Day thirty-nine: Ellesworth, ME

Today went unexpectedly, but not poorly.

Our plan was to see Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, so we hopped in our rig and set off towards town. We soon discovered that Bar Harbor is one of the world's largest tourist traps, and one of the most popular. We didn't even get out of our car, primarily because there was absolutely no parking anywhere. Dad put it very well: "It was like Disney Land on the Fourth of July!"

We headed down the road to Acadia National Park, and unfortunately, it was much of the same story. We took a bus tour and hiked around a while, but left earlier than anticipated because A) we had seen very similar geography on the Oregon Coast many times and B) the hilly, wooded splendor was very similar to good ol' Montana.

Our concierge and the Twilite Motel owner, Chuck, had told us to avoid both places and had given us some alternatives, so we chose one, Stonington. It's a small, authentic lobster village, out of the way and on a poorly maintained highway; it was exactly what we were looking for.

Before I forget to mention it, lunch today was fun and extraordinary. We went to Jordan's Snack Bar, a local favorite, to have home-made burgers and their famous onion rings, which were some of the best we'd ever had.

We drove home, stopped for some blueberry pie, and are getting ourselves ready for...Quebec!! Hurrah! Je suis completement ravie (I'm totally stoked)! Chuck, who seems to know things, said that he and his family loved Quebec City, so we're all looking forward to a cultural experience.

Jane