Farewell, Acadia!

We’ve just returned from our annual two week vacation at the Northampton Beach Campground on Great Lake Sacandaga.  Managing to snag a reservation in this park is always difficult; reserving a waterfront site is even more so.  Diligence and perseverance are required, but the time and effort spent securing a campsite is well worth the effort.  Believe me, we exerted quite the effort.  Many days, there were four of us with fingers poised on the “Book Now” button on ReserveAmerica; at one point, all five of us were trying for one particular campsite.  No luck that time, but we did triumph – eventually.

A view of the inlet and on out to the lake from the kids' campsite

Ryan and Anya, our son and daughter-in-law, camped at their own site with our former travel trailer.  Our daughter, Kyra, was there briefly, as allowed by her work schedule.  Although Alan was the one to secure our waterfront campsite, we gave it to the kids.  The Jayco, with its big dinette window on the curb side, was better suited to take advantage of the site (and the sights) than our Outdoors RV trailer with its big windows on the back and street side.  We were camped across the road, but took full advantage of “the neighbors’” excellent location, dragging our camp chairs and our morning coffee over to their site without apology.  (They assured us we were always welcome.  Had we not been, I’m not sure that would have stopped us.)  The views of both the lake and the never-disappointing entertainment at the boat launch were spectacular!  The weather was not as cooperative as we would have liked, but a good time was had by all.  We enjoyed boating and biking, coffee around the campfire and kayaking.  There may or may not have been a couple of trips to the local ice cream stand.  The day of departure is a challenge for all of us, because nobody wants to leave.  Whining, complaining and sniffling are not uncommon occurrences, and we all drag our feet when saying goodbye to the lake.  Now that we’re home, with the laundry done and the bills paid, let’s get back to our adventures in Maine over the Memorial Day weekend.

Acadia National Park - Discovering Schoodic Woods

I just recently realized that we’ll need to quit traveling for about two years if I ever want to catch up on blog posts.  Alan and I spent 10 days in Maine toward the end of May, and then two weeks at home trying to catch up before heading out to Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut for another 12 days.  Now we’re back home and playing catch up.  Again.  I’m not complaining!  We’re blessed to be able to enjoy this lifestyle in retirement.  But I always struggle with the decision on what to post first – the remainder of past trips that I’m trying to document (our West Coast National Parks journey, in this case) or our most recent travels while they’re still fresh in my memory.  Because my memory seems to take a vacation of its own at times, I decided that it’s probably best to strike while the iron is hot and our experiences are fresh in my mind, so I’ve put the West Coast trip on pause for now.

I absolutely love Acadia National Park in Maine!  While I’ll never commit to a “favorite National Park,” Acadia is always in the Top Three.  The park has so much to offer – that magnificent Maine coastline, miles of well-marked carriage roads for walking and biking, sparkling lakes for paddling, hiking trails that range from easy-peasy to holy sh*t, and, of course, popovers at The Jordan Pond House.  The only feature of the Park that doesn’t thrill me is Blackwoods Campground.  Blackwoods is a lovely campground, but space for bigger rigs like our 32’ trailer is limited to only 29 sites.  The section where we do fit feels a bit too tightly packed for my taste.  To make matters worse, at the time of our first two visits (2011 and 2014), campers reserving a site in the “big rig” section weren’t able to select a specific campsite; your site was assigned at the time of your arrival.  It was definitely not my favorite type of camping experience.  I always considered putting up with the process and the close quarters as the cost of doing business if we wanted to wake up in the park each day – which we did.  But now, we have a much better option.