“Thank you for calling The Wirie. The customer support department is on a short vacation right now. We will resume our timely and personal support service again on Wednesday, September 14th. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you and thank you for your patience. Have a nice day.” I hear Mark change the message on the answering machine of our Wirie business. Then, he creates an automatic email reply for customers who contact us via the ticket system: ”The Wirie Customer Support team is on a short break right now. Please, allow us to get back to you after Tuesday, September 14th. Thank you for your understanding and your patience. Have a nice day.” It is the very first time we “close down” this part of the business, and these are the last preparations we make before our long anticipated trip, three years in the making. It is finally happening, after keeping a close eye on the weather predictions and postponing our departure a few days…
We were going on a vacation, Mark and I! It would be the first one since we started our business in May 2009. Some new readers might think “Going on vacation for the first time in seven years, wow!” while old timers, who know that we recently lived and sailed on our catamaran Irie for eight years in the tropics, probably scoff, assuming that we are “always on vacation”. Either way, I was very happy to have this little break – five days in Acadia NP – without Mark having to spent 6-10 hours behind his computer as has been the case on weekdays all these years. Yes, also when we were on our sailboat, in the most amazing places… Having no internet during our trip was awesome!
We left Newburyport at noon on a Thursday under a grey, drizzly sky and arrived about 4.5 hours later at the foggy gate of Acadia National Park on Desert Island in Maine, slightly nervous. We had a reservation from Friday through Monday at the only campground in the park that was open, but had failed to book our first night. The sign upon arrival said “Campground Full”. And it remained that way for the duration of our stay.
We patiently waited in line and talked to the official in charge… We were in luck and secured the only spot – out of 300+ sites – that was still available for this one night, thanks to our successive reservation. Pfew! Nerves relaxed, we set up camp for five nights in the mist of woodsy, quite cramped and very basic Blackwoods campground. $30 a night is no bargain for a campsite with only water and toilets (no showers!) in walking distance. Outside the park, coin showers ($2 for 4 minutes – Mark and I, pros at quick showers, managed to share this time) kept the campers clean. Although some people had no inhibitions when it came to washing up at the sink…
Our accommodation was adequate and made more comfortable thanks to camping gear we borrowed from family. What followed were four and a half days of entertainment, from easy driving tours with heaps of viewpoints to a biking adventure on carriage roads to several amazing hikes, under mostly sunny skies.
We had a relatively early start each day and usually returned between 5-6pm to make dinner, enjoy a campfire and head to bed. When the fog cleared, the park revealed itself…
Since there is no way to share our experiences in one blog, I am going to spread the highlights out over a few blog posts. Stay tuned! 🙂
This is the place where conversation is made. Please, join in!