Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Jacque Miller, Matt Miller, Holly Miller, Shane Miller
Date: July 2002
We camped at the Bar Harbor KOA which was right along the coast of the ocean. The kids could walk down to the water and find dozens of starfish. At the campsite, Shane made a creative elaborate circular maze game out of rocks and taught us how to throw rocks into it to get points. Shane loved the strawberry pancakes that the campground served every morning.
We had an unseasonable cold front push through bringing the night-time summer temperatures down to the mid-40’s so I had to purchase sweatshirts for everyone as we had not packed any in the pop-up camper. Sitting around the campfire at night, this was one of the best places to see the Milky Way and stars in the heavens above.
The next day we toured Bar Harbor, discovering local shops and sampling Maine food. I bought Rosie a lobster for her to try for the first time. The kids loved the “lobster bicycle taxi”. Bar Harbor seemed like a small fishing town right out of a Stephen King novel. We booked rides on a whale watching boat where we saw a half dozen large whales swimming and splashing near us. So much beautiful scenery along the coastline.
We hiked a couple small trails in Acadia National Park but when we can to the dangerous Bee Hive Trail I had to tell Jacque and Matt no. I returned the next day and hiked it myself. The trail is rated strenuous because you ascend the steep face of Beehive Mountain. It is famous for its iron rungs as you had to use them to climb in many areas. One fall and a roll and you are off the thin path and falling hundreds of feet. That is why I did not take the kids as parts of the climb scared me. The trail was 2 miles in length and took about two hours to complete.
