Did You Know?

Sarasota, FL       High:   85    Low:  65

It's National Park Week, April 20-28th. Free admission to your national parks from April 22-April 26th. It's been awhile since we've been in a national park. There are 401 parks coast to coast, so most people are not too far from being able to visit one.

After almost three years of traveling this beautiful country, we wanted to share our absolutely favorite national parks of the ones we have visited....We haven't seen a lot of them, like the Drevlow family the park service posted on Facebook this week, who has visited more than 200 national parks and earned 1,696 junior ranger badges!  But here are the ones that stand out in our minds....

Deer Brook Bridge, Acadia National Park

1.) Acadia National Park...Mt. Desert Island, Maine....We spent seven weeks in the Bar Harbor area last summer. It was fabulous. Sparky rode many of Acadia's carriage roads on her bike, got lost on some, and repeated rides on others, they were so beautiful. With all the wonderful stone architecture that's there, it's one of the most interesting parks and "classic" national parks, we think.....It's all about 20th century visions for future generations, and it's hand hewn stone bridges are spectacular!

2.) Yellowstone National Park....the world's largest collection of geysers and America's first national park established in 1987...We loved Yellowstone's rainbow colored pools of hot water and microscopic plant life that give the pools their colors....

3.) Yosemite National Park...waterfalls, waterfalls waterfalls! And hiking, hiking, hiking!

4.) The Everglades....

In addition, we've been to Zion National Park, the Grand Canyon, Glacier National Park (with the famous Red Bus Tour), the Grand Tetons (moose!), the Badlands, Mammoth Cave National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Olympia National Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Sequoia National Park, Gulf Islands Seashore National Park, and the Everglades National Park (gators on the sidewalk bike trail at Shark Valley!) When we look back at our blogs and photos, thinking about all these places, we've amazed at the diversity within our country and amazed that we saw all these! 

Did you know…America’s national parks include more than:

• 84 million acres of spectacular scenery, historic landmarks and cultural treasures
• 17,000 miles of trails
• 43,000 miles of shoreline
• 27,000 historic and prehistoric structures
• 100 million museum items
• 12,000 campsites

This country is a pretty spectacular place to explore some amazing geology, history, and culture. We hope that if you are thinking about RVing and traveling, you'll make it a reality! In case you want to know where all the parks are, here's a handy dandy chart of the parks in the U.S.

State	National Park	Year Established
Alaska (8)	Denali	1917
	Gates of the Arctic	1980
	Glacier Bay	1980
	Katmai	1980
	Kenai Fjords	1980
	Kobuk Valley	1980
	Lake Clark	1980
	Wrangell - St. Elias	1980
American Samoa	American Samoa	1988
Arizona (3)	Grand Canyon	1919
	Petrified Forest	1962
	Saguaro	1994
Arkansas	Hot Springs	1921
California (8)	Channel Islands	1980
	Death Valley	1994
	Joshua Tree	1994
	Kings Canyon	1940
	Lassen Volcanic	1916
	Redwood	1968
	Sequoia	1890
	Yosemite	1890
Colorado (4)	Black Canyon of the Gunnison	1999
	Great Sand Dunes	2004
	Mesa Verde	1906
	Rocky Mountain	1915
Florida (3)	Biscayne	1980
	Dry Tortugas	1992
	Everglades	1947
Hawaii (2)	Haleakala	1916
	Hawaii Volcanoes	1916
Idaho	Yellowstone	1872
Kentucky	Mammoth Cave	1941
Maine	Acadia	1919
Michigan	Isle Royale	1940
Minnesota	Voyageurs	1975
Montana (2)	Glacier	1910
	Yellowstone	1872
Nevada	Great Basin	1986
New Mexico	Carlsbad Caverns	1930
North Carolina	Great Smoky Mountains	1934
North Dakota	Theodore Roosevelt	1978
Ohio	Cuyahoga Valley	2000
Oregon	Crater Lake	1902
South Carolina	Congaree	2003
South Dakota (2)	Badlands	1978
	Wind Cave	1903
Tennessee	Great Smoky Mountains	1934
Texas (2)	Big Bend	1944
	Guadalupe Mountains	1966
U.S. Virgin Islands	Virgin Islands	1956
Utah (5)	Arches	1971
	Bryce Canyon	1928
	Capitol Reef	1971
	Canyonlands	1964
	Zion	1919
Virginia	Shenandoah	1935
Washington (3)	Mount Rainier	1899
	North Cascades	1968
	Olympic	1938
Wyoming (2)	Grand Teton	1929
	Yellowstone	1872

And here's a cute story from the National Park Service FB page, one of their favorite letters from a young, impressionable future conservationist, maybe?

