We left Greenville, ME Friday morning with this view and it rained the whole 3 hour drive to Mount Desert Island. We spent the afternoon in Bar Harbor while we waited for the house to be ready and we arrived to this view. Let's be honest, it's still a pretty spectacular view even on a gloomy day! the day wasn't a loss because we had lobster for dinner. We woke yesterday morning to this view. Now we're talking! Everyone's mood lightened instantly and we quickly planned and set out on our first hike. We usually do a "warm up" hike and this time was no different. We started in Thuya Gardens and hiked through to reach a carriage trail that went around and over the Amphitheater trail. It was about 6 miles but almost all on smooth surfaces. It was just what we needed. Here are a few photos from the day. Thuya Gardens is not officially part of Acadia National Park but is adjacent and connected through trails. If you are ever visiting Acadia try to visit Atiscou and Thuya Gardens. It's a beautifully maintained property with lovely gardens. The trail we took has some pretty mossy areas and you can get a glimpse, on the left, of how well manicured the trail is. There are miles and miles of carriage trails in Acadia. They were developed in the late 1800's by the barons of industry (Rockefellers, Fords, Vanderbilts, Morgans, etc). This is where they chose to summer and the developed these carriage trails so they could travel to the tops of the mountains and enjoy the beautiful views. Now they are used by hikers, cyclists, runners and horse drawn carriages. Most are many miles long so they are good for a long, relatively easy, walk. They aren't flat so there's a lot of up and down hiking to keep the blood flowing. I love that they are mostly all lined with granite blocks. Besides timber, cod and lobster, granite mining was a major industry here. Even the park bridges are made from granite. This is a small one. This is one of the large ones, the Amphitheater Bridge. We hiked under this bridge on the Amphitheater Trail last year and it was one of our favorite hikes. Yesterday afternoon we started getting more settled in and I got my sewing corner set up. I love the view from my sewing room at home but it pales compared to this one. Before we left Greenville I got close to 60 more block corners sewn along with the offcut mini HSTs. I'm ready to start sewing these into blocks. I have about 80 blocks cut out and once they are sewn I'll need to do some math and see how many more I need. I'm out of light fabric so I might go shop for some light blue batiks to finish off the blocks. I don't think anyone would notice batiks mixed in as long as they are mottled and not printed. On the crochet front, I finished these two hats for donation. I had a skein of this dark green yarn that I wanted to use up and a pattern I wanted to try out. It's the Crochet Baby James Beanie and it comes is all sizes. I like working a hat in this way and will use this pattern again. Laura finished the second veterans quilt top Thursday night before we left Greenville. She's now moved on to knitting. This is a sweater project that she started in May, the last time she visited the US and it will be her US project until she finishes. She wanted to cover a mistake for the photo.
That's about all from here. I'm hoping for kayaking weather today. It was way to breezy for that yesterday. I have a toe injury (long story about me being a klutz) that I keep reigniting so I will take today off from hiking or even walking much. Plus my friend, Anne, has arrived and we'll plan something that she wants to do. The boys will get to take one of their hard hikes today. I won't go on hikes with cliffs or rungs to climb.
Marcy G
8/20/2023 12:16:08 pm
Such lively blog, lovely photos! Thanks for taking us with you to Maine!! Steve would want me to say, “Eat more lobster!”
Gene Black
8/20/2023 12:40:08 pm
I don't know that I would get a lot of sewing done with that view. 8/20/2023 01:21:54 pm
OH, that view with the saturated blue skies and the wonderfully green trees . . . not to mention that glorious blue water (here much of the water is muddy brown or dull gray - sigh). Your photos from the hike are spectacular - hope that toe heals up soon! 8/20/2023 07:45:38 pm
It's nice to find a location that has something for everyone. I would stay away from cliffs and rungs too. 8/21/2023 07:24:12 am
Gorgeous views, even the rainy and foggy day is beautiful. Fun projects, and I'll bet you are much cooler there than we are!
patty
8/21/2023 08:46:52 am
I am glad you showed both pictures of the view. In the foggy view you couldn't even see those hills/mountains in the distance! I'm afraid I wouldn't get any sewing done with that view. How crowded are those trails? Around here the park system trails are always crowded so forget about being alone and enjoying the quiet.
Kristin F
8/21/2023 01:57:37 pm
Your Maine photos are lovely! That lake is gorgeous. Those hats are great and someone will enjoy using them. Hope your toe gets better soon!
Alycia Quilts
8/22/2023 10:33:15 am
Wow!! Even Rainy it is gorgeous!! and that hike... just magnificent!!!! I love the greens and the blues - Have a super day!!!
Mary Anne
8/23/2023 06:03:00 pm
I know if I had that view I wouldn't get a lick of sewing done. Hiking those trails looks like fun too, although not so much if you have a sore toe. Comments are closed.
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I'm Vicki Welsh and I've been making things as long as I can remember. I used to be a garment maker but transitioned to quilts about 20 years ago. Currently I'm into fabric dyeing, quilting, Zentangle, fabric postcards, fused glass and mosaic. I document my adventures here. Categories
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