October 8th - Day 22

Lunch at the Thirsty Whale on Cottage Street. Lobster roll and clam chowder for DH, lobster roll and whale salad for me (greens, red pepper, red onion, black olives, feta cheese with balsalmic vingerette). Excellent.

Tried Ben & Bills Chocolate Emporium's LOBSTER ice cream. Tasted like lobster in vanilla ice cream. Alright but why??

Took shuttle to Jordan Pond. Walked carriage roads along a stream. Nice autumn colors.Took outbound shuttle to NE Harbor and saw a triple bridge, harbors, and really nice homes. Very picturesque.Back at the Bar Harbor Village Green we tried CJ's Ice Cream (since 1989 you know). I had "Wild Maine blueberry" and DH had "Haven't decided yet" which was a mix of cookie dough, vanilla ice cream, peanut butter, fudge swirl ice creams. Delicious.At the "Irish Pub" we had a Bar Harbor Real Ale and a Shipyard Pumpkinhead beer while waiting for the shuttle to the campground.Buster dog got walk-sniff-trot time back at the RV Resort in the good sized park-like area next to us. Good time by all. Below is a view of the park area from our RV site.

October 7th - Day 21

Visited in Acadia National Park via shuttle (got off at various stops and walked around) like
Sieur de Monts Spring, Nature Center, Wild Gardens of Acadia, and saw the Abbe Museum.
and Sand Beach
Hiked the Beach Path to Thunder Hole

Drizzly at times and overcast. Weather should clear tomorrow!

Made chili dogs for dinner.

October 6th - Day 20

Took the morning shuttle to Bar Harbor for shopping (no cruise ships in today!) and a grand seafood lunch at the Thirsty Whale.DH had clam chowder and a lobster roll. I had lobster chowder and a Fried Haddock Sammy. Doug said 'I could eat like every day for a while' and that about sums it up. We're loving the abundant fresh seafood here in Maine.

Took the afternoon shuttle to Southwest Harbor which went to Echo Lake, Bass Head lighthouse area, harbors, campgrounds, hiking trails, small villages and a Fair Trade coffee house which had great coffee which was wonderful since it had started raining.
Went back to the Village Green in Bar Harbor and visited our favorite "Irish Pub". Tried the Portland, Maine Shipyard Pumkinhead ale and Bar Harbor Real ale then took the shuttle bus back to our RV Resort.

Raining now but should clear by morning.

October 5th - Day 19

DH's birthday complete with breakfast in bed and smoldering hot candles (glad I took the battery out of the smoke detector!).Took the Island Explorer Shuttle to Bar Harbor. Did a little window shopping before the next shuttle came which we took to the Jordan Pond House http://thejordanpondhouse.com/ for lunch.
Lunch: We started with Bar Harbor microbrewed blueberry and real ale beers. Then we had the Jordan Pond House's infamous popover with strawberry jam. They were AMAZING much to our surprise. And while in Maine, we had to have seafood: L had the lobster roll (picked lobster on a roll - no icky carcass to deal with) and DH had the recommended crab cakes with green onion sauce. Fabulous. Can highly recommend Jordan Pond House (pricey though).

Strolled around the one mile nature trail by Jordan Pond which is reportedly the clearest and cleanest lake in Maine. We can verify it is very clear!
Took the shuttle back to Bar Harbor and did some shopping and got a few things. Most of the stores close at the end of the month for the season and there were some items we just had to have. ;-) There was one cruise ship in today and lots of buses so it was busy.
I messed up reading the shuttle schedule and so we had a longer wait for the next campground shuttle and we headed over to the Irish Pub right on the Village Green for some more Bar Harbor Real Ale beers and popcorn. Nice way to pass the time on a lovely sunny day.

DH had a fantastic birthday he said. My job is done!

October 4th - Day 18

Rode the free propane Island Explorer Shuttle bus to the Acadia National Park Visitor's Center from our RV Resort to buy our park passes ($5 each for pedestrians), watch the 15 minute video on the park history and sights, buy an Eastern Tree book and Acadia postcards and look around.

Took a second Island Shuttle around the Park Loop road for 26 miles to see the main park highlights to give us an idea what we want to come back to and hike and/or look into further. Doug enjoyed NOT driving for the first time in 17 (?) days. Wahoo!
This is a bridge John D. Rockefeller, Jr. donated to the park along with 16 others and 50 (?) miles of carriage roads open to horses, horse-drawn carriages (hope to do Friday), hikers and bicyclists only.

Back at RV Resort early-ish to walk Buster and fix an early dinner since we didn't eat lunch. Prepared garlicky shrimp scampi and brown rice and green beans with (turkey) bacon and onions. Pretty fantastic grub for 'camping'! Doug had two helpings - that's extremely rare!

Then I brewed some decaf drip coffee to have with our homemade apple pie a couple makes fresh and brings to the local RV Parks to sell. What a great entrepreneurial spirit. And at $16 a pie, they should be doing okay. It was delicious!
View from our RV site - that is the tree with fall color and the ocean just beyond.

October 3rd - Day 17

37 degrees this morning when we awoke. Brrr. We're not in Texas anymore. Foggy too but the sun burnt it off and we headed to Maine today and main destination - Acadia National Park. Yay. Crossed most of New Hampshire. Their foliage is possibly 'past peak' since a wind and rain storm earlier this week. Pretty still.

Entered the state of Maine on Hwy 2. Maine isn't as far along on the fall foliage colors yet. Maybe they'll turn this week we are here. Very scenic drive.

Arrive Bar Habor, Maine's Mount Desert Narrows Camping Resort. In-season up to $83/night but fall special is $99/week! Score. And cable too! With Acadia National Park shuttle service pick up. Looking forward to our stay here.Buster at the ocean - low tide:Maine's super tall 12 foot mushrooms:

October 2, 2010 - Day 16

Very chilly this morning. But sunny! Finished driving the last miles east through New York's Adirondacks to Lake Champlain traveling Hwy 3. Very scenic.

Ate lunch in Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain.Took ferry across Lake Champlain from NY to VT.
Took the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream factory tour in Watersbury, VT. Their 'new' flavor was Milk & Cookies that we got to sample at the end of the tour.Vermont's fall foliage was quite colorful as well.
Traveled across Vermont to New Hampshire and settled in for the night in Lancaster, NH to Roger's Family Campground.