Week of 9/25: On To Maine!

Well, what better place for Lori and I to go than to "Vacationland", or sample life "The Way Life Is Supposed To Be"? So this week Lori and I embarked on a week-long vacation to visit Lori's family in and around Ellsworth, Maine. We flew out this time so had to leave our furry travel buddies home, but we did bring along the two travel bugs from Steamboat Springs and a healthy appetite.

We had so many amazing adventures here, I wish I'd had this blog idea sooner so I could have chronicled them on a daily basis. Rather than write a 40-page post, here are the highlights:

• Ate about 40 lbs of delicious home-cooked lobster, crab, clams and haddock
• Visited the observatory at the top of the new Penobscot Narrows Bridge in Bucksport
• Walked a Peat Bog Boardwalk in Orno
• Played a few epic games of Skat (the card game, not the animal waste product)
• Visited our aunt and uncle's new home on the shore (gorgeous) and had a fabulous dinner
• Got to crack a geode at the Rock Shop
• Had more than our share of blueberry pie, blueberry beer, blueberry soda, and all things blueberry
• Played guitar in a two-man band (rock on Dennis!)
• Had a genuine Lobster Boil party (say "pah-tee") with family
• Picked two bushels of Macintosh apples at a nearby apple orchard, then later had the best homemade apple pie ever
• Went to our cousin Logan's birthday party (happy birthday Logan!)
• Went for a joyride in a barely-legal '67 Camero
• Had a great dinner at Justin and Erika's house and met Erika's folks (from Vernal, UT! We were just there!)
• Went "Down East" and saw family, visited Schoodic Point
• Hiked the nature trail at Thuya Gardens near Bar Harbor (say "Bah Hah-bah")
• Met "Angel", part Yorkie, part Pot-Bellied Pig
• Attempted to spot the elusive Maine "Aurora Bored-ealis"
• Saw a lobsterman get busted by the Coast Guard (no relation, thankfully)
• Hiked up and across two mountains in Acadia National Park
• Picked up 14 geocaches and dropped off two travel bugs from Colorado
• Hiked out to a lighthouse across a 3/4 mile breakwater
• Grabbed two new travel bugs during an ATV ride to the top of Flagg Hill
• Came home to a house filled with balloons

All-in-all, what a great time! I can't believe how fast that week went by, and we are already missing the family out there and hope to see them again soon.