Heart-shaped rocks

We hit the road for two weeks recently to celebrate our fortieth wedding anniversary. You can read about our first stop at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in the previous post, Northbound!

That night, we parked in our son’s driveway in Winterport, Maine, before heading down to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park the next day. It was a rainy drive over the bridge onto Mt. Desert Island. We drove to Bar Harbor and walked around a bit in the drizzle before checking in for a night at the Bar Harbor KOA campground.

It rained overnight, and the van rocked most of the night in the strong wind gusts. I kept waking up wondering if the next gust would tip us right over! In the morning, we drove through the fog toward Blackwoods Campground. It was early and check-in time wasn’t until noon, so we pulled over at Seal Harbor Beach to stretch our legs.

With a little more time on our hands, and as the fog lifted, we found Canon Brook Trail just down the road from the entrance to Blackwoods.

We checked in to our Blackwoods site a little after noon and found the Cadillac Mountain trailhead that starts inside the park.

We planned to do a sunrise hike the next day, on our anniversary. Starting inside the park would add 0.7 miles to the hike in each direction. So, in the end, we decided to skip the extra part at the beginning and drive out to Route 3 where hikers park along the edge of the road to do the South Ridge Trail.

We went to bed at 8pm and set our alarm for 2:45am. We actually woke before the alarm, dressed quickly, ate a breakfast snack, and drove out to the road. We weren’t the first vehicle there, nor the last. After donning our backpack, camera vest, and headlamps, we started our Garmin watches at 3:20am to record the climb.

Hiking in the dark is an experience like no other. I thought I’d be totally stressed out by the possibility of running into a bear. But the concentration it took to keep up with someone whose legs are a lot longer than mine, while making sure we could find the blue trail markers ahead of us, left no room for imaginary bears.

At times, we could see headlamp-light from other hikers in the distance, behind us and ahead. We ran into a couple of pairs of hikers who were struggling like we were to find the trail in certain places and we managed to help each other along the way. There were only a couple of extra-challenging spots but the two-hour, 3.5-mile climb was a good workout. The sky began to turn red before we reached the summit and I was worried we’d miss the sunrise.

But we made it to the top with time to spare. As we neared the summit, we could see headlights from cars that were driving up the mountain road. The parking lot was almost full and people had chosen their spots along the rocky summit to view the sunrise. We found a spot and waited, using the time to eat our second breakfast.

After the sunrise, I overheard a young couple nearby wishing each other a ‘happy anniversary.’ I had to say something. Turns out they were celebrating their first anniversary! When we told them we were celebrating our fortieth, they wanted to know our secret. We offered some wisdom, but really, as anyone knows who’s been married for a long time, love is a day by day decision.

The hike back down felt like we were on a whole new mountain. We could see where we were going and we could take in the view that had been hidden from us in the dark.

We took it easy for the rest of the day. The ocean was just down a short path and across the Park Loop Road. The rocks were warm and the water’s calming rhythm was mesmerizing. We even caught a glimpse of a few birds along the way.

Early risers get sleepy pretty early in the evening, so bedtime came soon after an early anniversary dinner at Galyn’s in downtown Bar Harbor. And that gave us a chance to dream of the next adventure to come. 🙂

In this third installment of our recent van trip, we finally reached North Carolina. If you need to catch up on our adventures, check out From Wilmington…To Wilmington… and What Happens In Virginia…

We left the Holiday Inn in South Hill, VA, on Thursday morning, looking to take a walk/run before getting back on the road. We found a pleasant trail called Tobacco Heritage Trail in La Crosse, VA. The first sound to hit my ears there seemed like an unfamiliar birdsong, but after checking with a group of locals on the trail, I learned that frogs were making all that noise. More throaty than the ‘peepers’ we have up north, but not as low-pitched as bullfrogs. They were loud, but seemingly invisible, so no pics of them. We saw a few birds and a very small snake along the rest of the trail.

After walking/running the trail, we got back on the road and continued south, arriving at our friends’ place in Charlotte, NC, around four in the afternoon. Cathy & Don live in a separate in-law apartment on the property of their daughter and her husband. Their RV was parked alongside their garage, so we spent the night parked on the street next to it.

It rained overnight and was still spitting on Friday morning. We spent a quiet day doing laundry, blogging, and visiting with Cathy & Don & their new grandbaby, Evelyn. Around 3 p.m., we followed Cathy & Don in their Tiffin RV down to Andrew Jackson State Park near Lancaster, South Carolina, to camp for a couple of nights.

Cathy & Don were gracious hosts, even while camping. We ate supper in their RV and played cards until late. We taught them how to play Pitch. Team Mark & Cathy beat Team Chris & Don in spectacular fashion. On Saturday, we hiked around the park, found the site of Jackson’s boyhood home and a museum that was open for exactly one hour everyday. We hit it about eight minutes before closing.

Saturday afternoon, the four of us piled into our van and ventured over to Benford Brewing in Lancaster, SC.

From there, we checked out The Dream Chaser’s Brewery in Waxhaw, NC. What a cute little town! Perfect for browsing all the Main St. shops. The only drawback was that the whole town closed its doors at 5 p.m. Oh, well.

We left Andrew Jackson State Park on Sunday morning. On the way back to Charlotte, we stopped at Anne Springs Close Greenway in Fort Mills, South Carolina for some easy hiking.