Here's a great story from Yosemite!

The rangers that answer the phone and mail in our public information office receive a lot of letters, but this might be one of the best in recent years.


(Text of the letter:
Dear Park Rangers
I am a Yosemite Junior Ranger. I went to Yosemite recently and accidentally brought home two sticks.
I know I'm not supposed to take things from the park, so I am sending them back. Please put them in nature.

Thank you,
Evie)

Happy National Park Week! and happy, safe travels to you, wherever you are!

Can You Believe This??????

Elkhart, IN     High:  66   Low:  50

It's a miracle! Sort of...Sparky and Eldo got their usual monthly mail from Alternative Resources, the mail forwarding service they use out of Sioux Falls, SD. Inside amongst the usual statements and bills there was a small package with the return address of Acadia Dispatch on the front. Sparky started getting excited!   Inside the package....DRUM ROLL PLEASE.....Sparky's lost set of car keys that she dropped somewhere on the Giant Slide Loop Trail at Acadia National Park about five weeks ago!

WOO-HOO! Sparky started yelling, "ELDY! YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS!!!! It's the KEYS! THEY FOUND OUR CAR KEYS!!!!" Can you believe that???? What are the chances of somebody finding them before the year was out, in the grass, on the trail somewhere before the snow hit, before the rain totally rendered the automatic lock useless? They still work great! Sparky called the dispatch office immediately, curious about where they turned up to see if the office knew, but the lady who mailed the keys wasn't there.. Gonna call tomorrow and see if a location was mentioned...just curious!

The rest of the day was anti-climactic....Eldy got a new pair of shoes from the New Balance store in Granger, IN.  He's the kind of guy that will wear holes in his soles before he breaks down and gets a new pair. And he wonders why his back hurts and his knees hurt! And then, when he gets his new shoes and his feet sigh with relief and say, "Oh, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!"  he wonders why he waited so long to get new ones! (Because good shoes cost an arm AND a leg! explains E.) The New Balance Store takes your old shoes and donates them to a good cause.

From there, we hit the Apple Store...always an interesting place with all kinds of people in there.  Sparky loved the kids' table where they have round balls for the kids to sit on while they play on iPads. A round ball helps kids' ground themselves with their center of balance and it helps them focus and pay better attention while they sit on them! Way to go, Apple!

We upgraded our software on our computers so we didn't have to use our own bandwidth. Sparky upgraded her computer to Mountain Lion, the latest operating system for Macs hoping to keep the level of security high enough to not have to purchase anti virus software. Apparently, the operating system now makes software companies get permission to access the operating system to help keep the hackers out. If Apple doesn't recognize the software company, it could conceivably block the software installation. What you do after that happens, Sparky isn't sure! It hasn't happened yet!  Speaking of apples, how about them Apples? Guess the iPhone 5 is going to boost the economy just about all on its own. Wish Sparky had bought some Apple stock way back when. (So does 85% of the rest of the country laughs E.).. That's as far as Sparky is going to get into the economy discussion. Back out she comes!

Eldy just got his iphone 4S upgraded on the operating system, and now Siri, the "personal voice assistant" has been updated as well. He's busy asking her what the scores are on various football games and when Notre Dame plays again. He asked about the Michigan/Notre Dame game knowing full well the outcome and Siri gave a quarter by quarter score card!

A dinner at Texas Roadhouse for the 7.99 Monday thru Thursday special  4:00-6:00 PM (several meat choices to pick from, salad, cinnamon butter with fresh hot dinner rolls, a salad and a potato) topped off the day with a special guest appearance here at Texas Roadhouse. Eldy keeps saying each time we come to Elkhart, "I wonder when I'm going to bump into someone I know here in Elkhart?" Tonight, he kept looking at the guy sitting behind us. It turns out that it was Bill Beck, Eldy's mentor from his first main job, 46 years ago (!) at Blessings Music. Bill is president of MSI, a company here in Elkhart. Bill was shocked to run into Eldy and it took him a little time to remember, guess he didn't recognize Eldy without so much hair! :-)  They had a great, although too brief chat, but Eldy plans to look him up again soon.....Bill was a great mentor and friend to Eldy in his young days, and taught him a lot about life. Eldy really looks up to him and appreciates the life lessons he received from this great guy.....

