Perfection personified......

8:52 am - Wednesday - June 27th - Southwest Harbor, ME - 66º F, 62% humidity, wind 6 mph out of the southwest......partly cloudy with a forecast high of 67º F.....we're almost to the high of the day at 8:52 am?

Of course, we are knee deep in the 2018 World Cup daily matches of which there are four each day for the first two weeks.  We spent the morning watching first the Denmark/France game which ended in the first nil-nil game of this World Cup.  The second between Australia/Peru was won by Peru 2-0 thus eliminating Australia from the 2018 World Cup.

For our Tuesday exploration we opted to return to the Carriage Roads in Acadia National Park.  We easily found a parking place at the Eagle Lake trailhead just off SR-233.  Our plan was to ride south to Jordan Pond, get a bite to eat there and then ride back.  We estimated the total loop distance at around 10 miles.  We set off riding down the east side of Eagle Lake and immediately came upon a climb that went on for about a mile. Near the top of that climb I noticed the rear of my bike was feeling kind of squirrely so I looked down and saw that my rear tire was almost flat!  I stopped immediately  and waited for TLE to close the gap.  This is my second flat tire since arriving at MDI.  I haven't had a flat tire since last summer, so it was a little disconcerting to have a second within two weeks.....last time it was the front tire.  It turned out there was a thin, long wire stuck in the tire which had punctured the tube, so I removed it and then installed a new tube.  I will fix the punctured tube and use it again.

We were stopped about 15 minutes fixing the tire, and were on our way once again.  We arrived at Jordan Pond around 2 pm to find it was overrun with tourists and the wait to eat about one hour......thanks, but no thanks.  We're still a week away from the 4th of July and things are already beginning to rock in Acadia National Park.  We decided to just continue riding........it took us a few minutes to figure out where the Carriage Road continued past Jordan Pond, but we did figure it out eventually and continued our ride.........

Arrived at Jordan Pond

.......the Carriage Road continued on the other side of the Park Loop Road from Jordan Pond House with this grand stone Gatehouse guarding the entrance to the this section of the Carriage Road......

.....it was at this point I decided to take a short video of what the Carriage Roads typically look like here in Acadia National Park.......

.....we began our ride at the Eagle Lake trailhead at 321' elevation, and at the peak of our climbs on the west side of Jordan Pond at around the 7.9 mile mark we hit 458'.....that's a good bit of climbing.....I have to add that TLE never complained one time.....

....the prettiest part of the ride was along Bubble Lake where the Carriage Road runs right along the shores of the lake for about 1/2 mile before veering back into the woods once again......

Bubble Lake

.....eventually we came back to the shores of Eagle Lake and our starting point......

.......our final mileage ended up being 11.3 with about 650 caloric units being consumed with a total riding time of one hour and twenty-two minutes.  It was just after 3:30 pm and neither of us was out of gas.....we could have ridden another 10 miles.....lol.....well, maybe I could have.  This is only the second time TLE has ridden her Cannondale F-600 in the past 12 months and she is coming around quickly.  When we rode two weeks ago she was insistent we not do more than 5-6 miles, but this time she had no problem agreeing to a 10+ mile ride.

We were home by 4 pm at which time TLE began to prepare some snacks to munch on while got out the outdoor TV to watch a couple more World Cup games......the Iceland/Croatia match was won by Croatia 2-1, and then the Argentina/Nigeria won late by Argentina 2-1.....had Argentina lost, or tied they would have been out of the World Cup.  Both games were very good games and could have gone either way.  It was a perfect end to a perfect 'weekend' day!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which helps defer the costs of producing this blog each day.

'Added time......'

9:17 am - Tuesday - June 26th - Southwest Harbor, ME - 64º F, 62% humidity, wind 5 mph out of the north by northwest.......crystal, clear, blue skies.....almost balmy outside. Yup, you guessed it.....this is a day off work.  We slept in to 8:30 am and it was delicious!  I just returned from taking the office golf cart and the ranger phone back to the office for the regular night manager, Deb.

We awoke to rain Monday, and it continued raining until almost 10 am.....that was not in the forecast.  We were expecting rain overnight, and that we got, but apparently this weather system didn't get the message that it was supposed to stop by 7 am.......lol.  TLE had the closing shift which is now from 2 pm to 10 pm so she was just getting up as I exited the Newell to drive the office cart through the now pouring rain to another work day in paradise.

I worked with Tony and one armed Alex all day Monday.  The necessary things were done ......the pool, the trash run, and the restrooms.  It was too wet, and by the way, quite cold at 59º most of the day, to do much else.  Tony and I did do a little light weeding, but we were eventually chased under cover by a rain squall passing through the area.  We spent some time in the 'garage' organizing the tools in the tool box, and sweeping and then it was time for lunch.  The sun did finally make a late appearance around 2:30 pm, and by the 4 pm there was hardly a cloud to be seen in the MDI skies.  I punched the clock at 4 pm......I could have worked to 5 pm, but there was really nothing to do, and I hate just sitting around to get another $11 for the day.

