The problem with not blogging every night is that I forget what we did. However, when we're really busy, I'm too tired at night to blog, and when we're not busy during the day, the blog would be too boring. So instead of a daily journal post, this time I'll just post on the highlights of the past four days.

One day

We sat around at home because there was quite a bit of fog. Bob had gotten a number of boxes from the post office and Home Depot, so he packed quite a bit of things (mostly books) to send home. We're trying to get the weight and bulk down of what we've brought with us so the car wouldn't be quite as loaded. Also, we must accommodate the extra weight of the extra kayak and the antiques we bought.

On that day, however, I made pasta carbonara for dinner. It was excellent and it's nice to cook again. I love cooking, but I've been lazy lately. I am still reading about a book a day and have gotten through all of Diane Mott Davidson's Goldie the Caterer books. Very light reading, but good writing--not really a predictable ending to the murder mysteries, and I love the characters that recur. I'm ready to begin the Secret Life of Lobsters, a non-fiction, and I've loaded some other author's chef/mystery book on my Nook. I'm trying to decide whether to get a Kindle Fire or an I-Pad, or both, but I really don't want to spend money on myself that way.

I shopped online for some clothes for Ana and hope they will be delivered soon, so Kayla can mail them to her.

Another day

Our first stop was an antique place on Route 1 that we've passed but never visited. OH. MY. GOD. It was wonderful. I got quite a few things. I've gotten into some new collections (which is deadly for me since I wanted to cut down on collections and junk I already have). I like Ironstone pitchers (I now have three in three different sizes) and I also bought a turquoise Fiestaware pitcher. I bought an old breadbox that I can repaint, and a number of glass storage jars for my pantry project. Since we were already haflway there, we drove to Ellsworth, had lunch/dinner at Finn's again. This time I had a hamburger and it was delicious. We stopped at Morton's Moo for gelato--it, too, was delicious.

Yet another day

One of the MUSTS for our trip was a whale watch. We finally got to do that even though the day was riff with stress. First, Bob's alarm didn't work, so we got up later than we wanted to. Then the traffic on the way to Bar Harbor was ridiculously heavy and slow. Since I had already purchased tickets online, we had to be at the dock, in line, by 12:30. With the traffic so heavy, I was already worried, but then we had to contend with the lack of parking. Bob dropped me off to pick up the tickets and wait in line. I had jumped out of the car so quickly that I left my phone in the car. After getting the tickets, trying to speak Italian to a couple in line, and stressing that Bob wouldn't make it in time, Bob finally shows up. He had parked at Testas parking lot again. We were in the middle of the long line and I was worried that we wouldn't get good seats on the top deck. When we got up to the top deck, just as I realized there were not two seats together, a woman gets up right in front of us, I grabbed the two seats and stationed myself at a great place on the rail. What is the lesson I should have learned here (but won't have)? Things work out in the end. It was a great trip. We saw two whales often, along with shearwaters, phalaropes, puffins, gannets, petrals, porpoises, and harbor seals. The naturalist on board was excellent even in her youth. Articulate and bright. We befriended a couple of which the wife was an English teacher at a community college in New Jersey (Monmouth). We shared a lot of the same thoughts about teaching, education, and students. Maybe too much shop talk, but it was still interesting and quite a coincidence. During the trip, which was 3 and 1/2 hours long, we also learned a lot about the history of the area, the names of the light houses and islands, and much, much more.

When we disembarked, it was still too early for our 5:30 PM reservation at Cafe This Way, so we stopped to see Debbie, the bartender at Testas and had a couple of drinks. Then we walked to Cafe This Way. Dinner was amazing. As an appetizer, I had Duck pate and Bob had bruscetta with cheese, roasted peppers and tapenade. For dinner, Bob had pork tenderloin chipoltle peppers and garlic mashed potatoes, and I had the Southwestern Shepherd's Pie (garlic mashed potatoes between two breaded and fried slices of eggplant, with a corn, red pepper, tomato salsa. He also had a salad with mandarin oranges, fried wanton strips, and a sesame dressing. I had the pot de cremes again and Bob had coffee.

Alas, this might have been our last trip to Bar Harbor for this summer. I was sad since there were so many places on the way that I had wanted to stop at.

