Today’s highlight was a sea kayak tour on the “quiet” west side of the island. We paddled northeast along the coast for 6 miles, stopping to see wildlife and for a snack on Indian Point. Animal sightings included various birds, including seagulls and gansers, a starfish, crabs, and seals. See the seal head popping out of the water.

In the afternoon, Susannah took an Irish whistle workshop as part of the week-long Acadia School of Traditional Music and Arts. (She is now the proud owner of a new tin whistle, needed to participate in the class.)

We also watched the U.S. World Cup game – too bad for the loss – and then went out to dinner at a charming Irish pub with live guitar music.

This morning we got up before the sun and motored up Cadillac Mountain to see the sunrise. (Amazing how many other people were also up at 4:30!). The sun was up, but we returned to bed for a bit more shut eye so we would have energy for more activities.

The hiking highlight of the day was the Bubbles (South Bubble and North Bubble), which overlook Jordan Pond. We started with an almost perfect picnic on the shore of Jordan Pond (we still aren’t certain how part of the lunch got left at the grocery store – Rowan was sad to miss her selected items), then divided up, with the grandmothers circumnavigating the whole pond and the four of us hiking the adjacent mountains. South Bubble affords an amazing view of Jordan Pond, and the back side of North Bubble opens to a vista of Eagle Lake. On the way back, we took one of Acadia’s famous carriage trails, then reconnected with our group in the parking lot – impressive timing given that none of us had a cell signal.

After a relaxing dinner, we ended the day with an Acadian music/dance/storytelling performance – the College of the Atlantic (the location of the music festival and traditional music school) has an interesting campus.

We’re eking our the last of our National Parks annual pass, bought last summer on our journeys with Chester – this time for a week at Acadia National Park in Maine. Susannah is reliving her childhood summer camping days at Acadia (though staying this time at a motel instead of in a tent!).

We introduced the kids to the island with a day of hiking and exploring: the Beehive trail (with iron rungs in the steep parts), the Sand Beach trail, Eliot Mountain, and Bar Island (accessible only at low tide from the waterfront at Bar Harbor). We also had lunch in Northeast Harbor and tea at Jordan Pond House (of course!)

Aug 4 – Howe’s moving castle made it home safely – what a memorable trip! Three cheers to Chester for serving as our faithful chariot the entire time.

Day 37: Bethlehem PA to Northampton MA – about 270 miles.

Total trip = 7061 miles; 20 states and 1 Canadian province.

Aug 3 – We started the day with Arielle’s awesome pancakes (hard to choose between blueberry and chocolate chip!) and some last play time for the kids.

Our plan was to head straight to Bethlehem PA, but when we realized how close we would be to Gettysburg, we couldn’t resist a stop. The orientation film was shorter than that at Manassas but more comprehensive about causes for the Civil War. The crowning experience of our visit was the newly restored Cyclorama. This example of a nearly lost art form is part mural and part diarama, featuring a 360 degree wrap-around painting (377 feet in circumference, 42 feet high) that puts spectators in the middle of the action during Pickett’s charge on the third day of battle.

We arrived in Bethlehem in time for a short tour of Lehigh’s structural engineering facilities, where our friend Lane is currently pursuing her master’s degree. (Susannah especially enjoyed the reinforced concrete columns that Lane’s class had tested.). Lane and her son Ben provided warm hospitality, including a delicious grilled chicken dinner and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

After dinner we headed into downtown Bethlehem for a taste of Musik Fest, a 10-day extravaganza of music (600+ acts!), food, and crafts. We heard snippets of multiple concerts, perhaps the most unusual of which was a masked man playing a carillon of bells. We sampled funnel cake and Rowan visited with the horses accompanying the mounted police. Lane pointed out many historic buildings and areas in Bethlehem – it seems a charming city!

Day 36: Herndon VA to Bethlehem PA – 213 miles.

Aug 2 – We hadn’t noticed last night in the dark, but our RV park was situated on a river and near a mountain – so some of us explored it a little in the AM. We then had a fairly short drive to Manassas National Battlefield Park. The movie in the visitor’s center provided a vivid account of both the first and second Civil War battles that happened at the site, and a tour guide later filled in additional details during a walking tour. In between the two, we had a picnic lunch under the shade of a tree outside the visitor’s center – Susannah’s first time preparing food while not moving 50+ miles an hour in Chester!

We dropped Susannah’s mom Dianne at Dulles airport after leaving Manassas – how quickly the week flew by! Feels like just yesterday we were driving through Memphis.

Our late afternoon destination was the home of friends Arielle and Dave, not far from Dulles. Our kids had fun playing with their kids in a variety of activities, including floor bowling, marble chutes, chess, and cards. We all enjoyed a bounty of delicious food and engaging conversation. Lovely to have a chance to hang out with old friends!