Another great day in the life of retirement......

Yes, Sparky, There Really ARE Moose in Acadia!

South Haven, MI   High: 59   Low:  38!!!!!  It's raining cats and dogs today...too bad it's not moose.. BUT WAIT!

TIME OUT! STOP THE PRESSES! (Hate to tell you, Sparky, but that happened a long time ago...) THERE ARE MOOSE IN ACADIA!!!!  This was such an earth shaking event for Sparky, that she is devoting a small blog to this topic today....It's earthshaking because there are locals who have lived in Bar Harbor/Acadia area for 30 years or more who have NEVER seen a moose on the island. Acadia is on the island, Mount Desert Island, and the moose would have to swim a large body of water to get to the island, which is entirely possible. It's just nobody ever sees them. A few park rangers may have, but they are reluctant to tell you that.

Here's proof: A moose was spotted IN Acadia National Park, this week...Photos are courtesy of Maine-ly Ours Gift Shop and Fun Rental and were on Facebook. Lena Marie Hatch and her husband, a woodsman, took these photos and graciously allowed me to use them...This was a first time for him seeing moose in the park!

This bull moose was first spotted along the side of the Park Loop Road...

Then it entered the visitor's center area.....














and proceeded to climb the stairs!

And then off it wandered into the brush...Unbelievable!

Some other locals commented a few years back that there IS a small resident population of moose, about five or six. One gentleman with the last name of Dorr (related to the "father" of Acadia, we bet!?) said the moose frequent the dump, and the Seal Cove Road area...Hmph! Wish Sparky had known about that, we would have visited the dump and Seal Cove more frequently instead of traipsing all around the northern counties of Maine looking for moose! It turns out they were right in our backyard! It's amazing that they remain so "invisible" with the thousands and thousands of visitors to Acadia each year. But in this case, this young (?) bull moose decided to make himself known to the public! Thanks for Mainely Ours Gift Shop and Outdoor Fun Rental for letting me share these photos!

Now, we HAVE to go back to Acadia next summer! (SIGH!.from E.) Eldo doesn't like to plan that far ahead, but he knows how much Sparky loves Acadia, and being such the sweetheart he is, he will probably take his Sparky back there.....(Nothing like putting a little public pressure to persuade a guy, says E. We'll see......)

Sixth Annual Canon in the Parks Photography at Acadia

Bar Harbor, ME   High: 78  Low:60

Sparky was really excited to see this FREE workshop event show up at Acadia. Last year, they were not able to hold the event due to the tsunami and the fallout from that affected Canon to the point they couldn't fund it. So, thankfully, this year, it came to Acadia. The group of instructors had been to Grand Teton, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and others and now Acadia for their last stop. It was a young group of instructors, but they sure knew their stuff!

They had a lot of instructors available--around nine. There were no advance reservations or calling ahead. You just show up about fifteen minutes to a half hour before the starting time and sign in. They have three time slots each day at each location in Acadia. Today the location was Jordan Pond House. They brought 75% of their camera line and lenses with them. If you wanted to try the Canon equipment, you could leave your driver's license and a credit card to check out the camera and lens. No fee, they just hold your credit card and license so they get their equipment back! Sparky asked what kind of price ranges the cameras and lenses fell into, but they were not able to discuss that. It looked like expensive equipment. The group that came to take the classes today was a very experienced group for the most part, and they were batting around models number, setups, and lenses like major league afficionados! Sparky was a little intimidated, but that didn't last long.

They then divided the group into beginner, intermediate, and advanced groups. Sparky chose the beginner group because she really doesn't know her SLR Nikon 3100 very well, nor does she understand F stops and aperture settings and ISO stuff. There were about ten people in the beginner group and EVERYBODY had a Canon except for Sparky. Which was ok, you don't have to have a Canon to take the class. But it would have helped. Sparky had to wait patiently to get help after instructions were given to the Canon group, then the instructor had to take a look at her camera and figure out what to tell her. But we got along.....We stayed at the Jordan Pond location the whole time for the hour and a half class.

