Of course, the above shot immediately reminded me of the Knights who formerly said 'Ni', as I'm sure it did for you as well. In case it didn't, here you go.
With a solid morning already in the books, it was easy once Jordan got rolling & headed for the playground. She made another friend, although this relationship was a bit more challenging. She had a boy locked onto her like a satellite, but he was a bit younger and was some sort of Eastern European, judging by his (I'm not sure if it was his mom, Grandma, aunt, or if she was potentially a he, so from here on out she will be referred to as a relative) relative.
After she toyed with his emotions and crushed his dreams (get used to it kid), she was on to the balance beam and the frighteningly mutated plastic Ladybug thingy. Last gratuitous playground shot as I'm sure you've all had your fill.
Once this was out of her system, it was on to Acadia National Park, which happens to be about a mile down the road. We took the Jeep in, and the drive up Cadillac Mountain was like a mini version of Pikes Peak. Getting to the top, however, revealed 2 tour buses and herds of foreigners. We tried to carve out our own little private space, and then we learned that our daughter is part mountain goat. She took off on the rocks, and for the next 45 minutes she looked like she had mainlined Redbull and all of the Pixy Stix ever produced. Of course, as soon as Kimberly referenced her being like a goat, this popped into my head.
Here is the best sequence of photos I can use to explain her behavior. The first contains an angry Mom's wagging finger, warning her daughter what will happen if she doesn't turn around at once. Her father also joined in, fearing she had gotten in a bit over her head.
Her response left me equal parts proud and terrified, because I know where it originated. Me.
Yup - she bolted. And while I was feeling all cool that she had the confidence to scale whatever this rock mass was, I snapped out of it pretty quickly while envisioning her sliding all the way back down or falling off whatever was on the other side. It took me a few good minutes to catch her, she was like a spider monkey on this stuff.
We did finally get a decent group shot without any shirtless Bulgarians in the background, and the scenery from the top was pretty amazing. Judge for yourself.
Next up was a drive on the park 'ring road', a 27 mile loop across & around the island. I would hate to see this place on a weekend, as we came through mid-Monday and it was pretty packed. We found a decent spot to pull off just before Thunder Hole (uneventful, as high tide for our time here isn't until 7:58pm), and hiked through a small opening in the brush to find this view.
I probably won't win Father of the Year for deciding to take this route, but I was pretty pumped when I was not met with a "We should probably turn around". She was either galvanized or traumatized by the experience, but judging by the rest of the day, I think she may have had a breakthrough. This kid is pressurized adrenaline, unless she can't find her Dora blanket.
From here we headed into Bar Harbor to grab a quick bite. It's a pretty cool scene, kinda reminds me of Leland, MI in terms of the accessibility and harbor feel to the downtown. We grabbed lunch, and realized our (my) good fortune, as the only available parking space we could find was directly in front of Bar Harbor Brewing Co. We didn't eat there, but did stop by later for a Brother Adams Bragget Honey Ale, which will be gone shortly.
Upon returning to the park, we really only had one destination left. Jordan Pond, aptly named over 1 hundred years ago for our future 4 year old daughter. Here we are discussing the finer points of how our nation's forefathers were thinking of the Beute family that long ago.
When we returned to town (1 mile away), we figured that our best bet was to stop at the Ice Cream Shop/Mainely Meat/Pirate's Cove miniature golf complex just outside our campground entrance. Here is what the inside of an establishment called Mainely Meat looks like. I assure you, this place is money. The pulled pork BBQ is ridonkulous, as an out of touch old person like myself would say.
The nightcap occurred here, a franchise started in none other than Traverse City, MI. We dominated the Pirate's Cove 'fun' 18, carding 5 holes-in-one and one "I have to pee, let's let 4 groups play through us" moment. When all was said and done, a 10 cent cardboard pirate hat and even cheaper Jolly Roger flag made this kid's day.
One unfortunate casualty from today was discovered earlier, as I was removing the bikes from the Jeep. It would appear that between the downhill mountain bike trail from a few days earlier in Camden and my sheer mass, I'm afraid the strain was more than my bike could bear, as this is its current state. This severely hampers my chances of pulling off this. Hardly what I would like to be sporting as we start working our way toward the Kingdom trail network in East Burke, VT.
I guess I was a bit closer to a spectacular dismount than I had orginally thought. Either way, tomorrow brings our first real threat of rain in 8 days of travel, and we will likely be headed to Winter Harbor to visit the Schoodic Peninsula portion of Acadia, hopefully free from the herds of today's visit. More to come.
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