Driving into New Hampshire's state capital today, we've made our one thousandth mile! But, chronologically:
The last post ended in Portland, ME. Leaving that city early on Tuesday, we drove about 150 miles, and more than three hours, northwest to get to Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, ME. The weather that day couldn't have been any better, clear blue skies under a glaring sun. Unfortunately, most trails and some roads are not accessible during the winter season, so Julia and I were kinda limited in what we could do. But still, what we saw of Mount Desert Island was very beautiful and impressive. Rugged coast, frozen lakes, deep woods, high mountains, and a lighthouse.
Broadly speaking, we were circling the island in our car. There is a road that goes all around it, often very close to the coast, other times closer to Cadillac Mountain which dominates the 108 square miles big island at a maximum elevation of 1,528 feet. We occasionally stopped the car to walk a bit, and the best thing we came upon was the Sand Beach. A strip of sand no longer than, say, 1,500 feet, entirely devoid of snow, enclosed by rugged black rocks and lush conifers on either side, tall yellowish weeds behind it, and the incredibly blue and sparkling Atlantic ocean on the front. I had not expected to find that. We found some other nice spots and vistas, but not really on par with this beach. 
It might have taken us one and a half or two hours to circle the island (after Long Island and before Martha's Vineyard, it's the second biggest island off the eastern seaboard!), and then we decided to at least give hiking a short shot, no longer than two hours, because it was already close to 4 p.m. So I asked a National Park employee, and she told us that we could hike a closed mountain road nearby for a bit to maybe catch some views on Mount Cadillac or the ocean. So we did that. It really wasn't the greatest hike since it is kinda boring to just walk a snow covered road between trees that block any view. On top of that, the sun had disappeared behind some murky fog, and the dusk seemed to settle in early. Oh, and it was getting very cold again. So we descended after 15 mins or so, and when the coast came back into view I became aware once more of how gloomy and threatening the ocean becomes in my imagination with dusk or bad weather. Interestingly enough, though, the fascination rises correspondingly. A calm blue sea on a sunny day is beautiful but it's boring as hell. It might be the appeal of the dangerous as long as you're safe yourself. I've often experienced a certain...longing just to know how it would feel to be out on a dark or raging sea in a small sloop all by myself only for a minute. At the same time, I know I'd be scared to death (because I'd actually be close to death!), and I'd have no idea what to do. I guess that's called romanticizing.
However. We left Mount Desert Island at 5 p.m. and it was my turn to drive. We took the 120 mile long route to Augusta, ME, via the Interstate 95 to come a bit further north into the Maine woods. In this context, north means nothing. Had we had the time, and had we intended to go NORTH in Maine, we could have gone to Madawaska on the Canadian border. It would have taken us 265 miles and 5 hours. We might have seen some serious, actual woods then. I've read on a postcard that 80% of Maine is covered by woods! That's quite a bit. So even in that southern third of Maine that we saw, we rode through many miles of woods. And they are dark. I-95 after 7 p.m. felt quite a bit darker than what I've seen on the German Autobahn. There are none (or only very few) of these fancy black-and-white reflecting posts on the side. Therefore, many signs reminding you of the possibility that a moose could appear in front of you any time.
Next time, I'm gonna write about the White Mountains.
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