This prairie in Governor Dodge State Park is dominated by grasses, Queen Anne's lace, yellow coneflowers and wild parsnip. It was beautiful on this 90-degree day of our camping trip, in between rain showers.
photo by A. Graf

This gorgeous luna moth was found near Lake Placid, NY on our trip earlier this summer. They only live a few days and are quite cooperative if you get them while slightly damp with morning dew.
photo by A. Graf

I'm waiting to see if I'll hear back from WhatsThatBug.com as to what this specifically is, but you have to be rather amazed at what's crawling around outside when you really take a close look. This was found on our tent while camping last week at Governor Dodge. One of the worst camping experiences of my life, I have to add. The kids wouldn't pose for me so I turned to the bugs. They were much more compliant and, of course, ubiquitous.
photo by A. Graf

Be careful where you park . . .
photo by A. Graf

Answer to my recent puzzler: The back of a cicada found in my yard.
photo by A. Graf

Where Disney gets their ideas - a cicada from my backyard.
photo by A. Graf

Guess what this is! I'll post the full photo in a day or two so check back.
photo by A. Graf

Single Rowboat, Southwest Harbor, Maine
photo by A. Graf

Bluejay feather on the coast of Maine
photo by A. Graf

Seaweed looking like a Chinese character - my apologies to those who read Chinese.
photo by A. Graf

Sailboats in the harbor of Bernard, Maine
photo by A. Graf

Dianthus against Acadian granite, Acadia National Park, Maine
photo by A. Graf

Rock "face", Acadia National Park, Maine
photo by A. Graf

Misty harbor and shoreline, Seawall, Maine
photo by A. Graf

Granite on top of Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park, Maine
photo by A. Graf

lobster traps in Southwest Harbor, Maine
photo by A. Graf

Rocks on the beach in Maine
photo by A. Graf

Boats in misty harbor, Mt. Desert Island, Maine
photo by A. Graf

Rain, Rain, Go Away

We left Maine this morning in the rain and it continued to rain all the way to Bangor. Then it cleared up for the rest of the day. We crossed into New Hampshire and then Vermont. At Lake Champlain we took a one-hour ferry ride across to New York. Now I type by the window in our hotel room under Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks. The 1980 Winter Olympics were held on this mountain and hosted right up the street in Lake Placid. It's gorgeous.

I have energy for nothing more than a hot shower and bed.

The Dawn of Civilization

I woke around 2:30 this morning to use the facilities, and stepping out onto our deck I saw the sky full of stars. This could only mean one thing - no fog! I woke Dean and we scribbled a note to our sleeping children before heading out to Cadillac Mountain to view the sunrise as it first strikes North America. I got lots of nice photos and we were back home before the children even knew we were gone (5:30am). Later in the day we treated ourselves to another ride through Acadia National Park, seeing it through a totally new lens, sans fog.

I did fall into the Atlantic Ocean today, just slipping on some wet rocks but landing rather hard on my left hip, leg and arm. Thankfully my camera was in my right hand and my extra lens was in my right pocket, so they were unharmed. I am bruised. I was also very wet, but we stopped for lunch at a nice restaurant where I hurried into the ladies' room to use their electric hand dryer on my shorts.

This will probably be my last post from Maine as we head towards Lake Placid tomorrow morning. What a week it's been, folks. I still have remnants of the hives, but the glands down my neck seem to be recovering. The bruises will be gone soon and my socks might even dry out before tomorrow. I have taken over 1000 photographs so far, and I'm sure that my memories of our adventures in Maine will only grow fonder with the passing of time.