One of the trails that was recommended to us was the Hunters Beach Trail. Like a lot of the trails in Acadia, the trailhead is only marked by a wooden marker, which is really easy to miss when driving by. I loved having the AllTrails App, as it had the trail and gave directions on how to get to it.
The parking lot was small, maybe room for 3-5 cars.
The trail itself wasn’t difficult, as it was relatively flat. However, there were tree roots everywhere! It made the hike a little slower as we watched where we stepped. We did come back with one twisted ankle when a tree root sneak attacked and wasn’t laying as flat as it appeared to be.
There were a couple of little bridges and a small boardwalk. A lot of the trail ran next to the creek, which led to the open water. The beach was beautiful, but rocky.
School is winding down. The boys and I decided to take a hike in Acadia. Well, ok…I decided to drag them away from video games for a hike. I found one that was listed as easy on the AllTrails app, but looked like it might keep them occupied. It was a combination of two trails, Homans and Emery. I would say this trail was more towards the moderate level since it was mostly stone steps in both directions.
There were a couple of spots where the trail narrowed or you might have to duck down to get through. It was still a nice trail with some great views at the top. You could see a creek winding through a meadow, the town below, and the ocean. Nick liked all the rocks to climb and only hurt himself 2 or 3 times.
It was a neat trail, but not one to do if you have knee or ankle problems. My ankle twinged a few times even with hiking boots on.
Acadia has a great Park Loop Road that shows you some of the amazing views in the park. There are several spots for pull-offs along the way for views and trailheads. We somehow turned off of the Park Loop at an intersection and had to find our way back in from one of the little towns. Cell phone signal is very spotty around the park, so get your GPS started while you have a good signal. (NOTE: You can get your park pass at the Hulls Visitor Center, Jordan Pond House, or there is a ticket booth area on the Loop.)
We saw wild turkeys, the water hitting the cliff areas, and lots of lakes and ponds. We stopped at Sand Beach and walked down to see it. It was a beautiful area with a sandy beach. Most of the beaches in Acadia are rocky, but this one had a nice fine sand.
One of things we never do back home is wake up early to catch the sunrise. Apparently, this the thing to do when near Acadia! The sun rises a bit earlier here, so we woke up at 3:30 am to make it up to Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. (Starting 5/26, you will need to buy a car pass ($6) to access Cadillac Mountain.)
The parking lot was already pretty full, but we did find a spot. We walked across the rocky top and found a spot to watch Mother Nature’s show. It was an amazing view overlooking the city, the islands, and the bay/ocean. When the sun peaked over the edge, the pinks and reds were reflected in the water.
I probably will not make a habit of watching the sunrise often, but it was definitely worth getting up early for.
We finally made it to our Northernmost Eastern Coast stop: Maine. For our stay here, we focused on being near Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.
We had never been to Maine and were eager to explore. Bar Harbor is a cute waterfront town. There are several parking lots and the streets are lined with parking meters. We saw a sign stating that paid parking was in effect May to October. The lots are pay by machine or app, and the parking meters are pay by credit card/quarters or app. The weekend was very busy and parking was hard to come by. I was not expecting it to be this busy so early in the season. The town itself didn’t really open up until around 10:00 for most stores.
Town: fountain, park overlooking water, playground and little library, shops
We found the one pressed penny machine in town inside a store. (The National Park did not have one, so if you collect pressed pennies, you have to go into town.)
There was a great walking path around the water called the Shore Path. There were also historical signs around the town called The Museum In The Streets. There was some interesting information on them and are found throughout Bar Harbor.
We stayed in Rochester, Massachusetts at a Thousand Trails campground called Gateway to Cape Cod.
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The laundry room was open. Laundry machines ran off of credit cards or an app. Washers costs $2.75/load, and dryers cost $2.50/load. The camp store was open but was limited in their selection. The store sold ice for $2/bag and firewood for $7/bag. The pool was closed (supposed to open Memorial Day). The campground was located behind a neighborhood, near a cranberry farm, and had a walking trail that led to a lake.
The campground was within a 15 minute drive to grocery stores (Walmart and Target) and some restaurants. There were several homes nearby that sold firewood (we found one for $5 for soft wood and $10 for hardwood). Cape Cod was about an hour way, Salem was about 1.5-1.75 hour drive, Plymouth Rock about a 30 minute drive, and Boston about an hour.
Sites were decent sized with lots of trees. Sites were a first come/first serve policy, as with most Thousand Trails. Some of the turns were tight with larger rigs. The interior roads were also a little rough with potholes. The rest of the campground seemed pretty well maintained and the campground staff was nice. There was visitor parking by the office that many people took advantage of. However, with the visitor parking and the island, it made leaving tricky for larger rigs. We had to drive down the campground, turn on one of the other lanes to work our way out.
We ended our stay in Massachusetts by going to New Bedford to see the Whaling Museum. (Questions we got: What about Nantucket and Boston? My sister lived in Boston for awhile and we had visited her and explored the city. The main goal of the trip was to see new things. Ben really wanted Nantucket, but the ferry itself was $300, plus whatever we would spend in town.)
New Bedford is a fishing town. They were big in the whaling industry and now do a lot of commerce in scallops.
We managed to find parking on the street (it looks like it is all resident pass or pay parking) near the New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park. The Visitor Center was closed and only had a table open to get a map and Junior Ranger material. (The boys did not get their badges yet because the Visitor Center closed by the time we were done walking around. The ranger told us we could mail the booklets in to get the badges.) The National Park Service museum had a lot of outdoor signs around the town. The map had a nice outline of where the park’s boundaries were.
