14.2: Camping in Acadia

Camping can be a horrible experience. I think back to some of my childhood camping adventures which involved my brother vomiting up bad oysters, or rain collecting in the tent during a massive rain storm.

Camping can also be a great experience. One of my recent camping adventures came in the summer of 2008. I had just graduated from college and, despite still being unemployed, Liz and I thought it would be a great idea to go to Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine to spend some cash.

We booked a campsite at Blackwoods campsite.  After the four hour drive from Liz's parents' house, we finally arrived and checked in.  Setting up the site was a lot of fun because I hadn't done it in so long.  We got the site set up and built a fire.  There is something so awesome about building a fire--it makes you feel incredibly self-reliant.  And then we cooked some sort of dinner.

The next day we decided to tackle Cadillac Mountain.  It's not the biggest mountain in the world, but it sure is pretty.  One of my favorite pictures of Liz and I together was taken about half-way up, with the Atlantic Ocean hazy in the background.  We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at the top, and marveled at the beautiful view.

Liz was tired at that point which meant she wanted to take the shortcut--which was in the deep crevice of a rocky valley.  She changed her mind shortly after making that terrible decision...which lead us up a steap, smooth rockface.  We made it out alive, however, although we had nearly doubled our return trip.  (This was the first of many navigational accidents with Liz that have become one of her endearing trademarks that make for some excellent humor in our relationship).


While we were back at the camp, we met a mother and her two kids from Michigan.  The boys were total nerds (about 5th grade) but they were so much fun.  They were introverted, dorky, and totally curious about the world.  Well, their mother had never been camping before and neither had they, so while they were in Maine anyway, they figured, "What the heck?"  But that didn't get them far.  They didn't know how to make a fire and hadn't brought anything to make s'mores with.  So we invited these fine people on over to Camp Coen and we built some s'mores for them.  As we gorged ourselves on graham cracker, marshmallow, and chocolate, we bonded over National Public Radio.


All-in-all, that trip to Acadia was the best camping experience I have ever had--and definitely one of my favorite vacations ever.