Week 3: A vacation from our vacation

Where do we start? This last week has been even more of an adventure. As mentioned in our last blog post, Sweetcakes died in downtown Portland and we had her towed to a dealership nearby. This was of course after calling the initial dealership we planned to work with and asking them what chance we had of getting the vehicle up to them. “Let's see how much it would be to tow........oh boy, best find a place in Portland sir” Keep in mind this was Thursday and we had tickets to fly down to Texas on Friday for a wedding. I was a bit nervous about leaving her while we were gone, but at the same time relieved that we made it to Portland in the first place. The original plan had been to camp in Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont, but when the car continued to act up we just powered through to Portland. We mentioned this in the last post, but looking back on it, it was pretty nerve-wracking driving through rural Vermont with no cell signal on a mountain road. Really happy we didn't have to deal with that.

So anyway... to make a long story short, we left Sweetcakes at the dealer, headed to a hotel, and tried to enjoy having a bed for the night before we had to get up for our early morning flight on Friday. We arrived in San Antonio, met up with my parents, and set out in our rental car – bound for South Padre Island. I think Ike kept one eye on the engine temperature gauge the whole time, out of habit. Let's make a short story long again:

We had a hell of a back and forth with the dealer; the original plan was to replace the head-gasket, but the engine had almost seized because water ended up in the cylinder. At that point, the engine block could have been cracked, and either way we were looking at a substantial overhaul. There were several frenzied calls to the dealer, then to our [fantastic] mechanic Dan back in Washington to run stuff through him and to filter out the bullshit. My favorite was the first chat we had where the dealer gave me the rundown of issues with the engine, but then also mentioned that there were holes in the frame and the running boards were rusted out. I called Dan and mentioned that to him, but was confused because I had thought he had looked at the frame. “Yeah, I put it up and looked at it and the frame looked fine....” he said with a confused note in his voice, then said, “wait, they tried to sell you a new 4Runner didn't they?!” to which I could only say, “yep.” Dan and I spoke 3-5 times over the next week to make sure we were taking care of everything that that made sense, and agreed that it would be for the best to move forward with an engine swap given the amount of coolant we'd run through the engine the previous week. He also mentioned some additional things to have them replace while they had the engine out, and saved us a few hundred dollars by making sure we knew everything he'd worked on so we didn't end up getting a duplicate new item. All things said, I'm glad the ordeal is over, that it happened where we could get it replaced easily, that we'll have strong confidence in our vehicle, and that I had the opportunity to pay $32 for a gallon of antifreeze.

The wedding was for my childhood dance friend, Mary Ann. It was great to see her and her family, meet the lucky guy, and really, to spend some time at the beach. At this point Ike and I could use a vacation from our vacation. :) [We say this in all seriousness] The weekend was filled with food, drinks, and fun! We spent Saturday hanging out on the beach and soaking up some sun, while Ike kept us cool with pitchers of margaritas (dangerously refreshing). [ice, triple-sec, tequila, fresh limes, limade; fresh fruit if you're feeling frisky. You're welcome] Sunday was the wedding itself (beautiful decorations, flowers, and ... of course... bride!). Monday was mostly spent traveling back to Portland. Side note: we drove through a powerful thunderstorm on the way back to the airport. Parts of the interstate were flooded![An hour and a half longer because ½ of one lane had 3 inches of standing water on it. Texas, you suck at driving] The drive took longer, so unfortunately we didn't have time to play the final round of Hand & Foot, a card game we had been playing all weekend. Personally, I'm ok with that – the guys were trouncing the ladies. [Denny and I were making a strong push to break the win margin.]

Totally a normal family

It was pretty late when we landed back in Portland, and nearly 2am when we flopped into bed at our hotel.[Delayed on our last flight into Portland; Delta going out strong for my flying experience. I say, halfheartedly, as 3 of my 4 flights were in firsties. I'll have “All the Bloody Mary's” for $1000 Alex.] The next morning, our friends Jesse & Matt picked us up and we headed north towards Sheep Island, near-ish Brunswick. [Never going to forget the look of sheer terror in the receptionist's eyes as Jesse rolls in yelling, “AwwwwwwwwWWW SHUCKY DUCKY!” and looking like a hobo] Ike knew Jesse & Matt from his time in Japan and we have visited Jesse on his island the past 3 years. [each time staying progressively longer, with the hope that eventually we'll just be there year-round and no one will be the wiser] While sketching out our route for this trip we knew Sheep Island had to be one of the stops! [I think we'll just drive straight there after we're done with this trip too]

