RV There Yet?

Yes we are! We RV’d there! We made it to Maine people! We are officially done with the first leg of our trip! What a fun adventure it has been. This time around we arrived at our destination from Boston without any delays and were able to set up camp really easily. We stayed at "Patton Pond", a camp resort in the vicinity of Acadia National Park. We chose not to stay inside of the Park because this time we preferred full hook ups which means sites with access to sewer. We figure this requirement will make our long shot of a trip more doable. The place was great. One of its highlights was that it was loaded with other children to play with! Our site was right across from the playground, so our kids enjoyed the social outlet every time they could. We love it when they stay outside! It minimizes the quarrels which exponentially increase by every minute they stay inside..So the first day of our arrival was spent at camp!

The second day we hit Acadia. What a gorgeous place! For starters, it was so big with so much to do and see, so we had to pick and choose. After getting over the challenge of finding parking, we headed to our first stop: Sand Beach. The rare, only sand beach you will encounter in the park. It was so breathtaking! The kids thoroughly enjoyed exploring, rock hopping and enjoying the views. It looked so different from our beaches in Florida. The landscape was cold and misty, and the unique backdrop created by the rocks, the crashing waves, the oversized birds and the deep yellow grainy sand made it all quite surreal.

From there we headed on a hike along the coastal trail towards “Thunder hole”. It was about a 30 minute scenic hike along the coastal trail, which is a patho going atop the shoreline. It was fantastic to see the panoramic views of boulders making up the coastline. The fauna and flora all looked so unique too. For a moment, when we went down to check out a glacially sculpted granite area, which we thought was "Otter Point", I felt as If we were walking down the beginning slope of the Subway, in Zion Nat’l Park. The spot had a shy resemblance to the canyons that you see there, only with the dramatic effect of the huge waves breaking against them and the view of the outlying islands. What a memorable hike!

It didn’t take us long to understand why “Thunder Hole” had such a name. Shortly after we arrived we heard the thunder sound of the waves breaking at the end of a tunnel formed by the rocks. Dave and the kids run down with the crowds to get as close as possible to the epicenter of the phenomena. They were so mesmerized and enthralled with the show and with taking pictures that on two occasions, when oversized roaring waves showed up, they got soaked! They kept on giggling and wanted to stay there. So fun! (For the record, Dave is adamant in stating that he doesn’t giggle).

From there, we went on and tried a different way back. It was called “Gorham trail”. It was supposed to be a scenic route on our way back. There was only one oversight, way into the hike, we realized the trail was taking us up on a mountain, and the path was made out of boulders and mud! It was a superfun hike just for a while..the views continued being stunning, and we felt at the peak of our family adventures, however, a third into it, the kids' enthusiasm was a victim of their exhaustion. Also, it was extremely challenging to do it with sweet toddler Evelyn in tow. Again, she was a complete trooper, and kept on going on a hike that felt like 3 times as long as the first one. Momma and baby were glad we made it back with ankles and feet intact. Another win under our belt! We are the Bush’s and we do hard things! Or so we kept on saying..we all went to sleep with a very tired body..but a very happy heart.

The following day we were still recovering, so I stayed home with the girls catching up with homework, laundry and letting the girls rest and play at camp. Michaela made a special friend called Nora. It was super warming to see them crafting and playing girly games with Evelyn. Nora’s family invited us to church on Sunday and it was fantastic to make plans to worship together. More on that later. While the Bush girls were home, the boys went to climb ‘The Beehive”, which is a very popular attraction in Acadia. Dave said it was scary. They also visited the Tidal Pool and the "Bowl Lake". We ended up making the obligatory stop at a lobster restaurant on that day. Most everybody enjoyed it, though some characters whose names should remain undisclosed were not very happy about how labor intensive it was to eat the animal, plus most of us were not very convinced about the server describing the lobster’s liver as a delicacy called “the green tamale”. Call us gastronomic simpletons, we all, including this Colombian raised on liver & onions, left most of “the tamale '' on the plate..ha, ha!

We spent our last day in Acadia exploring the “Jordan Pond”. What a memorable hike! It was about 5 miles of trail around a scenic lake that provides potable water to part of  Maine. We were rained on when we first tried, so we decided to go for lunch first at "The Jordan Pond House". The highlight of the meal was getting “popovers” for rolls. So yummy! Visiting the store was also a fun stop for souvenirs. After that, we hit the hike again.  It was delightful. The weather was perfect. We all enjoyed the iconic views while walking along the shore of clear waters surrounded by mountains covered with coniferous forests. We encountered the challenge of stretches of the trail mainly made out of boulders, and muddy patches, but I guess Evelyn and I are in sync and getting better at teaming up to tackle that. Plus I have lots of helpers! The experience was marvelous.  We highly recommend this family friendly hike.

Our last day in Maine, we decided to rest and go to church with our new friends. It was very refreshing to worship with other brother’s and sisters in Christ. We felt very welcomed and enjoyed a message that encouraged us in our walk with the Lord. We used the time in the afternoon to rest and prepare for departure the next morning. All in all, it was an amazing visit to Maine. This is officially the longest that we’ve been on the road. We’re not only making lots of memories, but also growing in so many ways. Most of the time it is happy growth, but sometimes it is painful growth. Excess of togetherness has its way to push us into practicing to be a good neighbor with one another. We continue building up our family one moment at a time. What a gift! We are ready to start trailing our way back to FL as we head west to the New England frontier: New Hampshire & Vermont. We’ll be sending an update from there next. Thank you for reading, friends! May God continue blessing your Summer!