Sparky learned some neat things about the SLR...In particular, the F stop thing.....Chuck Turner, the insructor, (in his early twenties, maybe?) gave us an analogy that really helped. He said to think of F stops like a loaf of bread placed in front of you. A low F stop, like 5.6, is going to focus on 5-6 slices of bread clearly, then anything after that is going to blur the background.  A high F stop, like 22, is going to focus on all 22 slices of bread, and bring in a lot more details of the background from the forefront to the rear of your setting. AHA! Sparky now understands a LOT better! Here is a practice photos at the right with trying to do what the instructor taught us about F stops. This was taken with the low number F stop setting (5.6) and a 55-200 lens. Got a lot more to learn, but I like this photo...

We also learned about white balance, something Sparky has a lot of trouble with, getting the balance right. Chuck talked about how to move white balance settings up and down to correct various lighting situations. And, we talked about ISO settings...lower is better in most instances as a general rule. Chuck really encourage us to get off the "automatic" setting and start playing around with taking photos, experimenting! That's the only way to really learn how to handle your camera, that and reading the  manual. HA! Sparky had read her manual several times, purchased the "Dummy" book, read the "Missing Manual" series and STILL has trouble figuring out things. Being a retired special ed teacher, Sparky thinks some of her learning "quirks" may have come from teaching in that field too long, OR she has some learning difficulties herself that are more evident when she is trying to learn something or find her way around places! (Whew! Glad SHE said that, says E.) It's probably the latter...

Sparky feels the need to go back and practice some more. She needs LOTS of repetition and reminders of how to use her camera, so she thinks she will sign up for another class, and maybe another!...There is one more location where a series of classes are going to be offered at future dates, it will be at Sieur de Monts Nature Center, coming up later this week. It appears that the basic instruction will be the same, that groups of people will be divided up according to skills, but each instructor offers his/her own take on the information being presented. There are no "topics" for these classes, just skill levels. Sparky will check out another beginner class and report back. Stay tuned!

But first, we have to leave Mount Desert Narrows...Someone is coming in tomorrow that has requested our site. They will be on it for four days...So we are going to Abbot, Maine for those four days, and then we will be back to Mount Desert Island for one last hurrah! Ten more days at Acadia, and then we will be leaving for Michigan soon.....See you later!

I Can Hear a Bullfrog Calling Me....Jessup Path Acadia

Bar Harbor, ME   High: 73  Low:  65

It was a drizzly foggy day, but we wanted to get out and get some exercise...The Jessup Path to Great Meadow Loop is a wonderful, easy hike, a "lollipop" type of trail...If you did the entire loop, it would be a 3.1 mile hike through woods, wetlands, and fields. The wetlands have a nice long boardwalk for that part of the walk, and part of the trail is gravel, making part of the hike wheelchair accessible.

Because we didn't have our maps with us today, we just weren't really sure where to hook up with the Great Meadow Trail to complete the loop. So we started at the Sieur de Mont trailhead, made a right, and first walked through a heavy, lush forest of grasses and birches. The boardwalk IS the Jessup Path and after it ends, it  runs into another trail that intersects it, Hemlock Road, then turns into a gravel based trail continuing to the Great Meadow Loop.

We continued on to where the trail ends briefly at the Park Loop Road. We didn't know that to continue the loop, you have to cross the Park Loop Road and pick up the Great Meadow Trail to continue on clockwise. Had we continued on the Great Meadow Loop, we would have seen the Kebo Valley Golf course, two cemeteries near brooks, and the outskirts of Bar Harbor.  The clouds of fog were rolling in, the mist was getting heavier.

We decided to turn back at the Park Loop Road junction. If you take this hike, you can see Champlain Mountain to the left, and Dorr Mountain to the right at this point. We traveled back to the Sieur de Mont parking lot, for a total distance of about a mile and a quarter. On the way back, Sparky stopped to take photos of a "bullfrog calling me" (some song has that refrain in it, doesn't it?) in the marsh.

This path has some historical background as George Dorr, the "father of Acadia", first created this path over 100 years ago as part of a garden path that connected to downtown Bar Harbor. This trail has been recently re-created as part of the Friends of Acadia and National Park Forest Service efforts to give residents and visitors the opportunity to walk between the towns, mountains, ponds and seas, just as they did hundreds of years ago. People didn't think anything of a walk that would be five to twenty miles a day back then. Sparky and Eldo have a LO-O-O-N-G way to go before they would think or be able to walk that many miles. Now, put Sparky on a hybrid bike, that would NOT be a problem! Some day we're gonna get ourselves in better shape. What a better place to do it, than Acadia. No excuses here, for not hiking and biking if you are physically able. So many choices, so little time left....Another reason to return again........

