Day 7: Home and Finale

8:02am
I'm up, showered, packed, and ready to go. It's a beautiful sunny day. I slept great - probably something to do with being showered and sleeping in a bed. John's also up and ready, so we'll see what the motel breakfast looks like, then hit the road back to Bangor.

12:45pm
Uneventful morning. The motel breakfast was exactly what I expected from a run-down motel, so we availed ourselves of McDonald's, then hit the highway back to Bangor. We made great time, and the first stop was Goodwill. It turned out to be right around the corner from the Quality Inn where we spent our first night, and we quickly donated the air mattresses.

It was still mid-morning, and we had nothing to do until our 3pm flight. I remembered seeing a sign for an L.L. Bean outlet, and it turned out to be nearby. We spent at least an hour ogling the gear and clothes - and there were some great deals. I picked up a lightweight rain jacket for $20.

Then we found an unattended dumpster in the back of a shopping center and emptied the remaining food and trash from the car. The stop after that was Dunkin Donuts, where we relaxed for an hour with coffee and our phones. Then we got lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings - I'd never been there, but it was good. Now we'll go to the airport.

7:15pm
Home and all is well. The flight was on-time and uneventful. I was on the right-side window again, and had some nice views of Long Island, NYC, and the Jersey shore. Eric picked us up, and we're glad to see that he's feeling much better. We picked up John's car at Eric's house, and he brought me home. That concludes Maine '13.

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Final Thoughts

Cadillac Mountain, Acadia N.P.

It's now a few weeks later. My trip reports are written, photos are organized, and an album of the best pics is posted to Facebook. This trip was...different. In some ways, it was defined by who wasn't there. I guess we'd been lucky, in that this was the seventh year of an annual boys' trip, and no one had ever had to cancel before. That was probably beating the odds, as we all have jobs, responsibilities, etc. But the odds caught up with us this year, first with Ted, and then with Eric.

That said, it was still a great trip. We saw some places and did some hikes that I will long remember. Acadia is beautiful, and its reputation is well-earned. The classic rocky coastline views are worth the trip. And it's very much a place where you can bring the non-camping family. We camped in the National Park, but there are plenty of very fancy and less fancy hotels in and around Bar Harbor.

Note the new stickers!

For exactly that reason, I liked Baxter State Park better. It's way out in the woods, and it's only for campers and hikers. The hiking wasn't always easy, but the views of woods, mountains, and lakes was frequently breathtaking. My Sunday hike to Hamlin Peak was harder than I expected, but I won't say I regret it - the views coming down Hamlin Ridge were just gorgeous at every step.

John and I made the best of it, and didn't let events we couldn't control ruin the trip. We were sorry about those who couldn't be there, but we still had a great time and saw and did the things we intended to do.

Finally, I can hardly express how much I enjoy having a guitar with me on these trips. Playing at a campsite is just fantastic.

The next step will be to gather with everyone and talk about thoughts for '14. Stay tuned.