Hot Showers in Acadia National Park

Day 37: Acadia National Park, here we come! But first, a little car cleaning. A happy, clean environment means happy occupants!

We launched from our port at Wal-Mart in Ellsworth, Maine and drove to the local grocery store to grab supplies for salads later. For breakfast we had bananas, kefir and baby carrots. The park only 30-ish minutes away and we purchased a day pass (it comes with 7 days of free entry to the park).

Everything looked like we were driving through northern Minnesota with the pine trees, rocks, trails and weather. The ocean was a surprise through the trees and we remembered we were defiantly not in Minnesota.

Our friend, John, recommended going on a hike at The Beehive. Alright, why not? It was only 520 feet and about 1.9 miles.

“The Beehive is an exposed, iron rung climb. It is not recommended for small children, people with a fear of heights or in wet weather. Good traction shoes are advised.”

We parked at Sand Beach and went for a little hike. The hike started with large rocks and then instantly changed to climbing straight up using the iron rungs.

Not even a quarter of the way into the hike I said, “Chad, I think the kefir is wanting to make an exit…my stomach is gurgling…” There is absolutely no stopping.

Thankfully, my body held itself together and we made it through the climb.

“Everything is fun in games when you’re strapped into a harness [while climbing]...this is kinda crazy," stated Chad.

It was a good climb with some scary parts, but the views were amazing the whole way up and back down. I would recommend going in the early morning on a sunny day to avoid the people and to have the best weather for the hike.

Located just outside of the Blackwoods Campground is a little shower building! Chad did some research on a few forums and I watched a video from a camper who did a walk-through of the building to confirm the showers were accessible, clean to use and available to anyone (not just the campers). All was well! We were going to have showers!

The place was clean, there were instructions everywhere, there was a change machine to get quarters and the showers had individual rooms where the water was coin operated. For $2, the occupant is given 4 minutes of hot water (10 gallons).

Chad went first while I recovered from having the kefir and started on the blog in the car. Chad walked out with his Jesus hair down and blue jeans to wave me inside. HEEEELLLLLLO, Chad! I guess Chad’s shower experience was a little too short and he had to re-up for a second 4-minute luxury.

Trying to outsmart the machine, he turned off the water after getting drenched to soap up thinking it would pause the time. Nope! Ready to rinse off and full of soap, time ran out and the water wouldn’t turn on again. Oops. Round two went much better. Silly Chad.

Now with the understanding that I will be taking TWO showers, I nailed the shower experience and used my time wisely to make sure I didn’t get caught with suds without water to rinse.

Newly clean peas, we climbed back into our dirty pod (car) to finish the rest of the park. It started to rain and we drove the to the top of Cadillac Mountain (1,530 ft).

We climbed out of the car with our rain jackets, flip flops and pants rolled up to avoid splashes while making our way to the edge of the look out. The view was spectacular (even in the rain) and the wind was whipping us with the rain pellets. Time to go!

We made it out of the park (with a happy Chad who applied RainX to the windows that morning and it was working phenomenally) and backtracked towards Ellsworth. Hankering to try another round of lobster, we pulled into one of the only open lobster restaurants on the strip (our friend John mentioned there was a guy who sold lobster out of his home, but it didn’t look like his place was open :/ …. Maybe next time!).

I went in to scout it out and went back to the car to get Chad. I guess today was their first day open for the season and we were in luck! For diner we order their 1.25 lb lobster meal (X2) which came with two sides. I tried the coleslaw and Chad tried the potato salad; we both also had fries. The lobster was better this time and we were much more thorough getting all the meat out of the crevices. We even were given bibs!

The older ladies running the joint also owned it. They chatted with us for a bit and answered our questions about the temperament of Maine. We mentioned the older barns on farms are attached to the house and asked why that is. Apparently, the snow gets so bad with the wind and cold temps that it makes it terribly impossible to go out to the barn quickly. So, farmers just attach the barn to the farm house with a corridor for storage. Crazy!

It was time to do laundry. We had stretched our articles of clothing out to their max capacity and today was the day for a change. We shall be clean!

Our first laundromat experience: the lady looked at us like “umm…you need me to show you how to do laundry???” lol yes… how do you use the machines? Where do we get soap?

The lady working at Eden Laundry was really nice and helped us set everything so we wouldn’t ruin our clothes haha. While we waited for the clothing to finish, I typed in the car and Chad meditated to classical music. This was good for both of us because it was quiet, calm and were able to be in the moment.

Pro Tip #865: bring a bag or laundry basket with you when you move clothes from the washer to the dryer across the room. We forgot to bring in the bag and we had to move our clothes VERY carefully out to avoid dropping any on the floor (because it’s a front-loading washer. One wrong move and the socks are going to escape!).

Washed, dried and folded, we are now officially 75 % clean. We will have to clean the car tomorrow in order for everything to be alright again haha. Being clean does make a different in moods and your environment does matter.

The remainder of the evening was spent attached to the McDonald’s WiFi while parked in their lot to upload the blog and connect with the online world for a bit. There is terrible cell service for us out here in Maine (I have zippo and Chad sometimes has bars – both have Sprint).

Chad’s toes already smell and we haven’t even done anything yet! We just cleaned! Oh well. We headed back to Wal-Mart to stay for an unspeakable third night in a row!!!! Record breaking! Night Night.