The Pine Tree State
Formally known as vacationland, Maine was full of adventure and plenty of things to do. We started our morning in Portland, Maine. This was a hotspot for us to hit because we both love Portland, Oregon. The verdict of the East Coast Portland is: Underwhelming. It not a bad little port town, but it is much smaller and simpler than the well known West Coast Portland. It was unique to be in a town with the same name as Daniel’s hometown (kinda, close enough). We did explore main street and found some cool little stores, so the town wasn’t a total waste. We did visit the Portland light house, and that was a nice stop! With big dreams at Acadia National Park we hit the road for one of our longest treks since the beginning of the trip.
We made it to Acadia National Park just before sunset, and started to get a feel for how huge this park really is. We found a nice campsite at Blackwoods Campground and were one of like three families there. We found a good site and decided to head out to Bar Harbor for some LOBSTER!
We found a festive looking restaurant right on the water called Geddy’s. It had a moose on the roof decorated in Christmas lights and the inside was packed with fishing decor. There were large tanks with the Lobsters swimming around to guarantee freshness. Unfortunately, it wasn’t exactly lobster season so we didn’t get the sweet deals we were hoping for. Since it was pretty expensive, we decided to share a lobster roll. It was really good and we got it butter based. It was a little smaller than we expected, but you can’t really go wrong with lobster! Also, Geddy’s hot sauce was pretty delish
After dinner, we decided to knock out some school and laundry. Bar Harbor in the off season only has a limited amount of stores that aren’t closed for the season. There fore our choices were limited. I got lucky and found a laundry mat that was open late and Daniel “thought” he found a coffee shop. NOPE! All the coffee shops ended up closing super early so Daniel settled for a local bar. He did look kinda interesting tucked in the corner on his laptop, but the bar wasn’t super busy so we got some things taken care of. We tried some Maine brews, with our favorite being an IPA named after a local sailor and hero in the town.
We found a pretty awesome hike called Cascade Mountain Trail. The big highlight of this trail is you can see the first bit of light hit the East Coast at sunrise. One problem sunrise in the morning was at 6:01 am. Oh well, we decided we had to make the trek so with only a couple games under our belts, we woke up at 4:00 am and journeyed to the trail. On the trail by about 4:30 am we scrambled up the trail (that was pitch black) by lantern light. The trail is less hiked than expected and parts of the trail can only be seen by little blue strips of paint.
It was freezing. It was raining/sleeting. And it was DARK. It is a little over 2 miles hike up and the same distance coming down. We continued to trudge up the mountain at a brisk pace, as to not miss the first signs of light. I kept telling myself it would all be worth it and the view would be amazing. No such luck. We did make it to the top in time, but we were greeted with a miserable surprise.
The rain caused much too much fog and the view was completely blocked out. We were greeted by mega strength winds. The top of the mountain has barely any trees, so there isn’t anything to block the wind. There are boulders sprinkled around that I kept ducking behind for moments of peace.
The Trail 
Required some Rock Climbing
This trip took a lot out of me, but did teach me the importance of the journey. It was good exercise and it did force us to get an early start. We did get a few specks of nice views on the way down. But we are definitely putting Acadia on our summer destination vacation list.
Near the Top 
Running from the Storm
Finally, we made it back to our car! We immediately stripped down and wrapped up in our blankets to thaw out. We threw all our soaked clothes into a trash bag as to not soak the rest of our wardrobe. It felt so great to finally be dry and warm again in the refuge of our fearless Santa Fe. We decided to head towards the closest Planet Fitness for warm showers. It was still sunrise so we got a nice drive through Maine while there was still light. Maine is full of lakes and tranquil nature parks. It remained rainy and foggy for the rest of the day. So we enjoyed the rest of our views from our car as we headed towards New Hampshire.
God Bless,
McKayla