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We stopped at the other New Bedford Whaling Museum. This one was not part of the National Park Service and had paid admission. However, when we went to check it out, they told us the lobby was free to look around. The lobby had skeletons of different whales and some really neat information. The one skeleton has a piece of tubing attached to the skull and it leads to a beaker. It has been collection oil for 10 years!
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Next, we headed down to the Fishing Heritage Center. It was also free the day we were there. It ended up being surprisingly good! It was very interactive with a movie, multiple buttons to push to hear different sounds and fishing stories. There was even a fishing bucket the kids could pull up. It gave a nice detailed history of fishing, especially in the New Bedford region. It was really well done and everyone enjoyed it.
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The town was pretty cute. However, I would stay near the museums. The farther out of the touristy area we got, it got to be a rougher part of town.
So, good news…we didn’t have any other leaks after tightening the toilet…at least for a while.
Bad news, now it will sometimes keep running and unlike some home toilets, there is no overflow system, so it just gets into the RV. Based on online searches and a call into the manufacturer, we think it is the water valve. There have been a few times lately where there was water at the base too, but it wasn’t from the kids.
Unfortunately, you have to take the whole toilet off to replace the water valve. Will was my assistant for this project. The tight bathroom space did not make it any easier. It seems like there a lot of YouTube videos that are on replacing/repairing the toilets, but it took a little while to find our toilet. We have a Thetford Magic Style II, which used the valve replacement part #42049. There is a serial number in your toilet and if you call the manufacturer they can tell you which part you need.
I finally found a video that was really helpful. The parts did come with written directions, but I found the diagrams less than helpful.
It took some doing, but we finally got it out back together. The test run didn’t have any leaking, so fingers crossed this solves the problem. We also managed to get the pin put back in the toilet seat lid, so that was fixed as well.
Below is a rough outline of the steps to replacing our water valve. Each toilet and set up are different, so please read your instructions. I really found the YouTube video helpful as well.
Turn off water and flush toilet to drain as much water as possible. Place rags around the water line for drips.
Disconnect water line. For our toilet, standing over it looking down, I had to turn the connector to the right to disconnect the water line from the toilet.
Remove bolt covers and bolts.
Remove toilet and set on a garbage bag.
Remove existing/old seal.
Clean toilet. (Yes, this is gross.)
Follow directions on replacement kit. (Make sure to test foot pedal at the end before reinstalling toilet! My first attempt had the pedal falling off because it wasn’t clamped on all the way.)
Place on new seal.
Place toilet back on screws
Thread on bolts and tighten down. To help it seat, sit on the toilet. Check the bolts to see if it needs to be tightened again.
Reconnect water line. Leave rags in place around toilet.
Turn water on and test for leaks.
If no leaks, you have the joy of cleaning up. 😂
We were surrounded by cranberry bogs at our campground in Massachusetts. We had never seen a cranberry field in person, just pictures of them flooded. On our drive in, we kept seeing sunken fields with irrigation rows cut into the already sunken fields. We had no idea what they were for until we saw the campground map and realized they were cranberry fields.
There is dry harvesting, where the cranberries are sold as fresh fruit. These berries can be transported by helicopter to avoid damage that could be done by traveling by truck.
There is the wet harvesting, where they flood the fields. These cranberries are used for dried cranberries, in other food products, and juice. The cranberries float because they have a pocket of air inside.
Cranberries are judged by color, size, and their bounciness. The firm berries will bounce, whereas the bruised or too soft fruit will not.
I wish we could see them being harvested, but cranberry harvest isn’t until mid-September to early November.
We love cranberries in salads, cookies, and oatmeal. At Christmas, we made a cranberry pie and it was delicious (click here for recipe).
Plymouth Rock is located in Pilgrim Memorial State Park (Plymouth, Massachusetts). The park was about a half hour drive from our campground. The park is free and you can see both Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II just from walking around. There is a charge for the Museum and to go on the Mayflower II.
Will was very excited to see “THE ROCK”. His grandparents did try to warn him that it wasn’t as exciting as he thought it would be.
It was indeed, just a rock. There was a pavilion placed over the top of it to help protect it from the elements. The rock was identified as “the rock” 121 years after the pilgrims landed. Plymouth Rock was later split during the Revolutionary War and the one piece was moved to the town square for “liberty” inspiration. The two pieces were later reunited in 1880. The claim on the informational board that the original rock the pilgrims may have seen was 3 times larger; I guess due to weathering and splitting of the rock?
The Mayflower II is located in the park as well. It is a reproduction of the original ship, with some modern technology thrown in. The ship was smaller than I thought it would be. There were not informational signs, much to Will’s dismay, but there were employees throughout the ship to answer questions and to tell you information. There were 102 passengers on board with their animals, plus crew (20-30).
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We learned that the ship did not have a wheel to steer, instead it used a whip-staff to move the tiller, which moved the rudder. The crew worked in 4 hour shifts and kept track on peg board called a Traverse Board. The navigator also marked the knots on this board. It’s pretty amazing that they made it across the ocean without a wheel and only using a compass! Will was also shocked that they were not attacked by pirates, as King James ordered all his ships to be painted in brighter colors (yellow, red, blue, green).
The town is really cute with lots of shops and food options. We had a beautiful day for walking around.
