NobleHops wrote: C'mon Mike, surely you've got more of a trip report in you than THAT, don't you?
N.
O.K. then!
We really enjoyed Acadia. So much that we seriously consider going again next year. Only drawback is, that we will not be able to stop on the way in a neat little harbour town and have someone buy lunch....
Mt Desert Island and Acadia were not overrun. There was some tourist traffic, but it was fairly moderate. Some locals were saying that business was too light.
We had our base in Bangor and travelled from there.
The very first day, we explored Bar Harbor a little on foot in the morning until our boat departured for the whale hunt at 1:00 p.m. We had lunch at Testa's. - We never made it to the Jordon Pond House.
After the whale watching tour, we followed the recommendation from the trolley ticket salesman to a Bar Harbor Lobster place - bad choice. The guy cooked the poor thing too long and it ended up tough.
The next day, we explored Acadia. Rode the Park Loop Road and up Cadillac Mountain with a spectacular view of Bar Harbor and the bay and afterwards to Bass Harbor and the lighthouse.
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a roadside Lobster shack we had passed on the way in, and that became our preferred stop for feasting on the crustacean.
The last day, we took Rte 1 East/North all the way to Lubec, the easternmost town in the U.S. We went on a loop to Winter Harbor and Schoodic Point, another loop to Jonestown and finally to West Quoddy Lighthouse.
Staying on this part of Rte 1 and avoiding the busier Western part between Acadia and Portland made the trip really enjoyable. I was amazed how many treasures you can see by the side of the road in this remote area. Antique cars, trucks and boats, of course..
In spite of concerns, The K16 performed flawless. It was comfortable and has ample luggage capacity with the topcase mounted. Using the ESA in the 2-up and Comfort mode provided a great ride with excellent feedback. I still don't know how to categorize this bike. Considering the enormous performance and roll-on throttle response together with the outstanding handling, I hesitate to call it a tourer. It is a sporty performance bike with serious touring qualities Something the Prolink CBX aspired to be 30-some years ago. The only negative for me is the extreme weight manhandling (pushing) the bike. Then again, I don't do that much and I learned to park it in a way that made going off easy.
