Countdown to College!

It's so hard to believe that our baby will be going to college in less than a month. We all had a two day orientation at USF to find out how this whole thing works. We were separated into different classes - we learned about everything from finances to how to "let it 'grow'" :)

Maddy had an amazing time. She learned about academics and the importance of college pride...

And now we are packing and having some family fun before the big day. The weeks are flying by...

We're going to miss you so much Maddy!

Our amazing Maine and New Brunswick vacation!

This year marks our last Summer vacation as a family before Maddy goes away to College:(. We wanted to do another National Park and Maddy has always wanted to visit Canada so we decided to start out in Acadia National Park and take a trip over the Canadian border too:) After arriving in Bangor we decided to swing by to see Stephen King's famous house...

Evidently, he's lived here for several years and everyone we spoke to has seen him around town at some point. The house is gorgeous but based on others on the same street listed for sale is probably only worth about a million dollars? Very humble for someone who has sold over 350 million books! Afterwards, we had a seafood lunch at "Maine's Best Hole In the Wall" to get into the local vibe which was totally amazing...

After lunch we hit he road for Acadia National Park! After just a couple of hours drive we arrived and had plenty of sunlight left to still enjoy some of the breathtaking scenery. We were just giddy when we saw how gorgeous this place really is!

One of our favorite games during the vacation was to find bad reviews on the Trip Advisor app. Some are hilarious and for every majestic sight on the planet it would seem there's a miserable git with a negative opinion to share. There's one for the Grand Canyon that says "Dragged here by the missus when I should have been playing golf. It's just a big hole in the ground. A big hole, mind." And the Eiffel Tower has "just a big chunk of metal...overrated" and my personal favorite "I was hoping it would fall and kill me so that the tour could be over." We laughed our heads off and continued to find new ones for the places we visited during the trip:) 

We started out our first full day with a beautiful hike from the top of Sand Beach...

...down past the amazing Thunder Hole (a sea cave that causes thunderous sounding waves just before high tide)...

Well we got soaked and liked it a lot. We finished up the hike at Otter Point. The skies were clear, the ocean smelled amazing and the scenery was so beautiful...

?!?!?

 Everything feels so alive in Acadia...

In the afternoon we took a boat tour to some local islands. We went all the way out into the Bay of Fundy and saw all kinds of sea birds and literally hundreds of adorable Atlantic Puffins! (which made me deliriously happy)...

 

...and seals too:)

Shouldn't you always when you're taking a boat!? Anyway, we though it was a totally amazing experience and the day ended perfectly with a beautiful sunset on Cadillac Mountain...

The following morning we took a walk out onto the massive sand bar that's exposed at Bar Harbor during low tide. Who doesn't love poking around in rock pools? 

Mike was very happy with his new hat and really enjoyed watching some folks get stuck when the tide came in and having to wade their way back to shore...

Then we went to see some of the amazing beaver dams and lodges and checked out the bottom of Sand Beach...

And in the afternoon we took the drive over to Canada! 

We immediately fell in love with Fundy National Park...

...since we quite like trees:) and since Canada are celebrating their 150th birthday this year our pass was free!! Thanks Canada Parks! We got a room right in the middle of the park itself for a couple of days too which was perfect. In the morning we drove out Hopewell Rocks (near the border between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to find out more about the tides which are a huge deal in these parts. Hopewell Rocks holds the world record for the location with the biggest difference between low and high tide. Within hours of these pictures, over 260 billion gallons of water pours in increasing the sea level by 50 feet! We timed our trip so that we could spend an hour or so actually walking on the ocean floor:)

Well we were. And we saw some adorable Peregrine Falcon chicks...

And waited for the tide to rise...Mike took some more selfies in his new hat...

There's so much to see just by driving around. Mike loves covered bridges:)

We had dinner by the gorgeous Bennnett Lake with a family of Canada geese...

The motel was great and had hummingbird feeders by every room which were constantly occupied...:)

At least this one was appropriately themed:). In the morning we saw a lovely and very tame snowshoe hare who posed for pictures for me:)

We hiked the challenging Coppermine Trail...

...and spent the rest of the night trying to find some moose (mooses?meese?:)) to no avail. Mike did see a moose's behind briefly but we missed it. We had plenty of fun looking though and Mike did get a selfie with a moose sign so there's that.

They are running a wildlife photography contest for next year's edition of Fundy National Park's brochure which I have decided I am totally going to win. I started work that day during our morning hike with my new-found groundhog friend...

Then we saw a momma grouse and her chicks crossing the road!

And after Mike had just given us a dissertation on how unlikely it was that we would actually see a beaver, we got out of the car at McLaren Lake and literally saw about 6 of them! It was amazing to watch them feed and take stuff back to their lodge and build their dams. We loved them although it's obvious that they create a massive amount of damage. 

The next day we finished off Fundy with a beautiful lake and waterfall hike...

And said goodbye to Canada :(. On the drive back to Acadia we stopped in Moosehorn National Refuge still desperate to find a moose...

...and took in some more coastal scenery as well as some roadside curiosities along the way like the bizarre Wild Blueberry Land?? Maine loves their blueberries....

We ended the day with a Maine lobster and blueberry beer back on Acadia:)

To make the most of our last full day at Acadia we started out the following morning at Cadillac Mountain, the site of the first sunrise in America every morning:)

 

...and hiked Jordan Pond for a couple of hours:)

Our flight home was delayed but we had stayed in the very comfortable hotel right by the airport so we got some time to relax and read before traveling home. But apparently not all of their Guests have enjoyed the stay as much as we did...;)

Acadia and Fundy were both amazing and I'm glad we made the decision to stay and do them properly rather than try and squeeze in Nova Scotia too. We totally overindulged in eating, hiking, reading, meeting people and chasing wildlife. It was a perfect vacation and I hope we get a chance to continue the tradition even when Maddy is no longer living at home. We've all worked really hard this year so far so this particular vacation was just what we all needed. Can't wait for our next trip!!