JK Wild Adventures: Recap of 2016 Part 2 – Acadia National Park, Adirondacks, More Camper Repairs

We left the North Pole Campground and went back to Syracuse for a couple of weeks before setting out for Acadia National Park in Maine. Adam, Jacqui and Kaden were supposed to be going as well, but unfortunately something arose at Jacqui’s job and they were unable to leave town. It was a fairly grueling drive with heavy traffic, extremely short on ramps on the highways and tons of tolls which added up to about $26! We spent one overnight in a Walmart parking lot, and arrived at the Blackwoods Campground just before check-in time the following day. They did not allow us to check in early, and we had to go back outside the entrance and wait for about an hour. Even though we went back in exactly at check-in time, there was a long line and wait. The campground was quite large and very nice. The sites were close together with some foliage in between, but not enough for privacy. There were clean restrooms with flush toilets and sinks, but no soap or paper towels. The setting was very pretty, and we enjoyed nightly walks around the campground after dinner.

Much of our time was spent in the Jeep exploring the area and there was plenty to see, from beautiful quaint homes in woodsy settings to the rocky shoreline. We drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain a couple of times and thought about trying to get there for a sunrise, but preferred to sleep in a little instead. There are some days of the year when the summit of Cadillac Mountain is the first land in the U.S. to see the sunrise, but this was not at the time we were there.

Even tide pools have little treasures if you look closely!

Barnacles and snails in a tide pool.

Close-up of springtails in tide pool.

Springtails and a barnacle.

We spent one of our days in a separate area of the park called Schoodic Peninsula and at Schoodic Point, which you have to leave the main portion of the park and drive about 45 miles to get to. There was access to a section of coastline with various types of rock formations, where the ocean waves crashed against them and tidal pools were teeming with life. It was very interesting, and we were there exploring for quite a while.

Blue mussels.

All kinds of life in here - plants, algae, snails!

More mussels and pretty algae!

Loved this spot!

Awesome texture!

Explains why the water is so darn cold here.

We ventured into Bar Harbor a couple of times, once just to drive through and see it, and once to go on a whale watch tour. The tour lasted about three hours total, with maybe about an hour of travel on the boat each way. It was hot on shore that day, but when we got moving out on the water it was absolutely freezing. The water temperature there remains cold all year due to the ocean currents, and subsequently the air temperature over the water is chilly. Combining that with the fast speed at which our boat traveled created quite the wind chill! None of the whales breached or came very close to the boat, unfortunately. I was ultimately hoping for the big splashes that you see in documentaries, but we did see lots of whale activity the whole time we were in their area, along with a few seals. Most of the whales we saw were Humpback Whales, and we saw Fin Whales a few times.

Bald Porcupine Island

Egg Rock Lighthouse

Our boat specifically avoided traveling that close to the whales.

Humpback whale.

Two "blows" off in the distance.

A "blow" and tail fin - two whales.

Two Fin Whales.

Lobster rolls are apparently unique to New England and Maine, and were advertised by several roadside stands and restaurants, so I decided to try one since we were there. It was okay, but not as good as I had imagined it would be, and it was expensive, of course. I’m probably not as crazy about lobster as most people seem to be. Ken had a haddock sandwich and after tasting it I wished I had ordered that instead, but at least my curiosity about the lobster rolls was satisfied.

When our time was up in Acadia we drove back to Syracuse, encountering even worse traffic than we had on the way out there. There were several traffic jams, one of which was actually caused by a backup of people trying to get into a rest area that was completely full! Obviously I took a lot of pictures; you can see the whole photo album for Acadia here.

Long lines at the gas pumps, and no empty parking spots.

We hung around Syracuse for a couple of weeks, and then went to spend a few days at Cranberry Lake again. We got the canoe in the water this time, and canoed a fair distance down to Gull Rock, aptly named for the congregation of sea gulls found there. We ate the lunch we had packed, and made our way back to the campsite; we were probably out on the water for at least two hours. The weather was so cooperative that we also squeezed in a short hike the next day.

Departing from Cranberry Lake, we went back to Syracuse for a couple of days before going to Moose River with Craig. He had purchased a work trailer earlier in the summer and had been working to turn it into a camper trailer. Most of the modifications he wanted to make were complete, and it was time to take it on a test run! We all camped in Moose River for a few days, and his trailer was a success, with everything working just as it should. Again, the weather was really beautiful, as it had been all summer – a rare thing for Central New York! We left Moose River, spent another couple of weeks in Syracuse and attended a few family gatherings before heading back home toward the end of August.

Hofmann's Hot Dogs are the best!!!

Later in October, we discovered we had a leak in the rear storage compartment of the camper. Initially we thought the water came from a gallon of distilled water we had stored in there that got tipped over. Unfortunately, we didn’t find it until the water had already caused some damage. Ken had previous experience with boat repairs, so he got busy with this project. He peeled away the linoleum exposing the wood – which is particle board, surprisingly – to allow it to dry. It was almost dry when we had a heavy rainstorm with strong winds, and it got wet again. This pointed to there being a leak in the seal on the door to the compartment. So we taped over the edges of the door to keep water out in case it rained again before the wood dried. Once it was completely dry, Ken drilled small holes an inch apart in the affected area. He then applied Git-Rot which is an epoxy that penetrates the wood and hardens and waterproofs it; the holes he drilled helped it get down into the wood. One bottle wasn’t quite enough, so he had to purchase a second one, and that did the trick. After it hardened, Ken applied some wood filler to level out the surface, and sanded it down. Then we went to Home Depot and bought some linoleum to put back down over the wood with a floor adhesive. The final touch was to seal around the edges with silicone, and the project was finished. We figured we saved a few hundred dollars by doing it ourselves as opposed to having a repair shop do it, and it was easy enough to do. The camper seemed to be in good shape for our next adventure.