I bid TLE adieu and headed for home to watch a few recorded World Cup soccer matches......there were four games in all (as there have been every day since the World Cup began).  The first was between Saudi Arabia and Egypt.  Normally I would say "So what?", but I am glad I watched because it was a great match decided, as so many matches have been this World Cup, in 'added time'.....Saudi Arabia scored a late goal as time was running out to break Eqypt's heart.  Let me explain 'added time' for those unfamiliar with soccer.  Once the clock starts to begin a game it runs continuously throughout the match.  It is never stopped for anything, including injuries.  To account for time lost to injuries, goal celebrations, the issuance of yellow and red cards, and substitutions time is added at the end of each half.  Most often the amount of time added at the end of the first half is 2-4 minutes.  At the end of the second half it is not unusual to see 4-6 minutes added.  The addition of time is not an exact science, but more of an estimate of time lost in each half.....this is one of the things I love about soccer.  Forty-five minutes are played in each half, plus 'added time'.  The total time of a typical soccer match can be anywhere from 92 to almost 100 minutes.  Anyway, the second game was between Russia (had won their first two games) and Uruguay, which was won, surprisingly, by Uruguay 3-0.....not much suspense there, right?  The two afternoon games were both nail biters and were both decided in 'added time' at the end of each match.  Spain came from behind to tie their match with Morocco 2-2 as time ran out, and Iran came from behind to tie Portugal 1-1 as time ran out.

I went back down to the office around 8 pm to close the pool, and do my nightly rounds.  There were actually people in the pool for the first time since we arrived here at SDC at this somewhat latish hour.  I gave them the 30 minute warning.....politely and courteously, of course, and then went about doing the water tests for each pool.  By the time I finished the swimmers were on their way home, so I walked over to the office to retrieve TLE who assists me in pulling the cover over the pool for another night.  I made a slow round of the campground with a little 50's music playing on my phone, and was back home by 9:15.  I returned to the office 45 minutes later to bring TLE home, and that was our day.

For TLE's benefit I replayed the last 10 minutes of the Spain/Morocco and Portugal/Iran games so she could see how they ended.  I was in bed by 11:30.....why I was up that late I have no idea.  TLE followed a little later and that was our Monday......now for a couple more days of MDI exploration!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which helps defer the costs of producing this blog each day.

Handyman.......

6:12 am - Monday - June 25th - Southwest Harbor, ME - 55º F, 97% humidity (raining), wind 10 mph out of the north by northeast......heavy cloud cover and raining....rained all night long.

Sunday is the one day of the week I must be at work at 7 am to help open the pool for the day.  Usually I get up on Sunday about 4:50 am in order to be down at the office clocking in for the day by 6:55 am, but I over slept slightly....I didn't get up until 5:11 am.  I know, that's really not too bad, but for a person who is a creature of habit even getting up 20 minutes late usually throws off my whole day.  This time, however, I managed to put it behind me and just accelerate my routine slightly and was still ready to go to with time to spare......maybe, just maybe 'old dogs can learn new tricks'.......maybe.

We were done with the pool just before 8 am......it had rained most the prior night and into the early morning and the cloud cover was quite heavy.  It looked as if it might rain more for most of the morning, but it didn't......thankfully.  I love it when it rains at night and has no effect on the daylight portion of your day.  While Tammy and Alex took off to do site checks and then begin cleaning the sites of departing customers I headed out to take care of a couple of repairs in the campground.....this is the kind of stuff I love to do.

First up was a leaky hose bib in site # 74......more precisely a leaky 'anti siphon' valve........

.......I'm sure most of my readers have seen this device attached to your hose bibs at home.  It keeps water from your garden hose from being siphoned back into the water supply for your home, or in the case of an RV park, from being siphoned back into the campground water supply.  They do have a life expectancy, and the one at site # 74 had reached the end of its life.  I went up to the 'garage' to pick up a new anti siphon valve and returned to replace the defective one.  That was done in just a few minutes, and then it was on to cabin # 316 where a customer had reported a broken threshold board.

I inspected it and confirmed it was broken so I again returned to the 'garage' to retrieve the necessary tools to remove the broken threshold.  It took me about 15 minutes to get it out and then it was just a matter of finding a matching piece in our lumber pile to use for the new threshold.  I quickly found a piece that would work then used the old threshold as a template to create a new one.  Within 15 minutes I had cut a new threshold and then took it back to the cabin to install.  It went in easily, and I was done.....I wish I had remembered to take a picture of it.

By this time it was a little after 10 am.....a customer in site # 72 need to have the propane tank on his class C filled, and another had dropped off a 5 gallon propane bottle to be filled so Tammy and I headed over to the propane station to take care of that......

.......all of that took about 40 minutes, and it was almost time for lunch........I took brief break before heading home for lunch.  Right after lunch, as is always the case every single day, it was time to clean the restrooms.....I donned my West Marine rubber boots and we got to work......

.....the last task of our day was to empty all the trash cans in the campground and take it up to our large dumpster (the transfer station is closed on Sunday's).   During our garbage run a customer arrived in a large 5th wheel and needed assistance getting into site # 70.  He was  a little agitated at not being able to get into the site, so I headed over to give him some help.  I had him in the site within 10 minutes and could see a smile return to his face.....that's all the thanks I need!

I was off work by 3 pm, and we were in the VW on our way over to Jordan Pond House to meet my sister and her family for tea and popovers (menu).  I would never have thought of this, but leave it to my sister Hilary to do so......what a great idea!  We sat out on the patio for about 90 minutes eating our popovers (TLE and I substituted coffee for tea) and enjoying the late afternoon......it was a beautiful afternoon in spite of the cloud cover.......

 

 That's where we sat!

The last time we were here this field was nothing but dirt.....now they have installed the new turf

.....from there we headed back to Bar Harbor to have some cocktails and snacks and enjoy the view from their balcony......so peaceful and restful!

By 8 pm it was time for us to head back to SDC as I had to close the pool.  We bid our adieus and were off to Southwest Harbor.  We arrived just before 8:30 pm, got the pool closed, and the water tested and were home by 9 pm.  Safe travels Hilary, Bob and Stephanie!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which helps defer the costs of producing this blog each day.