A is for...

As I've been struggling a bit to post regularly, when I read of the A-Z Blogging Challenge for April, I thought it would a fun exercise for me to try.  I am going to incorporate it into counting my one thousand gifts.

Joy Dare: continuing to count 1000 gifts

gift 105

One cannot live in Maine and not be thankful for Acadia National Park. Many, many people plan their vacations around it and I live only 40 miles from this wondrous place!

Acadia National Park

A bit of concern this year is that the park is going to open a month later (May 17) due to government mandated sequester cuts. While some services are reduced, Acadia is open and if you’re there to use the park, rather than simply see the park, these cuts won’t have too big an effect on your visit—you’ll be able to hike the trails and bike the Carriage Roads.

Now, if you’re a cyclist, these extra weeks of having parts of the Park Loop and the Cadillac Mountain road to yourself is a huge benefit. You won’t have to worry about drivers looking at sights rather than cyclists or feel threatened as a huge tour bus rumbles by too close for comfort.

Yes, there is an influx of tourists during the summer months which makes everything a bit crazy over there, but I try to visit several times. I've even ventured over in the fall by myself and sat at the very spot pictured above, journaling, taking in the breath-taking beauty, listening to what God can say to me that He can say no other place but out in His handiwork.

If you're in Maine this summer, you simply must visit Acadia!  (If you need more info, please feel free to email me.)

From the top of its granite mountains to its salty ocean shores, 

this national treasure on the craggy Atlantic seaboard 

showcases Maine’s natural riches.