Bringing us up to date - New Jersey with Cousin Lori and Rich

Well, unfortunately, it's been 10 days since I blogged.  In my defense, we were without internet for quite a while.  Well, I guess if I was REALLY motivated I could have kept up on my phone, but I guess I've been spending too much time relaxing.  Sorry for the gap in updates.

We left Maine after staying at Keith's parents two and a half weeks, which became kind of funny, because we had lost track of time, and Keith remarked that we had been there two weeks already, and his mom reminded him that it was approaching THREE WEEKS!  We thoroughly enjoyed our time with them, and it went way too fast, as it always does.

I'm pretty sure that Saleen may have gained some weight, as someone in the family was very generous to her with treats at every meal. 

We left fairly early in the morning, to head to see his cousin Lori in New Jersey.  Lori is Keith's cousin, and they are the same age.  We left early, because well, we never know what to expect with the traffic.  We were going to have to pass through at least one of the boroughs of New York City, and well, there's a lot of folks there - and a lot of cars!  And even though it's been very cool most of this trip, there's not much worse than getting caught in bumper to bumper traffic with no air conditioning on a warm day.  Ugh.

Just a few views as we headed to New Jersey:

We ended up staying with Lorie and her husband, Rich, for two nights, and just had the best time.  I really enjoyed hearing Keith and her tell stories of their childhood.  They are a lot of fun to hang out with, and we ended up playing Apples to Apples, and getting to hang out at the pool in their community.  It was VERY NICE.  Their whole community is VERY NICE, with sidewalks leading every which way, and Saleen and I explored a lot of them in many different directions.  There was also lots of shuffleboard courts, and a nicely groomed crouquet court - but you have to be totally dressed in white, in order to play.  I wish I had gotten a pic of that.  The players looked so clean!

The Toll Booth Guy Loves Me (and other notes on the Mustang)

So, some people have strong reactions to 65 Mustangs.  Who knew?

Today we are driving 8 hours, traveling from Maine to New Jersey. We've passed through several toll booths, with most employees appearing rather oblivious to the commuters passing through.  However, in Massachusetts, I was driving, and stopped to pay the toll, and the attendant said, "Hey!  I love your car! I love the car, the driver, and the whole deal!!!"   Imagine that in your best, most enthusiastic, Joey Tribbiani, from Friends voice, because that's how he sounded.  I  told him thank you, and we drove off laughing.  It was awesome. 

A few notes about how the car is doing, for you car buffs out there. (You know who you are).  We had NO idea how the gas mileage would be until we hit the road, but it has averaged 20 miles per gallon.  Whew!  Kind of a relief, really. 

The first problem we encountered was leaving the driveway in Fort Smith.  Seriously, never made it to the street, and we were stopped by a sickening sound.  ("Well, this is not good," I'm thinking).  Keith had lowered the car, for appearances, and at the time didn't think putting luggage in the trunk would be a problem, but it was, apparently. As soon as we backed out, the fender was scraping the left back wheel.  Not good.  We kind of need that wheel at this point. We eventually loaded most everything from the trunk on to the backseat, which was empty anyway, now that Saleen was preferring to sit up front. This solved the problem MOSTLY. We are slowing down on big bumps, just in case. Keith tells me he can change the springs to avoid this, but I don't think he is planning too. I'm pretty sure that future trips will have a weight limit on luggage.  Like at the airport.  Only lighter. 

When we left DC, we had filled up the day before, but when we hit the road the next morning, it showed empty. At first, we were afraid someone had stolen gas. But when we tried to fill up, it was still full.      (Sorry for the bad thoughts we may have had about you, DC).  Once in Maine, he and his dad figured out that the float in the gas tank had a leak, and fixed that, so now it's operating nicely. 

There was a few other minor tweaks that they did to the car, to address a few noises that they could hear. You couldn't ask for two better mechanics to put their heads together under a hood. 

So she's riding pretty good, and shifts very easily, I am happy to say (Since we take turns driving every two hours). 

One other thing I noticed when I was driving, which was humorous - that the windshield wipers have a rhythm all their own - or rather, the right one does.  You know how it is when a crowd is listening to music, and there's that one friend of yours with no rhythm that's trying to clap to the beat along with everyone else, but they just can't do it?    Well, THAT'S what the right wiper does. The left one operates just fine, but the right one is hilarious, definitely doing its own thing. 

ALERT THE MEDIA!  At our last fuel stop, I did the math, and we just set a new PR - 24 miles per gallon!  Whoo Whoo!

