Beach towels for blankets...

Maine and Acadia National Park have been high on my bucket list for the East Coast and we finally had the opportunity to go...I obsessively checked the weather prior to going because I'd heard the weather can be tricky in June there. The average for this time of year is 70-75 which sounds heavenly when it had been 100 in DC just a couple of days before we left. Well the forecast was a little cooler...mid-to-upper 60's for the whole week except Sunday which was supposed to be a high of 57 with a low of 50. PigHogLiars (this is a family swear word from my friend Jonathan). The high Sunday was 50, and Monday and Tuesday weren't any better. We had to use the fish beach towels that Tavish loved so much as blankets for him at night. Rafal said he's sick of me bringing my Seattle weather on vacation with us...

This is Bar Harbor the night we got in...bagpipes playing at twilight...

a moose and lobster claws twinkling as the sun sets...



Then the next day it looked like this...and stayed this way.






But we got to see lots of these...





And eat lots of this (YUM!)

There was even lobster ice cream! (ok, maybe not)

We went on boat ride with Diver Ed who dives to the bottom of the bay with a video camera and collects sea creatures for up close viewing back on the boat. Here he is being pushed off the back of the boat by all the kids.

Here are some of the sea creatures...Tavish has no fear, he wanted to touch everything, here Diver Ed is giving him a lobster to hold.

A sea urchin...

And here's the look you will get if you try to touch his sea star.

Another day we went to Echo Lake, and despite it being in the 60's and sprinkling...Tavish wanted to play in the lake, in his clothes of course.

There is an actual sandy beach in Acadia and we took Tavish one of the few sunny days...I'm forbidden from showing actual beach footage because Rafal says he looks sooo fat without a shirt on, so here is a picture of Tavish and the strainer he insisted on bringing everywhere. And what else would you use a strainer for...but to collect rocks.

On the other sunny day we went for a little "hike" along Jordan Creek, stopping to throw rocks (our favorite activity) until Rafal fell into the creek trying to rescue one of Tavish's more wonky throws...

A view from the top of Cadillac Mountain, the highest point along the eastern seaboard and the first place to see the sunrise in the US. You will note it is not sunrise in this picture. Sunrise is at 4:30 here. Chandra does not rise at 4:30. Brett and Rafal do however and rode their bikes to the top of Cadillac Mountain one morning to see the sunrise while Shelby and I remained blissfully asleep.

Our last morning was rainy and dreary for the three hour drive to Portland (the other Portland) to catch our plane. The sun did come out long enough for us to see the Portland Head Lighthouse, one of the 60 lighthouses in Maine. Then at the airport it started hailing, not just a little, but huge chunks of hail. Then we came home and it's back to hot and humid.



We did have fun despite the weather...
Rafal got to break in Black Beauty.
We ate lots of lobster.
Acadia was completely beautiful.
We even learned to play canasta.
But maybe our next vacation we'll leave the Seattle weather in Seattle.