Day 29

Today was my last and only full day in Acadia National Park and I intended to make the most of it! The plan was to start with sunrise on top of Cadillac Mountain which is the only mountain within 25 miles of the Atlantic coastline in the US. As a result it is rumored to be the first place the morning sunlight hits the US and is supposed to be a fantastic place for sunrise shots. On the downside, it requires a VERY early start to make sunrise and layers of warm clothing this time of year. My alarm went off at 4:30 and after putting on 2 pairs of pants and 3 layers on top, I made the long drive up to Cadillac Mountain.

Getting out of my car, I felt a stiff icy gust of wind and realized that more clothes would be nice right about now. As I carried my camera gear and began setting up, I noticed almost everyone else there had on gloves, heavy coats, and in some cases had taken the blankets out of their hotel rooms for additional warmth; my thin North Face fleece just wasn't getting the job done... However, I didn't have any other clothes with me so I jogged in place to keep the blood flowing while waiting for the sun to rise. Eventually it came up and all the freezing people standing on top of Cadillac Mountain were treated to a beautiful view.





After the sunrise, I decided to head for lower elevation to warm up and see what other places in Acadia were worth seeing. Driving around the main loop in Acadia I came to the very creatively named 'Sand Beach' and seeing a few cars parked in the lot; decided to grab my camera and do some exploring. Quick comment on the name, this beach is called 'Sand Beach' because there is sand on it; which is actually quite unusual for Maine since the vast majority of beaches are incredibly rocky as you will see throughout the pictures on today's blog. The reason this beach is sand, is the result of a glacier that carved out a protective cove and rock shelf that diverts and diminishes the power of the ocean. As a result fine particles, like crushed shells, make it through and settled on the beach.





After leaving Sand Beach, it was 8:15 AM and the visitor center at Acadia was now open. I wanted to get a map of the park and some insight from the rangers on the best places to hit today; especially to see fall foliage. The ranger gave me several recommended options and I started at Sieur de Monts trail where she thought the best foliage was this time of year. Most of the trails in this area hike up to the top of Dorr Mountain which I didn't have time to do but there are numerous trails and she suggested I hike up one and go down a different one to get some good views of the local foliage. Pictures along the trail are below:









Next stop was Schooner Head which was a nice short trail along the coast; which really shows off the power of the Atlantic as it repeatedly slams into the rocky coastline of Acadia.







Continuing along the Park Loop I came across a beautiful bridge with glistening water in the foreground and fantastic trees in various shades in the background. However, I couldn't really get the angle I wanted on the road where myself and a couple other photographers were shooting.



So despite my better judgment I decided to climb down these large / flat boulders to get closer to the water / bridge and the shot I really wanted. Carrying all my camera gear and wearing shoes that are not designed for scaling rocks, I began carefully climbing down the rocks toward the water. Side note, I've always done things like this to get the shot I wanted (climbed barefoot in rushing ice cold water, climbed out on a tree above a waterfall, etc.) and never had anything bad happened. I nearly made it to my shooting location and my foot hit a wet / moss covered rock... My legs went flying and quickly cradled my camera gear; didn't care what happened to my body but if my camera gear broke I was in trouble! Hard landing on my right side and a few bad words later, I got up and CAREFULLY worked my way to the waters edge. Here is the resulting shots which I love.





Next stop was Jordan Pond the loop trail... Jordan Pond is a fresh water lake in the middle of Mount Desert Island and the water serves much of the population in and around Acadia National Park. The trail around Jordan Pond was a little over 3 miles and took a few hours to hike all the way around the lake.



I call this nature's traffic light.





After hiking around Jordan Pond, I grabbed a quick snack and decided to head to one of Acadia's most famous destinations, the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse. This is a still active lighthouse that an employee of the US Coast Guard lives in with his family and is on the these beautiful cliffs overlooking Bass Harbor. I made it just before sunset and was able to capture several shots I was happy with.

