Reflections on Acadia

I was thinking about our new blog and decided a "retrospective" was in order. I started looking back through our family scrapbooks and was a little surprised to realize that our serious traveling really only began a few years ago. We talked about traveling often, but the reality was that we were raising and homeschooling two young children and didn't have a lot of money left over for trips. And truthfully, we were too busy being involved in local Girl Scouts, 4-H and figure skating lessons...and we even experimented with 3 different musical instruments, karate and fencing! We went on so many interesting field trips throughout rural Wisconsin and into Chicago and Milwaukee related to our homeschool studies on top of exploring our community. Our family vacations had us seeking out just about every nook and cranny of Wisconsin and we loved every minute of all of it. As the kids came near the end of their education we started being able to take other trips...with and without them!

Our first really big trip was in 2001 when we drove all the way to Newfoundland to visit relatives. We drove straight through on the way there (TOTAL MADNESS!) but took our time on the way back. Our big highlight was our stay in Maine at Acadia National Park. It was this experience that led Wayne and I to our current love of the U.S. National Parks System. Because we were younger (and poorer!) we camped in a tent and one of my biggest memories was of being nervous about black bears coming upon us while we were sleeping!

We loved going to the outdoor auditorium at night and listening to the Ranger talk about everything the park had to offer, and the lichens on top of Cadillac Mountain were pretty neat too!

The best part of our stay was taking part in a Ranger-led hike called "Life Between the Tides". We hiked a 1.5 mile loop that went through a couple of different tidal habitats and spent a lot of time crouched down in mud flats and tidal pools seeking out the hidden creatures.

We learned about periwinkles, limpets, barnacles, crabs, scuds, clams, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, starfish and so much more from our Ranger. Our son developed a life-long love of marine biology and we all had a fantastic time.

Wayne and I can't wait to get back there some day and see what we missed because we know we barely scratched the surface at what is one of best national parks this nation has to offer!