State Bird of Maine

Hello!


**Today's Quiz: Who can guess the state bird of Maine?**

We just returned from a quick jaunt to Maine. Frank has a co-worker (in South Carolina, actually) who has a "cabin" on the coast. He offered, a couple of months ago, for us to take advantage of the cabin if we were up there to visit. WELL. Who can pass up such a nice offer?

LIGHTHOUSE TOUR. During the three hour drive from here to the cabin, we had some excellent variety of Lighthouse viewing. This one is called Portland Head Lighthouse. Thanks to some breaks in the clouds, we caught some sun shining on it! It is the most photographed lighthouse in the country.

I liked this one, mostly because of the name. "Bug Light!" (I never read or heard the story of how it got its name. I could make one up for you, though...)










The kids love any type of landmark that is surrounded by rocks and cliffs. Monuments, building foundations, ruins...if they are allowed to climb around on them, they are in heaven. This one has rocks leading out to it. David and Teresa race back...







ACADIA NATIONAL PARK. A three-hour drive further up from the cabin, we visited this glorious, breathtaking national park. A coastal walk where the cliffs meet the Atlantic Ocean...hikes and trails with spectacular views of breathtaking islands out in the bay. Wow, is all I could say. Of course, that was the FIRST day we visited the park.

The SECOND morning, we all woke up with the same expectations of the glorious landscapes we absorbed the first day, pulled back the blinds, and we were overwhelmed with...................FOG. Couldn't see across the street to read a sign. Hey! What's that all about?

(Reminder: this is New England. We have WEATHER here. Our new mantra in this part of the country: Plan on less-than-sunny weather. If you cancel things because of the weather, you'll never end up doing ANYthing.)








So, we changed the order of a few visits, to wait for the fog to lift a LITTLE. Then we hiked our hikes anyway. Rain makes rocks slippery, but fog doesn't, really. The kids had been looking forward to a particular "non-technical climb," so named because of steep elevation gain, without the use of ropes and caribeeners. The whole climb was rock steps and iron-rod staircases that had been pounded into the rock faces. 900 ft gain in 1.5 miles, I think. The guide book said you needed to be in "good physical condition and not be afraid of heights." (The fog took care of the heights thing...we couldn't really see how high up we were.) At any rate, everybody did great!



The last little treat was to go fishing off the pier. You can also see how foggy it is, in this picture. The kids spent some time casting their lures at the end of a pier with a little snack shop, which specialized in...you got it, Maine Lobster! They didn't catch anything. But from what I hear, that's not the REAL point of fishing, anyway, right? (Please tell me there's another point to fishing...never mind.)



And the answer to the quiz--the state bird of Maine is.....




THE MOSQUITO!!!!!!!!!

(ok, I'm kidding, but not really. Oh my holy cow, there were enough mosquitos to swat for eternity. The real answer is the Chickadee, same as the Massachusetts state bird. But mosquitos come in 2nd.)

Have a great weekend! Kari :)