On the way to the Lighthouse:



Bass Harbor Lighthouse





After the sun went down, I headed back to Trenton towards my motel and made one last stop at a local Lobster Pound for dinner.

Mmm Fresh Lobster







After finishing dinner, I hit my bed hard it had been a long day and needed energy for one last push... The final day of my trip was tomorrow and I wanted to make it a good one. Thanks for reading my blog and as always any questions /comments please post below or email me at chris@pricelessperspectives.com

Day 28

Today started early with a quick shuttle ride to JFK Airport and a
flight from New York City to Portland, Maine. The flight was smooth
and I hit Maine around noon. I picked up my rental car with Hertz and
the plan was to take the scenic route along the Maine Coast up to
Acadia National Park, my home for the next couple of days. The reason
for driving along the scenic route was to hopefully see and photograph
the lighthouses that dot the Maine Coast.

The people at the rental car desk were split on whether the scenic
route was a good idea; saying it was prettier but would take
substantially longer to get to Acadia. In addition, the lighthouses
are not actually along the scenic route and in most cases would
require a 10-20 minute drive off the main road to reach them.

Undeterred, I left Portland and took the scenic route along the Maine
coast toward Acadia National Park. The drive was beautiful and took
me through many small Maine towns but didn't see any lighthouses. I
knew the lighthouses were 10-20 minutes off the main road but
unfortunately there were ZERO signs indicating when to turn off the
main road to find them. This was frustrating but decided to research
the specific locations of a few lighthouses and stop on the way back
on Wednesday.

That afternoon, was getting hungry for lunch and decided to pull up
Yelp on my phone for a recommendation. The best reviewed place in the
area was "Young's Lobster Pound" and decided to work my way there. I didn't know
exactly what a 'Lobster Pound" was but knew I liked the 'lobster' part
of it!

I learned that a Lobster Pound, which are all over Maine, are
restaurants where live lobster is sold by the pound and cooked while
you wait. The lobster pound I had lunch at was actually on the coast
and saw a fisherman pull up to the dock who sold his catch to the
restaurant; so the food is VERY fresh. In addition, since Lobster is
so plentiful in Maine it much cheaper than I am used to in Texas. For
$20.00 I had a 2 lbs whole lobster, a dozen clams, chips, a drink.





As expected the lobster was delicious and the view as well of the
Maine Coast and fall colors was fantastic. Below are a few pictures
of the view at the restaurant.





After lunch, I continued my drive to Acadia and hit the national park
about 5 PM which should have been plenty of time to scope out the park
before the sun went down about 7 PM. Unfortunately, the visitor
center closed at 4:30 and I was without a map or any sense of where to
head in Acadia. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal since most
National Parks are pretty self contained and have well labeled streets
to various hikes / viewpoints.

However, Acadia National Park is on a series of islands and mixed in
with various towns which is really strange. After leaving the visitor
center I headed down the main park loop road which was great but after
about the park ended and was in the town of Bar Harbor. Very
strange...

Despite not knowing where anything was in Acadia I managed to stumble
onto some decent photographic opportunities and some of the better
shots are below.









After the light was gone, I drove back to Trenton, Maine just outside
the park and crashed in my motel for the night. I had a very early
morning planned with shooting the sunrise at Cadillac Mountain.

Thanks for reading my blog and as always any questions /comments
please post below or email me at chris@pricelessperspectives.com

Day 27

Today was Sunday and due toe the limitations on my Jet Blue pass I couldn't fly today so I was stuck in a NYC hotel near the airport. That turned out to be just fine because I used the time to rest for what would be very long days to wrap up my trip. The last couple of days would likely start before dawn, include hiking all day, and not getting back until way past sunset... So I spent almost the entire day in my hotel room watching football and doing some more thinking about long term career goals. I came to several conclusions about my personality that hopefully will be useful as I start my job search in a couple of weeks:

1. Thrive On Change: Repetition bores me and doing something new and different everyday is crucial. I can get bored very quickly and when that happens, I tend to check it out and become very unmotivated at work. Having a career that is somewhat unpredictable and not knowing what each day will bring is important to me.

