27 September 2014

Happy Saturday!

Today was one of those days where you wonder if August has made a comeback. Jake and I spent the morning hiking on the western side of the mountain. We got sunburn, listened to cicadas, and lusted for the cool waters of Somes Sound to was away our sweat. In other words, it was a gorgeous day in Downeast Maine.

After hiking, we came back to the dorm to pick up Tasia. She wanted to see a few of the seminars associated with the Star Festival this weekend. The first was a physics professor who discussed the differences and interactions of the earth and sun’s atmospheres. He was incredibly engaging as a lecturer, but Jake and I were both struggling to keep our eyes open. Too much exercise and sun in the morning.

The second seminar was Wally Funk. She is a member of the Mercury 13 crew. Tasia insisted that we sit in the front row, so we had several very close encounters with Wally. She is a fascinating lady. Some of her stories didn't make much sense and a lot of her advice wasn't something I'd give out. Overall, though, I enjoyed her talk.

After hanging out in Bar Harbor for a bit, we headed back to the dorm. Jake, Elle, and I decided that we wanted to go to another Star Festival event, the Star Party on Cadillac Mountain. To do that we had to park and board a shuttle at the visitor center to take us up to the summit. Unfortunately, the parking lot was completely full when we arrived. It looked a lot like the Jordan Pond House parking lot in August, except for all of the highly trained traffic cops rather than me in an orange vest directing traffic. 

We decided to skip the party at Cadillac and instead view the stars over Sand Beach instead. I wish my camera would have been able to capture the sky, but alas, it didn't. You will just have to come to Acadia someday and see it yourself.