Cara and I were there in 2017 with my family. A few years later, in 2019, we embarked on a ridiculous albeit action-packed Labor Day excursion with a 9-month-old Acadia.
With a Menzel family reunion planned for after our trip to Mount Desert Island, we decided to turn everything into a 2-week loop around the Northeast. Also for this trip, we are planning to limit any travel between sites to no more than 4-and-a-half hours. And also for this trip, we are staying at each site for a minimum of 2 nights.
The first stop on our journey keeps us in Pennsylvania on the western side of the Delaware River Water Gap.
We are staying at Dingman's Campground in the northern third of the park. From the campground, we have access to the McDade bike trails and a don't-swim but it's-ok-to-wade-in-the-water spot. There's also no cell service, so who knows when this post will make it through.
The campground is about 5 minutes from the Pennsylvania Enviornmental Education Center (PEEC). There are also a bunch of hiking trailheads every few miles with a few waterfall opportunities mixed in.
Arrival to the park and campground on Tuesday came at about 3 PM. It was incredibly hot and humid (94 degrees with humidity that feels like it could rain at any moment). Still, we were able to set up camp, get the bikes set up, and spend an hour or so checking out the campground.
Molly hung back in the camper while we hopped on the bikes (including Aspen's new tandem attachment) and cruised to the Delaware River. We did another smaller loop, checked out some other sites, and then headed back to camp as that aforementioned humidity seemed to have stirred up some rain.
After dinner and waiting out the rain for about an hour, we decided to head to the McDade bike trails to get a feel for what they were like. Ironically, no bikes this time, but we did bring Molly.
Along the way, we saw some milkweed, and Acadia found a monarch butterfly egg on the underside of one of the leaves.
Aspen, meanwhile, was still a little bit unsure of the weather and any possible thunderstorms that may come. Thankfully, they never got severe for us.
30 minutes later and we were back at the campsite. With the sun still up and me getting antsy, I encouraged the family to hop back on the bikes and head the other way on the McDade trails. They obliged, but we didn't make it more than 5 minutes into the ride before Acadia's chain popped off of her bike and bugs picked up their intensity. But if I never encouraged this pedaling parade, we never would have seen this cute and fluffy bunny.
We turned back, geared up for bed, and fell asleep at some point in the 9 PM hour - after ridiculous goofy session by the girls.
The plan for today, Wednesday, is to head to the PEEC after breakfast as all of the trails that branch from the center are dog-friendly. After a morning hike, either Cara or I will hang with Molly outside while the girls get a chance to explore the indoor educational center. Following PEEC and lunch, we'd like to do a little bit of a longer - and hopefully more successful bike ride - as well as cool off in the river. We're not sure of the order of those afternoon plans or, really, how things will go. It's hot and humid again. But the last time we had service and checked the weather, we don't think it's supposed to rain too much today.
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