2. Rules & Rigidity: Having worked for big companies / small companies and industries full of rules, insurance, and fewer rules, technology; rules and rigidity are the enemy for me. I understand rules are required sometimes but nothing is more frustrating than a rule or policy that makes no sense and the lack of vision of guts to break that rule when it makes sense for everyone involved.

3. Love Competition: I thrive on competition and it drives me to keep pushing to get better. That competition requires a couple of things; 1. A large group of people in the same or similar roles. 2. Metrics that those people are held accountable to. Finding a role that can leverage my competitive nature is crucial.

I'll be curious to see what happens when the job search starts in early October. As an aside, I went out for Italian food and stumbled onto Italian Cheesecake. I didn't realize that it was any different than regular cheesecake but it has the orange zest / flavor added which makes it delicious. Highly recommended if you like cheesecake and orange!

Thanks for reading my blog and as always any questions /comments please post below or email me at chris@pricelessperspectives.com

Day 26

Today was a travel day for me as I headed back to the states from Aruba... Normally, I don't really like flying, dealing with security, bags, rental cars, etc. but over the past few weeks I've gotten used to it and it's not such a painful experience. Good to know as I look at future careers and I'd be open to a job that required some level of travel on a routine basis. After my last breakfast at Club Arias, I grabbed my suitcase and took off in the rental car to get some last minute pictures of the island.

I decided to head down to the Southern coast of Aruba where I head there were some very nice beaches and hopefully catch some good light for photography.



Lost Seaman Memorial to commerate the people killed in shipwrecks off the coast of Aruba. Aruba is a mecca for scuba divers who want to see ship wrecks since they all around the island but I never got a good explanation of why Aruba has some many shipwrecks.





One of the many beautiful beaches in Aruba... Another person on this Jet Blue who travels a lot said he thought Aruba had the best beaches in the Carribbean and I'd have to agree, they are fantastic with white sand, crystal clear water, and great mix of beaches with calm water and big waves depending on what you are looking for.

Quick reminder if you plan on traveling here, that Aruba is a very dry climate that gets less than 20 inches of rain a year and is outside of the hurricane belt. That can be a good thing meaning predictable weather that is dry and sunny almost all of the time. However, do not expect a lush tropical environment like Hawaii or other islands in the Carribbean. You are far more likely to see Cactus and and dry sand / rocks than a tropical wonderland full of colorful flowers, fruits, and other forms of life.

How often do you see Cactus like this so close to a beach?



After shooting some last pictures in Aruba I headed to the airport and worked my way through the international process. Interesting travel note, you go through American security and customs in Aruba which means you don't have to mess with it when getting back to the US. This is the first country I've seen like this and it's interesting but took forever to get to the gate. Jet Blue advised us to get to the airport three hours early and they were not kidding with all the steps before getting on the plane.

The flight back to New York City was smooth and after landing grabbed a shuttle to my hotel near JFK Airport where I crashed after a long day. Thanks for reading my blog and as always any questions /comments please post below or email me at chris@pricelessperspectives.com

Day 25

Today was a very early day in Aruba... I had hoped to get some great
sunrise shots in Aruba and the best place to do that was the cliffs in
Arikok National Park. The problem is that getting there is very
difficult and requires a serious off road vehicle, like the Land
Rovers used on my tour yesterday. Fortunately, my host in Aruba had
the answer in some Yamaha Rhino's which are pretty heavy duty four
wheel drive vehicles.