Day 35: Luray VA to Herndon VA, via Dulles Airport – 86 miles.

Aug 1 – Is it really August already? Hard to believe we’ve spent the whole month of July on the road! We’ve been really lucky on our trip because we haven’t had much rain, but it seems to have caught up with us now that we’re back on the east coast. We awoke to more rain at our Claytor Lake campground (we felt sympathy for the people who had booked the week there planning to boat and swim…) but made a quick stop to the visitor’s center housed in the historic – and coincidentally named – Howe House, and got a photo on the porch.

Back on the road again, we headed north up I-81 and then into the middle of Shendandoah National Park. Just as we reached Skyline Drive the skies really opened up and we drove for about 15 miles with scenic vistas of nothing but fog banks on both sides. So much for the promised overlooks!

We stopped at the visitor center by Big Meadows to see the movie about what the park actually looks like and to enjoy the (highly recommended) exhibit about the creation of the park. Much to our surprise and delight, when we came back outside, the fog had lifted and the sun had come out! On our next 15 miles of Skyline Drive we could see what we had been missing previously, and we took lots of photos of the expansive views from the ridgetop.

We left Shenandoah National Park for the town of Luray VA to get a taste of natural beauty underground. Luray Caverns are reputed to be the best in the east and our tour did not disappoint. A unique feature of the cave is the “stalagpipe organ”, which is actually an amplified percussive instrument activated by tapping specific stalactites chosen for their resonant pitches. Pretty amazing to hear a hymn played on rock formations!

Thanks to Yelp, we dined on tasty food and local beer at a grill in downtown Luray, before settling in at our final RV park for the trip. Ben marked the occasion by losing another tooth – his third of the trip!

Day 34: Claytor Lake State Park VA to Luray VA via Shenandoah National Park – about 210 miles.

July 31 – We awoke at our campground to the patter of raindrops in the roof, but that didn’t stop Susannah from taking a short trail run/hike on the trail right across from our site. When she returned, all 9 of us huddled under Chester’s awning and had an al fresco breakfast. We were then tempted by the clearing skies to hike to an overlook on another nearby trail – see the kids on one of the log bridges along the trail and the view (still cloudy) from the top.

The two families said their goodbyes and we headed north into Virginia. We stopped for dinner at log house built in 1786 that had a maze of rooms, atria, and gardens. By the time we got to our campground at Claytor Lake State Park, it was getting late and starting to rain again, but we couldn’t resist a short walk down to the marina to see the boats and take in the free wifi!

Day 33: Cosby TN (Great Smoky Mountains National Park) to Claytor Lake State Park VA – 211 miles.

July 30 – Susannah started her day with a crack-of-dawn run with colleague Cynthia, a Nashville resident, who gave an informative and athletic tour of the Vanderbilt and Centennial Park parts of Nashville. So nice to have running company!

Then we all feasted on slow-cooked groats with nuts and berries (new fave – definitely going to make this at home!) at Krisi’s before getting on the road to continue east to the Smokies. Tennessee is a really wide state, and losing an hour because of the time zone change didn’t help.

After a couple of stops for groceries, we rolled into our verdant, brookside campsite at Cosby campground in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and connected with our friends Matt and Hillary and their kids at an adjacent campsite. We dined on burgers and dogs (vegan style) at our blazing (and smoking!) campfire and rounded out the meal with more s’mores and wine (limited selection in eastern TN…)

The girls shared a small tent for the night (think any of them actually slept?) and we all managed to weather the rain that fell all night – our first significant rain while camping.

Day 32: Nashville TN to Cosby TN – 244 miles.

July 29 – After a blueberry pancake breakfast at our quiet woodsy campsite, we continued east toward Nashville. We could have taken the interstate the whole way, but were intrigued by the Natchez Trace Parkway for its historic significance, its scenery, and its engineering. The Parkway follows the trail first used by Native Americans and later used by American settlers and military troops.

We stopped at an 1812 war memorial and also at the nationally acclaimed, double arch, concrete Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge. (Can you tell Susannah is a civil engineer by training?) We were surprised that so few people were traveling the parkway – we saw only 3 cars on the 25 mile stretch that we travelled.

Just before Nashville we explored the historic town of Franklin, enjoying its charming architecture, ambience, and frozen yogurt!

We spent the night with Susannah’s cousin Krisi who made us feel most welcome. She cooked us a delicious Japanese dinner and led us on a walking tour around nearby Belmont University, which was all lit up at night. The kids romped with their second cousin Eli and we all got a kick out of playing Apples to Apples.

Day 31: Chickasaw State Park TN to Nashville TN, via the Natchez Trace Parkway and Franklin – about 175 miles.