10/11/23-10/13/23—Maine
Maine, specifically the coast, was kinda the pinnacle and North Star of this whole northeast roadtrip. Everything revolved around getting to the Atlantic Ocean. Initially, I was only gonna go as far up the coast as Acadia National Park. But after some research while at the Starbucks in Vermont, there was one place father north that I knew I couldn’t miss.
I arrived at the location when it was dark out—btw I was so far east that it got dark incredibly early—so I didn’t really even have any clue what the area looked like. I did, however, smell the salty ocean air as soon as I opened my door to get ready for bed. The plan was to wake up for sunrise—which again, so far east that the sun came up super early as well. I got my butt out of bed that morning and had about a 2 mile hike from where I camped to the coastline. The sun was already crawling up from the horizon by the time I actually made it to the ocean, but oh man. That whole morning was like something out of a movie. Words will never be able to describe it. It was just one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen in my life. I stayed in that spot long after the sun was up, just soaking in the moment and reflecting on everything it took to get there. After all, everything beyond this point would be on the return trip back home.
After this, I was set to go to Acadia. And yes, so hard to believe, Acadia was amazing as well. I witnessed two incredible moments there. One being a proposal all the way across an inlet on a distant cliff from where I was. I captured it on camera, but the happy couple was long gone by the time I got over to where the proposal took place. The second moment occurred as I was driving as I along the main road throughout the park. I saw a man pulled over, painting the view in front of him. His name was Robert and he said that he comes out to that same exact spot every single day to work on his painting, and that he has to adjust what time he comes out every day to match the tide. Very cool to witness and capture.
Acadia is also where I was able to diagnose what the strange noise was coming from my car. I stopped at a pull off to make lunch. With mountains and lakes in view, I again rechecked everything I had been continuously checking the last couple days. Nothing. And then I grabbed my exhaust pipe just to see if maybe that was causing it. When I touched it, it instantly seesawed up and down, causing the same dreaded noise I had been cringing at after every bump I drove over. I got down underneath my car to see that my tailpipe was completely snapped off from the muffler. Cool. Called my parents. They said it should be fine until I get home. Then I went on my merry way.
