Oh what a day...

Wednesday we moved from the mainland to Mt. Desert (pronounced like dessert because it is French) Island where we have more room and shade and a lovely view of a bay where daily there are clam diggers out and about at low tide.  Once we got our site set up we went off to scout out the area and plan for the next couple of days' adventures. We went into Bar Harbor for dinner at the Rt. 66 diner.  On the way there we saw one of the largest yachts in the world moored in the harbor.  It is 350 feet long, has a helicopter on it and a 65 foot pleasure boat attached.  Not too shabby.  We did a little shopping and headed back for a good night's sleep. "At this point we are all wishing the bus was a little larger on the inside". (some of you will catch the reference there) The air mattress is still holding air but I was listing a little to the side, wedged against the pantry most of the night.  At least I was snugged couldn't fall off the bed!  Tim tends to snore so I had to punch him occasionally so the campers next door wouldn't wake up, not to mention Raleigh and Lon who were snug in their sleeping bags up front.

Thursday, we woke up to a dead battery in the van, ugh, so our departure for the Acadia National Park was a little delayed.  Lon had prepared for the trip by checking all sorts of hoses and chains, etc. but we didn't even think about the battery. Fortunately, our neighbor had jumper cables so we weren't delayed too terribly long.  We had a wonderful trip around the island and Lon was able to take several paths that were wheelchair accessible.  We stopped at Jordon Pond and the water was crystal clear. The views are stunning and in spite of being warmer than we expected, the weather has been pleasant.

After coming back to the bus for a bit of a break and some wound care (which involved getting the hot water heater in the bus working just right...you know, not too hot-not too cold!) we were off to Southwest Harbor and Beal's Lobster Pier.  

Lon's not afraid of an ol' lobster!  

Raleigh had her first lobster and thanks to the folks sitting next to us, who taught about eating it, we managed to just eat the good parts.  Don't eat anything green and only eat anything red if you like roe.  The restaurant did the hard part and cracked the claws and tail so getting to the good stuff was pretty easy.  Tim opted for a burger with bacon since he had seafood for the last two days and didn't want to work too hard for his food. 

So...It's Friday, and we wake up to, drum roll, a dead battery again.  Raleigh and Lon were planning to go back to Bar Harbor, alone, and get some shopping done, and Tim and I planned to stay behind and do laundry and reorganize the bus. This time the jump start didn't work so we had to call AAA.  Even with an expedited call for a handicap vehicle, it took AAA an hour and a half to come.  In the mean time, I worked on organizing things, putting away our air mattress and sleeping bags, etc. After Tim organized the outside of our site, he was able to sit and read his book and look at our bucolic view.  Raleigh and Lon went exploring with Lon's off road wheelchair and started a couple of loads of laundry.  Essentially, we just took a chill pill and relaxed.

This chair is awesome!

Did I mention that just before we left for our trip I had twisted my knee and my range of motion is somewhat limited so getting on an off the last step of the bus is challenging?  Well, just as the AAA tow truck arrived, I stepped out of the bus, stepped on a gnarly root and twisted my ankle, grabbed the handle on the bus door, and before falling to the ground, sliced a big flap on my pinkie finger on said handle.  Raleigh saw me and was sure I had hit my head, but thankfully I didn't.  I'm bleeding like a stuck pig, writhing in pain from the ankle and pinkie finger, and Raleigh calmly says, "I've got this".  She rushes to the bus, grabs some of Lon's wound care supplies and goes to work.  In her former life she would not have even been able to look at the wound but now it's like, "whatever".  She took photos of the wound and sent it to all of her "peeps" hoping someone would respond and give us advice about whether it warranted a visit to the ER or not because it was kind of gross.  Her brother, Will, called.  He's a wilderness first responder, and gave his sage advice.  Then a few of Raleigh and Lon's "peeps" answered her " shout out" and we realized that no amputation was needed and that I would survive.  Of course, Tim was ready with his rusty pocket knife just in case he had to perform surgery!!!

Finally, Lon and Raleigh got to go shopping while we took a nap.  

We just had grilled cheese and soup for dinner and watched a beautiful campfire to top off the night.  As I type this blog, I was whining about only having 9 digits and what a pain it is to type but Lon reminded me that he does it with 1 digit all the time and it just takes a little longer.  Good point, Lon.  No more complaining from me. I'm having trouble adding the rest of the pictures from the last two days so I will have to try again later.

Tomorrow we are off to Martha's Vineyard to knock that of the bucket list. It will be a long day of driving but then we have two days to enjoy the sites before heading back home.