road trip day 23: maine to massachusetts

Barely three days in Maine and it was already time to head south. In less than a week were were finally reuniting with our friends, who we originally planned the road trip with. Because of work and what not, they departed two weeks after us, and we had a standing date to meet up in Salem for Halloween. Leaving Maine was bittersweet. As we traveled south along the coast, we stopped to eat our last lobster roll, savoring the delightfully buttery lobster encased in soft white bread. Before we knew it, we had crossed the border into Massachusetts and were making our way towards Cape Cod.

road trip day 22: acadia national park

Acadia National Park is the Maine I dreamt about. Icy blue water lapping upon dark craggy shores and miles of stunted trees dotting the rough terrain. Acadia is beautiful, although it was clearly turning into a freezing and foreboding place by late October. Located in the north-eastern part of Maine, it took us roughly three hours to reach Acadia. It was our first national park of the trip (thank you government) and we were excited to get out hiking boots out and start exploring on two legs instead of four wheels. The weather, although bright and clear, was a touch below 40 degrees and with the wind, we were able to get out of our car for a total of ten minutes before running back.

P.S have you checked out our map to the right? It's located under the "where are we now tab" and tallies how much money spent and miles driven so far!

road trip day 20: we finally made it to maine!

Well let's just get the disappointing stuff out of the way shall we...the fall colors are gone! Totally and utterly gone and it is all the Nugget's fault! The impetus of this trip was to see the fall colors in Maine and we failed to do just that! I am seriously upset about it. Although not upset enough to lose my appetite. Brian and I cruised through Maine into Portland, absolutely crushed by the lack of crimsons and golds in the landscape and immediately turned to food for comfort. Sitting outside, near a harbor, eating lobster rolls and New England clam chowder, I began to feel my spirits lifting. Ahh nothing like being hangry (hunger + anger = hanger). After we settled down and came to terms with missing the fall colors, we explored Portland. Portland definitely pales in comparison the the one we are used to in Oregon. There wasn't food stalls, or quirky little shops filled with objects made from wood chopped down in someones backyard, or adult males with ironic mustaches.  There really wasn't much of anything, including people for that matter. The city was dead and creeping us out, so we found the nearest Trader Joes, loaded up on goodies and got the hell out of dodge. We landed in Freeport, Maine. Home to L.L. Bean and a large amount of outlets. I was thrilled. We spent the rest of the day shopping and the night in Freeport at an amazing campsite right on the water,  and our world was well again.