Day 34 - VT. to Jake's

We started our day with an unnecessary but interesting little side trip, just for fun. We crossed the lower end of Lake Champlain on the Charlotte to Essex ferry. It about a 20 minute ride on a small ferry boat, part of the NYS highway system. We spent most of the day driving through the Adirondack Park of central New York. Had a real good lunch at this cute little Sunrise Diner in Speculator by Pleasant Lake.

Then it started to rain! For most of the afternoon we went through downpours! Finally arrived at Jake's at about 5:30, after stopping at Monica's Pies in Naples for a pie to take home. The weather had cleared beautifully! We met Allie and the dog, had great dinner at Mountain View Bar & Grill nearby. Kelly finally came home from work about 9:30.

Pleasant Lake

On the way to Watkins Glen for race day

Monica's Pies

Jake's back yard

Day 33 - Ellsworth to Burlington, VT

We start heading west today. We drove across the interior of Maine, across northern NH and into VT at Shelburne, which is just a few miles south of Burlington, on the shores of Lake Champlain. Some good roads, some terrible roads! Nothing of particular interest. In fact, we agreed that of all our days so far, this was the least interesting! It started raining mid afternoon and continues the rest of the day.

Nice dinner at Pauline's across from the hotel.

We get our THIRD free night through Choice rewards!

Typical little town

Androskoggin river

Never saw one!

Mt. Washington

Vermont State House Montpelier

Day 32 - Acadia National Park

Ann and Bryan caught up to us this morning! We hadn't seen them since Branson. They arranged for a camper spot at the local KOA; we unloaded ALL the stuff from our car to free up the back seat and off we went to visit the park. the place is really crowded, maybe because there's a cruise ship in town (Anthem of the Seas - Royal Caribbean 4900 passengers!)

First stop was the top of Cadillac Mountain, before the weather deteriorated. Great views; it never gets any clearer than this! Then down to Bar Harbor for lunch at the Fish House Grill right on the pier, watching the various tourist cruise boats come and go. The weather is near perfect, sunny around 70, but with threatening clouds here and there.

After a fine lunch we headed back to the "Loop Road". We stopped at Sand Beach (water is 49 degrees) and Thunder Hole (nothing happening!) Our ultimate goal for the afternoon was Jordan Pond where we would indulge in the famous, traditional "tea and popovers". Last time we were here, 2012, it was October and everything had closed down for the season. The weather had been threatening, but it cleared and provided a very pleasant place for a late afternoon snack.

We dropped Ann and Bryan back at their camper and returned to Ellsworth to have dinner with "Dark Haired Sarah", one of Janet's close friends and former college roommate. We had a nice meal at this new Italian place called Primavera. The place was very oddly lighted! Everything was pink! We complained to the manager that the food was great but the lighting is terrible! Sarah works for the Post Office and seems to enjoy her life here in Maine.

Back on the road tomorrow. We have two days to get to Jake's!

Summit of Cadillac Mountain

Anthem of the Seas - Royal Carribean

No Idea!

Fish House Grill

Fish House grill

Sand Beach

Thunder Hole

Wild Roses Everywhere

Really?

Jordan Pond House

The horrible lighting made everything look pink!! That's a very good spagetti and meat balls!

Day 31 - NH to Acadia NP

We spent today in familiar territory, driving secondary roads out of NH and connecting with US 1 in Freeport, home of LL Bean. (Been there, done that!) Route 1 is really interesting, but its slow going! The towns of Freeport, Bath, Wiscasset, Damariscotta, Rockland, and Camden are beautiful! Big old homes in excellent condition (all white, of course), thriving downtowns, lots of tourists. Great restaurants selling fresh seafood (lobster rolls!). However, as soon as you get back out into the rural areas, its another world....run down homes, closed businesses. And all the roads are terrible!

We had our obligatory lobster roll for lunch at a little place on the pier. It was great but VERY expensive (20 bucks each). Lobster is priced daily, so you never know. Last time we were here, 2012,  it was cheap!However, we noticed McDonalds selling a lobster roll for $8.99 (probably frozen out of a bag).

We checked in at our Comfort Inn, bought a Subway sandwich and headed up to Schoodic Point. This is a remote section of Acadia, not connected to the main park. Its about a 45 minute drive. Its known for its rocky coastline and crashing waves. I've been there many times over my life and can attest to the drama of the crashing waves. However, the last two times we've been here, the sea was calm! Darn! Oh well, we carried on with our plan and set up our chairs, looking at the ocean and eating our Subways!  It was chilly but thankfully no wind! It was raining by the time we got back to our hotel.

Bath Iron Works

Damariscotta

Bucksport bridge

Cadillac Mtn in the distance

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