To the Atlantic!

New England fall colors across Vermont and through 
New Hampshire....legendary and mind blowing.

Notice our home in the background

And then....to the spectacular rocky Maine coast........we have finally arrived 

on the Atlantic Ocean and Acadia National Park....

Bar Harbor, Maine

....where we promptly partook of Maine's main dish of Lobster.....

or as was overheard in the bar...

                           "Go to Bah-Habah to eat some Lobstah and Chowdah"  

 (translation....Go to Bar Harbor to eat some Lobster and Chowder)

Two lil' old ladies with bibs devouring a pile of lobsters

Sittin' on the dock of the bay...eating Lobstah Rolls :)

So we were fascinated with the lobster industry in this part of the world and sat on several docks around the island area watching the boats unloading thousands of crates of live fresh lobstahs a day.....unbelievable.  

Lobster fun facts:

It takes 7 years for a lobster to grow to it's harvested maturity of about 1 lb.  There used to be so many lobsters, they would be crawling all over the shoreline.  One of the main predators for lobsters, was the Cod fish----which is now depleted due to overfishing and increasing ocean temps in the north Atlantic waters, allowing for lobsters to flourish....bittersweet because Cod is an excellent fish to eat too.  

Lobster boats unloading at docks of Southwest Harbor, Maine

Floating crates of lobsters off the boats waiting for the pick up trucks

Acadia National Park was historical and amazing.  We rode an 8 mile path on one of the old "carriage" roads......visited rock-climbing cliffs overhanging the ocean......and hung out in several small harbor villages along the way.  They have a free bus ride system all over the island that is very efficient and carries our bikes.  

We've caught this national park in "off season" and pulled into a random camping spot in the Blackwoods Campground (one of two on the island).  It was rather quiet in this very large densely forested site----and right next to us was another Roadtrek camper van--silver--with two of the most animated young travelers we've met all along our road.....and we hit it off big time and spent the next 3 nights around a campfire together.

 Max and Kristina are also living aboard their Roadtrek (affectionately called "Roark") for a whole year venturing across America...more gypsy than we are!  They come from the artsy town of Asheville, NC with a trunk load of fun toys----not only a variety of musical instruments, but colorful circus-type LED lighted toys.....hula hoops, poi balls, a karma-wash etc.....telling great stories and spreading happy energy.  Our paths have serendipitously crossed here....and will perhaps again further down the road...we decided our vans are destined soul-mates. *wink

Coming next-----Camden and Portland Maine