The Dynamic Duo

The night before, while I was luxuriating in my bath, Debi and her daughter had a little heart to heart about life, love and……………..marijuana. You heard me. Okay, we’ve got to back up a day to the charming little hostel in Rangely. While we sitting together in one of the bedrooms discussing the hike of the day, several of the boys started rolling cigarettes. My thought process went like this: “Is that marijuana? Would they do that so casually in front of us? No, as odd as it would seem that people would still roll their own tobacco cigarettes, that must be what they were doing.” Debi, however, who is a little more experienced in the ways of the world, assured me that it was indeed marijuana. And those boys were lighting up again the next morning! Debi expressed her concerns to Sara, and, when Sara could control her tears of mirth, she affirmed my conclusion; it was indeed tobacco. Debi made Sara promise not to divulge her error to the group until after we were well away. Will Sara keep her promise? Stay tuned………..
Okay, back to Bar Harbor. Acadia National ParkAcadia Park is right on the coast, and features Mount Desert Island, Cadillac Mountain and spectacular ocean views, as well as historic former summer homes of the rich and moderately famous. We had in mind to rent bikes and ride some of the 57 miles of carriage roads, built by John D. Rockefeller and his family, but since it was raining , we decided to take Oli’s Trolley, “The fun way to see our BEAUTIFUL ISLAND”. It is, of course, Bar Harbor and Acadia’s Original Trolley Sightseer. Oli’s Trolley That settled, we drove into the town of Bar Harbor and breakfasted at a charming little restaurant called Jordan’s, not be confuned with the Jordan’s Pond House Restaurant right in the state park, which we would see it on our tour. It is famous for its popovers, which, unfortunately, we did not get to sample, but our breakfast was very good. Jordan’s Pondhouse Then it was time to wander the oh-so-touristy shops, which were all having “end of the season” sales. I wanted to get John a gift, and ended up buying him a Casio G-force watch at a quaint little shop. Yes, I know they sell Casio watches anywhere, but I am at the point in my life where I think twice before buying kitschy souvenir-type items I will have to display or store (CAN’T throw them away), and it was on a good sale. When we passed The Opera House, an eclectic Internet Cafe, Sara informed us that we could find her there in an hour or so, and “see you later.” I guess she wanted to catch up on her email. Inside were well-worn board games, books and magazines, and, or course, computers. It was a very interesting place. My favorite store, however, at least from the outside, was BARK HARBOR, catering to pets, as you may imagine. Bark Harbor (Ultra showed me how to insert links, and now I can’t seem to stop.)

UltraMom in front of “Bark Harbor”

The tour bus was not crowded, so we each had a window seat to ourselves. The brochure described a “2 ½ hour, fully narrated tour”, and the tour guide/bus driver really took his narrating duties seriously. We heard about the days when the area was mostly a resort playground for those who could afford summer homes. Changing times and the great forest fire of 1947 were largely responsible for evolving the area into what it is today. We made a couple of stops where we could get out, take photos and stretch our legs. At one stop, I daringly ducked under a warning tape to snap a photo of “Thunder Hole.” The guide pointed out one historic home that a lovesick tycoon built for his would-be bride. He was trying to tempt her to cross the ocean from her home in England, but she was terrified of ships and water. Finally, she was persuaded to make the voyage on a new ship that was said to be unsinkable. You guessed it; it was the Titanic. She perished, and, heartbroken, he never lived in the house he built for her.

The dangerous Thunder Hole

Sometimes, the tour guide was so caught up in the story he was telling that he made a wrong turn, or forgot to tell us about the places we were seeing. One story was particularly long, and involved a lobsterman who lost his wife in a boating accident. When her body was found, it was covered in lobsters. They asked the lobsterman what should be done with the body, and he said, “Set her out again”, the local jargon for resetting a lobster trap. I guess it is a local folklore, joke sort of story, but it left us saying “Huh?” Really long, and not that funny!

Sara, with panoramic view of Atlantic Ocean

That evening, we decided to make use of the kitchen facilities in our cabin. At the local grocery store, we purchased ingredients for a veritable feast. Sara is a recovering vegetarian, so her choices were mainly in the vegetable/bread/cheese food groups. I say “recovering” because while on the trail, she had found it necessary to add a bit of protein to her diet. The boys joked about Sara’s definition of “meat’. Choice bites of steak, with no fat were NOT meat. Certain parts of the beef jerky also qualified as non-meat, with the rest going to Honey. Debi and I who are total omnivores, had steak, but also heartily partook of Sara’s garlic bread, tomato, cheese & oil platter, asparagus and mushrooms. And I think she had a little of the “non-meat” portion of Debi’s steak. It was a fantastic meal. Of course, after dinner, more baseball.
We arose early the next day, which was Sara’s 23rd birthday. We could easily have spent a week in Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park and not run out of things to do, but we were eager to “get back on the trail”..

TO BE CONTINUED: (I think we may actually get on the trail in the next chaper)....