We took a few hours to drive the Park loop which is about 30 miles but
full of views and lovely beaches. After that, on the way back to
Camp, we took the long way via Sargent Drive which some long time
campers didn't know about.

Sargent Drive loops along on the south east and gives some alternate
views of the water and the forest along the drive is absolutely
enchanted.

Set of photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sean808080/sets/72157624564009129

We took a boat ride out to Baker Island which is a small island that
had two homes owned by private families and a light house as well.
The families lived primitively and managed to survive with no
electricity or running water. There is a story that at one time a
pregnant woman walked miles across the sand during low tide to the
home of a doctor to give birth and after she was done she walked back
home.

The island is now part of Acadia National Park and is beautiful and
untouched. On one side it's green and full of troll homes. On the
other it's large rocks being pounded by the ocean waves. A very
special place.

The full set is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sean808080/sets/72157624643915792/

So on day three we did a number of hikes.  One up to the north bubble and the other to the south bubble.  One of the 'bubble's, which are really nipple shaped mountains, has a rock hanging precariously off of it called...Bubble Rock.  The rock was left there by a glacier a long time ago.  NEWSFLASH!!!--->It hasn't moved.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sean808080/sets/72157624608482520

The reward for our strenous activities was a snack at Jordan Pond House.  The thing the restaurants is known for is something called popovers.  Popovers are a cross between a biscuit and a souffle.  They are light and fluffy and full of air.  Typically they are had with butter and strawberry jam but as I needed my nourishment, I opted for a popover ala mode which was served with home-made blueberry ice cream.  The picture I took of it I call 'popover porn'.  Wouldn't you agree?

So I"m beginning to go through my pictures from my trip to Maine.  There are way too many pictures and certainly more than people should be subjected to in one sitting.  I'm going to break it up by day and have a heavy hand on the delete button.  :-)

This set is from day 2 at Acadia.  We drove up to the top of Cadillac Mountain which is one of the highest peaks on Mount Desert Island where Acadia is located.  Lots of oohing and aahing was heard from all of the fellow tourists who took in the lovely views.  After Cadillac, we went to see our first bridge which Acadia is known for.  This one was at Bubble Pond and a quick walk showed the beautiful Bubble Pond itself.  The way it pops out of the trees is really magical.

Enjoy...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sean808080/sets/72157624593175996

After checking the AT&T coverage maps for Maine, I figured I'd be able to use my iPhone while on vacation visiting Acadia National Park.  The coverage map was surprisingly good considering....

So after I get to Maine, I immediately realize a few things:

1. Coverage maps lie.  The AT&T map showed that there was service in the area I was based in.  The iPhones we were traveling with were pretty much useless except on mountain tops or in downtown Bar Harbor.   

2. The iPhone 4 antenna despite its problems got a bar or two more than the iPhone 3G that my boyfriend was using.  Just to reiterate, in side by side usage, we were surprised to see the iPhone 4 always got a bar or two more than the supposedly antenna problem free iPhone 3G.

3.  Not all service level bars are created equal.  Even though we both had a few bars at the top of certain mountains [yes AT&T service in Maine was that awful!] we still had no data throughput.  That meant it literally took three days for an email sitting in my outbox to get sent successfully!  See this speed test as a typical result when using the iPhone in Maine. This speedtest was on a highway near Portland if memory services.

So to recap, I have seen no issues with the supposedly flawed iPhone 4 antenna design.  The antenna on the iPhone actually did a better job at pulling in service over the iPhone 3.  And AT&T still sucks....

Hope it makes you smile too.

So I was so unhappy with AT&T that I was willing to give another
carrier my business.

After doing some research, I looked at the HTC-EVO4G and thought I'd
give it a try. The phone itself is fantastic. A bit on the heavy
side but extremely fast and versatile. After being locked down by the
iPhone OS for the past few years, it was a joy to be able to customize
and download app updates immediately after the developers uploaded
them.

