Vacation 2018

Day 14: "Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving." - Terry Pratchett Let the train wreck continue...lol We got up and packed, as quiet as they have ever been, and we hit the road by 8am. We were slated to arrive at Niagara at 6p. And then 6p became 8p. And then 8p became 10p. And at which point I said forget it, we are headed home. Traffic continuously pushed our time back, and I was completely over paying tolls that are outrageously priced. And by the late afternoon, I think we all agreed that we would rather do Niagara right then try and fit it in, at night. Lots of lessons on this trip! We stopped at Albany, NY, and I feel that Albany really, and very accurately, summarized our trip. This was one of the weirdest, most random cities I have ever been in. There was just about every type of architecture in this city - and it felt like a forced mash-up smorgasbord of crazy. So yes, accurately describing our trip haha! (Albany, NY) ...

"And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul." - John Muir We had a very full, very rewarding day. We did not wake up early, and actually everyone slept in. Not bad for tenting it. And it was a lot chillier than it has been anywhere else. We headed to Acadia when we were ready, and decided to start with the lighthouse. Lots of wandering off the path today... Charlie insisted she saw a seal, but I couldn't look because I was being attacked by a bee and running around the rocks. She also said it may have been a dolphin. Wish I would have seen it! We then went "tide-pooling", which is basically just water wading looking for cool sea creatures. We were not disappointed! We then headed back to the Park Loop to hit Thunder Hole and possibly hike. The kids immediately jumped the rail and started playing on the rocks - pushing their limits (and mine) as much as possible.  ...

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page." - Rumi Overslept hahaha! But only by a few minutes. We were on the road by 7am, not too bad. Breakfast at the hotel was the best it's been on the trip, and they actually had good creamer for coffee, so I had no issues with sleepiness on the drive. We found this amazing donut shop in Portland: (The Holy Donut) Selections included a maple bacon donut (mmm bacon) and a sweet potato ginger donut!!?? We then headed to Augusta to see the capital: (Augusta, ME) At this point I had a plan A-F working to see where we would camp tonight. My first choice was Bar Harbor campground very close to Acadia (Acadia was booked). But Bar Harbor did not take reservations, only first-come, first- serve. I did not know if that would work out to our benefit at all as we wouldn't arrive there until 1p.  Also this was the view on the drive: (So much rain) So we really weren't sure what...