Introduction

Looking back...
Journal entry written on August 3, 2007

I think it's well past time to carry on a conversation with myself...

Denise, what are you thinking? Or should I say not thinking?

Vacation destinations usually jump into my head during the winter months and solidify as spring rolls into summer. It's the beginning of August, and my target timeframe for a vacation is the end of August or the beginning of September. My target destination? It's been a total mystery for a long time, but I think a decision is finally at hand.

Initially I was thinking about returning to Nova Scotia. I have a lot of exploring left to do there! It wasn't until very recently that I realized (one of the reasons) why my enthusiasm wasn't bubbling over. The trip there was to be a combination of cycling and hiking and wandering with the assistance of my bright blue fossil-fuel-powered vehicle. I would really like to get to the Cabot Trail on the far eastern side of the province, and because of the grades of the hills (short & steep), I don't think I want to ride it. But somehow, looking at the amount of driving I was going to need to do just didn't excite me. I went back to thinking, dreaming...

I know that I want to spend some time in Acadia National Park, riding, and playing with my camera. Yes, I know I was there twice last year, and twice in 2005 too. I think I've developed an addiction to that park, and in my mind that's not a bad thing. OK, Maine it is (again).

I think, I think... I'm going to head for the Mid-Coast region of Maine. It's a section of the coast where I haven't spent any time at all. My plans are pretty fluid right this moment - instead of heading out the last week of August, I think I'll drive up on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. (The area is just too close to the Boston area to wander up there at the beginning of the holiday weekend, too many people.) I'll probably do a day trip or two on my bike, plus head out for a several day (well, probably a short loop) tour. That piece will probably start in (or near) Bucksport and head down to the tip of Deer Isle. And then I'll spend a few days in Acadia - both on Mt. Desert Island and on the Schoodic Peninsula - riding, walking, exercising cameras. How's that for a plan?

My original thoughts were to take two weeks, and this will definitely be short of that. Hmm... no plane fare for this trip, still a chunk of vacation time remaining after this trip, maybe I'll balance things out and take a long weekend hiking and camera trip somewhere later in the fall. My dreams (right now) are leaning towards Death Valley for that shorter trip. But for now? It feels like Maine...

Ah, a puzzle on the way to a solution...

Table of Contents

For now, please use Blogger's list of posts in the sidebar to follow my trip in reverse sequence. I plan to flip this blog on its head so that the posts flow from oldest to newest (like the table of contents in a book), adding a real Table of Contents and a Page by Page sidebar entry, and adding (better) next and previous links at the bottom of each post. I probably won't be able to make these changes for the next several weeks. ...Denise, January 25, 2009

Pictures? Yes, of course there are more!

I had two things I wanted to do on this trip - ride my bicycle, and play with my camera. Doing both made me happy, and both contributed to the success of my trip.

A good number of pictures are included within this journal, but as appears to be normal for me, there are more in my photo galleries. Yes, there is an overlap; there are photos in both places that also exist in the other, but there are also photos that can only be seen in one place.

There are 5 photo galleries within my travel category page A coastline beckons - September 2007. You can start at this top level, or you can go directly to the individual galleries:

• Images of Acadia - this gallery contains photos of Acadia National Park taken over four days. The changing light conditions were due both to weather / sunlight conditions as well as the fact that I wandered Park Loop Road multiple times each day, once by bike, and once by other transportation modes. This gallery also includes shots of the sunset from the top of Cadillac Mountain.
  
  
  A book! Photos from my Images of Acadia gallery are now available in book form.
  

  Images of Acadia - September 2007

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• Looping eastern Mount Desert Island - The photos in this gallery are from the day I wandered on Mount Desert Island outside of the park, as described in my Sun kissed journal entry.
  
  
• Contrasting old & new structures - pictures of the new Penobscot Narrows Bridge, and the old, Fort Knox, in Prospect, Maine. I was fascinated by the new bridge...
  
  
• Mid-coast to Deer Isle - contains photos of my stay in Camden, of my loop ride heading south of there, and of a quick ride on Deer Isle.
  
  
• Saco Heath - photos taken as I walked through the Saco Heath peat bog. This walking stop was a perfect break in my drive from home to Camden. I visited Saco Heath for the first time in December, and I found the difference in my two visits to be amazing.
  
  (If you're interested, photos from my first visit can be found in the gallery Saco Bay by foot - December 2006.)

Rover's thoughts

Shhh... don't tell Denise that I have taken over her computer! I didn't know that writing could be so much fun, and I thought I'd add my parting thoughts to Denise's before she marks this journal as complete.

I really like it when we move from place to place on our bike, but you know what? Denise was right, and this different kind of bike trip was just what she needed right now. The corners of Maine where we were wandering are really beautiful. It was very interesting to see the world from the top of that bridge - Denise wanted to walk down the stairs, but I thought it would be fun to slide down the cable stays. I know, I know, that's a bit crazy, and of course neither activity is allowed. But I can dream, can't I? (Denise said she wouldn't slide down even if it was allowed, you know she doesn't like heights, don't you?)

And oh! Riding and walking along the rocky coastline, seeing the ocean sparkle, and chasing the birds with a camera, that was so much fun. Somehow I think - no really, I know - we'll be going back there again someday. Sitting at that very windy spot high on Cadillac Mountain to watch the sun set was pretty special too.

I think it's OK to tell you this. It can't be a secret since Denise just published a start at her journal. At the end of October Denise & I are heading to Death Valley National Park to walk in the desert and to play with her cameras. I've never been to Death Valley before! It has a scary name, but the pictures I've been looking at make it appear to be stark but beautiful.

I hope you'll join us on our trip to Death Valley by keeping an eye on Denise's journal What's in a name?. Hmm... maybe I should call it "our" journal. Maybe Denise will let me write about our wanderings there. You don't mind if I help with the descriptions, do you?

My goal for the winter - after our jaunt to Death Valley, of course - is to help Denise figure out a biking (a touring!) destination for 2008. She really needs to know much earlier in the year where she (we! I may only be a little red dog, but I count too!) will be wandering on her bike.

With lots of love & licks -
Rover

Traveling WITH a bike

...as opposed to BY bike

This was a different type of trip for me. It wasn't a tour, where my bike and I travel from point to point, moving every day (or two) through and to a new area. Explorations through travel...

Instead, I decided to head to a small corner of Maine, to spend some time each day wandering on my bike, and also to spend some time walking along the rocky coast, absorbing the sights and sounds around me.

Sometimes as I am planning a trip I forget that traveling with my bike doesn't always have to mean that I (absolutely) need to use my bike as a means of moving from place to place. This trip was what I needed at this point in my life, a chance to ride in a beautiful place, a chance to rest, a chance to reflect.

Even though I wasn't touring, I did take some of my touring habits with me. Before I started touring years ago, I was not very comfortable talking to strangers. That is something that came naturally as I started touring, with just my bike (and Rover, of course!) as a companion. Somehow that habit has become a natural part of my life, whether I'm home, touring, or just wandering in the world.

It was a good trip, a time of peace, a time of reflection.

Photos: A last waltz along the rocky coast

Photos: Circling one more time by bicycle