Migration

Yesterday our cruising friends Dave and Jess left JV and headed back to Canada. We had a great visit with them, catching up, hearing about adjusting to life after cruising, and discussing how our adventures have changed our outlooks on life. They brought some delicious Canadian treats, and I’m sure Jess should hold the title for best lobster roll in both countries. It was raining while they were here, disrupting our plans for a nice hike, but we were still able to tour Acadia by car.  We marveled at the rushing torrents of water that were cascading down the various mountains and how the park seemed like was a completely different place from just two days earlier. We strolled through Bar Harbor looking in some of the galleries and shops and ended our day with a second night of delicious lobster, with Sabrina and I learning some new tips from our friends across the border. Despite the weather, it was a great weekend.

While we were hanging out, Jess mentioned that she knew we would make it to Maine because our blog always said “Headed North” throughout New England. That reminded me, and unfortunately tomorrow I’ll have to switch it to say “Headed South.” Mt. Desert Island seems to be a fitting place to end our trip north and start working our way leisurely south. (Leisurely until the first snow hits at least!)

We love MDI, but the time has come to leave, and Wednesday we’ll be pulling out of Southwest Harbor. This will mean that we won’t reach the summit of every one of Acadia’s peaks, but that will give us one more reason to return in the future. Follow along today via our Spot to see how many summits we actually reach.

In addition, since the calendar just turned to October we’ve had to come to terms with how far south we think we’ll make it this winter. While our original plan had us leaving Norfolk in November headed for the Caribbean, we can’t, won’t,  don’t want to leave Maine this early. We want to follow the leaves south as they turn, something that seems perfectly in tune with the speed we want to move.

Therefore, we’ve decided that we’ll spend this winter in the Bahamas. We’re hoping this allows more friends to visit us and more time for us to reconnect with cruising friends and explore the things we missed last winter. Looking at photos from the Bahamas reminds us of the crystal clear water, the friendly people, and the deserted islands.

The hiking paths here in Acadia National Park are not too different from the Bahamas. While at first glance they all seem similar, once you start to experience them you notice something unique and different, and it makes you want to discover more.