Bar Harbor, Maine to Quebec City, Quebec

We were alerted to the sunrise by a cacophony of gulls and terns, and were grateful for the wake-up call. Thanks to the birds, we were up and out early enough to hear the buoys rocking and chiming and the foghorns off in the distance.

Acadia National Park is a next door neighbor to Bar Harbor. The park is on Mount Desert Island and is a commanding combination of beaches, meadows and mountains where larch, hemlock, cottonwood and yellow birch create a texture of leaves, needles and colors. We hike the Ocean Cliffs Trail and stop at Thunder Hole, a small cavern in the rocky shore where waves force air out of the hole in a thunderous roar. As we walk, we look out towards the Cranberry Islands, and admire the colossal slabs of granite strewn with abandon along the shore. They are painted with a thin patina of lime green moss.

The Wild Gardens of Acadia, within the park, is a specimen garden created by the Bar Harbor garden club. They have collected flora from throughout the park, and arranged it in categories, (beach, meadow, mountain), along a winding pathway. The plants are all labeled for easy identification.

As we leave the park there are two deer standing just off the road. We stop, roll down the window and advise them about the 'stop, look and listen' rule. We pass under an old stone bridge that has a 10 foot 4 inch clearance, going where no RV can go.

We head out across the 'neck' of Maine, and into the backwoods, following the Kennebec River. The apple-pie order of the homes and villages of the coast give way to collections of old cars and improvised personal landfills at provincial homesteads carved into the trees. One homeowner has accumulated more than 30 power mowers, with no formal grass in sight.

We travel most of the day in the rain. And the rain in Maine falls mainly on the...moose. There are moose crossing signs everywhere, at least one every 5 miles across the width of the state. Fortunately, we didn't 'run into any'.

Tonight we are as far north as we will go on this trip, and have made the big left turn towards the West and home.

Running Odometer: 7078
States: Maine Total: 24
Countries :2