Good Job Mr. Rockefeller

Acadia National Park was created in part by land and other donations by John D. Rockefeller Jr. Between 1919 and 1931, Rockefeller, who was opposed to the introduction of automobiles on the island, personally oversaw the construction of a network of carriage roads which were closed to those new fangle automobiles. These roads contained sixteen granite bridges and two gatehouses. I took a Ranger led walk to hear about the carriage roads and see two of these bridges.

The bridges were specifically designed to blend into the landscape in an organic manner, and are sited so that they may be used as viewing platforms for the scenery and so that they may themselves be viewed. (Wikipedia). Each bridge is different and somewhere on the bridge is a date stone telling us when the bridge was built.

Hard to see but there is a small waterfall in the background that Rockefeller specifically wanted to frame with the bridge

Some weird mushrooms on the hike

I should probably look up the names of these mushrooms  

After my Ranger walk I headed over to the Asticou Inn in Northeast Harbor. This is one of the other premier places on the island where you can get popovers. I feel a little funny just ordering popovers, so I also ordered Lobster Stew because, well, just because. The popovers not only came with butter and strawberry jam as spreads, but for an added charge you could get blueberry jam or chocolate, or cinnamon butter or one other spread that I don't remember beyond it had something to do with lemon.

I wasn't shy and I ordered all of the spreads. 

I think my Lobster Stew was mostly butter and milk but it was yummy

My outside dining view of the harbor

Another Lovely Day

Halfway around the Park Loop Road stands Jordan Pond House on the shores of Jordan Pond. Jordan Pond is a mountain lake with clear water that has visibility normally down to 44 feet. You are not allowed to go into the water because it is the water supply for the town of Seal Harbor. They say that the lake was formed by the Wisconsin Ice Sheet during the last glacial period. Question: What is the Wisconsin Ice Sheet doing in Maine? Asking for a friend. Anyways, on the west side of the lake is Penobscot Mountain and on the east is Pemetic Mountain. On the north side of the lake are The Bubbles, two mounds that are evidently not big enough to be classified as Mountains. 

A view of The Bubbles on the north side of the lake

The plan is to hike the Jordan Pond Trail which is 3.6 miles long around the lake. The east side of the lake is a lovely flat trail, shaded and right next to the lake.

One little tree not afraid to make the jump into fall

The west side of the lake involves a little bit of rock scrambling and walking the plank. Excuse me, they call it a boardwalk which I guess it is. It was great fun when you met somebody coming the other way. Can we say 'up close and personal'?

The Boardwalk

While the hike around the lake was lovely, the real draw for me was the Jordan Pond House. This has been in use as a restaurant almost continuously since 1870, almost a century and half ago. The restaurant became a regular location for high society events. All the fancy ladies would leave their 'cottages' and come to the Jordan Pond House for popovers and sipping their tea on the front lawn as they took in the view. Have I mentioned how popovers rank up there as one of my most favorite foods? Miko and I (yes, they are dog friendly here) sat on the front lawn enjoying the view as I scarfed down several popovers. 

Sipping tea on the front lawn

We also drove up to the top of Cadillac Mountain. This peak is 1,530 feet tall and is the tallest peak within 25 miles of the shoreline of the North American continent. There must be a taller mountain that is 26 miles from the shoreline. It is also supposed to be the first place in the U.S. to see the sunrise. I just have to take their word for it because sunrises are not something in my repertoire. I'm sure that on a clear day the views are amazing but it was very hazy when we were up there. 

Cool sailboat

And It Goes Boom

I had bought the Car Trip Audio CD at the Acadia Visitor Center, popped in the truck and started doing the Park Loop Road. I was really glad I had bought it, at least in the beginning before I got bored with it. The CD would have you stopping at every pull out and scenic view. It explained what you were seeing and then you would move on to the next scenic view. One of the scenic views had us stopping at a place where there was a series of switch backs down to the rocks where we could watch the waves. As this was my first ocean encounter as the tide was coming in, I found it rather exciting. I must admit though, stopping at every single pull out got a little bit old and while the narrator was full of interesting facts, sometimes he did go on a bit long. Side note: I only followed the CD for about half of the Park Loop Road and ended up giving the CD to some fellow campers who had just rolled into town.