Beautiful Bridges

Bar Harbor, ME    High 72: Low 59

One of the most beautiful parts of Acadia are the granite bridges and crushed stone carriage roads that are all over Acadia National Park. Most of them are in the park, but some are private roads. You can bike or walk or horseback ride the carriage roads that are designated for these. The Wildwood Stables, off Park Loop Road, offers different horse drawn carriage tours and one of them is a two hour narrated tour of the Rockefeller bridges. Adult tour price for the bridge tour is 24.50 a person, and well worth it! Tours are in an open carriage but shady most of the way, you'll want to pick a day with nice weather to head out.....

On the bridge tour, you see three bridge structures, get to ride on private carriage roads, and see the gate towers that allowed passages from one carriage road to another. There used to be bells on the end of the sticks that carriage drivers would ring with their whips and the landowner's cook or housekeeper would come out and open the gates to allow passage through.

The horses that pull the carriages are beautiful. We're not sure if these are Clydesdales or Belgians, but these are the stable's horses.

This is the carriage that we rode in. There are others that are really interesting and have the passengers all facing the front.

We had a delightful narrated tour from Mitchell, a spry 83 year young gentleman, who brought his own Belgians to pull our carriage, Don and Chip (?). Doesn't he look terrific for 83?

Mitchell wasn't in any hurry to rush through the tour. He would stop often and during that time we would get passed by one or more other carriage drivers leading tours. Which was fine, because he took his time, told us lots of stories and much more detail about John D. Rockefeller. The tour was really more about John D. Rockefeller than it was about seeing the bridges. We saw three bridges and one of the gatehouses in our two hour tour.

We learned a LOT about the granite carving process, how precise and particular "John D." was about constructing the seventeen bridges and single lane carriage roads. Every granite block in the bridges are precisely cut and fit to perfection. The radius on the bridge arches is measured to exactness, the roads are a precise 16 feet or 20 feet wide, no more, no less. He made them single lane as to prevent the automobile from taking over the island roads inside the park. Rockefeller had his construction teams lay a layer of pitch over blue clay across the bridge sections before laying the granite blocks, thus weatherproofing the bridges, something very innovative for its time.

The drilling process was an amazing story in itself, how one man held a drill bit with his HANDS and a team of three other men took turns hammering the drill with mauls in sequence. If a guy missed, the drill man could lose a hand. How men built these bridges in the twenties and thirties without the use of all the technology and machines we have today is a testament to a hardworking generation that built some amazing monuments! We saw evidence of the drill bits and lines downward left behind in the stone cliffs as we passed along the roads.

Every one of the granite blocks marking the sides of the carriage roads, or "Rockefeller's teeth" as some people call them, has a rod anchoring it to the stone beneath.

We learned how concerned Rockefeller was about preserving the lands for future generations, how he was a naturalist above being a rich man, how determined he was that the land be preserved after he was gone, how generous he was in giving his land acquisitions--over 10,000 acres-- to keep the park in its natural state as much as possible.

Rockefeller along with two other men, Charles Eliot, president of Harvard University, and George B. Dorr, a leading conservationist, and others, designed and built more than 50 miles of broken stone carriage roads. Along the roads are magnificent hand made granite bridges and fabulous scenery.

The tour today took us along some of the private carriage roads, some that are only for hikers and carriages--no bikes allowed. At one bridge, we stopped and got out of the carriage to explore the Cobblestone Bridge, the first of Rockefeller's bridges, built in 1913, and the one that has a totally different look from the rest. It's made of cobbles for the main part of it along with the granite blocks. Considering all his bridges were constructed in the early 19th century, the excellent condition of the bridges some 80-100 years later shows how well they were constructed.

The stories Mitchell told about John D. Rockefeller made you want to go out and read more about him. He was a remarkable man, WAY ahead of his time as far as preserving this beautiful area of Mount Desert Island. Thanks to him, we have amazing places that remain unspoiled and unpolluted by cars. When you are in a carriage ride and going back deep into the forest, you are going back in time to a place that remains as it was back in the early 1920's.....