Today

More packing and disassembling (to dry) the inflatable boat, the hammocks, the camp chairs. Bob's going to Cherryfield to try to find some larger postal boxes as the post office here in Milbridge only have the midsized ones (and they told Bob those were the largest ones--we know that's not true). It's going to rain, so we're not planning on doing anything fun today.

As the time draws nearer and nearer to leave this wonderful place, it also brings us closer to the time when we'll see our precious children: Bryn in Long Island before we set "sail" for our trip across the country, Sean in Colorado as we near the end of our journey, and Matt and his family once we have a few days at home before our drive down to Tucson.

To Portland We Will Go

Monday, July 30

We all got up earlier than usual, so Bob and Bryn went out kayaking. They went further than we had ever gone before and actually got out to the open ocean. Bryn described riding the waves in the kayak. They barely made it home in time to avoid a long haul through the mud at low tide.

Today was the day for Bar Harbor. Bryn (and the other two children) had been here before and I was wondering if she'd remember. It was a long time ago, however. I believe she was about 7 years old. We drove around looking for a parking place and I decided we could park in Testa's lot. So, we made our first stop a visit to Glen our favorite bartender at Testas. Bryn and I had caipirinhas and Bob had a beer. Since it was lunch time and we were all hungry, Bryn ordered a lobster roll and Bob and I had (again) those delicious prime rib sandwiches. We hung out for a while while Glen gave us some bartending information and then we walked in and out of the little shops on Main Street. We stopped later on for another beer at Finnback's Alehouse where we befriended another interesting bartender, Scott, while we watched some of the Olympics on TV. It was a refreshing, relaxing stop, but it was now dinner time, so we asked Scott for a recommendation. He recommended Cafe This Way so I called an made a reservation for the porch. When we arrived (it was only 5 minutes away), our table was ready. When I first looked at the menu, I wasn't impressed, but when our orders came, I was very impressed. Bryn and I had appetizers: Maine Crab Cakes (2 large ones) with a Cajun lobster sauce, and The Littlebit (melted Asiago cheese, roasted garlic, roasted peppers, tapenade on bruschetta). I ordered (and Bryn and I shared) Southwest Shepherd's Pie (crispy eggplant, chevre whipped potatoes, spicey creamed corn and onions). Bob had the Spanish Chicken (a large chicken breast, locally made chorizo, olives, dried apricots, honey, and port--served with garlic mashed potatoes). It was delicious. Bryn and I shared a beautifully rich chocolate pot de creme and we walked down to the wharf to take pictures of the sunset and the ships and schooners.

It was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful time.

Tuesday

Today, Bryn surprised us by getting up early, taking a shower, and packing before we even woke up. After we were all ready, we began the 3 1/2 hour ride to Portland. On the way, we stopped at a local restaurant called Chester Pikes and had a huge breakfast. Bob had a Monte Christo, I had two eggs, sausage, potatoes and homemade bread with homemade blueberry jam. Bryn had two poached eggs on homemade oatmeal bread, potatoes O'Brien, bacon. YUMMY!

Once we arrived in Portland, we set out for the Old Waterfront area. There are darling shops, one pub/restaurant after another, and loads of things to do. Unfortunately, it was already after 3:30 when we arrived and Bryn had to be at the airport by 6 PM. We stopped in many of the shops and finally landed at Bull Feeney's Irish Pub. It was a beautiful pub with several different dining areas--two stories of them. We were all pretty full from dinner, but we wanted to make sure Bryn didn't have to eat at the airport. She ordered a lobster roll, I had one too, and Bob ordered an appetizer of deep-fried Camembert with a fruit compote dipping sauce. Very good.

Off to the airport after visiting another street of shops and just like that, 6 days were gone. On the ride home, Bob and I did not stop because many of the highways here do not have lights, so Bob wanted to do as much driving in daylight as possible. Traffic wasn't bad and later we found out that Bryn's flight had been delayed, so we got home at about the same time she did. All is well but we are tired.

Wednesday

Today was foggy and rainy so Bob and I stayed in the cottage to read and do a few other things. We were exhausted and happy to stay home.