot of a firework. They were dull but it was still a good show.

The weather was a bit dissapointing but we still had fun exploring Acadia National Park.

I'll probably do 3 more blog posts on our trip...Having a blog really helps keep track of what you do and I really enjoy going back to see what we've done in previous years, etc. Thank you for endulging me!

Stay tuned! We explore Maine's Coast and get a view of Canada!

Summer Vacation Part 3 - Acadia

After we left Kennebec we headed towards Acadia, which is an island off the coast of Maine. On the way we stopped in Bangor, Maine for lunch and to see the Paul Bunyan statue that was built in the 1950s (Ronnie's request).

When we got to our campsite (which I don't recommend this campsite....) we immediately pumped up Ronnie's inflatable kayak and took a quick spin on the water.  

We then came back to set up camp and got our fire going.

 The next morning we visited our 1st lighthouse.

Then took our first hike in Acadia National Park. It was rainy.....and chilly... 

This was the end of the hike. Beautiful view.

Our second hike was up to a fire lookout. It was soooo foggy!

We took a couple more hikes this day but I'll put those on a different post...Don't want to overwhelm you!

Stay tuned!

Summer Vacation - Part 2 - Kennebec

On Sunday morning we attended church in Boston and then headed north to Maine! Our next location was Kennebec.

Views on the Scenic Byway

 We arrived at our camp in the afternoon and it was a beautiful day. The mosquitoes were in full force here which I thought was strange since it was quite a bit cooler there (in the 70s the whole time we were in Maine) and it didn't feel very humid. Even with bug spray on they would come at ya and find the place where you had missed. This led to weird locations for mosquito bites...ex. ear lobe, neck, toes, forehead. There was quite a bit of poison ivy there as well. Ronnie got some and I had my first spots of poison ivy on my face...

For dinner we made foil dinners that we promptly burnt.... 

At least we had some jiffypop....delish!

 ...And some smores.

We had some very lively squirrels around our camp. They were hanging out around us all the time. Not scared at all. This one below was especially bold. We came back from taking showers and there he was eating the ground beef in the pan we had left out. We were right there and he didn't care one bit. They also tried to jump in our car. This guy almost made it in before I could run over there and close the door! Sheesh!

Now the main reason to visit Kennebec was to white water raft! This was so fun and my first time doing this. Ronnie has been before a couple times in WV and Colorado. Of course we didn't take our camera which was such a shame because the views were awesome and we could of had some great pics but we might buy a couple the company we went through took. See below.

We really enjoyed Northern Outdoors. They had a great lunch for us mid raft trip and they were very organized and friendly.

I got whacked in the face by the water myself and the water was cold!

The next day we took a trail to Moxie Falls. 

Here are the first falls you come across. Beautiful! 

 Now Ronnie is at the top of....

 ...this fall. So cool.

 We had to get creative with the self timer!

Overall this was a beautiful place and the only sad part was we didn't see a moose and we were driving up and down "Moose Alley" quite a bit. O well. The other thing is that we wished we had stayed in this area longer to go up to Baxter State Park or something. It was so quiet and peaceful. Live and learn I guess.

Stay tuned for more of our adventures in Maine!

Summer Vacation- Part 1 - Boston

Ronnie and I took a little summer vacation this past week. We started by crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, passed through Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and finally Massachusetts. After $55 in tolls and holiday traffic we were totally tired when we got to Boston. So when they said it was $35 a night to park, we were like..ummm..no. We found a meter and parked there for the night. They get ya coming and going there! But other than that we did have fun exploring the city for a day.

First we visited the Boston Temple. Learn more here http://www.mormon.org/. It was a beautiful day!

 Then we went back to the hotel to change, parked at the mall for $3.99...it would have been a million dollars at the hotel.... and then walked over to downtown Boston.

 As we were walking we came across this wading pool in the park. Everyone was swimming and having fun. It was an unexpected sight!

Then we followed the Freedom Trail around Boston.

 Here is a historic church.

 Paul Revere's Tombstone

 Boston Massacre occurred here.

We came across this crazy farmer's market. It was so big and busy. We got lost of the trail for a minute but we found our way soon enough. 

 Paul Revere's home and oldest house in Boston.

The Old North Church were two lanterns were lit. 

 After we followed the Freedom Trail we went back to the hotel to have dinner. Ronnie had his first raw oysters and a nice lobster dinner. :)

We had a good time in Boston. It was a perfect day to walk around and enjoy the weather. Stay tuned for our next (and main) destination. Maine!