Baa Habaa to Portland

We have just a short blog tonight. Kyle and Grandpa were just making their way from Bar Harbor (or Baa Habaa as Grandpa heard it said) to Portland, Maine. There aren’t a lot of travel options available, and the websites are fairly meager, which makes planning a little hard. We had to call the bus companies to confirm exactly where they got dropped off and picked up.

Grandpa did take one cool photo before leaving Bar Harbor this morning, a lovely Catholic church:

Kyle and Grandpa grabbed a bus in Bar Harbor and rode to the cute little town of Ellsworth. They grabbed breakfast there, as they had to walk half a mile and wait three hours for the next bus. Frankly, I found their breakfast surprisingly mundane. Perhaps Kyle is in training for ‘the return’ to real life:

Just teasing, Kyle, just teasing. The Boy really liked his fruit and granola plate, and that’s all that’s important.

The lads then rode the bus from Ellsworth to Bangor, then another bus line from Bangor to Portland. By the end, Grandpa’s tushie was more sore than had he been riding a bike all day. He was quite happy to see the end of the bus trips!

Our last photo is proof that Kyle hasn’t completely sworn off yummaliscious food (what? It is too a word. Don’t be a hater. If it’s not a word, it should be. If only I knew a dictionary dude like Funk. Or Wagnall. Maybe Wagnall would be better. My only real experience with Funk is the smell emanating from Kyle’s dirty clothes pile). In any case, Kyle’s yummaliscious food is a molten lava cake he got in Portland:

On Thursday, the lads fly out from Portland to Portland. We’re excited to see them!

Goodnight!

Tourists R Us

You’d think, after three months of blogging, that it would come to an end with tires and toes dipping into the Atlantic Ocean. You’d be wrong, of course. While Kyle and Grandpa are still sending pictures, I’m gonna keep yammering on. And on. Try not to cry. There is therapy available if you need it. No, I ain’t paying for it!!

So, I suppose I should give you some substance to go with my prattling. The lads spent today puttering around Bar Harbor, and nearby Acadia Park. Don’t let me forget to tell you something interesting about Acadia. If I forget, I’ll have Kyle do pushups. What? You didn’t think I would do them, did you?

Of course, when one is going to be puttering around ad nauseam, one must properly fuel up. Besides, it ain’t like The Boy is gonna skip a chance to score one last big breakfast:

It seems frighteningly disturbing that he had a pancake option and selected waffles instead. Maybe it’s the ice cream. In case Kyle is reading this, he should be forewarned there will be no waffles with ice cream when he gets home. We’re just cruel like that.

Kyle and Grandpa took a tour bus today, and let a diesel engine tote them around. Lazy bums! Okay, I suppose after using pedal power for 4,000 miles, we can let them go soft for a little bit. They started off with photos of Bar Harbor itself:

As they motored up into the park, they got more scenery:

The tour bus took them up on top of the tallest peak on the Eastern Seaboard, Cadillac Mountain. I’m sure the lads scoffed at that a little, as Cadillac Mountain would be little more than a big hill in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Montana…cuz it tops out at a paltry 1,530′. Still, when you are the tallest peak in the area, it gives you a pretty great view:

Now, for the story. Settlers in the 1600’s called the area Arcadia as it resembled Greece, though the park itself had a couple of different names (including Lafayette Park and Sieur de Monts). There were a lot of French settlers in the area initially. As more and more English settlers came into the area over the years, the name Arcadia got mispronounced as Acadia and the name stuck (likely as the English are wont to lose the r’s in words…however, they tend to stick them on the end where they don’t belong, so I’m surprised it didn’t morph into Acadiar). MORE interesting, however, is that many of the French who left the area moved to Louisiana, where they were known as Acadians. That word morphed again into Cajuns. Cool, huh? No extra charge for that, folks, just a free service we offer. (PS – Kyle, you just got lucky, no pushups for you!).