A few photos, as we drive through the Bronx:

Back to Acadia with Keith's Folks

We headed back to Acadia Nat'l Park with Keith's parents.  There are about 45 miles of carriage roads in the park, which were originally funded and directed to be built by John D Rockefeller.  The Rockefellers owned this land and gave it to be used as a park.  He had the insight to know that autos would destroy the park, and so made carriage roads that to this day remain restricted from auto use.  There are lots of hikers, bicyclists, and horse-drawn carriages that use the paths.  There are also lots of hiking trails. 

First we did a hike around Jordan Pond. 

And then we hiked the carriage road. 

Saleen had a great seat all the way home - Grandpa's lap. 

Super Moon over Belfast Harbor

After the day at Wings and Wheels, we headed home, had supper, and headed down to the Belfast waterfront to walk Saleen.  It was also the night of the Super Moon.  It was just so beautiful over the water.

Wings and Wheels

While we were walking around Bayside, we had seen a flyer for "Wings and Wheels," an aviation aerobatics show combined with a classic car show.  Could there be anything more perfect?  I can just imagine the committee of men who came up with that idea.  "To make it even better, let's exhibit our models, and demonstrate how to build them!"

Well, you guessed it - we headed to the Wings and Wheels Show at the Owl's Head Transportation Museum in nearby Rockland and let our eyes feast on all of the metallic wonder that surrounded us.  The icing on the cake was, if you had a classic car, and were willing to exhibit it, then you got in free, AND had the best parking space - right in the middle of everything!!

We got to wear special badges that said "Exhibitor" and walk around like we were something special.  I don't know if folks were more impressed by the car or the fact that we had driven from Arkansas!

Anyway, it was a really fun day.  Keith had the unique experience of seeing a beautiful  P-51 Mustang fly around right above his precious 65 Mustang, and for a few minutes, all was right with his world.  I enjoyed being a classic car owner and fielding questions, because I had heard Keith answer them so many times. 

(The car pictured below was inside of the Transportation Museum.  A doctor up at Moosehead Lake in Maine made it so he could make his house calls in the winter. Once, the whole thing sank through the ice with him and two young patients.  Everyone was fine though, including his car!). It's a 1926 Model T snowmobile. 

Oh, and let's not forget the model builders!!!  Best part of the show!

Hiking in Acadia Nat'l Park

We planned to do some hiking this day in Acadia Nat'l Park. We studied a trail map, and finally chose a rather steep trail that climbed to Mt. Dorr, then down into a saddle, then up to Cadillac Mountain, which has an amazing view.  We had driven up to Cadillac before, but this time wanted to hike it.  If you've never driven up to Cadillac, you must go!  You can see forever out into the Atlantic Ocean. 

The trail up to the top was impressive, not only because of the views of the bay, but also because of the hundreds of granite blocks that were used to form the path. It always amazes me how much work goes into building some trails!  Can you imagine how exhausting that kind of project must be?

Once we reached the top of Dorr, and admired the view, we ate lunch and headed towards Cadillac.  Unfortunately, we soon realized that it was going to be a trail that Saleen wouldn't be able to make - not without us carrying her (too steep in some places, pretty much a boulder climb the whole way up, with no trail).  So we decided to call it good for that hike, head back down, and do another hike, over to Bar Island. 

(In the photo below, you can just make out the trail to Bar Island that is starting to be revealed as the tide goes down).

Bar Island is unreachable by foot except for 1.5 hours before and after low tide.  During that window of time, a wide swath of land appears, and many people walk over to explore the island before the ocean submerges the trail again.   We had timed it just right, and started out to the island.  However just before we reached it, two big storms blew in from two different directions!  We high-tailed it into Bar Harbor (just a few blocks away) and found a dog-friendly restaurant with a patio to wait out the rain.   Turns out, we had landed at the perfect spot!  They had gluten free buns, bread, and muffins!    We had lobster sliders, followed by a blueberry muffin.  I wasn't too sad about the storm. 

Bayside and Balance Rock

I really LOVE the gingerbread cottage community of Bayside.  So this day, instead of the Belfast waterfront walk, we took Saleen just up the road to walk around that village.  It began as a Methodist Camp 100 years ago, and eventually a few cottages were built as people from away (how Mainers refer to non-Mainers) began coming here for the summer.  Soon many cottages sprang up, and it's such a nice collection of small cottages in a variety of colors!

After lunch, we headed out on another hike that Mr. Geraghty knew about, to another erratic, Balance Rock, along the shore of Megunticook Lake.  The woods were mostly heavenly-smelling pine and firs, so this trail was a nice, soft, pine needle-cushioned one, and level, which is always nice. 

Have I mentioned enough how nice the Maine woods are?

After the hike, we wanted to share out favorite "sitting by the water" spot with the Geraghtys, so headed back to Lincolnville Beach to watch rain clouds in the far distance over the Bay.