Hiking Acadia National Park

I am in love with Acadia National Park.  We went there 3 weeks ago for an 8-day stay, and I'm still depressed that we had to come home.  It's so crazy.  I start thinking about walking around Bar Harbor or hiking up a mountain, and my eyes well up.  Acadia is my happy place.  This year was our third trip there, and I feel like I know that island like the back of my hand.  I know the mountains by name.  I know where to eat breakfast.  I know where to get the freshest lobster.  I know where to find the most breathtaking views both in the shortest amount of time and with the most effort (It's always worth it).  Since we have hiked all the "big" mountains on the eastern side of the island (except for the Beehive, thank you, oh and Norumbega, haven't done that yet), we wanted to hit some western mountains this time.  On our trip, we hiked up Acadia Mountain, Beech Mountain, Cadillac (since it'd been 4 years since we did it), and North Bubble.  We had only done South Bubble before! (and it's my favorite spot in the park, so who can blame me?)

We took tons of pictures (over 1,000)  so it's very hard for me to post only a few.  I'm even tempted to go back and post pictures of summits we've seen in years past.  But for now, this year's hikes:

 The view from Acadia Mountain.  You know, it was only three weeks ago, and I can't remember how long it took us to get to the summit.  I think it was quick (within 45 minutes).  There were a couple of rock scrambles at the very start that I thought would be difficult for children, but we saw a lot of kids at the top, so I'm guessing they can handle it.  The view from the top of this mountain is one of the most incredible views in the park.

                                                         ( The Bubbles and Jordan Pond)
                        Our second day on vacation, we rented bikes and did a 13-mile loop  from Northeast Harbor, around Sargent and Penobscot mountains.  During our loop, we passed a bear (a HIGHLY unusual occurrence) right around the north side of Sargent Mountain, in a very quiet area, not far from Aunt Betty Pond.  No pictures of the bear sighting, because we had to get out of there!  The bear seemed completely uninterested in us though and was just snacking in the bushes off the carriage road.

                                                       Hiking up the North Ridge of Cadillac
                    Last time we went up the South ridge and down the north ridge.  I think the South Ridge was easier and much more gradual, but it took A LOT longer.  We were up the North Ridge in an hour & a half.  Sure it was hot and humid, but the views the whole way up were worth it.  We went down the South Ridge to the Featherbed and took the Pond Trail down the western face of the mountain.  It was steep, and we don't have any good pictures of it because we just wanted to get down at that point.  I'm afraid of heights but would still recommend the Pond Trail down, because there were lots of trees so you couldn't really get scared.  There weren't really any points where you had to look down.  I prefer it that way.  Once down, we walked to Jordan Pond house for lunch and strawberry lemonade.  There wasn't a crumb left on either of our plates.  We took a shuttle back to where we'd left our car at the North Ridge lot.

The view from Beech Mountain was incredible, as well.  We went up the Southwest Ridge Trail.  It was very humid, and the rocks were a little slippery from rain the night before, so I remember this hike as being a little bit of a struggle.  (Plus I think we were still sore from the Cadillac adventure.)  But again we were at the top in a little over an hour.  We did pass a nice pile of blueberry bear poop as we got closer to the summit, so that was exciting.  We came back down the south ridge, and they were doing all sorts of trail maintenance, so we got a little muddy.

 Beech Mountain summit, looking through the fire tower.  You can see all the way to Sargent and Cadillac mountains in the background.  (Acadia and Saint Sauveur are the closest mountains.)

And in good old, Courtney & Ryan style, we were driving around the park loop road our last day on Mount Desert Island, taking pictures of everything we saw and memorizing every last inch.  It was 6:00 as we got close to the Bubbles, which we still hadn't been up this trip.  Ryan pulled into the lot, and I got so excited!  We had never done North Bubble before, and we were up there in 20 minutes!  The sun started coming down as we were coming back down through the trees, but we definitely weren't pushing it.  It was the perfect ending to a perfect vacation.

I want to go back already!!!

summer love

Last night, the sun started going down on my drive home, around 7:00, and I started getting sad.  I don't want summer to be over!  I look forward to summer all year, and I'm not ready yet for it to end!  We have done a lot this summer, since it's been so hot & sunny.  We've been to pool parties, the beach, hiking in Maine & NY, wandered around New Hope, PA and NYC, and have hosted late-night balcony parties at home.  It's just that I've had so much fun, and I don't want it to end.  Maybe we should move to Florida.

starving baby

A new baby started in my room today (4 months old).  The child's mother expected him to wait 6+ hours between feedings so that she could breast feed.  The child was starving after 3 hours and was just screaming.  At first I was getting angry with the parents and wasn't sure how to calmly explain to them that usually babies need to eat between 2-4 hours (without completely insulting their lack of parenting skills).  They thought that their child just had "a big appetite" and they tried to stretch out his feeding.  They figured that offering the child a jar of fruit after 3 hours would suffice.  They also thought that when he sucked on his hands it meant that he was teething!

As it started to sink in for them, it dawned on me...I know a lot more about child development than any parent that ever steps foot in my room.  Don't know why it took me so long to figure that out, but I need to act more like an authority when it comes to basic things like feeding, because most parents just don't have a clue.  They've never done this before.  And even if they have, it was maybe with one or two other children...of their own...in their own home.  And with doctors these days stuffing their heads full of threats of obesity...No wonder more and more parents are trying to starve their children.

It took me a week

So maybe I'm just that naive, but it took me a week to figure out that someone broke into my car.  My badge for work has been missing all week.  It's always in the same spot in my car, in the little curve above the cup holders.  I last saw it last Saturday night. 

On Monday morning, I realized I didn't have it when I pulled into work.  I figured it must've fallen under one of the seats but didn't really have time to go searching for it.  Tuesday morning--same thing, no time.  Wednesday was a LONG day.  I got to work early to set up for a friend's surprise baby shower and was able to sneak around a long line of cars to get into work without my badge.  Thursday--stomach bug.  Didn't go anywhere.  Friday -- no badge.  Couldn't take it anymore.  Parked.  Crawled under seats.  Stuck my hand into dark and sticky places.  Ripped open glove compartment and saw that it was EMPTY.  Completely empty, except for a little angel that my mom gave me when I got my first car.  I panicked.  I walked around my car and opened the trunk, and it was still full.  Full of all the random crap that's been collecting in there since last winter.  Looked in my backseat:  Sweatshirt, Whole Foods bags, carseat, random toys (for when I babysit). 

I sat back down in my front seat.  So what exactly was missing?  My owner's manual, insurance card, and candy.  And maybe some napkins.  Would somebody really take that?  I texted my husband to see if maybe he took the candy out of my glove compartment (and the owner's manual along with it?).  When I got home from work, we called the police, and the guy basically laughed at us when he showed up.  Nothing valuable was missing, my car had no damage, we didn't even know when or where it could have happened! 

I insisted that it had to have happened last Sunday, when I was at stop & shop.  Because I know I saw the badge on Saturday, and I didn't have it on Monday.  And i am SO OCD about locking my car at home, since I leave it on the street for days.  And then I remembered:  I ran into Stop & shop quickly last sunday, because we only needed a few things.  When I came out, I saw a woman standing by my passenger door.  She looked at me and took off.  I loaded up the trunk and sat down in the driver's seat.  Unnerved by her presence, I thought she might have hit my car door.  I walked around the car and looked the door up and down.  I didn't see anything, so I drove away.  And now it makes sense.  That bitch must have been in my car!!  Must have taken my candy, my badge, and my owner's manual!  If I hadn't come back, she probably would have taken more!! 

It took me a week, but i figured it out.