Kyle and Grandpa also got to take a look at a wigwam, which like a teepee but considered a more semi-permanent structure:

Once the lads came down from Cadillac Mountain, they spent some time at a place Kyle called the coolest beach he’s ever been to. This is the eastern shore of Mt Desert Island in Acadia National Park:

With all of the rocks jutting out, the incoming waves put on a spectacular show. Water would spurt out of unexpected places, or crash thunderously. Sadly, they had to leave the beach with the tour. On the way out, however, they stopped at the park gate house:

After Kyle and Grandpa got back to town, they indulged themselves in something everyone must do when they visit Maine…eat lobster!:

The soups are a lobster bisque and a clam chowder. Kyle is putting down a lobster roll with sweet potato fries. Grandpa’s gnoshing on a 1 1/4lb Maine lobster…but not the lobster liver. Kyle is almost always quite happy to venture outside his food comfort zone. Knowing that most people have never eaten a lobster liver, including their waiter, he stepped up and gave it a shot. He loved it!

To finish off their meal, the lads shared a blueberry pie, made with Maine blueberries. They said it was the best blueberry pie they’d ever eaten. Apparently, it was consumed too quickly for them to provide us any photographic evidence! Instead, they got a couple of night time shots of the town:

Here’s one last photo, the most important thing about the entire trip…the time Kyle and Grandpa got to spend together facing challenges across an entire country. They’re really going to miss this time they’ve had together:

Tomorrow Kyle and Grandpa spend the day traveling to Portland, Maine so they can fly back home. Ironically, they’ll fly from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon on Thursday.

We can’t wait to see them.

Goodnight!

BEEN THERE. DONE THAT.

There aren’t enough superlatives to describe what is summed up in this photo: 

No, wait, that’s not the photo. Doggone it. Hold on folks, let me flip through my slides. Maybe it’s one of these:

Drat it! That’s a really cool stone bridge, and a photo of The Boy riding under it, but we’ve seen shots like that before. Hang on, hang on. These next ones look more promising:

Hmm…still not the one I was looking for. However, it is interesting to see my math nerd boy showing his geek side. Yes, Kyle, live long and prosper. I kind of wish I had a photo of sister Rachel (not Sister Rachel, just so we’re clear. Rachel has a lot of habits, but not the black and white kind) throwing up her anti-Spock counter gesture. She puts only her ring and middle fingers together and says, “Live short and die poor.” Luckily, she’s just kidding. We hope!

I should also have pointed out that the above photos include a sign indicating Bar Harbor. Founded in 1796, it is one of the few towns in America older than Grandpa (I think I just insured I’m getting a nice lump of Pennsylvania coal for Christmas). However, being founded prior to 1800 isn’t Bar Harbors’s primary claim to fame in our story. Nay, boys and girls, we care about Bar Harbor, Maine because of THIS:

PEOPLE. BOYS AND GIRLS OF ALL AGES. KYLE AND GRANDPA HAVE REACHED THE ATLANTIC OCEAN! No matter what happens the rest of their lives, they can truly say, “Been there. Done that!” We couldn’t be more proud of what they’ve done. Here are a few statistics to try and help us understand the enormity of the accomplishment of 92 days of riding:

Miles ridden: 4,049

Elevation gain: 149,978′

States/Provinces ridden through: Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and the Province of Ontario.

Money raised for Shriners Hospital for Children: $3,151 (and we’re still counting). donate.lovetotherescue.org/fundraiser

Isn’t that incredible? Imagine making that ride at any point in your life, much less at Grandpa’s spry 68 years old. The man is amazing. Kyle on the other hand, is of an age where he certainly has the physical ability to achieve the task…but how many 18 year olds are willing to do the hard work to ride over 4,000 miles? AND, to suffer a tragic loss and a tailbone cyst surgery…but still come back to ride the second half of THE COUNTRY?

Remarkable, gentlemen, remarkable!

Now, I can’t be too serious for very long. You know that right? I have to admit I did want to add another category to the accomplishment list above, “Pancakes eaten by Kyle:” but didn’t want to diminish the significance of their achievement…well, that, and we couldn’t count that high!

Tomorrow, Kyle and Grandpa get to relax and enjoy Bar Harbor and the surrounding area. They’ll ride into a really nice local park, so we’ll probable get some good photos from there. If we’re lucky, we may even get to see some pancakes!