Vacay pt5: New Hampshire/Vermont/New York

The last leg of our trip took us through New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York.  We were going to go hiking one more morning in Maine, but rain moving in ruined that plan, so we had to find something to do indoors.  We decided to go a bit out of our way to see the Ben & Jerry's factory in Vermont.

The home of Mom & Dad's favorite ice cream!

We weren't allowed to take pictures of the factory floor.

After sitting in the car in the rain all day, Essie is not sure if she likes this tour or not...

But then comes the free ice cream samples!

I think Vermont should pay us for this publicity photo.

The next day we went to visit Amy's aunt (her dad's sister) who has a farm in New Hampshire.

An impressive display of hunting trophies

Aunt Gayle shot this black bear across the road from her house.

Next it was on to upstate New York for a little family reunion with Amy's mom's side of the family.

A water balloon fight at the family picnic

Morris family reunion

A little pool time - while temps were in the 60's in Maine, the thermometer hit 100 in New York.

The boy cousins try out Uncle Kris' mowers

Amy with her sisters, mom, and a long-time family friend

And after an 11.5-hour drive home, our family vacation was over.  Over 11 days and 2600 miles we spent time in the following states: Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Pennsylvania.  What a trip!

Vacay pt 4: Maine

We finally made it to Maine!

The little seaside town of Belfast

Dad's crab roll looks gooood.

The Waldo-Hancock Bridge

Upon arriving at Acadia National Park in the late afternoon, we headed right to the Beehive Trail.  (Late afternoon proved to be a great time to visit the park - fewer people and beautiful weather.)

That's our goal - the Beehive.

Amy is a little nervous about the exposed cliffs.

The views got gorgeous almost immediately.

The views were spectacular enough to keep some teenagers' attention!

Yes, those are iron rungs to help the climb up the cliff.

View of Sand Beach from above

Chloe

Amy doing a great job of just not looking down

They weren't joking when they said "open cliffs".

Mom took a photo of Dad taking the previous photo.

A.J.

Essie always finds a "seat" when climbing.

View of Egg Rock

A little family selfie

A.J. showing off his balance

Stunning view from the top

Dad

Mom

Chloe

Essie heads off back down the mountain

A little video of A.J.'s athleticism

Sand Beach

Sticking feet in the (54-degree) water

Essie cartwheel on the sand

Have we mentioned A.J.'s athleticism?

Sand art

Moonrise over the Atlantic

Seal Harbor

Long Pond

We started out Day 2 by walking the Ocean Path Trail from Sand Beach to Otter Point.

The trail is a paved path along the road, but we walked along the rocks by the ocean.

Chloe

Essie

Give our kids rocks to climb over, and they are happy campers.

Chloe

Chloe

There goes A.J. again, just balancing himself on his hands.

Chloe checking out the tide pools for aquatic life

A.J. is king of his own little island.

Tide pool exploring became a favorite activity.

Essie

Mom and Chloe

Chloe

Dad found a peaceful spot to sit and enjoy the ocean breeze.

Essie

Our last shot at some Maine seafood - mmmmmmm

Dad enjoying his "small" Maine blueberry ice cream cone

Essie tried the mint chocolate chip.

Chloe tried the cookie dough.

By the time we got to the summit of Cadillac Mountain, the highest point in the park, bad weather was starting to move in - gusting, chilly wind.

View of Frenchman Bay from Cadillac Mountain

View of Eagle Lake on the other side of Cadillac Mountain

Windy family photo

Seaweed-covered beach at the end of the Wonderland Trail

Shell collecting was another popular (but smelly) activity.

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse

Walking down the Ship Harbor Trail

One last family selfie by the ocean

Back the trail as darkness falls - what a fun time in Maine!