Secret shoreline courtesy of the Audio CD

One of the trails I wanted to hike was called Ocean Path which ran between the Ocean and the Park Loop Road. Quite the inventive name, isn't it? It starts at Sand Beach and runs a 1 ½ miles down to Otter Point. Most of Acadia's shoreline is granite. Sand Beach is rather unique in that amid all of this granite, this beach is comprised of sand made from shell fragments that were created by thousands of years of pounding surf.

Sand Beach

About a mile down the path is Thunder Hole. Thunder Hole got it's name because of the loud sound that the waves sometimes make when the waves are coming in as high tide starts rising. The sound is quite deep and sounds like far off thunder. It is made as the waves rush in and create pressure so that the air that is trapped sort of booms. Conditions have to be right for you to hear the sound. I heard many stories of people who tried several times to get there and hear the sound and failed in their quest. The ranger told me that I had the best chance to hear this sound about an hour and a half before high tide. I checked the weather and there were high surf warnings. I figured that if I timed it right, the high surf would help and chances would be good. Chances were not only good, but perfect. Before I even got to Thunder Hole I could hear it booming.  I lead a charmed life.

This is where the sound originates.  Notice the walkway.  For some reason they had it closed off

And Boom!!! Glad I'm not on the walkway now

The Start Of The Great Acadia Adventure

Finally after years of trying to get there, I made it to Acadia National Park.  Granted, I probably could have made it there a lot earlier if I had developed the life skill of focusing and staying the path. I guess I'm a perhaps a little bit distractable. I start off with good intentions and then I see a bright shiny object that catches my attention and I'm off in a new direction. It doesn't matter though – I am in Acadia.

My first step was to check into the Ranger station to get my Junior Ranger book. They tried to talk me into doing the Senior Ranger program but I stayed the course and insisted that I needed to do the Junior Ranger program. I don't know why they were suggesting the Senior Ranger program for me.  Did they think I was not Junior Ranger material?  Ha, I laugh in their faces.  I also picked up some necessities such as the high/low tide schedule and a list of the Ranger led programs. I also picked up some tips on which trails I should do and also when I should do them.

Our first set of trails was the Wonderland Trail and the Ship Harbor Trail, two very short, easy, flat trails that took us through a pine forest to the shore. One of the wonderful things about Acadia is that they allow dogs on the trails. This is so unusual for National Parks. Miko and I were thrilled to be out hiking together again. 

It was low tide

I stayed at Hadley's Point Campground which was only a few miles from the park's entrance. It was also only a quarter mile from the ocean. Miko and I would walk down to watch the sunset. We didn't catch too many super sunsets as either there were no clouds (which really make a sunset) or the sky was completely covered with clouds which blocked the sunset. Luck of the draw I guess. 

Bed Battles

I have finally arrived in Maine. I have tried several times to make it to Maine and each time I have been foiled by too many things to see and too many places to go that are on the way to Maine. But I have finally made it. The very first item on my to-do list was to find me a lobster roll. I had heard about them, I knew that they were a must-do and I had never had one in my life. So I looked up in Yelp and found a little storefront type place just down the road from where I was staying. OMG – this is the most incredible food ever. This was huge chunks of lobster, soaked in butter, with a few spices thrown in on an incredible piece of bread. I can tell that during my time here in Maine, I am going to have to up my food budget. I am going to have lobster roll every day I'm here. 

This is what Heaven looks like

I am staying at a campground called Wild Duck Adult Only Campground. I was sort of wondering what kind of risque things went on in an Adult Only Campground. Turns out that it is just a very quiet, peaceful campground without loud and raucous children running around. I liked it. Wild Duck Campground is right next to the Scarborough Marsh which is Maine's largest salt water marsh. Salt marshes filter pollution from the water. Back in the 1800s, they thought that draining the marshes would stop the spread of mosquitoes. The draining actually had the opposite effect because it destroyed the habitat of the other species who ate mosquitoes. 

The marsh

More marsh

This is probably why they call the campground Wild Duck Campground

Miko and I went to the beach while we were here. We not only went to the ocean, it just so happened that it was a leash free beach. Miko could be unchained. I was a little nervous about lettng her off leash. Last time I took Miko to the ocean, down in Georgia, she ingested so much salt water that she was sick. She must have learned her lesson though because she was definitely not interested in catching waves here.  We were there during low tide and there was all this red algae on the beach.  I haven't seen that before.

This is one happy dog

This is one tired dog

We have had a little drama in the camper since we added Jogger to the camping mix.

