SUMMER VACATION, Day 1: Chicago to Bar Harbor

This wasn't just summer vacation, folks. This was SUMMER VACATION.

And it started, let's say, at 4 a.m. on a recent Friday, when we crawled into a cab for a ride to the airport.

Isn't it a little early for photos, Mom?

But that is a nice shot, Mom.

And so is this, not to mention a preview of what was to come.

We've landed!

Hello, Papa! Hello, Gram! Hello, Chloe!

The cousins were together again.

Minutes later, Mom and Dad said goodbye to the kids and started driving north, to Bar Harbor, Maine, as Gram and Papa and the kids headed south, first to Norwood and eventually to Sagamore Beach.

The first stop for Mom and Dad was the welcome center over the border in New Hampshire. (Mom was very excited.)

Then we saw this sign. (And Mom was even more excited.)

And then we were in Maine! (And Mom couldn't contain herself any longer.)

We next stopped for lunch in Portland.

We got food at an indoor market, where Mom spied this reminder of the Kentucky State Fair.

Back on the road, we passed this massive bird's nest. We spotted the large bird in it, too (an eagle, perhaps?), but it's not visible in this photo snapped after we had passed the nest.

Apparently, there are moose in Maine. But this - and the souvenir shirts - was as close as we got to one.

We're almost there!

And then here we were at our destination, Bar Harbor Inn.

This was the view as we drove into the parking lot.

And this was the view from our oceanfront room. It was awesome.

Did you notice the people walking out of the frame? They were exploring the Shore Path, which starts at Bar Harbor Inn and soon drew us out for exploring of our own.

We came upon this rock, that you can see to the left of Dad. It's called Balance Rock, and we got a closer look later in our stay.

A lovely view...

And this is one of the mansions along the path.

Finally, after a nice dinner at the inn's outdoor restaurant, where Dad began his personal culinary adventure with Maine crab cakes, we snapped self-portraits from the popular public park next door and called it a night.