Mitchell was a delightful guide, he was so enjoyable to listen to, and he had a great sense of humor, which really added to the tour. At one point, Sparky asked, "Have you lived here in Maine all your life?" His reply, "Not yet!" He is a "Mainer", through and through, having no desire to live anywhere else but Maine. He lives about 80 miles away from the park. The stables call him in as an extra hand during the summer when they need help. He brings in his own team of Belgians who seemed to be bigger than the Belgians at Wildwood.

We loved our carriage ride tour today and highly recommend it!

Just Call Me "Gabby"!

Trenton, Maine   Acadia National Park   High: 77  Low: 61

Time to get off our duffs and onto the bikes, we've been here almost a week and haven't hit the carriage roads for a bike ride yet! Sparky wanted to go back and see this scene from 2010...It's on the Eagle Lake Carriage Road ride...Two years ago, we did the carriage road bike ride of 6+ miles late in the day....

Today, we did it early in the morning about 8:30 AM...There were LOTS of people already out and about and on the trails, but we managed to snag a parking spot for our car. It's Sunday, and so there are more people than normal getting out on the trails. There seemed to be LOTS of people in scooters and wheelchairs, both on the trails and at a boat launch, getting ready to go kayaking on this beautiful day today. That's so great, that these trails are handicap accessible for anybody wanting to be out in this beautiful national park. The trails are very wide and well built and well maintained.

When I went back to find the photo I wanted to remember, I was shocked to see how little I used to write. I've gotten really gabby with my posts! I don't know if that's a good thing or not...guess I'm putting in more details than I used to, with the idea that somebody might want to know more about a particular bike ride or tour, other than "it was a great tour!". Or that we might want to have more details in order to remember as we get older, haha....

Awesome bridges on carriage roads in Acadia

I notice our complaints were the same..."we need to get in shape to be doing this!" Guess we sort of swing back and forth between doing a LOT of physical stuff, so when we come to these elevated hilly rides they will be easier to do, or we vegetate depending on where we are staying and don't do enough to stay physically active. We struggled a bit today with the elevation coming right at the initial start of the ride. We had to get off the bikes and walk a bit, which is fine..MOVING the body is a good thing whether you are walking or riding!

On our ride today, we spotted this boardwalk trail through the woods...It was beautiful!

Sparky talked to a ranger later after we were done, and he said the Eagle Lake carriage road is one of the more level ones (!). Really? You could have fooled us!  I looked back at our blog for July, 2010, and we said back then, what one person's idea of "easy" is, is VERY subjective. Whew! At least we did it! And we're going to do some more, right, Eldo?  RIGHT, ELDO? He says, "Right!" But right now, he's recuperating on the couch...  :-)

Sparky rode her bike a lot in the month we were in Texas, so she's a little ahead in the fitness department at the moment.  But hey, we both think it feels great to be out in the fresh air and have so many choices of getting fit and in better shape here in Maine. Sometimes that's hard to do when you are out on the road full time. We've stayed in lots of campgrounds where the roads aren't safe to bike on, where there aren't any hiking trails, and we've missed that! So here's to better days ahead and getting in shape! YEAH! (Eldo heaves a big sigh......)

A Very Special Day--My 62nd Birthday!

Trenton, Maine   Narrows Too campground   High:  84   Low: 60

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! Hugs to everybody who follows us and reads along now and then!

I love birthdays...I loved planning special birthdays for my daughters when they were growing up. I loved celebrating with friends when they turned special birthdays...like 30, or 40, or 50. I love celebrating my own birthday! It's like, HEY! I made it through another year. I had many rough times when I was younger, both growing up and as a single mom. Somehow, birthdays were a little ray of sunshine that brightened a dreary day, or a tough period I was going through. When I was single, I would buy myself flowers, it didn't matter to me that flowers seldom lasted very long, I was just happy looking at them...And after the kids grew up and left home, I celebrated my birthdays with friends. Have some great memories of going to the Japanese restaurant, Hana Yori for my birthday, in Mishawaka, IN, of going to Tosi's Italian restaurant in Stevensville, MI, for birthday celebrations, when I was living back in the northern Indiana area. Eating out at a nice restaurant was one of my most favorite ways to celebrate ANYBODY'S birthday! (AHA! No wonder she likes to eat out!) And now, I have Eldy to help me celebrate. And we celebrate birthdays all over the country! How serendipitous is that? (E. explains, that's my granddaughter's favorite word of the week that she learned while she was with us.) Lucky and blessed, that we are!