We arranged a sunrise tour using the Rhino's and I met my guide at
4:30 AM to start a long drive through the darkness to Arikok National
Park. My guide actually gave me the opportunity to drive the Rhino on
the city streets which was pretty cool and the Rhino is pretty fast
getting to nearly 40 MPH's. Once we hit the park I turned the keys
over to my guide since the trail is notoriously difficult to manage
during the day and I wanted no part of it in the darkness of night.
Eventually we arrived up high on the cliffs overlooking the eastern
coast of Aruba and waited for the sun to come up.

The Rhino - Our ride this morning.



Sun trying but failing to break through the heavy clouds that morning.





Unfortunately, the weather was extremely cloudy and completely
obscured the sun so any chance of decent surnise pictures was gone.
We did try to make the best of the situation with some pictures of
Arikok National Park which are below.

Cactus on a tropical island anyone?



The calm before the storm...



After spending some time up high on the cliffs of Arikok National Park
we decided to take the Rhinos down to the coast and visit Natural Pool
to see what kind of shots we could get with the soft light of mid
morning. I tried shooting for about 30 minutes but the light was just
not cooperating and we decided to hike back up to the Rhino's and head
somewhere else.

Natural Pool and the native crabs waiting for a meal.





Right when we got back to the Rhino's it started to
rain... Not just a light drizzling rain but a serious downpour rain
which is very unusual for a very dry and arid island like Aruba.

The trails quickly turned into streams or in some cases rivers with
the rain falling all around us and made getting back to Club Arias
difficult. There were a couple points we had to stop because the rain
had created huge pools or rivers of water and we were not sure if the
Rhino could make it through unscathed... The hour drive back to the
Club was brutal with sheets of ice cold rain in an open air vehicle
but eventually we made it back in one piece.



After a hot shower and snack to recover from the Rhino Tour that
morning; I headed off for my last major activity in Aruba... Scuba
Diving! This was something I had not planned on doing for a couple of
reasons: 1. I am not a very good swimmer, snorkeling in open seas is
challenge enough for me. 2. I'm not scuba certified which is a
requirement to go diving.

However, I met a very nice couple John & Heidi at Club Arias who both
are big scuba divers and had spent the last week diving all over the
island. The dive shop they have been using does an introductory dive
session where you get a brief safety lesson, give you all the required
gear, and take you out scuba diving. I had planned to do a sailing
trip that afternoon with some snorkeling but figured scuba diving
sounded like a lot of fun so I headed over to NE Fly & Dive to meet up
with John & Heidi.

After signing numerous waivers and statements of health, I was
introduced to our dive master and several other people doing an
introductory dive. We watched a 'fascinating' safety video on the
basic concepts of scuba diving and after getting all of gear in the
van, headed out to the beach for a shore dive. Once we reached the
beach, our dive master went over the gear with us and helped us put on
the 40+ lbs of stuff necessary to scuba dive.

Fully geared up we waded out into 5 feet of water and practiced some
basic scuba diving techniques with our masks, regulators, and all the
other elements I can't remember off hand. It really wasn't as
difficult as I had imagined but there were a few things that threw me
for a loop:

1. Breathing Underwater: The actual breathing part was easy...
However, the instructor talked about controlling your breath to
conserve the limited oxygen supply in your tank; to try for a 4 second
inhale and 12 second exhale. I tried that and failed miserably with
constant inhale and exhales... It's weird adjusting your breathing
patterns like that since in everyday life we have unlimited air so
there is no reason to control your breathing in such an extreme way.
The instructor said most first time divers end up breathing like Darth
Vader underwater and I was no exception.

2. Balance: All the gear you carry while scuba diving really messes
with your sense of balance and especially how you swim underwater.
The idea of leaning forward and controlling the direction you swim by
pointing your arms and only propelling yourself with your legs was a
very foreign concept to me.

