6.5+ months - travel edition!

i'm not exactly a world traveler. i've been to a few interesting places and, like everyone, i've had an audience with the queen.
what? you've never?
but i'm hoping that ellen and i will be able to show PD and his potential siblings a few interesting places to help pique their interest in the world around them. with that, we begin our parker delgado blog
"adventure series... extreeeeeeme".

(it helps if you imagine the seagull is a lion or something.)

today's episode: acadia national park.
you might want to sit down. i didn't leave a lot out.

DAY 1
(july 10)
we pack up what will almost surely be too much stuff and depart for maine, which when you look at it on a map sort of seems like maybe we stole it from canada. it's a long drive though, so we planned a couple of stops on the way. first was carlisle, mass., to visit our friend eliza's wonderful parents, steve and roberta spang.

and what a treat it was, with good company including the spangs plus eliza and her brother ned and his wife elise and their kids jonah and lucy, and susan and sean stopped by with jackson and emeline (are you out of breath yet?) and eliza's dog, enzi, played with charlotte, and yankee's shortstop derek jeter was there with his pet angelfish, "finnius" - it was a packed house. very crazy.

we had a lovely dinner and then headed off for the big treat: kimball's farm ice cream shoppe. (i don't actually think they spell "shoppe" that way or that the word "shop" is even really in the name, but it sure does give it an extra down-homey feel, doesn't it?)
this is not the greatest picture i've ever taken, but then again, it may just be the greatest picture i've ever taken.
anyway, PD was about to experience one of the true joys of life...

here it is! another first! and perhaps one of the tastiest firsts we ever get. let it be known throughout the land that mr. steve spang (of the carlisle spangs) is responsible for the little man's foray into the world of a certain chilled, sweetened dairy product that he will likely soon desire above all other basic foodstuffs.

vanilla? trite. chocolate? banal. strawberry? hackneyed.
nope. the little guy's ice cream initiation: butter pecan.

DAY 2
breakfast with the spangs. little man took the head of the table.

before we left, PD, being the hands-on helpful soul that he is, insisted on doing a little work around the house...
i went with an "antiquey" look on this one. you like?

then it was off for the next leg of the trip: portland, maine. we checked out some little shop(pe)s and then did what people do when they're in maine...

of course, PD was far less interested in eating the lobster than he was in dipping his hand in the butter. live and learn.
since none of the food we ate that day was even remotely greenish in color, we decided a long walk was in order which, of course, turned into an even longer walk because that's the way mommy does it!

DAY 3
we drive to freeport, maine, a town filled with soul-sucking outlet malls disguised as quaint little fishing shacks, all of them budding up around L.L. Bean's gigantacular flagship store that had a separate walmart-sized building devoted entirely to dumbwaiters. the place was filthy with consumerism and we happily gave in to the dark side but tried to stick with the essentials - fashion eyewear, for instance.
"baby-elvis has entered freeport!"
(along with his furry entourage/bodyguard)

since we bought enough stuff to fill a small RV, we went ahead and rented a small RV.

25-feet of pure...ly moderate comfort.
(NOTE: we didn't know we'd be driving a billboard until we picked it up.
but as long as i've got your attention - if you're ever looking to rent a quality recreational vehicle, just go to cruiseamerica.com or dial 1-800-RV4RENT. that's 1-800-RV4RENT. you'll be glad you did!)

speaking of which, it's time to play america's favorite new game,
"can you spot the extremely tacky RV!?"
hint: it's somewhere in the middle. there's a tree behind it.
try squinting.

first stop with the rig was a famous roadside haunt called "red's eats" known throughout the area surrounding the very small town of wiscasset, maine, for what i can now confidently say is one of the finest examples of a lobster roll that is legally obtainable in the lower 48 states.

mmmmm!!
the shades serve only to mask the joy in my eyes

more "macro" than "biotic"

it's an acquired taste.

off for a beautiful drive down one of the many jags of maine's extremely jagged coast to the pemaquid point lighthouse.
18 ships went down that fateful day...

hard to get more "mainey" than this.

we ended this day with a visit with a thomas family friend, laura knox, a very lovely woman in every way who lives near belfast. i know that sounds like the beginning of a limerick, but i'm pretty sure it's not.

DAY 4
up early to head out to our final destination: acadia national park.
we checked into the bar harbor campground, found a nice spot, then almost immediately left to drive into the park where we went on a very steep, very long, very amazing...
HIKE UP CHAMPLAIN MOUNTAIN
(http://bit.ly/GDzy92)

the views are said to be stunning from up there, but on this day they were unfortunately blocked by considerably less stunning fog.
but this view was a pretty good back-up.


still a good hike and i got to swim in a beautiful little pond called "the bowl". there's something about floating on your back in a mountain lake that can just totally clear your mind and make you completely forget you're not wearing a bathing suit.
(PHOTO UNAVAILABLE)

after the hike we drove into bar harbor to walk around and enjoy the mind boggling array of lobster-themed merchandise available to us. it made me long for the days when i would sit on the porch with my father and play a nice relaxing game of lobster chess.

