A DAY OF REST

Sometimes it's nice to just have a quiet day off the road and today was the first of this trip. As usual though, I was up at the crack of dawn and out exploring. I have been having some problems my GPS and thought it was the plug on the motorcycle so I walked the 1.5 miles into town to see if I could buy a new plug at the local auto parts store. It gave me a chance to check out the downtown when it is quiet too. I always like doing that. Seems there is always a different flavor to the streets when they are without traffic and quiet. I also went down to the docks which were completely fogged in, causing the cancellation of the morning whale watching excursions. I was able to get the part I needed, came back to the hotel and before long had the cowl off of the front of the bike and the part replaced. That's when I realized that it wasn't the part after all but that the GPS has problems. So, it's old fashioned maps for the rest of this trip!



Skip had some business to take care of today so after breakfast Charlene and I decided to head out to Acadia National Park for a little exploring. Bar Harbor and the park are actually on an Island that was originally mapped by Samuel Champlain (he of Lake Champlain fame) and it's center piece is named after the guy that discovered Detroit, by the name of Cadillac.




View of fog on the ocean from the road

The main part of the park is ringed by a 27 mile road that follows the coastline and at the northwest is a road that ascends Mt. Cadillac to 1580 feet. We set out to ride and soon found that we were stopping at nearly every corner as the views were fabulous and kept changing along the way.

Inland Lake on the backside 

Ocean side

It is amazing how in such a short time the views can change so much. Fom the inland lakes to the jettys that jut out into the ocean. The park was filled with hundreds of people who were biking, hiking, walking and just plain sightseeing.

View of Bar Harbor from Cadillac Mountain

The best views of course are on the way up and at the top of the mountain so I had to put aside my fears of height and we headed up. The road up is twists and turns and of course has some incredible vistas. Atht e top you look down on Bar Harbor on one side and the western part of the island and Acadia Park on the other.






Downtown Bar Harbor

After spending over 2 hours to travel the 27 miles around the park and the trip up the mountain we headed back to Bar Harbor for a little shopping. I found a great jersey (for the OTHER bike) and Charlene picked up some shirts for her boys.










We were scheduled for a sunset whale watching tour and it was dissapointing when it was cancelled because of fog, so after another nice dinner downtown, it's time to prepare for another 200 mile trip tomorrow.