Maine-ly Magical

A few weeks ago Team Tully headed to New England!  We flew into Portland and headed up the beautiful Maine coast to spend two days in Acadia National Park.  We then wandered through small town New Hampshire before arriving at the base of Mt. Monadnock to celebrate the wedding of my cousin and his beautiful bride.  We hiked, we wandered, we ate pounds and pounds of blueberries, we waded in cold water, we dined on seafood, we slept with windows open, we threw rocks into the ocean, we marveled, we appreciated, we loved!  It was a wonderful trip doing what we love with who we love...the good life! 

 

Waiting for our plane.  A pair of binoculars and a notebook and pencil...the ingredients to a happy traveler! 

  

Ummm...a quick stop in heaven! ;-)

 

A handpicked fresh from the ocean giant crustacean makes for a VERY happy Luke!

Acadia National Park.  Our first half of the day we spent wandering and hiking these coastal rocks.  The tide was going out so there were lots of tidal pools left behind...so many little creatures to find.  

 

Beautiful

 

Hours and hours of hiking...not a single complaint!  Luke has forever been an "outside kid".  He was not the happiest of infants but even way back then if you took him outside he would stop crying, he would relax, he would be content.  Then and now...same.  

  

This reminds me of the "lemon squeeze" in New York

 

I wish I had made a list of all the fantastic quotes that came out of this 6 year old's mouth:
"I love hiking!  It just makes you feel alive and free."
"Mommy, if you let us hike for 30 more minutes (said after I told him we had to get going because the sun was going down) I promise I will have excellent behavior at the wedding!"
"I like to find the trails where there aren't any people.  It's better that way.  I also don't like hearing the cars.  Let's keep hiking until it is just us."
"This is fun, right?  This is awesome, right?"
"Today is my favorite day."

At the top of Cadillac Mountain.  Taking it all in.

 

Wild blueberries.  Delicious!  As with most things there is simply nothing like freshness.  We carried water bottles and a zip lock bag with us as we hiked to the top of Dorr Mountain (1270ft)...Luke would find a patch of blueberries and add to his "snack bag" as we headed up and down the mountain.
"These blueberries are giving me so much energy."
"We probably can never buy blueberries at the store again because now I know what the "real" ones taste like."

We made it!  Team Tully at the tippy top of Dorr Mountain!

My favorite hiking companions

Gosh, I LOVE this photo.  (thinking of having it grace the wall above my desk).  Acadia is an amazing place and there are so many different ecosystems on one island.  Astounding and amazing and humbling.  

Endless wandering...another day's end when none of us wanted to leave!

 

If you look really really hard you will see Luke.  45 minutes of pebble throwing on this rocky beach.  L and I joined him for the first 15 minutes...throwing pebbles and listening to them hit the water or ricochet off other rocks.  But then L and I found these bigger boulders to sit on and we just watched.  Watched our pride and joy be content and happy and present...Luke...our biggest accomplishment.  

 

An active coast guard lighthouse.  A coast guard family lives here full-time...how cool would that be?!

Our dinner spot

  

Luke literally hand picking his dinner

 

I guess it is slightly inhumane to have a before and after picture like this but Luke was thrilled with yet another lobster meal!

 

The lobster pots and the restaurant are about 20 feet apart...FRESH!

  

We said a sad goodbye to Acadia and began our drive through small town New England.  We stopped in Canterbury, NH to visit this Shaker Village.  It was so peaceful and beautiful and such an interesting way of life.  This place was inhabited as a Shaker village until the early 1990s!  Such an education into another community and lifestyle.  We wandered through the buildings and imagined a day in the life of a Shaker. 

 

The simple life.

Team Tully at the wedding site!  Beautiful Mt. Monadnock in the background.  A beautiful place, a beautiful ceremony, a beautiful couple.

The wedding reception was held at a blueberry farm!  It was the cutest place and this was Luke's first wedding so he was in heaven!  Blueberry picking, a sandbox, a petting zoo, and a full moon at the base of a mountain....we made sure to tell him that not all wedding locations are this cool!

 

Sheshy and Luke filling their blueberry baskets!

 

Ima and Luke greeting the goats.

 

A simply gorgeous evening spent with family. 

 

Yum!

 

On our last day we once again hit the trails!  We found a great state park on the way to the airport so we put on our hiking shoes again and off we went.  We met up with a ranger who was watching for birds of prey migrating south.  It was really interesting to hear her talk about each of the different birds and one of Luke's favorites, (yes, he has a favorite bird of prey), the Peregrine Falcon, had just been seen that morning.  We kept our eyes peeled while we were there!

 

"To walk in these woods with you was to know no ordinary moment."
A tribute to someone hidden in the mountainside.  Once again...the ordinary is the extraordinary.