After lunch at the Bar Harbor Lobster Pound we rode into Acadia National Park. We stopped at the entrance so Brad could tighten up his shifter peg that was coming loose. Good thing he had his tool kit with an allen wrench that fit! I took a picture of the Acadia sign to use in the 2009 ABC’s of Touring Contest. That is the picture above.
We started riding up Cadillac Mountain and stopped at the first scenic pull over that overlooked Frenchmen Bay. From 1613 to 1760 the French occupied the small islands pictured and battled the English for possession of the islands. By 1800 Bar Harbor became known as a popular summer resort with pleasure boats. I suppose it is still known as a resort with some pleasure boats. The bay with the islands and mountains is a great back drop for a vacation!
We slowly rode up Cadillac Mountain’s smooth and curvy road. The road had large rocks in lieu of a traditional steel guide rail. Yes, guide rail-some say guard rail but I read somewhere where a civil engineer referred to the rail as a guide rail to guide vehicles through a curve. I think the use of natural rocks was a great idea on this breath taking road. The road was cut into the rock of the mountain and there was an occasional small waterfall over the rocks.
At the top of Cadillac Mountain we found a small gift shop and some walking trails. I bought some post cards at the gift shop and then found Brad out on one of the trails. He renamed the mountain Cardiac Mountain! Here are some pictures from the top of the mountain. Notice the view of the bay and islands. There was a wooden fence across the rocks to keep us from stepping on some sort of moss. Beautiful views! I would really like to see the views in the early fall when the trees are full of colors.
We were walking toward our motorcycles and noticed two more motorcycles had parked next to ours. There was a tall white haired man and his bride bending over reading the names of the states listed on the license plates. As Brad and I got closer we heard the gentleman call out Illinois and Utah. We quickly responded that those were our bikes. The four of us stood behind the motorcycles at the top of the mountain. We initially spoke about our trip and how Brad & I met and started our annual rides. Then the gentleman’s bride…I am calling her his bride because they looked so happy together! I am sure it has been many 
decades since they were newlyweds! Anyway the woman told us about her husband being on a satellite radio talk show a couple weeks prior. The radio DJs had her husband talking about taxing methane gas from cow droppings. There was a proposal to tax farmers per cow due to the amount of gas cows produce. I am still puzzled about this conversation but it was comical. Later Brad handed the couple our 2BikerGuys card. The gentlemen replied by handing us one of his cards. He turned out to be a State Representative for Maine! That just made the cow gas tax conversation even more comical. He did not endorse the tax simply an entertaining conversation. As the Representative handed us the card told us to give him a call sometime. Brad is witty and asks if we can call in him to get out of jail while on our bike trip. This caught the gentleman off guard and he stated that he wasn’t sure about that. So we asked if we could simply hold the card up when we ride past the toll gates without paying!
We slowly rode up Cadillac Mountain’s smooth and curvy road. The road had large rocks in lieu of a traditional steel guide rail. Yes, guide rail-some say guard rail but I read somewhere where a civil engineer referred to the rail as a guide rail to guide vehicles through a curve. I think the use of natural rocks was a great idea on this breath taking road. The road was cut into the rock of the mountain and there was an occasional small waterfall over the rocks.
At the top of Cadillac Mountain we found a small gift shop and some walking trails. I bought some post cards at the gift shop and then found Brad out on one of the trails. He renamed the mountain Cardiac Mountain! Here are some pictures from the top of the mountain. Notice the view of the bay and islands. There was a wooden fence across the rocks to keep us from stepping on some sort of moss. Beautiful views! I would really like to see the views in the early fall when the trees are full of colors.
We were walking toward our motorcycles and noticed two more motorcycles had parked next to ours. There was a tall white haired man and his bride bending over reading the names of the states listed on the license plates. As Brad and I got closer we heard the gentleman call out Illinois and Utah. We quickly responded that those were our bikes. The four of us stood behind the motorcycles at the top of the mountain. We initially spoke about our trip and how Brad & I met and started our annual rides. Then the gentleman’s bride…I am calling her his bride because they looked so happy together! I am sure it has been many 
decades since they were newlyweds! Anyway the woman told us about her husband being on a satellite radio talk show a couple weeks prior. The radio DJs had her husband talking about taxing methane gas from cow droppings. There was a proposal to tax farmers per cow due to the amount of gas cows produce. I am still puzzled about this conversation but it was comical. Later Brad handed the couple our 2BikerGuys card. The gentlemen replied by handing us one of his cards. He turned out to be a State Representative for Maine! That just made the cow gas tax conversation even more comical. He did not endorse the tax simply an entertaining conversation. As the Representative handed us the card told us to give him a call sometime. Brad is witty and asks if we can call in him to get out of jail while on our bike trip. This caught the gentleman off guard and he stated that he wasn’t sure about that. So we asked if we could simply hold the card up when we ride past the toll gates without paying! 
Oh, we have to thank the bartender once again for being patient with us…we opened and closed our tab many times and I think she was getting a little bewildered as to why. We were trying to keep track of our spending and the pay as you go works best. Of course if we ran out of money I am sure we’d figure out some way to work off out tab – we’ll give Brad an open microphone for entertainment!
