Friday in Acadia

This morning when we woke up we saw blue sky! The weather was perfect. We enjoyed a nice relaxing morning at the camp. We had a nice breakfast and then cleaned up.

We loved our campground, but there was one drawback - mosquitos. We kept our bug spray on, but before we could get the spray on Austin the mosquitos had already feasted. He must have really good blood, because the mosquitos loved him. Fortunately, the bites didn't seem to bother Austin, but they looked like they did. The bites swell up really big and make him look a little miserable (but still really cute!).

We were all looking forward to Friday, because we had planned to rent bicycles and ride the carriage trails. We rented the older boys bikes and Chad and I pulled the younger boys. I pulled Austin in a trailer and Devon rode on a tag along bike that was connected to Chad's bike. One of the nice features of the National Park is they have free shuttle buses that have bike trailers on them. One of the shuttles was a van that pulls a huge bike trailer, so it was perfect for our family.

We decided to ride the trail that went around Jordan Pond. It was such a beautiful ride!

The carriage trails are really nice. They are made from loose gravel and they are very wide. Since no cars are allowed, it is a nice smooth ride. For the most part, the trail was easy going. There were a couple of steep parts that tried us a little, but we all made it through!

We stopped occasionally to take a rest and check out the surroundings. One spot was a rock wall. Literally, it was a wall of rocks. The boys begged to go climb the rocks. They had a ball. Devon made it a little way up and then hung out there. The other boys kept climbing higher. I think Trevor climbed the highest and was the last to come down.

Another spot we checked out was Bubble Pond. It was such a beautiful tranquil spot. The water was so clear you could see to the bottom. The boys enjoyed taking a couple of minutes out to skip some rocks.

After a nice break we hopped back on our bikes and started down the trail again. The trail began to descend a little and we picked up speed. Tanner started feeling a little uncomfortable with his speed and put on his brakes. Unfortunately, I was following a little too close to him. I quickly put on my brakes and turned to avoid hitting Tanner. As I did that my bike slipped on the gravel and I fell, using my hands, my left leg and my left arm to break my fall. It wouldn't have been that bad, except I was pulling the trailer and since we were going downhill the trailer kept pushing me down the hill. While all of this was taking place Tanner turned back to see if I was okay and he lost control of his bike and he and his bike flipped. I'm sure it was a lovely sight! Trevor, who was nearby, saw the accident and rode up ahead to call the others back.

In the meantime, Tanner came running up to me telling me how sorry he was. He was pretty emotional when he saw that I was bleeding. I assured him it wasn't his fault and then I looked down to check out the extent of my injuries. My leg was bleeding pretty good and I also noticed blood on my arm and my hands. I got the worst of the accident. Tanner got a pretty good cut on his leg, but it wasn't very bad.

Luckily, we had begun the bike ride with our trusty first-aid kit. When Chad made it back to where we were he began patching us up. It took several towels and wipes to clean me up. The cut on my knee went fairly deep. Chad did a great job playing doctor. Once we were all cleaned up we still had to finish our ride back to the bike shop. Oddly enough after the accident Tanner seemed to enjoy the ride more than he had before. It was still a beautiful ride, so I enjoyed the rest of the ride as well.

The rest of our ride went well - no more accidents. Actually, if anyone had to get hurt, I'm glad it was me and it was on our last day, so it didn't ruin the trip. We rode through a small section of town to get back to the bike shop and then we went to a pizza place for lunch. We were all glad to sit down and rest for a while.

After lunch we headed up to the Visitor's Center so the boys could turn in their Junior Ranger stuff. They also had to recite the Junior Ranger pledge to one of the Rangers. There was a lot to memorize, so they quizzed each other all the way there. Chad took the boys into the center while I stayed in the car with Austin. The boys passed with flying colors and they are now official Junior Rangers!

Just before we left for Maine there was a hurricane down south. We were watching it to make sure it wouldn't affect our trip. Luckily, it moved through the area before we got there. Another storm threatened while we were in Acadia, but it weakened before it reached us. It did bring large waves however. Thursday night and Friday there was a high surf advisor. So we decided to check out the waves.

We found some good high rocks and sat and watched the waves for a while. It was fun and relaxing to watch the waves come in. Water is so powerful and beautiful!

When the tide started coming in we decided to go back to Bar Harbor and get souvenirs. The boys were very excited! After going into almost every store, everyone had a souvenir. Kaden and Trevor got a cool pocket knife complete with fork and spoon. They fell in love with it when they discovered that it could separate into two pieces, so you could use the fork and spoon at the same time.

Austin got a book about Maine. Almost every page had pictures of things we had seen and done! Devon got a Junior Ranger hat. When he saw it he had to have it because, of course, he is an official Junior Ranger!

Tanner got a really cool walking stick with a badge from Acadia National Park. We found it in a really cool woodworking store. We also saw a neat motorcycle, we didn't get it, but I had to take a picture of it!

While Chad and Tanner were in the store the boys and I waited outside. We happened to start talking to some older gentlemen and their wives. They were from a small town near Bar Harbor. My boys like to talk and they always like to tell everyone how many boys we have in our family. Once they spilled the beans we found out that the older gentlemen were brothers and they also came from a family of five boys! Small world!! We started joking that the boys were going to turn into these guys some day. They were really nice guys and it was fun talking to them.

By the time we finished souvenir shopping it was pretty late and we were hungry. We weren't anxious to go back to camp and make our own dinner, especially since we would be leaving the next morning. So we decided to go to an outdoor restaurant we had passed by several times during the week.

It was a fun place to eat. The weather was really pleasant, so it was nice to eat outside. We happened to meet the Branch President for the local branch of our church. He saw our BYU shirts and asked if we went to BYU and if we were from Utah. He was a really nice guy. Chad mentioned that we loved Acadia and would love to move there (not being serious) and the Branch President lit up. He has a small branch and the thought of a family of seven moving in was an exciting thought to him! Chad and I just laughed!

We enjoyed talking to our new friend and eating good food. Then we headed back to camp for one more night in the Acadia woods.

The next morning we woke up to beautiful weather, but sadly it was time to pack up and say goodbye. Amazingly enough we fit everything into our car, even the items we purchased while on this adventure. Chad is a master packer!!

We had such a fun time playing together and enjoying the great outdoors. We can't wait until our next visit!