john was supposed to arrive at my place around 9:00, to drive up to acadia national park for a few days. pau even woke up early just to say his good byes before returning to bed. due to unforeseen delays however, john didn't arrive until almost 12:00. it did however give me plenty of opportunity to watch the miss world 2012 contest in ordos, inner mongolia. it was no surprise that the host country china also won the pageant. i also watched several episodes of season 2 three's company on tvland. pau was surprised to see me still at home when he woke up again around 11:30.

after john and will used the bathroom, we packed up the car with my things and away we went. it was a long journey, and we didn't arrive at the rented cabin until 8:30. we stopped in freeport for what was supposed to be a quick stop at l.l. bean to get will some pants, but we didn't leave until 1:30 later, after we had a late lunch at the 1912 cafe (i had the katahdin wrap). l.l. bean is seriously one of those places where you could spent the whole day at.

after freeport, we went north along route 295 until we reached augusta, where we took the more scenic route 3 ellsworth. along the way we passed through china, belfast, and bucksport. belfast was the most surprising, with a well preserved town center rich in old architecture and busy with young people.

at ellsworth we stopped at the first super market we saw to pick up some more groceries. later we realized it was a bustling commercial district with numerous strip malls featuring chain stores like home depot, walmart and hannaford: there is absolutely no need to get supplies ahead of time when visiting acadia.

the cabin was pretty cool, situated on a peak of a hill with a view of somes sound just a few hundred yards away. but since it was pitch dark (with a heavy rain storm later in the evening) it was hard to see until sunrise tomorrow morning. known as the "command post," amenities include: washer/dryer, flat-top electric range, gas-powered cast-iron fireplace, propane barbecue (out on deck), satellite television, and wireless internet (farpoint starter so the bare minimum at less than 1 Mbsp but surfable).

with only one bedroom, i slept in the large living room on a futon sofa. i ate a container of pasta bean salad i made last night and downed a botte of woodchunk fall hard cider. tasted pretty good, very complex flavor, but did remind me of autumn potpourri.

photography note: i borrowed my parents' canon sx230, which i ended up using exclusively because it was just easier to carry around and shoot on the spot. the SX230 also takes HD videos. i brought my old nikon 4500 as well, which is still useful when i have the fisheye lens attached. but i'm sure the canon DSLR will get a workout within the next few days.