Maine and Mount Desert Island

Saturday

There is nothing better than enjoying the Vermont outdoors and weather, watching Georgia beat up on a ranked team (South Carolina) while enjoying chorizo hash.

The game was a 41 – 17 blowout. Hmmm

Sunday

We spent an easy day just exploring the area, stopping at many antique shops.

Monday

Another easy day, with no plans.  We began getting ready for the run across to Maine.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a long travel day.  We drove through the remainder of Vermont, disregarding the GPS and going old school, using maps.  The GPS wanted us to take the interstates, which were way out-of-the-way and were not as interesting as traveling the back roads.  We took VT 15 east to West Danville, than Highway 2 all the way through New Hampshire and into Maine, passing through a lot of towns that were established in the late 1700s.  We went through Bangor in the afternoon and took Maine 1A to Elsworth then finally to Maine 3/Mount Desert Island, where we would be camping for seven days. After setting up camp, we took a quick drive into Bar Harbor and quickly found out there was a lot of road construction going on.  Many roads were closed and detours are prevalent.  It seems these same roads were under construction last year, but that just could be me.

Wednesday

Cathy and I walked around Eagle Lake, which would be part of the race course on Saturday, just to check it out.  There was a 500+ foot climb at the far end of the lake, at about the midway point (seven miles) of the total distance.  Other than that it was to be a beautiful course, with a run on the Rockefeller Carriage Trails while in the park.

Cathy is on the boardwalk over some swampy, sensitive areas between the Carriage Road and Bubble Pond.

Here are some views of Bar Harbor from the top of Cadillac Mountain.  The shores of Desert Island are dotted with loads of inlets, bays, harbors, sounds and (of course) many smaller islands. This area is a kayakers paradise.

Two cruise ships were anchored in Frenchman Bay with Bar Harbor in the foreground.

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There is a beautiful view of Eagle Lake from the roadway up to Cadillac Mountain.  We will run around this lake on our run Saturday, a distance of a little over six miles.  Dana arrived late Thursday night and we were excited to see her.

Friday

We started our day with a walk to Bar Island, accessible only during low tide.  It was about a half-mile walk on the Bar Island Trail and then a nother half-mile walk uphill to this viewpoint, overseeing the town of Bar Harbor from a little different perspective. You can see a portion of the mud and gravel flats at the right side of this photo.

After getting back to the main island, Dana and I bicycled down the road from Cadillac Mountain, about seven miles total, then took a ride of the trail portion of the race course, circling the lake.

Cathy waited on a bench beside the trail, enjoying her book while we did the ride around the lake.  Once we finished this ride, we picked up our race numbers and had a seafood lunch downtown.

Saturday

Dana and I posed pre-race,  with the sun just starting to rise and the fog horns blowing.

Our race took us through downtown Bar Harbor then up and into the park.  This is the bridge, located within the park where we crossed under Loop Road, at about 1.9 miles. The fog was starting to lift and the sun was coming out.

This is Breakneck Pond which we ran alongside for about a quarter-mile before crossing Eagle Loop Road and starting our six+ mile loop of Eagle Lake.

This is Eagle Lake, as seen trailside.  We were almost around the lake at this point and ready to head up the highway, under the bridge, a different bridge,  and back into town. This is at about the ten-mile mark.

The best part of the race was the finish!  Dana ran a very good time and beat me by. . . a whole bunch.  That’s Dana smoking it in pink!

Finally, I came through the woods to the finish line.  Graham rushed out to meet me but failed to really recognize me (maybe the sweat, stink and exhaustion)?

Dana came out to reassure Graham that he found the right person, then helped us get to the finish line.

Graham figured out that by lifting his feet, the run was easier.  Wow, I should have tried that earlier.

The best part of any race was the finish.  The young’ns were tuckered out, as it was a long wait for them for me to finish.

Dana had her own personal cheer squad, Graham, Jason and Mackenzie waiting for her! Graham had some difficulty looking into the sun so he borrowed Dana’s sunglasses.

We relaxed poolside then went to dinner at the Chart House, a local restaurant that was packed every time we have passed it, so we decided to give it a shot.  It was halfway between our campsite and The Philbin’s hotel and was very good.  Mackenzie appropriated my Pikes Peak Hat.  (But I had her shoes).

Sunday

Jason and Dana and the children met us on the Bar Island Trail at low tide, 10:32 AM.  We had about one and a half hours to play here before the area was again under water. That is Bar Island in the distance.

This is the view looking directly across Bar Harbor to the very large waterfront estates.

Graham is looking for additions to his growing rock collection.

Mackenzie helped Graham gather specimens.  Any rejects were promptly redeposited into the water by Jason.

The rocks kept coming, and Jason kept throwing redepositing them back.

Mackenzie asked me to take a photo with my camera.  She took this view from across the water.

Graham, not to be left out, also asked to take a photo.  This is his photo, a little different composition.  I may have some competition with these two!

Here is a group shot of the gang.  Graham was showing his “guns”.

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Graham did manage to sneak into the shot at the last moment and Mackenzie requested a reshoot, but alas, it was time for them to head back to Connecticut.

                                                                                              Photo by Mackenzie Photography, LLC.