She's always good, though, so she patiently tolerated the time spent at the restaurant, and was ecstatic when we were finally in our room and she was able to get into her swimsuit. The hotel clerk told us that it was a salt-water pool, and we found out that the salt water must have just been pulled out of Penobscot Bay, iceburgs and all. It was literally the coldest pool we'd ever been in - your feet turned numb just stepping into it! Ava didn't let that little detail bother her, though. She was swimming and jumping and splashing like crazy - happy as could be. The hot tub was just the same in the opposite - very hot, but wonderful. We actually enjoyed going back and forth between the two - Hot Cold Hot Cold! We swam until about 8:30, then came back to the room, read some books and went to sleep.
The next morning we were up, breakfasted, and loaded up by 8:30. We drove to the entrance of Acadia, near Hulls Cove, and parked at the almost empty visitor center. There was only one other truck in the parking lot, and as we were getting the snowmobile ready the other snowmobilist was coming back down the trail. He had already been to the top of Cadillac!
We changed into our warm clothes at the truck, and then headed out - Ava riding the dogsled, standing on the step in the back. She's recently been interested in dog-sledding since we gave her the story of Balto. The Itidarod is also starting shortly, so we've been choosing our favorite mushers and talking about putting up a big map of Alaska in the house so we can follow the progress of the race. So, she was tickled to be riding her own dogsled, and promptly decided to name our snowmobile "Balto".
We followed the Park Loop Road, which in places is not plowed at all and had a beautiful fresh snow pack, and in other places is plowed on only one lane for cars with a berm on the other lane for snowmobiles and other winter recreationalists - we saw several cross country skiiers and snowshoers, but only one other snowmobile during the entire day in the park.
We stopped often to take pictures and look around. It was snowing lightly during the morning hours, and everything was breath-takingly beautiful. Heavy fresh snow covered the branches of the trees on either side of the trail, the air was cold but not uncomfortably so, and the ocean and the hills on either side of us were gorgeous to look at as we rode along. The road itself was lovely, the old carriage road with its famous bridges. Later in the day the sun glanced out from time to time, and patches of brilliant blue sky made the day even more incredible.
Ava and I took turns riding on the dogsled, alternating between sitting backwards on the snowmobile so we could keep an eye on each other.
We were all warm and comfortable as we rode along the road overlooking Frenchman's Bay. We saw "The Cat" at her ferry terminal, the parking lot snow-covered and deserted for the season, 
and we saw a lovely doe standing beside the road. We stopped to watch her, and she stood for the longest time looking back at us, until two of her friends crossed the road behind us, then the three of them loped away slowly into the woods.
We had packed a picnic lunch of cold roast chicken, cheese, crackers, salami, and apples, along with a big thermos of hot chocolate and a bottle of Luna for Gammer and Gaffer. At around 11am we stopped at a scenic overlook to have our snack. Ava enjoyed the hot chocolate more than anything - it really "hit the spot" for her! She was the reason we brought the salami, too. It's one of her favorite foods, and she munched down three or four pieces to accompany her hot chocolate!
Around and higher we climbed into the park. At one point, we came to a stop when the trail seemed to end. We had come out onto an obviously heavily traveled road, completely plowed clear of snow. We turned the sled around and drove back the way we came, until we saw where many other snowmobilers had turned into the grounds for the Wildwood Stables. We turned in, but then the trail went up a winding trail into the woods - obviously not the Park Loop Road. We stopped, wondering if that was the right way to go, when the one and only other snowmobiler of the day happened to come along! He told us to stay on this trail, and we'd come back out to the Park Loop Road. It was a good thing he came along when he did, because there had been no signs to indicate the right way to go, and there were several other trails going off into other directions.
So now back on track, we started into the most beautiful part of the ride. We were quite high in elevation now, and the views were truly spectacular. The crystals in the trees sparkled in the sun and the pristine beauty of the area made a privilige of every breath I took - how amazingly fortunate we were to be allowed into Mother Nature's sanctuary.
Ava had started to get sleepy so Gaffer put her in front of him on the snowmobile and, from my perch on the runners of the dogsled, I could see her little mittened hand dangling after a few minutes. As she slept, we turned into the road to the Cadillac summit. Up and up and around and around we went, until we arrived at a winter wonderland at the peak. We woke up Ava and spent some time walking around to look at the views from all points - just amazing. We had another hot chocolate break, then loaded up for the final few miles back to the truck.
We arrived back at the visitor center, happy and thrilled by our day, at 2pm and were back home by 6. Ava never fell asleep all the way home! Her little nap while climbing Cadillac Mountain had apparently been enough to hold her over but after only about 10 pages into "Owl at Home" that night she was snoring and slept a solid 12 hours!
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