Acadia Adventure

Our big summer vacation this year was to Acadia National Park.
It is where H and I got engaged and where H and her family had some of their best vacations. It is also one of the prettiest places on the east coast with a ton of things to do.
It was a trailer trip; we were bringing all three kayaks, all three bikes, every bit of associated gear, all of our camping kit, and a weeks worth of food. It was one of the easiest packing jobs I have ever done. Packing things in the trailer has one simple rule, put the heavy stuff in front of the axel. To accommodate the pumpkin we did have to move the bikes to the roof of the car. We just have not found J-hooks that fit Aries hull, so it takes up more space than it should.

We stayed at Mt. Desert Campground at the top of Somme’s Sound. It is a great spot if you get a good site. We got a giant site right across from the boat docks. It didn’t have and ocean view, but that was fine. It looked like a lot of the ocean view sites were smaller and saw a lot of traffic.
The docks are one best features of the campground. We kept the barge and the pumpkin tied up for quick access to paddling. They are also a great place for the kids to hang out and catch crabs.
For activities we did a lot of things in the National Park. We picked blue berries, hung out a Thunder Hole, hiked Flying Mountain, climbed some rocks, and did a ranger led activity to discover how Sand Beach formed. Bug earned her Junior Ranger badge.
The best program, in my opinion, was the star watching program on Sand Beach. We had a nice clear night and the rangers used laser pointers to show us the different features of the night sky. They also had great stories to go along with each feature.
We spent time on the water as well.I got a few chances to paddle and we did a family paddle. On our last day we took a schooner cruise. Being on a giant schooner was pretty cool. The only wild life we spotted was a big dog that Bug spent the entire trip befriending.
We came back tired, but ready for the work and the start of school.