Jessica Hulse: We Heart Maine

Maine is...

...picture perfect

The boys and I flew back from the Dominican Republic to Maine. I'm a little out of order here as I want to share Dominican Republic as well, but I made a video that captures the trip and I cannot upload it here in our little park. The next time we have good Internet I'll time travel back to the DR and recap that beautiful trip!

Portland

It was a long travel day. Two hours in the car, three plane trips, an arrival around 11PM to an empty house (besides the dogs as Chris had left that morning for Kansas) so navigating to the truck and the campground on exhausted legs. I'd be lying if thinking about the travel hadn't been in the back of my mind since the itinerary had been set. I am happy to report that like so many other things I think of or analyze, it all turned out perfectly fine and we landed in what will most definitely be one of our most favorite states.

Ready for takeoff

Portland has a lot to offer. Our campground was on a little lake which is always a good start. It had a backwoods feel to it, but it had services and was conveniently located which allowed us to enjoy the city as we only had a couple of days there. We met up with an old friend that I've known since 3rd grade and caught up for hours over dinner. It was laid back, beautiful and warm welcome back to the states. On our third day there, we were lucky enough to have one of our favorite families join us for five days and explored tidal pools, light houses, and ruins. Huge hugs were taking place as soon as they arrived to their hotel lobby and we whisked them out right away to see the night life in Portland. It was a bit rowdier than we thought and when the children began to notice the stumbling people on the streets we called it a night. Over the next couple days we took in parks, lobster on the sea, and little shops. We played sand volley ball and roasted marshmallows. We stayed up late not wanting the days to end.

Loving life

None of us...

...can get enough of the views

From Portland we headed to Bar Harbor with a stop at the massive LL Bean both for visiting purposes and to grab some rain coats! Our friends were still with us and had rented a cabin right next to our camper. One friend wanted to bunk in our camper, which led to another friend and soon enough all three of them found it cozier to all stay together which we took as a huge compliment. Living in this trailer, we start to wonder if we are really making it work, or if we've just become used to eating off of plastic plates, playing Tetris in the refrigerator and moving dog beds around depending on what space we want to be using. It was so nice to know that our friends found it comfortable and homey!

When we met, the tallest was just taller than the shortest!

I'm not quite sure what the universe had in mind, but it granted our friends with days of straight rain. Not just for a couple of hours, but DAYS of rain, unrelenting pours that lasted their entire trip until they drove off with us standing under the dripping trees begging them to change their flights. It wouldn't be easy for just anybody to pay gobs of money to travel across America, stay in a camper with four other people and their two big dogs and be poured on, but we were sent the right family as we had a BLAST. When it was raining, we put on rain coats and found shorter walks to go on or a shop to duck into. We found chocolate shops to explore and the kids rode bikes through puddles. We walked the dogs to towel them off and all come in to steam up the camper. We braved a steep hike down some wet stairs and over slippery rocks to laugh at being sprayed more by the sea and climb back into the heated truck. We took a boat ride to see the seaside. Board games came out and tea was put on. We read and laughed and drove the roads that we could not hike. We served hot meals on tables and dinosaur trays as we couldn't be outside and nobody seemed to mind as long as we were all together. The trip will be a memorable one for sure as we all huddled together making memories that will not be forgotten!

Bringing Erie to Maine

Bar Harbor was a cute town with some gorgeous homes. It has a rich history in both people and finances. The real gem though was Acadia. I've written a couple posts on the hikes here and here, so I will turn this into a picture heavy post and preface it with the photos don't do the place justice. We are already planning our trip back to tackle more hikes and of course more lobster!