Sunrise on sheep island

We spent a week out on the island, and were joined by Jon (Ike's predecesor in Japan) and Tanya [All of us lived in the same small region of Nagano and had plenty of time to enkai together]. The 6 of us had a blast and consumed an impressive amount of cheese, crackers, and booze. [“I'll seriously need to detox from cheese the next few months”, Matt, the resident Englishman]

Matt utterly overwhelmed by the flavor options America presents

Our past visits to Sheep Island were later in the summer, so this was our first time to experience the island in the spring. It has a very different vibe, but still equally awesome. The first couple of days were rainy and chilly, and we passed the time huddled around the fireplace in the cabin. It was really quite cozy. After that it warmed up a bit, but more importantly the sun came out! [additional plug that fireplaces are just the best]

random buoys behind the cabin

We hiked around the island a few times, went on crazy boat rides with Jesse (one to see the XXX bridge), ate delicious seafood chowdah and fresh lobstah, hollered at the habah gals, watched some bald eagles defened their nest from crows, and all in all had a wonderful time. As always, it was hard to say goodbye to the island, but it was a bit easier this year since we were off to our next adventure instead of heading back to the office.

A good site for chowdah and habah gals

just another view from the island

the US Geological survey came through here during WWII as part of the coastal defense work [we think?]

Friends and family at the Sargent cottage

The man, the myth, the legend himself, in his element.

If you wonder why we come back here every year.....

Ike picked up Sweetcakes from the dealer on Sunday and we set off mid-day Monday (after finishing a game of Battlestar Galactica... Ike's favorite[and Jesse's, and Matt's least-favorite). Our next destination: Acadia National Park, along the coast in northern Maine. I was pretty excited about this since neither of us have been to a National Park before, and we were certainly overdue for a visit. [I still don't get this; We'd been to state parks numerous times, but apparently national parks are where it's at...] We arrived in early evening, set up camp, then headed in to the nearby town of Bar Harbor (or: Bah Habah) to stock up on groceries and do some laundry. Hooray for laundromats! [they had TRIPLE SIZE WASHERS! How is that even possible? Why can't I buy one for my house??] I had run out of clean undies a few days ago and was doing the whole wear 'em inside out! thing. I'm sure it won't be the last time on this trip. By this time it was getting late in the evening and we were both tired and hungry (and, I'll say it, grumpy). Ike made a delicious meal of Japanese noodles with pork, egg, and veggies and it definitely hit the spot. We crawled into the tent right after dinner and were snoozing soon after.

Today started off as I had imagined all of our days would start on this trip. We woke up refreshed, I practiced yoga for a bit, we enjoyed our breakfast of PB, nutella, and banana sandwiches with coffee/tea, and then headed out for a hike. We are 3 weeks into our trip and this is the first of such days, but hopefully now that we are itinerary-free, this kind of morning will be the norm and not the exception.

We hiked part of the way up Cadillac Mountain, the tallest mountain along the East Coast of the US (I think? [that's how they advertize it at least]). We intended to hike up to Eagles' Crag, about midway up, but we saw that the summit was only a couple of miles further. Ambitiously we decided we would try to hike all the way up. And.... then we remembered that we are not in shape and we didn't bring any snack food, so we ended up following our original plan and stopping at Eagles' Crag. It was a beautiful outcrop of granite with a view of the mountainous forest and the ocean beyond. [I hiked in my fugly but functional vibrams. Definitely takes getting used to since there isn't ankle support and almost no cushioning...but it was fun damnit!]

The view from halfway up

Bethany posing at the top

panorama from the top

Our hike was followed by a joyous moment for me: my first time putting our immersion blender to use on this trip! This was one of the “luxury” items that I chose to bring, and Ike hassled me about it constantly the last month before we left. Well, today it was worth it! I made hummus for lunch and it was nomtastic. Not to mention an opportunity for me to say “Worth it!” to Ike. (always a bonus)[let's just clarify this for a second: I only legit complained about it once or twice, but it made sense, and thereafter it was always the butt of a joke when we'd suggest bringing something else on the trip. But, considering we can't blend ice for margaritas with it, it may be time to abandon it.] This afternoon we took a scenic drive around the park and summited Cadillac Mountain, which has the earliest sunrise in the US for part of the year. It was a beautiful drive up the mountain, and the views from the summit were breathtaking. [I actually maintained my breath just fine, thank you.]

Tomorrow we head into Canada, so we are spending the afternoon wrapping up a few loose ends while we are still in the good 'ol U.S. of A. [like how great it is to have an unlimited data plan]