Acadia National Park

 Our 9 nights in Lake George complete, and business concluded, we are off again on new adventures.   I'm writing this from Bar Harbor, Maine.   Tomorrow we cross into Canada and begin the Canadian portion of our summer adventures.

The map below shows our route from Lake George, NY thru the Green Mountains of Vt, across New Hampshire, and north thru Maine.

Trip Map - Albany NY to Acadia NP Maine

Since our last post and prior to leaving, I visited with my staff from my old job.   The dogs came along and had about 10,000 sq feet of carpeted office to run around.    We had lunch in the conference room and while there the girls ran around and around having a ball 

Dogs gone Wild - Conference Room Edition

I also installed a new Microwave/Convention Oven in the bus as the old one was getting a bit wonky and I did not want to wait for it to crap out at the worst time.

Kate was visiting with friends and getting that 90lb behemoth up into place by myself,  while stretching across a kitchen counter took a bit of ingenuity.   I used the packing box and leveling pads to assist me in my endeavours.   I really should have taken some photos because it was quite a process.

Mounted and in place

On the way to Maine we took US route 4 thru Vermont.  This is mostly two-lane winding its way thru the mountains and passes thru some scenic towns.  Most notably is Woodstock, Vt.    A super quaint town with gorgeous architecture.     Below we passed by the town square (Saturday morning) as they were preparing for some sort of farmers market or town fair.    You can get a glimpse of some of the architecture looking thru the trees at the home in the distance

Woodstock, Vt Village Square

8.5 hrs after leaving Lake George we were settling into our next stop for 4-nights, the Hadleys Point RV park about 5 miles from Bar Harbor.

Hadley's Point RV Park Site #D-51

Kate decided to test drive the new convection oven.    She had some Baked Ziti that needed to be cooked so she set the preheat to 375°.   What she did not do is look inside first, and left the plastic dish cover inside.    So when she opened up the door to put the Ziti in, she found the strange looking item below.

Elephant Condom?

Our first full day in Maine (Sunday) saw us grabbing a reservation (timed entry) for the road to the top of Cadillac Mountain.   We've been here a couple of times before but never tire of the view.

Cadillac Mountain Acadia NP

We are now taking Annie & Phoebe in the footsteps of all the places that Gracie and Lucy had roamed.  Two new dogs to show the world too.    And lots of potential photoshoots.     Their darker colors make photographing them more challenging.   Especially Annie

Cadillac Mountain Acadia NP

Acadia, unlike many US National Parks, is pretty dog friendly.   We took the mutts on the summit loop trail which goes around the top of the mountain grabbing views in all directions.

Cadillac Mountain Acadia NP

Later, after driving to Walmart to obtain a new food cover for the microwave, we stopped and bought some fresh cooked lobster meat from which I made some lobster salad for dinner.

Lobster Salad Prep

Lobster Salad

Monday we set aside for more hikes.    One thing we'd never gotten to experience was a walk on the historic Carriage Roads that wind all over the park.

The short story:  John D Rockefeller jr wanted to keep cars off of Mt Desert Island.   Unsuccessful in that pursuit, between about 1920 and 1940 he built about 50 miles of professionally designed roads that would take in all the views on the island, but would also exclude motorized vehicles.

You can google it or click on the link above for more info about these wonderful roads.

Carriage Road - Bubble Pond Bridge  Acadia NP

The Carriage Road network includes 16 locally quarried granite block bridges, and 2 gatehouses.

Carriage Road along Bubble Pond Acadia NP

Our first Carriage Road walk of the day was a couple of miles on and out and back stroll along Bubble Pond. 

Bubble Pond Acadia NP

Along the way we saw a mother Loon and her newborns swimming along the shore.

Bubble Pond Bridge Acadia NP

Bubble Pond Bridge built 1928  Acadia NP

After our trip on the Bubble Pond road, we set off on the Park Road to see the sights.

Kate & I met 36 years ago today

The Park Road looped back around to Jordan Pond...   And another chance to stroll a carriage road

First however we walked the grounds around the Jordan Pond House.

The JPH has been serving afternoon tea on the grounds since the 1800's. 

Jordan Pond House Lawn

Jordan Pond House Acadia NP

The Jordan Pond House is situated in the heart of the Carriage Road Network, and several of the roads intersect right here.      Each numbered signpost has the names of the roads pointing in the proper direction.   The number on the signpost is noted on the maps so you can easily determine where you are. 

Carriage Road Intersection #16  Acadia NP

The two gatehouses were located where the Carriage roads intersected with the Automobile road network.   A gate was controlled by a gatekeeper who would open the gates to permit the carriages to pass thru.

In the photo below you can see a hole in the center tower.   A bell would hang there and be rung anytime someone needed the gates opened.

The Jordan Pond Gate with Gatekeepers residence in the background

There is a road outside the gate.   The carriage road crosses the road here and there is another gate on the other side of the road next to the gatekeepers house.

The map below shows the Carriage Road network, with all the numbered sign posts etc.

Carriage Road Map (Courtesy Acadia NP)

Tomorrow we are off to St Johns New Brunswick.   

Our dog International Health Certificates needed for our return to the US are done and I'm just waiting for the Vet to email them to me so that I can print them out.

Its time to add another country to Annie & Phoebes list.

They've had a pretty good run in their short lives thus far.

   

Annie was 16 months old 2 days ago, and Phoebe will be 1 year old in 4 days.      

So far their tally is:

Annie:   7 Countries  22 States  

Phoebe:  4 Countries  22 States

Tomorrow the Country tally will be 8 and 4 respectively.

Next stop - Canada.