Go Around the Bend: Stimulating the Local Economy, Lunch with the RV Blog Gods, last Acadia Hike and a Secret Cove Sunset

On Sunday our plan was to start the day with some shopping in Bar Harbor. We hit the weekly farmer’s market first and scored some homemade granola, local cheese, bacon, cider and produce. Yum!

Then we covered the town pretty well and did our best to ensure that the local economy will have a strong third quarter. There are lots of fun touristy shops and I wanted to make sure Rog had an opportunity to snag that Spiralite pendant at the Rock & Art Shop for my birthday. Lol. Of course, it goes without saying that the Mt. Desert Ice Cream shop was on our list. I refrained from having another 4-scoop tasting flight and settled for a double – although we did get a pint to go! Lol.

Randi - I found all the sparkly things!! :)

Hand cast bronze ship's bell by local artist Richard Fisher.
This may be on Rog's Christmas list.

While we were enjoying our ice cream and debating what to do next, the clouds opened up and it started pouring. It was amazing how quickly all the outdoor patio seating emptied out. Lol. Since cold and rain do not make for a fun bicycling or kayaking experience – we decided to just head back to camp. On the way we were treated to a fantastic double rainbow. Awesome!

Storybook perfect...

...and then it went double!!!

A lot of factors contributed to our decision to spend a year on the road in our RV. But I don’t think you could overstate the influence of the full-time RVer's blogs that we’ve been following for several years. Sometime around 2011 or so, my brother Tim introduced me to RV Dreams. In 2005, Howard and Linda Payne quit their day jobs in their early 40’s, bought a 5^th wheel, and set out to live and make their living on the road. Howard posts a DAILY journal of their travels, logs their expenses, and generally has created a forum to connect and help folks interested in full-time RVing. (Can’t even begin to imagine you how much work that is!)

I noticed some time ago that Howard and Linda were doing a volunteer stint at Schoodic Institute during our stay here. Their job is to count migrating sea birds for a few hours each morning and afternoon at Schoodic Point (for awesome pictures and details see Howards blog here: http://www.rv-dreams-journal.com/) We stopped by Schoodic Point several times, but our timing was never right to catch them.

Since I’ve read the RV blogs for years but never commented, Rog calls me a “blog stalker” and I hesitated to bother them. Monday was our last day in Acadia and it was their “day off”, so I figured I’d missed my chance. But, I knew I’d regret at least not trying to connect (and besides I knew it would make Tim jealous if I did) so I emailed Howard on Sunday evening and offered to get together for lunch if they weren’t busy. We met at Corea on the Wharf (more lobster rolls and some to die for homemade blueberry pie) and had a delightful time. Howard and Linda are even more awesome in person and we chatted for several hours. We may even get a chance to meet up again in Florida this winter. It was fun finally meeting them in person and I’m so glad it worked out.

Howard & Linda Payne - RV Dreams blogger extraordinaire and general all round great folks.

We spent our last afternoon hiking the Alder and Anvil Trail Loop and visiting a “semi-secret” cove that Howard told us about for pictures. We liked the view so much we came back at sunset – a beautiful spot. Amazing what a difference a few hours can make. For our last night, we had a campfire and enjoyed the warm fire, a starry sky, hot coffee and another slice of that incredible blueberry pie (yes, of course I got two pieces to go! Ha!) It was a great ending to our stay at Acadia.