You'd think with a recommendation like that I'd be happy to keep the
EVO4G. Well, as I type this I'm resetting it to be returned back to
Sprint. Here are the reasons why:

1. The battery life is a joke. I gave the phone a test run as a
typical tourist in Philadelphia. Philly is the closest city that has
actual 4G coverage. The phone is one of the few that is capable of
using the faster 4G network.

That being said, the performance of the 4G network was awesome. It
seemed to give about twice the speed of the 3G network but at a huge
hit to battery life. The battery life on the phone is already AWFUL.
When the phone is connected to the 4G network it's UNUSABLE.

After doing a little sightseeing, taking a few photos, and using the
navigation to direct me around Philly, my phone was DEAD after just a
few short hours. Luckily I expected as much and was prepared but
honestly how can one really use the phone when it wont last a day in
typical use?

The nail in the coffin is how long the phone takes to charge the
battery. If it was possible to recharge the battery quickly then it'd
be workable. The phone takes a LONG LONG time to recharge its battery
so it's really a double whammy.

2. Sprint coverage at home is weak. In my living room, the phone
jumps between 1 and 3 bars and some of the people I spoke to said the
call quality was weak. When I called Sprint to find out what they
could do, the only option the CSR offered was to rent me a portable
femtocell device at $4/month. As a new customer, this is not a good
solution to their problem of weak coverage. They advertise that
they're in more places than ever. I guess that's true. Just not in
my living room in central NJ.

3. The final strike was the fact that just for the privilege of
having this phone, Sprint is charging ALL EVO-4G customers a $10USD a
month premium. This premium data feature is because the phone is
capable of using 4G network that Sprint is building. Unfortunately,
Sprint has decided to charge ALL USERS of the phone this premium
regardless of whether the 4G network is anywhere near them. While
they make it clear to prospective customers, it still doesn't make it
right that EVERYONE pays the premium even if they are never able to
access the 4G network.

So three strikes and the phone is out. It shall be going back to Sprint today.

Ever since I started playing mandolin and learning about bluegrass
music, I was intrigued by the music festivals that happen in remote
parts of the country. These music festivals date back to the 1950s
and were the way people in the country got entertained. Unlike our
current entertainment options of overpriced concert tickets and acts
that usually can't play, these festivals were low cost, not a way for
musicians to get rich, and democratic.

You see in bluegrass there are no rock stars. The artists that play
on stage are usually humble and despite blowing you away with their
chops, they usually will come out and mingle with the crowd after the
show. In fact, some are known for letting fans play their instruments
regardless of how expensive they may be.

All this to say that when the opportunity to attend my first music
festival came up I jumped at the change. Delfest is a festival in its
third year and organized my the McCoury family headed up by famed
bluegrass vocalist Del McCoury. His family is known as one of the
most talented in acoustic music and his band is comprised mostly of
his sons.

This year I was even more excited to find out that in addition to the
top bluegrass artists [e.g. David Grisman, Darrel Anger et. al.]
Delfest was also featuring some of the best in the jam band music
scene. Bands like the Yonder Mountain String Band and amazing
multi-instrumentalist Keller Williams are more in line with the
college crowd rather than the blue-haired bluegrass world but the one
thing that unites them is the love of the high lonesome sound of
bluegrass. That and a mastery of acoustic instruments made the
line-up at Delfest too good to miss.

Someone was watching out for us green campers with our freeze dried
meals because as soon as we selected our campsite, a very nice couple
from Virginia decided to camp right next to us. After saying the
obligatory hellos, we came to learn that one of the campers is a
Culinary Institute of America trained chef. Not only that but they
took care of us feeding us delicious home cooked and healthy food. We
barely touched our freeze dried meals!

There was one day of hard rain that quickly turned everything into
mud. It became very primitive but as you may remember, I survived
Burning Man so I took it all in stride as did most of the campers.
After the rain was the heat but no matter because there was plenty of
great beer, good food, friendly people and amazing music.

And here are the pics from Delfest. I can't wait for next year!