This is where Jogger normally sleeps when he isn't taking over my bed.

Jogger decides he likes Miko's bed better and starts making his move.

As usual, Jogger gets his way.  Poor Miko.

They seem to have worked it out but I'm not sure Miko is really thrilled about her new reality

Farewell Hudson River Valley

Poor Martin Van Buren. He gets no respect. Historians and political scientists rank him as an average or below-average U.S. President. He was a member of the New York Senate, Attorney General of New York, US Senator, Governor of New York, US Secretary of State, US Minister to the United Kingdom, Vice President under Andrew Jackson and the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. I guess we could probably call him a career politician, although he said he was happiest being a farmer. According to Ranger Andrew, Van Buren was responsible for establishing both the Democratic AND Republican party.

Van Buren grew up in Kinderhook, a small village about an hour north of Hyde Park. After his term as president, he bought a house in Kinderhook which he called Lindenwood. 

Lindenwood

Van Buren was the first president born under the U.S flag (previous presidents were born British subjects). 

 He also was the first and only president where English was a second language.  He grew up speaking Dutch.

Looking up into the tower

The Hudson River Valley was a very productive Junior Ranger area for me.

Check out the badge on the right

Down in Poughkeepsie, New York is an old railroad bridge which has been re-purposed as a pedestrian bridge called Walkway Over The Hudson. At a length of 6,768 feet, it is the longest pedestrian footbridge in the World. Of course Miko and I had to walk across it. I was a little worried because it is 213 feet tall and I have this height issue but we persevered and made it across. Actually, it wasn't too bad when we were over the river. What bothered me the most was at the beginning of the bridge when we were many feet above houses and roads. 

The Hudson River is a mighty, mighty river

I stayed at Interlake RV Park.  It was the closest park to the sights and it was a pleasant park.  It had sort of a retro feel to it, sort of what I imagine old time camping was like with a lot of area between sites, lots of trees and very laid back. I actually stayed here for a week which is so unusual for me.  I think I'm beginning to get into this slowing down thing.

See what I mean about Retro?  An actual phone booth with a working phone.  

The Roosevelts of Hyde Park

Time to move on to the Roosevelts.

Any Greatest Presidential List will always include Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He is the only president to have been elected four times. His leadership got us out of the Great Depression. He gave us Social Security. He established a national minimum wage. He played a major role in establishing the United Nations. He took the first federal action to prohibit employment discrimination. In my travels I am personally enjoying all of the works that the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) created during the Great Depression to put young men to work. Yes, he was responsible for all that. I could go on, but as great as FDR was, my heart belongs to his wife Eleanor.  She was an amazing woman.  I highly suggest that you read up on Eleanor.  You will be fascinated.  Myself,  I try to live by one of her quotes - 'Do Something Every Day That Scares You'.  Get out of your comfort zone.  Just go for it.

I visited Val-Kill, a cottage ( a real cottage, not a Vanderbilt cottage) that FDR built for Eleanor in 1924. Eleanor wanted a place of her own to get away from it all. Can we say Sarah, FDR's mother who might have been a little overbearing. Eleanor moved into Val-Kill with two other women friends. They established Val-Kill Industries, a furniture making business which helped with the unemployment issues during the Depression. After FDR's death, she split her time between Val-Kill and NYC. Many famous people came to pay homage to Eleanor at Val-Kill including JFK. JFK came seeking Eleanor's endorsement when he was running for president. 

This was the room where she would receive her famous guests.

She wasn't much of a cook, so when the King and Queen of England visited, she fed them hot dogs.

As part of my Junior Ranger tasks, I had to identify a maple leaf.  

Thank God for the Canadian flag.  Because of that flag I was able to identify the maple leaf.

FDR came from old money. He lived in a Big house which they called Springwood. The household included his mother Sarah and the Roosevelt's six children. FDR fancied himself an amateur architect and designed and built two huge wings onto the existing house. 

The view off of the south lawn overlooking the Hudson River.

FDR was an avid tree planter.  All these trees eventually blocked his view of the Hudson.

Springwood

Eleanor and Franklin's grave.  Also buried here is one of their sons who died in infancy and their dog Fala.

There is also FDR's Presidential Library and Museum located on the grounds. FDR establishedthe precedent for public ownership of presidential papers. His library became the model for the nation's presidential library system.  It was a mighty fine museum.