Thursday in Acadia

This morning we woke up excited and a little anxious. We were waiting to find out if we could go on a whale watching trip. We were supposed to go on Wednesday, but the weather didn't cooperate, so we moved it to Thursday. Chad had to call the place and find out if the trip was still on. When we got the green light everybody raced into action so we could get to the boat in time.

When we got to the dock one of the employees warned us that the waves were pretty choppy and that if we were predisposed to motion sickness we might want to rethink going on the trip. I do get motion sickness, but we were told that medicine was sold on the boat, so I decided to take the gamble. Plus the boat was leaving in about two minutes and they told us there probably wouldn't be anymore trips for the rest of the week. I was a little nervous, but how often do I get a chance to go whale watching?

When we got on the boat I immediately went to the counter to buy some Dramamine. They also had the motion sickness wrist bands. I have never used the wrist bands, but they are supposed to work right away, whereas Dramamine takes about an hour (the same amount of time it took to get to the whales). The lady behind the counter told me the wrist bands work in about 75 percent of people, but I decided to give it a try anyway. I should have known better. I don't think they did anything for me.

The boys were all very excited to be on the boat, so when the boat left the dock, they were outside towards the front of the boat watching the waves. I stayed inside with Austin. Unfortunately, I started feeling sick, so I had to leave Austin on the seat inside while I stood outside the door in the fresh air. Don't worry the seat and the door were right next to each other and the door had a window we watched each other through!

The boys had a fun time outside, but then they started to get cold, so they all came back in. I stayed in my spot outside the door. Not long after the boys had come in Chad came out with Tanner, who was starting to feel sick. Shortly after that, Trevor came out feeling sick. Poor Chad ran back and forth between the bathroom and the snack counter (buying medicine) for most of the trip out to see the whales. Luckily the other boys were okay. Devon fell asleep and Kaden sat on the bench by Austin and didn't move.

There were sick people everywhere. It was pretty sad. If you ask Chad about the trip he will tell you he has never seen so many sick people in one place at one time! He said he heard one guy begging the crew to turn the boat around and take him back. He was told that they only did that if someone was dying. The crew members were very kind and helpful though. They walked around with plastic bags and paper towels, helping anyone they could. I only got nauseous, but Tanner and Trevor didn't fair so well.

We did see some beautiful sites as we went to the whales' feeding grounds.

We also got to see some dolphins. I can't remember the name of the dolphins, but they look more like sharks than dolphins!

Luckily, once we made it to the spot where the whales were the waves settled down and we were able to enjoy the whales. Devon woke up and he and I headed to the front of the boat to catch a glimpse. There was a chance that we wouldn't be able to see anything, because the fog was rolling in and visibility was low. We were not disappointed though, we were able to see two whales that the crew knows as Sword and Six. The whale tours work with a local university that does research on the whales. They have been following these whales for many years.

I was never able to see the front of the whales, but I saw the back half of their bodies quite a bit. It is amazing how big those animals are. Despite getting sick, we were all glad we had decided to go on the trip. Seeing the whales was very cool!

The return trip was much better on everyone, since the boat was going with the waves instead of against them. We were able to learn a little more about the whales and feel part of the baleen (their teeth). Upon returning to the dock we found out they had cancelled all the other trips for the rest of the day and through the end of our trip. I'm glad we braved the waves!

Once we got back on land we took a rest on some benches. Chad was pretty tired from all of his running around. The kids were just glad to be on land again. They got their appetites back and quickly started running around again!

While we were relaxing Trevor and Austin started jumping off of a little curb. I thought it was cute, so I took a picture.

This, of course, drew the other boys over. They all wanted a piece of the action!

Another thing we did while relaxing was take in the beauty of downtown Bar Harbor. As I have said before it is a really cute town. The stores are really well kept, the streets are clean and there were beautiful flowers everywhere!

Once we had recovered a bit we decided to go check out some of the carriage trails. One of the rangers told us about a waterfall we could see from a bridge. He said the bridge was constructed in such a way as to frame the waterfall. We knew we wanted to check it out and this was the perfect time. The weather was a little drizzly, but it made for a beautiful walk!

There are several bridges along the carriage roads and we had to stop and check some of them out. We stopped at one thinking it might be the waterfall bridge. We hiked below it and we were taken by the beautiful surroundings.

We enjoyed climbing along the rocks, but we soon discovered that the water coming down was not the waterfall we were looking for so we headed back up to the trail.

Just up the road we found the waterfall. I must admit I was a little disappointed. Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful, but I was expecting something on a grander scale.

We enjoyed hiking down to see how the bridge frames the waterfall. Everything was so picturesque!

On our way back down to carriage road the boys spotted a cool looking caterpillar. It was right in middle of the road, so the boys took it upon themselves to move it out of harms way. They picked it up using a stick and transported it to the side of the road. What gentlemen!!

Afterwards we got back in the car and drove around the park a bit. We saw some fun little harbors. I love all the colorful boats, oars and buoys!

Then we all started getting hungry. We were driving past Jordan Pond and spotted a restaurant, so we decided to give it a try. Talk about peaceful and relaxing. It was beautiful! We were seated next to a window overlooking Jordan pond. Chad was sweet and saved me the chair directly in front of the view! He's awesome! We could have stayed there the rest of the day!

We enjoyed a nice lunch with our beautiful relaxing view. One thing Jordan Pond is famous for is their popovers. Beginning in the late 1800's they began serving tea and popovers and the tradition is still going today. We all gave the popover rave reviews! They are delicious. I am sorry to say I did not take one picture of a popover, but they look like a roll that has exploded. They are huge. We loved them so much that we bought a popover pan and some mix to bring home with us! I did take a picture of my lunch - crab cakes and salad. It was as fresh and wonderful as it looks!

After staying in the restaurant as long as we could without being thrown out, we walked around the grounds a bit. What a beautiful day it had turned out to be. The pond looked so still and peaceful!

We got back in the car and decided to drive to the top of Cadillac Mt. It is 1,530 feet high. The day had cleared up, so we decided to go to the top and check out the view. Unfortunately, as we drove to the top the fog started to roll back in. We were able to see some beautiful views during the drive (in the second picture Bar Harbor is on the left hand side just between the two islands).

We headed back to Bar Harbor to continue our ice cream challenge. This time we went to Ben and Bill's Chocolate Emporium. We all picked out our favorites and enjoyed some great ice cream. The best part for the boys though, was sitting in the giant lobster chair just outside the door!

After our treat we made our way back to camp. Once it was dark we attended a presentation at our campsite by one of the rangers. It was about art that has been done on the national parks. It was very interesting and the boys actually enjoyed it. We went to the presentation because the boys had been working on the Junior Ranger program all week. One of the requirements was to attend a ranger led program. After the program the boys enjoyed talking with the ranger.

We headed back to our campsite and had another round of s'mores. There's just nothing like sitting around a crackling campfire eating s'mores and telling stories!

While we were sitting there eating our delicious treat I noticed how beautiful and bright the moon was. I had to try and capture it! I had fun trying to get the correct exposure.

I'm so glad we decided to camp instead of hang out in a hotel all week. There are so many things we would have missed.