Back in the USA!

We crossed the border into Maine in the morning and headed down the coast toward Bar Harbor and Acadia NP. We decided to take in a part of Acadia that many people miss, a chunk of land across the bay from Acadia, to the north, called the Schoodic Peninsula.  It is a windswept hunk of granite where waves crash against the bedrock, shooting skyward with every impact. Interspersed in the granite are large veins (6-12 ft across) of basalt that were squeezed up through cracks in the granite. These "dikes" are softer and erode more quickly than the granite. Some of the "beaches" are covered with small round boulders, at first we thought they had been hauled in to act as a breakwater but then we found out that they are entirely normal boulder beaches, covered with tumbled granite balls. I would have collected a bunch if we weren't on NP property and so far from home. The thought of 20 lb. boulders rolling around the rig didn't sound exactly safe.

Crashing waves!

Basalt dike on Schoodic Peninsula

After viewing the NP visitor center, we arrived in Bar Harbor in the late afternoon and decided to stay there for the night. Even this late in the season many shops were still open and there are many, many touristy shops, think of Seaside times 2, but nicer.  On the drive into the town we saw some of the many lovely homes from the early part of the century. Many were lost in a large fire in 1947. It was still windy and quite chilly! Early the next morning we were on our way to see the park.

"Cottage"

One and only sandy beach

Summer castle

Caretakers cottage

Cairns on Cadillac Mountain

Acadia is a small but lovely park. It has spectacular ocean and bay views, a craggy, rugged coastline, beautiful hardy forests, lots of hiking trails and an interesting history. The area was first developed by the rich summer folks who built their "cottages" and spent their summers here. The area was also being pillaged for it's lumber and a few of the rich folks decided it would be a good idea to preserve it before it was gone.  Acadia was the first NP established east of the Mississippi. Charles and George Dorr were instrumental in gathering up properties for preservation. It is the only national park that was created solely from donated land. The whole peninsula is not in the park but a good portion of it is. John D. Rockefeller and some friends were concerned about the impact of automobiles on the park and they established 45 miles of carriage lanes in the surrounding forests that were limited to horse drawn carriages and sleighs. Today these lanes are open for hiking, biking, horses, and cross country skiing. There is a concessionaire in the park who runs horsey activities. Most of the road going around the park is one way, which makes driving much more enjoyable, even the driver can relax a little and enjoy the many views to be seen. We stopped at Sand Beach, the only really nice sandy beach in the park. It sits in a lovely sheltered bay bookended by craggy outcroppings of basalt. These are the remnants of basalt left after the glaciers ground the rest of it off of the granite underneath. I almost thought I was going to get through a whole post without mentioning glaciers, but I guess not this time. Jordan Lake is the main facility in the park for meals and shopping. It sits on a pretty lake with many trails leading into the woods and carriage lanes.

Granite boulder beaches

View from Cadillac Mountain

Leaving the lower part of the park we climbed up to the highest point, a pink and gray granite knob called Cadillac Mountain. There are tremendous views all around from the top and the viewing trail winds over smooth, glacially carved granite. You can see up and down the coast for miles and miles. It was windy but sunny and we enjoyed the vistas from this viewpoint. I decided to walk down the mountain and meet Thayer and the rig on the road about 2 1/2 miles along. The trail was marked with large cairns and blue dots painted on the slickrock. They really like cairns in this park and put a lot of effort into them. It took me longer than I expected on the rocky trail but it was very beautiful and I enjoyed the sun, colors, and exercise.  

After our day in the park we had a delightful dinner with my nephew, Mo Sykes, enjoying our first pizza in months and getting caught up with Mo. He is attending the Univ. of Maine in Orono and plans on following his old man's footsteps by becoming a surveyor. He is a wonderful, entertaining young man! I would have enjoyed spending more time in the park hiking and sightseeing but I was also looking forward to a shower and getting our tire situation fixed.

The next day we continued southward, taking one more jaunt out to the coast to see the town of Stonington, a fishing village on the peninsula just south of Acadia. It is a terribly quaint old village situated on a rocky, sheltered bay. The oldest piers and wharves are made out of gigantic blocks of granite quarried at the southern end of town. It has many lovely old homes, one main street with a few shops and restaurants but was not as touristy as many places we have visited. Fishing continues to be the main event here, the boats were out, the parking lots filled with pickup trucks, and most of the shops were closed for the season. We had a nice long walk, took lots of pictures and had a very good lunch.

Stonington

Check out the breakwater!

Downtown Stonington

Southward we went,  taking in a fantastic observation deck on a very tall bridge over the Penobscot River. It is over 400 ft. above the river! Next door was Fort Knox, another fort from the 1800's, this one built by the Americans to defend against the British. It was never finished, never completely armed, and never occupied by troops. The stone masons did an incredible job working with the native granite though and it is a beautiful and sturdy structure. It seemed a little anti-climatic after touring Ft. Louisburg and the Halifax Citadel but we decided that it's history was not nearly as splendid. We wandered around the fort, all by ourselves, once again stumbling upon a place on it's last day of operation.  

Bird's eye view from 400 ft. up

Where's my wing??

Fine stonework arches

That night we stayed with an elderly lady boondocker out in the woods. She couldn't offer a shower because she doesn't have one, heck, she just got a flush toilet a couple of years ago. She warms up some rainwater in a bucket and dumps it over head a few times in the summer and calls it good. These Mainers are a hardy bunch. She does have good internet however!  Priorities!  Made me feel like I could make it to Cape Cod for that shower.  The next day we made a bad decision to stop in Portland, Maine. Driving in a strange city, even a small one, we find very stressful. Where should we go? What is there to see or do? Where can we park? Why are we here again? It was rainy and yucky by the time we got completely frustrated so we left. You would think we would have learned by now. 

After a white knuckle, hair raising drive through Boston, the tunnel, the dark, the rain, we rolled into my brother Robb's yard about 8:30 and were really ready for a nice break!