Sep 21, 2024 - Today we have a big 5 hour drive to Belmont New Hampshire. We're staying 3 nights at a private campground, Granite State Campground. It rained a big part of the day, and continued once we got to the campground.
It was a pretty sunrise on our morning walk at the Bar Harbor campground.
We're back on the road
It was a rainy, but colorful drive to New Hampshire
Sites B & C at Granite State Campground
It was a little rainy, but cozy under G&G's awning for dinner and some games.
Sep 22, 2024 - Today we're driving 20 minutes to Meredith to ride the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad. We're taking a 2 hour ride along Lake Winnipesaukee. We packed our lunches and ate while we enjoyed the lake and the pretty Fall colors.
Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad
Lake Winnipesaukee is the largest lake in New Hampshire.
The train went through Weir Beach
It was an overcast day, and looked like rain, but it never did.
love those mountains over the lake
Back through Weir Beach
A sled bench!
We only saw one sailboat on the water
It's Sunday afternoon, so we watched some football, while playing Mexican Train Dominoes.
Then s'mores over the fire in the really nice stone fire pit
Sep 24, 2024 - Today is Kev's & my 35th anniversary. We're headed to Belmont for a morning walk on the Belmont Village Spur Rail Trail. This is a 2 mile trail on the old Belmont Spur Railroad tracks. When the town added the trail in 2009, they purchased a 153 ft covered bridge from Dover New Hampshire for $1. They cut the bridge into thirds and transfered it by truck to Belmont and then put two halves of the bridge in two locations on the new trail over the Tioga River.
The Slippery Rock bridge is in town
Nice multi-use trail (with Tiny in the distance)
Mirabelle loves a walk in the woods
It was a really pretty trail
loved the colors here
The Tioga River is always nearby
We made it to the second bridge
Two rocks in a rock pathway
Love this gazebo
Magic Hat #9
G&G bought us lunch at Shooters in Belmont and then we played shuffleboard.
Sep 18, 2024 - We decided to drive Tiny into Acadia instead of dealing with the buses. We made it to Jordan Pond by 9:30 and found parking, popovers and tea. After our snack we walked the 3.2 mile Jordan Pond trail and then did a 1.2 mile hike on the carriage trails to the Cobblestone Bridge. It was a 6+ mile day.
The popovers and tea were delicious. Two popovers and a pot of tea or coffee for $12.
Yum
These were the tables for lunch or dinner (you needed reservations). "The Bubbles" in the distance.
They also had this section just for popovers and drinks, we were happy for this option that didn't require reservations
Trail map, we did the Jordan Pond trail counter-clockwise, which gave us the more challenging side first, with lots of rocks and lots of boardwalks.
There was at least a mile of boardwalk, and when people came from the other direction someone had to step to the side on a 3 boarded walkway (a passing lane), which were every 50 feet or so.
"we are the mountain girls boys"
pretty color on the mountain across the lake
interesting roots
Aunt Gerry is "hiking cute"
there were quite a few rock scrambles on this side of the lake
I can't get enough of the color
love this bridge at the tip of the lake
this side is much easier!
another bridge at the bottom of the lake
another view of the Bubbles
We made it to the Cobblestone Bridge
the Jordan Pond stream trail went under the bridge
the cobblestones underneath were amazing
It's the oldest of the carriage trail bridges, built in 1917
This gated lodge was built in 1932 by Grosvenor Atterbury to keep motor vehicles off of John D Rockefeller's carriage trails and out of the interior of Acadia. It was originally built as a residence for Rockefeller's road engineer.
Dinner at the Bar Harbor Lobster Pound, directly across the street from our campground
lots of lobsters in those tanks
I got lobster bisque in a bread bowl, so good.
Kev got another lobster roll
a cloudy but colorful sunset at the campground
good night
Sep 19, 2024 - Today we will drive the 27 mile Park Loop around Acadia. Since it's not summer time and it's not the weekend, we're hoping we can find parking at all the hot spots.
Our morning walk took us to the ice cream boat at the Lobster Pound, to check out the dessert menu for later today
Yesterday I booked us a timed entrance to Cadillac Mountain. Parking is limited up there, so most of the year you can only drive to the top with a reservation. The only other way to the summit is to walk or take Oli's Trolley from Bar Harbor (at $63/person). The park buses don't drive there. RV's aren't allowed, but luckily Tiny is only an RV when we want her to be. Vehicles also have to be under 21 ft, which Tiny makes by 6 inches...how lucky are we!
We had a 9:30 reservation
It was an overcast day, but the clouds make for some pretty pics
Last time we were in Acadia, 19 years ago, there wasn't a walkway
more color in the distance
and up close
the gang at the top
sorry for all the leaf pics
After an hour on top of Cadillac Mountain we drove the park loop. The first stop was at Thunder hole. The water made an interesting whirlpool as it came into this crevasse.
There were lots of people here.
Nice spot for our lunch with a view
Next we stopped at Little Hunters Beach, which was much less crowded than Thunder Hole
This beach is covered in cobblestones, which get rolled along each other with every wave.
When the conditions are just right the stones make a melodic sound.
Here's a 15 second video of the pretty sound. Listen until the end of the video, right before the last wave.
such smooth stones and pretty colors
Mirabelle can occasionally get comfy in our van, but only with a little help from UG.
We found perfect parking spots at every stop on the loop, and decided to try our luck at Jordan Pond for another popover, and found a spot even though the parking lots at Jordan Pond were completely full!
Yum
After dinner we walked across the street to the ice cream boat for some crazy good blueberry pie ala mode. It was a double treat day...I think we're going to roll back to Indiana!
Sep 20, 2024 - Today is another overcast day, but at least it's not going to rain on us. We've been incredibly lucky with our weather on this trip! We were going to take the Acadia bus to Bar Harbor today (which stops at our campground), but Kevin, out of habit, unplugged us and got us ready for a drive, so we decided to test our luck and drive to Bar Harbor. Since we left at 9:30, we were able to find street parking (at $4/hour) in front of Agamont Park, right in the middle of it all.
the leaves are a-changing
Gray skies on our morning walk
colorful buoys
the harbor
you just can't beat the hydrangeas in the Maritimes and New England
The Shore Path
more harbor views
Bar Island. Bar Harbor is named for the sand bar that reaches out to Bar Island when it's low tide. It's a .5 mile walk if you're there at the right time.
The Shore Path is about a mile long
There are lots of hotels along the Path
At the end of the path is the Balance Rock. It's more impressive if you're there at low tide (which we weren't)
Village Green that way (although not the Village Green we know and love)
The Agamont Fountain that we parked right in front of (with Bar Island in the background)
I've been craving pizza for weeks and finally got it at Geddy's. Kev got the Lobster Stew.
