Fabulous Acadia National Park on a Perfect Summer Day

Wednesday, August 29, 2007, was one of those perfect summer days. Clear blue sky, very comfortable temperature, slight breeze, we decided we need to go to visit Acadia National Park. Dad has a life time golden age park pass that admits mom too.
We packed a light lunch and off we went.
At the Ellsworth visitor center, we discovered we could park our car at any stops of the park shuttle bus route and catch the fare free bus to visit various places. We elected to park at the Hull Cove Visitor Center. What a great idea, no need to search for parking spaces in Bar Harbor and save us gas. We rode Bus 1 into Bar Harbor, changed to Bus 5 to get to Bubble Pond. In less than 30 minutes, we were sitting by the water edge to have some lunch and to enjoy the quiet scenery. No one was around, so nice.
Then we started our 5 mile walk on that part of the 45 mile Carriage Road. Our destination was Jordon Pond. The walk was easy on level and gently graded gravel road, 16 feet wide. The first mile or so was along Bubble Pond, then it weaved towards the forest. On the way we met cyclists, horse drawn carriages, horseback riders and even a set of walkers, either coming or going.
No runners for some reason. It took us 1 hour and 45 minutes, but that included stopping to chat with a couple of people, taking photos and shaking out shoes. We thoroughly enjoyed the walk, thanks to John Rockefellar, Jr., who designed and supervised the building of the 45 mile road for his family and guests to ride on horse drawn carriages to explore the natural beauty of the park. He took great pains in blending the road into the environment and keeping bridges as well as guard rails looking rustic.
At Jordan Pond, we took Bus 5 to Seal Harbor Beach. It's a nice sandy beach enclosed in a cove. All sorts of folks were sunbathing stretched out on towels on the sand. Some played in the water. We found a patch of grass to sit on to eat lunch while savoring the ocean breeze and enjoying the scenery. Wealthy folks have homes along the two sides of the cove.
Bus 5 took us back to Bar Harbor where we transferred over to Bus 3 to take us to Sand Beach. Wow, what a nice, big beach at low tide, with lifeguard, and facilities for changing and showering. We admired nifty sand castles built by someone, and watched children frolick in the waves. Reminded us of the wave pool in West Edmonton Mall, but these were real! A ranger was on the beach giving lessons on sea birds. We listened to her until we had to catch the next bus to Thunder Hole. Some of our family had been there before in December when everything was coated in ice. We went down to the railing end to watch and listen to the thundering sounds made by incoming waves. It was still low tide, so the sound was quite dramatic -- the awe of nature's forces. We were not able to insert the video clip at this time, will later.
That ended our fantastic day. The shuttle bus runs from the third week of June till Columbus Day. We'll never drive into Bar Harbor again during those times. Taking the bus was perfect. The Park actually encourages everyone to do the same to reduce traffic congestion and to protect the environment from pollution. These buses run on clean propane gas, funded by LL Bean. No cost, but donation is welcome. We definitely will go again next year to explore another lake and another part of the Carriage Road. The perk of living here is we could choose the perfect day to go enjoy God's creations!