8. FIFTH and FINAL DAY of the TOUR de FR (Friends and Relatives)!!!!!

What a week of TOUR de FR (Friends and Relatives) this has been, and we're finishing it off by getting together with our wonderful Jupiter neighbors Bari and Phil, who just by cosmic coincidence are in New England for a wedding and are staying at a B&B just down the road from our campsite for a few days. What a riot, we HAVE to get together! 

Notice anything funny about this pic? Panorama of Bar Harbor! 

We ran all over Bar Harbor together, explored shops and tourist traps, then ate a fabulous lunch at an old-line restaurant near the harbor...good view of the harbor and islands from the upstairs dining room. It's fun looking in shops with artists...Phil found an antique doorstop I hope he goes back and buys...who knew people collect those things? 


 Later we got  to drive to the top of Cadillac Mountain, the highest peak around here and a storied must-see...unfortunately, it was spitting rain, howling wind, and totally fogged in at the top. We could just as easily have been on the moon or in a Costco deep freezer! Not much of a view, but at least we can say we summited the mountain (by car; tourists you know!). 

We made up for that disappointment by hiking around the Pond at Jordan Pond House, before indulging in a late afternoon snack of their famous popovers, with Prosecco for the ladies!  What a gorgeous site that place is, perfectly situated at Jordan Pond (actually a sizeable lake), with impeccably groomed grounds, and the cleanest water in the lake that you've ever seen. You can easily see 15-20 feet down into the lake. They use the lake water for drinking water around here, and take special measures to keep it pristine. I hope to kayak there this week, and will take a shower before going! Bari and Phil had to fly home, so we'll have to wait until we return to Jupiter to have more adventures with them for awhile. 

After we said final goodbyes to Bari and Phil, we crashed at our camp. I practiced some guitar, met a new picking friend at camp, then we went exploring the next morning, looking for colorful leaves. YOU CAN'T PHOTO THEM very well from the road, and the colors are continually changing...we see a difference literally every day. Better pics will come later, I think.

Later, I kayaked and Lynn read and hung with Sheldon. We're camped on Somes Sound, which turns out to be the only FJORD in the eastern USA. And that's where I paddled! 

After an action filled morning, it was time to head back to Brewster and Jan's house in Brooklin, for a music jam with one of Brewster's local playing buddies, Jim. Wow, we had us a time! Can't describe to you how great it was to be making music with Brewster again after all these years. Even though we've been away from picking with each other for at least 20 years, we fell right back into it, and Jim was a fantastic partner too. Jan made us a super BBQ supper, but didn't make us eat right away, cause we were too busy playing! 


We banged away as long as we could, til Jim had to go home to care for his dogs. Can't argue with THAT excuse. This night of playing together was epic, that's all I can say. I'm hoping to get to sit in with Brewster and Jim and their lobsterman friends at a church jam Sunday...let's hope that develops!

We left and made our way back to camp, for new adventures. The TOUR de FR was officially over, now back to making our own fun. We're doing OK at that, actually. Luckiest people on earth, we are! 

Here are more photos if you'd like to see:
TRIP PHOTOS LINK