Tag: Acadia Nationa Park

Floof Hats…by Brad Marks

Greetings all! Took a quick break from the Haunted Trail task list tome to bring you another fun post from Brad. He will be going back out on assignment soon and I wanted to get a few more of his posts out while he still had plenty of time to respond to comments. Before we get to that, we have a new brag to celebrate. Raven needed only 6 more qualifying runs to earn another trip back to CPE Agility Nationals, so we decided to head up north and enter a show for the long weekend. I was concerned about losing all those days prepping for the haunt (basement currently full of 8′ spiders, a 10′ wolf, 5 tombstones and a myriad of other props in various states), but this would take a lot of pressure off Raven (and Linda) if we could get the qualifying checked off early.

Raven's 2nd CPE Championship Sept 2023

Our little rock star got it done. Not only did he get his 6 qualifying runs (plus another for assurances), he also earned his 2nd CPE Championship complete with a giant ribbon – matching his now inflated ego ha. He spent most of the show pointing at it whenever another dog passed by. Showed him Brad’s post and his only comment was “Woof, Mwoof, Gwoof, Cwoof” – canine translated – Where’s MY Golden Crown!?! Sigh, a lot of sass for an under 5 pound Poodle. Anyway, I’ve delayed you too long already, let’s get to another of Brad and Jan’s adventures at Acadia.

Take it away Brad…

Let me help set the scene a little bit.  Jan and I were on vacation at Acadia National Park.  The morning Puffin and Lighthouse cruise we were scheduled to take had been cancelled because of fog.  Not to worry, because we were able to catch one later that day. (See prior published story about Puffins, link here)

The Big Question remained unanswered; what do to for the next five hours until the cruise.  See the rest of the park, of course — fog or not.  We asked the GPS to take to Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse

As we neared the lighthouse, the fog thickened again; something about warm water and cold air mixing.  I drove into the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse parking lot and secured the very last official parking space in the rather small lot.  Several others had already parked on the grass, in the striped-out areas, in the ditch along the road, etc.  The fog wasn’t the thickest we’d had on the trip yet, but it did add a spooky English mystery story feel to the place.

Acadia Trip by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to see Brad and Jan’s finds on this foggy day.

Continue reading Floof Hats…by Brad Marks

Three Hour Tour…by Brad Marks

Welcome to September everyone, or as I like to call it “Weight Watcher’s Month”. The first means we have less than 30 days to get ready for this year’s big haunt (link here). Damn you short day months!! From this point on until we officially open the trail, sleep will be very sparse and days/nights will be driven at a hectic pace. On top of that, there’s a lot of miles still to be put in on the trail as my 2nd 100K ultra attempt looms a mere two weeks after all the guests have had their fill of food, drinks and frights – thus the significant amount of weight loss. As you would probably assume, I need to back away from the day to day Intrigued responsibilities to focus on the 15+ still in process props that are littered about my basement (some started at the end of last year). Then I can then start assembling all the veteran scares that have already had their fright night debut. Don’t worry, you will be in good care as we once again put the Intrigued HQ in Brad’s capable hands. Quite fitting, as this also happens to be his 1 year anniversary month (his first post was on 9/12 – link here). It has been a true blessing to have him on board, especially in these frantic times. I’ll try to pop in from time to time to check on things and make sure things don’t get too crazy (looking at YOU Lawyer Dept!). Turns out, Brad has the perfect post too kick off this month chock-full of huffin’ and puffin’.

Take it away Brad…

Earlier this year, Brian and I participated in the First Annual Intrigued Corporate Team Building Event, ICTBE v1.0 (see here).  Brian and I were hiking through the woods and talking about upcoming events for the summer when I mentioned that Jan and I had booked a trip to Acadia National Park.  When Brian heard this, he gave me a photography assignment:  find a Puffin.  I said, “Sure.”  Little did I know, there aren’t any Puffins anywhere inside Acadia.  At least not in the parts of the park you can drive or walk to.  However, many tour operators near Acadia will take you on a “Puffin Cruise” to see them.  This meant we’d be on a 65-foot boat (anything under 500 feet in length is small to me) on the Atlantic Ocean on a “three-hour tour.”  Remind you of any 60’s TV theme songs?  Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale . . . (try to get that song out of your head now)

As Jan and I arrived for the morning Puffin cruise, we were told the fog was too thick and the morning cruise had been cancelled.  There was another cruise that same afternoon if we wanted to switch.  We did.  Jan and I arrived for the afternoon cruise and were told there was patchy fog and that, most likely, we would be “in and out” of fog all afternoon around the islands.  The tour operator also warned us that temperatures on the open ocean are sometimes much cooler than on land, so we brought along rain jackets and an extra base layer.  Standing on the dock with the warm sun and a very slight breeze, it felt like we had too many layers of clothes

Visibility in the harbor was great.  We could see fog in the distance around some of the outer islands and thought we might be OK.  Jan and I boarded the boat, covered our cameras as best we could, and motored off through the harbor islands. 

Atlantic Puffins by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to read how this foggy Puffin excursion turns out.

Continue reading Three Hour Tour…by Brad Marks