Plan A, Take Two

Yesterday our plan was to visit the new Peace River Wildlife Center hospital, then go to Fisherman's Village for an adult beverage and the sunset.  

HA...not so fast!  First of all, we did go to see the new clinic but it was overcast and actually rained on us when we headed back to the car.  Not great sunset weather.

So...we decided on Plan B, go to Bocca Lupo for a pizza.  It was the full moon and they have Full Moon Madness specials.  

On the way, we stopped by Beef Country to get some chicken patties, which they were out of.  To top it off, we learned that the gentleman who owned the business when we first came to FL, that we had become friendly with, had passed away over the summer.  

And finally...Bocca Lupo was slammed, so we came home and ate dinner.  A total bust...no sunset, no chicken patties, no pizza.

Tonight we tried Plan A again.  We went to Fisherman's Village, got beverages and sat on the new beach to enjoy the sunset. 

5:46 pm

5:52 pm

5:56 pm

6:00 pm

6:03 pm

6:06 pm

It wasn't spectacular but it was 81* at 5:30 and we're retired and we're in FL with our feet in the sand, in JANUARY!  I guess it kinda was spectacular!

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

It's All About Plan B

Got up early in order to get a parking space so we could hike the Cadillac North Ridge Trail.  Apparently, you need to get up at the crack of dawn in order to park in the park!  I liked the "good ole days" better when Acadia wasn't so darn crowded.  

We left the cottage before 9:00, which is unheard of for us!  It was 68*, mostly cloudy and breezy.  Got to the parking area, all eleven spaces, by 9:06 and didn't someone pull into the only available space two seconds before us. ;o(  Pulled over a little beyond where we wanted to park and didn't that same damn car go past us.  Apparently, they pulled in to see the view, of which there isn't one, and pulled right back out again.  GRRRRRR  

We drove out of the park and back around, hoping to catch an open spot, only to have the same damn thing happen again.  One space open and a car pulls into it Right.In.Front.Of.US!!!  Apparently we were not meant to hike that trail today.

Sooooo, we drove to the parking area at Sand Beach and decided to hike The Beehive.  Not my favorite hike, makes me very anxious.

We hit the trailhead at 9:50

It seemed there were a number of new iron rungs and handholds but I was still super anxious.

There are a number of great views of Sand Beach but the light wasn't the best for taking pictures ;o(  and I'm too technologically challenged to figure out how to adjust it on my phone, which just totally makes me mad.

We reached the summit in about 50 minutes, not too far off our previous times of around 45 minutes.  

Took our summit photo, which for some reason, was not easy and it didn't come out very well. (sigh) 

(I'll insert the photo here when I ever figure out how to get it out of my Airdrop!)

There are some nice views of the Porcupine Islands from the summit.

There's a little color.

From the summit, we headed down the other side and toward The Bowl, a pond among the mountains.

I found this rock in the path.

We have had lunch at The Bowl several times and were surprised to see "our" rock was free from other hikers, so we sat and ate our lunch.  It was still cloudy and breezy, but fairly warm, around 68*.  Not bad but I prefer a sunny day.

Did I say "breezy"?  Well, "someone" didn't stow their plastic lids appropriately and one of them blew into the water.  Thankfully, the wind was blowing toward us.  

That does not belong in there.

Since I thought the "someone" involved was me, I took off my boots and socks and went in after it.

The water was cool but not freezing, quite nice actually.

Only after I climbed back out, did I learn that the "someone" was NOT me, but was, however, Bill.

(more photos to insert...)

We headed back to the car around 11:53 and got to the car about 12:30.  We used the restroom and walked to Thunder Hole, stopping at the gift shop for a cold beverage.  Bill spotted this cool mushroom.  I had to take two pictures because the first one had my finger in it.  Good grief!

Not much happening at Thunder Hole but we sat on the rocks for awhile and enjoyed the view.  The ocean was pretty calm today.

Back to the car and off to The Asticou Inn for popovers and tea.

Nice view of Northeast Harbor and the gardens at the Inn.

The sun actually came out for a short time.  WooHoo!!!

We arrived back at the cottage about 3:30 and had plenty of time to sit in the adirondack chairs and read.  The sun stayed in Northeast Harbor. We stayed outside till about 5:00.  

I came in and took a shower.  Bill grilled steak tips for dinner.  We watched a segment of the History of Country Music on Maine Public TV.  

A pretty decent day for a Plan B.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)