vacation bundle

Like most folk living in the country, I try to bundle appointments and errands into a “big” day in town to save time and $. 

This summer when considering two disparate travel goals, I reasoned that they could be bundled together in one road trip in October: 1) attending a meditation retreat in upstate New York and 2) visiting Acadia National Park in Maine with MAC.  Imagining driving on my own to the retreat would have been a stretch for me if I hadn’t already done the drive to Mississauga last October.  The retreat center was only 2.5 more hours of driving from there.  I could do this.  I left the worries behind.

The logistics all went smoothly, the weather was good, my 14-year old hatchback continued to be a star, and I enjoyed new adventures.  Highlights:

• Visiting friends and family during another solo road trip through New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario.
• Sitting a meditation retreat again (the last one was 2016 in Seattle) and connecting with a wonderful sangha.
• After picking MAC up at Buffalo airport (easy-peasy), staying two nights at Niagara Falls (Canadian side).  I hadn’t been there since 1988 and enjoyed seeing the falls again and surrounding Niagara Parks area, but found the crowds (it was Canadian Thanksgiving weekend) and the circusy side of the downtown a jarring juxtaposition after the retreat.
• Eating at Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, New York.  This was a pilgrimage for me—Moosewood is a vegetarian restaurant that opened in 1973 and I have had many of their cookbooks since the early 1990’s.
• Driving through the Green Mountains in Vermont and White Mountains in New Hampshire with coloUrful autumn foliage. 
• Shopping at the L.L.Bean flagship store in Freeport, Maine.  This was the only rainy day on the trip, the day after a nor’easter blew through the state.
• Exploring Acadia National Park, including two sunrises on Cadillac Mountain.  No, we did not hike up—these were photo-taking expeditions for MAC.  Who knew getting up in the dark, driving up a mountain, and standing around shivering with hundreds of strangers all waiting for the sun was a thing?  But we could claim to be the first to see sunrise that day in the US and the parking was at capacity even on Saturday October 19^th.  MAC and I can check Acadia off our national parks wish-list but we both want to go back.
• Finding lots of great vegan food at restaurants all along the trip.  My only disappointment was ordering Vegan Stew at a restaurant in the park and getting something like Campbell’s Vegetable Soup.  At least the view was good.  The restaurants in Bar Harbor offering Vegan Pancakes and Tofu Scrambles for breakfast more than made up for it.

MAC drove back to Nova Scotia with me and we enjoyed a relaxing stay with my dad and step-mom before MAC flew home.  Since then I’ve been relearning my woodstove skills.  Snow is in the forecast.  And I’m thinking about travel bundles for next year.

References and related links:

• MAC: mon amie Caroline.
• Sangha: a Buddhist community.
• just a four-province drive (post #104)
• Acadia National Park