DAY 5
it was raining when we woke up, so we settled in for a long day at the campground. it didn't take long for RV fever to kick in so i went for a long run with charlotte while ellen hanged (hung?) (hunged?) out with PD, then ellen went for a long run with charlotte while i napped with PD. ellen pulled her usual trick of whipping up a beautiful lunch even though i had no idea we even had any food. the following picture was taken no less than a half hour later.

and the lobster theme continues unabated.

another first!
PD actually went under water very soon after this picture was taken, though it was quite by accident. but my mother always told me, if you've got to accidentally submerge yourself in water for the first time, it may as well be by sliding off the side of a large, inflatable lobster. i thought her crazy at the time. only now do i understand her infinite wisdom.
we closed out the night hanging out with the family of 6 staying in the giant trailer next to us. despite the late hour, PD was his usual gregarious self and entertained everyone with lengthy...
FITS OF LAUGHTER
(http://bit.ly/GGPMcu)

that's a lot of personality for someone who can't even talk yet.

DAY 6
late start thanks to a lack of ability to sleep (somehow!) but we took the free shuttle from our campground and made our way to jordan pond where we set out on an epic 6 hour trek that included steep inclines, sunny 1300-foot high ridge walks accompanied by very welcome cool ocean breezes and breathtaking views that looked a little something...
LIKE THIS
(http://bit.ly/GBW65M)

we also took another swim in a mountain lake - sergeant pond - me, ellen, and charlotte all together while a nice lady on the shore kept an eye on the superhero baby who, thanks to a temporary lull in criminal activity, was slumbering away in his backpack.

PD was awesome the whole day as he was for the whole week as he has been for his whole life. how a 6-month old can tolerate 6 hours of being tossed around in a backpack on a very warm sunny day is sort of beyond me.
super indeed.

DAY 7
we awaken in our rig to the faint sounds of chirping birds and the light footsteps of retirees from florida walking their yorkshire terriers.
we take the shuttle into bar harbor to rent a mountain bike, then shuttle to northeast harbor to walk around a bit before heading to thuya garden.


this place was so calming that if a hare krishna came up to me while i was there i'd probably sit and talk to him for a couple of hours... but i'd still throw away his "literature".

it was time to split up and make use of the bike. ellen took PD and char and set off for a nice walk/run. i took the bike around and up day mountain. and then, of course... down day mountain. the fun part.
we met up at jordan pond house for the switchover. ellen took the bike along jordan pond and all the way up to loop road and into bar harbor (a significant ride) while i took PD and char and somehow mustered the energy for the 4-mile run on the carriage road to bubble pond. it was nothing short of spectacular, and the little man was up for every minute of it. except the minutes he was sleeping of course.
then it was back to the rig for some well deserved sitting.

DAY 8
having such a good time we decide to stay in the park one more day.
it started with a little...
SPLISH SPLASH!
(http://bit.ly/GCRyOv)

we checked out of the campground and drove up to cadillac mountain.
it's the highest point in acadia.
which is why we drove.

the obamas had been up there just the day before. did i mention yet that the obamas also happen to be vacationing in acadia at this time? well, they were. in fact, i think they followed us there. gonna have to look into that.


drove to northeast harbor to catch a boat out to little cranberry island. they called it a "mail boat" but the only thing it appeared to be mailing was a bunch of other tourists, and not one of them had a stamp on their forehead.

like most rugged lobstermen of the northeast, PD relaxed in his stroller after a long day of trapping.


lunch at islesford dock restaurant which was the best food in the area not cooked by ellen. then we visited yet another thomas family friend, the trotters, who - and this is far less likely than you can even imagine - have a house on little cranberry island. i guess big cranberry island has just gotten too industrialized.

the mail boat delivered us back to civilization and we left the park that afternoon. we drove to just outside belfast that night and skipped paying for a campground, opting instead for a secluded parking lot that was apparently secluded from everything except the unimaginably diligent police officer who banged on the side of the rig at 3:30 in the morning!
just to ask for I.D.!
not even to tell us we had to move!
what!?
apparently there has been a rash of nogoodniks driving around in 25-ft RV's with "cruiseamerica.com" plastered all over them terrorizing the outskirts of belfast, maine. you can never be too safe.

DAY 9
very nice lazy morning at our highly suspicious parking space. a nice lawn gave ellen a place to play guitar for PD and me a place to throw the frisbee to char.

packed up and headed to belfast for the annual celtic festival which i went to very freely because i half-thought i'd be getting larry bird's autograph. turns out that wasn't the case.


From there it was on to dinner with laura knox and her family and her neighbors, some stimulating conversation, and a quick drive to our final campground of the trip just outside of belfast - couldn't risk johnny law comin' after us again!

DAY 10
long drive home. but on the way, we spotted some homemade furniture on a lonely lawn in front of a lonely farm house on a lonely stretch of maine road and we just couldn't leave it alone. i present to you...

baby adirondack!!
it's like a regular adirondack chair... but for babies!!

so it was an amazing trip that exposed PD to many different sights and smells and sounds and tastes. in the last hour of the ride home he did have a bit of a break down, but it was pouring down rain and we'd been on the road for something like 8 hours.
in the midst of that, and following a week of almost constant jostling, our boy deserved a good cry. really, the only surprise is that we weren't all crying.

the end.
except for one more picture for no other reason than because i like it.

and yes, i wore the same shirt for the entire trip.

p.s. - happy second anniversary, honey.
you will always be my queen-wah.