Eventually I got the basics down and the dive master took me and
another first time diver down into the depths of the Caribbean Sea.
It was a really cool experience staying down that long and seeing the
coral, fish, and other forms of sea life up close and personal. We
actually swam out to a shipwreck and got to dive into the boat to see
the inside including the engine which was pretty cool. The dive
lasted about 30 minutes and I found out later we spent most of the
dive about 50 feet under the surface, which is pretty deep for a first
time dive. The experience overall was pretty cool and if you get the
chance to take an intro scuba class I would highly encourage it.
Below are a few pictures from the experience:








That night I enjoyed a relaxing dinner at Club Arias, made plans for
the last few days of my trip, and packed for my flight the following
morning. Thanks for reading my blog and as always any questions /
comments please post below or email me at
chris@pricelessperspectives.com

Day 24

Today was going to be a crazy day in Aruba! Since yesterday was a day of rest and relaxation, I had to make up for lost time with lots of sightseeing. The easiest way to see the major sites in Aruba was a group tour and the best reviewed company was ABC Tours. They offer a full day tour which seemed like the perfect way to fill a day and hopefully get some amazing pictures at the same time. After a quick breakfast at Club Arias I drove to a major hotel in town and waited for the tour company to pick me up.

I was slightly surprised to see the vehicles that picked mu up were these custom Land Rovers with bench seats in the back. Considering most of the island I had seen to date was flat with paved roads, why would we need such a heavy duty off road vehicle? The guide assured me that it was necessary and I would see why later that afternoon.



An interesting note on this tour… We took three Land Rovers and only had one guide which means they asked for volunteers to drive! I thought about volunteering but decided against it since I wanted to have my hands free to take pictures at any time, which proved to be a good decision later that day. Our first stop was the California Lighthouse which is up high on the northwestern corner of Aruba. The lighthouse was built in 1910 and was named after the US ship that sank of the coast of Aruba a few years before the lighthouse was completed. The lighthouse was a okay but I hoped to see much better ones on a future stop in Maine later in the trip.



Our next stop was a small church called to ‘Chapel of Alto Vista’ which is a Catholic chapel originally built in 1750 but was abandoned in 1816 and left to deteriorate… Eventually during World War II when the Germans attacked Aruba the decision was made to build a chapel where the original chapel once stood and here is what they built. It’s really beautiful little church with a great view of the island.



Our next stop was the coast line of Aruba and the natural bridge which used to be one of Aruba’s most famous destinations for tourists. Unforutnately the original “Natural Bridge” collapsed in 2005 but a smaller version next to it still remains and is really cool. The bridge is actually coral limestone that has been cut away by pounding waves and wind over thousands of years to create this bridge that spans a section of the Carribean. This new bridge is much smaller than the original but still probably 60 feet long and maybe 15-20 feet tall. It’s amazing to think of the power of the surf hitting these rocks over thousands of years to actually strip away / destroy the coral limestone and create this natural feature in the rock.



The remnants of the old Natural Bridge that collapsed.



Next stop was the Bushiribana Ruins which was the old and crumbling remains of a gold smelting operation in Aruba. The building was constructed out of natural stone in 1825 and operated through most of the 19th century. Over the 90 years the facility was in use it is said they produced 3 million pounds of gold which seemed like an impressive total to me. Also, the facade had these huge windows which was to create the illusion this was a fort equipped with large cannons for passing ships. They didn’t want pirates or foreign armies to be tipped off about all the gold contained behind the walls.





View from the top of the ruins, overlooking the beach.



After a busy morning we stopped for lunch at a local Ostrich Farm where Ostrich wasn’t on the menu and instead had some delicious BBQ ribs. Afterward we were given a tour of the farm and it’s nearly 60 ostriches and emus where we learned some pretty interesting facts.

1. Ostriches are the largest and heaviest birds in the world and Aruba is the perfect climate for them to live.

2. They are the fastest-running birds, reaching speeds of up to 43 mph. At this speed, they are the only animals that can outrun leopards!

3. The amazing speed of the ostrich is helpful in outrunning predators, but the ostrich can also use its powerful legs to kick like a kangaroo. In fact, its kick is strong enough to kill a lion. Ostriches can also defend themselves with a 4-inch claw on each foot.

