Acadia National Park, Maine

We spent the day in Acadia Park.  There is a free shuttle bus that covers the island.  There is a stop at our RV park so started out on the bus.  Got off at Sand Beach.  We decided to walk to the next stop along the coast.  A beautiful walk

Candy and I found a bench along the way.

Ended the day at Bar Harbor.  It is a tourist town.  After walking down a street lined with shops we found the wharf.  From the wharf we could see people walking where we had seen water before.  Gary remembered reading about a sand bar so we decided to investigate.

This is what we found.  At low tide the land between the town of Bar Harbor and Bar Island is exposed and you can walk across.  turns out a lot of people knew about this bar and when to be there.  

Here we are on the other side.  Once on Bar Island we learned there was a 1 mile walk/hike to the top of the island.  This island is part of Acadia National Park.

the view back to Bar Harbor from Bar Island.  Our surprise for the day.

Our Most Northeasterly Point

When we parked last night we noticed a worn out tire on the trailer.  The first stop today was at a tire shop in Bangor,ME  They got us right in, got the tires installed and we were on our way.  Thankfully we noticed this tires wear before we had a problem on the road.

Arrived in Trenton, just across bridge from Mount Desert Island before lunch.  

Decided to have lobster rolls for lunch.  It is chopped lobster mixed with a little mayonnaise on a hoagy roll.  I have been waiting a long time to be back here enjoying lobster.

Gary put on the Maine state sticker, completing this northern leg of the trip.  We have 11 more states to go.  We will spend the next month working our way down the east coast. 4393 miles

Day 24, July 31

 Overnight at Limehurst Lake Campground, Williamstown, VT.  Woke up to fog on the lake and a crane looking for breakfast.

 We decided to take the scenic route which means a slower road.  We wanted to see Lost River Gorge and Boulder Caves as well as Franconia Notch both in New Hampshire.  The trip was beautiful  The Lost river lived up to its name.

 Paradise Falls.  Sometimes the Lost River showed up.

We scrambled thru the "caves".  They were void spaces under huge granite boulders that have been deposited in the bottom of the gorge.  It was fun but also amazing to me how all these HUGE boulders have been there for centuries, some held in place by quite small rocks.

New Hamshire, like Vermont, has beacutiful mountains.  Today it was the White Mountains, Yesterday the Green Mountains

This is Franconia Notch.  Learned that here notch means pass.  Lots of granite.

Cannon Mountain ski area
Spectacular scenery today.  Ended the day in Maine.

Day 23

 In case you are wondering why I am collecting license plates from each state we travel thru, thought I would show you what it is I am collecting.  These are fabric pieces, 6" x 9" with state names and a cute word or phrase printed on it.  Eventually I will sew them together along with the strips I will piece that signify something about the state.  Saw this quilt is the shop we stopped at in Vermont.  Garnet bought the pattern.

This morning we went to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA.  He was an incredible illustrator.  I enjoyed reading about each of his paintings, how he told a story, why he included the details he did, and the symbolism of the details.  Leaving there we headed north through Vermont.  This is a beautiful state, driving thru the Green Mountains.

Sad Day

This photo is of Gary, his sister Jan, father Carl Sr, and brother Carl Jr.  On July 30 Carl Jr lost his battle living with Alzheimer's.  He was a gentle, generous man. .  Even with the disease ravaging his brain, he had a joke or something silly to say.   We will miss him.
We are not going home for a service now.  We look forward to a family gathering in the fall once we return home.

Tanglewood,Massachusetts

 This is how we navigate.  We bought a new GPS.  I dont trust it as it always trys to send us the shortest distance.  Sometimes that means down roads we dont want to travel.  So, I have to know which highways we want.  Follow that map, watch the road signs and check the GPS to see where she goes wrong.

Our plan for this evening was to attend the Boston Symphony Orchestra concert at Tanglewood, MA.  They spend the summer here and have quite a summer program.  Gary and I had come here with our friends Steve and Barb a few years ago.  Though you cant tell from the photo, the tradition is to have a picnic dinner with cloth tablecloth, fresh flowers, candles, wine etc.  When we started the trip we were going to get to Tanglewood on a day there was no concert so didnt pack all the necessary items.  Along the way we added days to our itinerary to time it for the concert today.  Fortunately I had put in the candlestick holders but had to buy a tablecloth and vase.  We had done some antique shopping earlier and had found just the right things.  Thanks Steve for the coaching.  All the trappings were a secret until the table was set so a surprise for the rest of the group.

The concert venue is in a beautiful place.  There are "mountains" here.  they are all covered with trees, nothing above the tree line.

As you see, we are sitting on the lawn for the concert.  You have a choice whether to sit under cover in "The Shed" or on the lawn.  You see our choice.  This meant we watched the stars come out while watching/listening to Mozart and Mahler. A beautiful,, wonderful evening.

Day 22 A Hickup

We started the day at the gas station.  When we left Gary noticed the check engine light came on.  We found the GMC dealer in Rome, NY.  Thankfully they were able to get us right in.  Our fuel system was gunked up due to ethynol in the gasoline.  3 hours and $500 later we were back on the road.  We had to drop the trailer out back of the dealers shop so they could hook the truck up to their computer.  The group hung out at the Walmart just down the street while the mechanic was doing his job.  then goodbye to Davidson GMC.