So, when my birthday comes along, I make sure everybody knows about it! I talk about what I'm going to do on my birthday, where I want to eat, what I'd wish for if I had some extra birthday money. Hint, hint...I throw out gift ideas just for fun, nothing really expensive, I just don't want to get something that I have no use for, or don't really want, like the time my first husband gave me a vacuum cleaner because he thought my domestic skills weren't up to snuff. (Eldy is remaining wisely silent here...) Eldy won't ever forget my birthday, because I won't let him! :-)

Up and at it early this morning, I was, because it's time to celebrate, all day!  I get a "Happy birthday and love you" text from Eldy, who went and washed our really dirty Honda, so that was sweet! Next, he tells me we are going to "Jeannie's" for breakfast, in downtown Bar Harbor. Yes, there really is a "Jeannie's" in Bar Harbor, and they have "bearylicious great Maine breakfasts"! I had my favorite...a breakfast burrito, and man, was it delicious! It had homemade salsa on it...Yum!  (I swear, she's part Hispanic, as much as she loves Mexican food! says E.)

We saw this truck outside the restaurant...Boy, have those guys come a long way! (An obscure reference to an old TV show called "Sanford and Son")...I liked that show....

We walked around town for awhile.....admired the beautiful little park in the center of town that overlooks the harbor...

We checked out the price of lobster, which is still high at this particular restaurant. That's surprising, because the lobster catch is plentiful around here, and local talk is about how to get more people to eat lobster, as the supply well exceeds the demand! There are some fantastic lobster dinner specials at the "lobster pound" local eateries spread out all over town. We've seen a soft shelled lobster dinner can be had for about 7.99 so we're going to make sure Eldy gets some lobster soon. But, for now, this restaurant is not worrying about their pricing.

Bar Harbor has some really cool restaurants and shops that are fun to go into and walk around...Sparky got a pressed penny for her collection, which she missed the first time here at Bar Harbor.

We walked down onto the docks, past this open window...It reminded me of old TV shows where kids would sneak a hot pie cooling off an open window. The Andy Griffith Show, maybe?

Two years ago, we ate at another Grumpy's, on another part of Mount Desert Island at one of the small harbors. I remember they had a fantastic breakfast served outside the little harbor. It was wonderful! We checked out the whale sightings on the whale boat tour. Sparky LOVES seeing the whales and never gets tired of going to look for them. Not one of the cheaper touristy things to do, but there might come a day where you don't see whales any more, so why not see them every chance you can!?

Later in the day, we went over to Acadia and drove around getting more information about carriage tours of the bridges, and hiking trails. Here's an entrance to one of the carriage roads.

And one of the many bridges....

We're gonna get off our duffs soon, and start hiking and biking. The carriage roads were very crowded today with cyclists, and it was the hottest day so far since we've been here, so we're gonna wait for the weather to cool down tomorrow and maybe get a hike in...Or not!  Sparky stopped off at the visitor's center at Acadia and got her lifetime "Golden Age"/ senior pass. It enables you to get in FREE to most national parks, national forests, recreation areas and monuments. It's the best deal going for seniors and NOBODY should pass this up for a one-time processing fee of 10.00.  You also get a 50% fee reduction for federal fees charged for camping, boating, swimming, and tours and other stuff. Fantastic!

sure don't feel like 62, at least not today!

For dinner tonight, Eldy took me to Jack Russell's Steakhouse and Brewert, a great little restaurant with a pub atmosphere and handcrafted ales....I had a wonderful steak dinner, served with garlic mashed potatoes, with my first clam chowder in Maine...It was terrific! And, I had my very favorite dessert, we seldom eat desserts, but if CREME BRULEE is on the  menu, I'm gonna eat it! And I did, all by myself!

Eldy really liked his steak dinner as well....What a wonderful 62nd birthday I had! But I will say that as the years go by, I'm probably not going to be looking forward to birthdays as much, but who knows? As you get lots older, birthdays are about the only thing you can celebrate--that you are still here for another year! ....Time to go home and rest up for a fun day tomorrow....some hiking and biking..(BOTH???!!!! Woman, you're going to kill me! says E.) OK, one OR the other.... Buy for now......