4. Ostrich brains are as big as a walnut and smaller than their eyes. They are not particularly intelligent, but with the largest eyeball of any bird, they can see as far as 2.2 miles. It has been discovered that the cornea of the ostrich eye can be used to replace the human cornea.

We got a chance to interact with the ostriches as well which resulted in some pretty interesting pictures!





After the Ostrich Farm we headed to Arikok National Park and specifically the Natural Pool inside the park. On the way, the tour guide informed our driver on the four wheel drive capabilities of the Land Rover and some other tips about how to traverse the terrain we would be hitting shortly. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect as we embarked down the paved roads toward the national park but when we hit the actual trail, it was an interesting experience to say the least. As we turned off the paved road and onto the dirt roads of Arikok National Park the ride was rough going. These ‘roads’ if you can call them that were very poor with huge holes, divots, and drops around every corner and as passengers in the back of the Land Rover we were bounced all over the place… Some people have described the landscape what they imagine the moon to be like with no roads and incredibly rough / rugged terrain and I thought that was an apt comparison. I found out later from our guide that these trails do such a number of the Land Rovers that they have to replace the entire suspension setup in the trucks every 12 months!!! The driver of our vehicle was a tourist and from NYC but has some significant off roading experience with his Jeep and it became a running joke in our vehicle every time he said “Oh S*&^$” as we approached a new section of the trail… I lost count after probably a dozen times!




Eventually we reached the trailhead and after hiking down a couple hundred steps we reached the coast line and ‘Natural Pool’ . The Aruba coastline here is very rocky and full of volcanic rock peaking out of the crystal clear water every way you looked. The natural pool or Conchi as it is called by the locals is a surreal and very calm pool that is surrounded on all sides by the volcanic rock. It’s crazy swimming in this very calm water and on all sides are these huge waves crashing into the volcanic rock that provides a protective barrier to the pool. The pool itself was filled with lots of tropical life including fish, crabs, and a small squid that we had the opportunity to swim with and get a clear view of with our snorkel gear.

View as we hiked down to the pool.



The violent seas just outside the pool, we were protected by this volcanic rock.





After leaving Natural Pool we headed to Guadirikiri Caves where we got a chance to explore the cave and some of the art inside that was created by island Natives many years ago, this place was okay but if you ever come to Aruba I would skip it to spend more time other places.



Our last stop of the day was Baby Beach which is one of the best beaches in Aruba but not very crowded since it’s far away from the tourist hubs; probably a 45 minute plus drive if you know exactly how to get there… Which is tough since most of the streets in Aruba are not labeled! Fortunately our tour guide took us right there and we found a beautiful beach with excellent snorkeling. The reason it’s called Baby Beach is two fold:

1. The water is very shallow, probably 150 feet offshore it was maybe 4 feet deep and so it’s very safe for kids who can go pretty far out with no danger of the water being over their heads.

2. No waves… The water here is very flat more like a very calm lake then what you would expect in the ocean but again it makes it ideal for kids and also snorkeling since there are no waves to bounce you around or throw water in your snorkel.

On the downside there is a Valero refinery plant on Aruba and it’s clearly visible for Baby Beach on the far left side but for most people, me included didn’t spoil the beauty and tranquility of the beach in the slightest. Some pictures of Baby Beach are below.







That was the last stop on the ABC Tour of Aruba and headed back to Club Arias for the evening. After a quick shower and nap, it was dinner time and fortunately those plans were taken care of us by my host Arias. Everyone staying at the bed and breakfast including his family went out to a Lebanese / Middle Eastern restaurant where they served great food family style to the 12 of us there. It was just another example of Arias and his staff going above and beyond to setup a great dinner like that and get a chance to know some of the other guests and make some fun plans for the following day, which I did.

Thanks for reading my blog and as always any questions / comments please post below or email me at chris@pricelessperspectives.com