I'm mostly thinking out loud here, so everything in this post might be complete nonsense.

The Elon Musk takeover of Twitter is expected to be official this week. It's a safe bet that the Twitter user experience is about to get much worse. It is rumored he intends to cut 75% of Twitter staff immediately. It is also safe to assume that he'll be cutting 100% of the safety and security staff. The only thing not allowed on Twitter will be criticism of Musk. That will almost certainly get you banned. Meanwhile Trump and his band of Nazis will be invited back to run amok in a putrid overflowing sewer of racist, misogynistic, misinformation.

When I type it out like that it kind of makes my next move obvious, doesn't it?

I'm leaning towards just quitting. I hesitate a bit because I do use Twitter as my primary touch point with some friends, and I'd hate to lose that just because of Musk. So I'm also thinking about unfollowing just about everybody and limiting my use to interaction with just those folks I know in real life or have actual Internet based friendships with. That would probably be 50 or so of the 600 odd people I follow on Twitter. I imagine half of those accounts aren't even active anyway.

Then again, if those friends are not willing to send or answer the occasional email, maybe I'm overestimating the value of my Twitter friendships.

Update - I did the above already. Down to following about 150 people.

If you are thinking, but you haven't quit Facebook, Chris...I never claimed to be consistent. I've found a way to use Facebook that doesn't leave me agitated or annoyed, and the reality is that is where most of my friends and family are there.

Another reality, this website has been here since 1995. Prior to Facebook becoming a thing exactly zero old high school / college friends contacted me via the website. (I was #1 for my name on Google for the entire first decade of this century.) I'm super happy about how I've been able to reconnect with so many old friends (many IRL) due to Facebook, but I'm also aware if I disappeared from Facebook tomorrow those that I haven't been hanging out with in real life at least occasionally probably wouldn't notice.

To summarize, giving the planet access to a cheap, worldwide publishing platform may have been a mistake.

Fake ID laws in Virginia exist for various reasons, including protecting young people from the dangers of alcohol.

However well-intentioned, Virginia’s laws do not always prevent people under 21 from trying to buy alcohol with altered or fraudulent identification cards.

As a result, law enforcement agencies will conduct sting operations to ensure that underage people are not using fake IDs—and to ensure alcohol sellers check IDs as the law requires.

Getting caught using a fake ID can lead to serious trouble. A conviction for fake ID charges can hamper a young person’s educational and professional future.

At Andrew Flusche, Attorney at Law, PLC, we are fully prepared to protect your rights and help you overcome mistakes that could negatively impact your future.

What Are the Fake ID Laws in Virginia?

Virginia law also makes it a crime to obtain a fake driver’s license or other identification issued by any state or federal agency. But how do people get fake IDs?

Getting a fake ID to purchase alcohol is not an easy task these days. The modernization of driver’s licenses and state identification processes make it more difficult to falsify a driver’s license.

In order to bypass those restrictions, someone interested in obtaining a fake ID might try to present falsified birth documents to state agencies to obtain their false identification.

Consequently, Virginia law also prohibits obtaining or possessing a fake birth certificate to establish a false identity.

Therefore, anyone who sells, manufactures, or transfers a fake birth certificate to falsify someone’s identity could face criminal charges.

Fake ID Punishment

The punishment associated with fake IDs depends on the severity of the crime. Simply possessing a fake ID like a driver’s license or school ID card is a Class 2 misdemeanor.

The punishment for a Class 2 misdemeanor is a maximum jail sentence of six months and a fine not to exceed $1,000. 

Any person convicted of selling, manufacturing, producing, or advertising a fake ID faces a Class 1 misdemeanor sentence.

The maximum punishment for a Class 1 misdemeanor conviction is one year in jail and a maximum fine of $2,500.

Obtaining or possessing a fictitious birth certificate with the intent to obtain a false identification is also a Class 1 misdemeanor. 

You could face fake ID felony charges for manufacturing, selling, or transferring a fictitious birth certificate, even if you manufactured the document for personal use.

The crime is a Class 6 felony. The punishment for a Class 6 felony is one to five years in prison or up to one year in jail.

A judge or jury can opt to send the person to jail instead of prison after a Class 6 conviction. The maximum fine is $2,500. 

Defending Against Fake ID Charges

Each case is different. We will use our skills and knowledge to develop a winning defense strategy for your specific case. 

Sometimes the best defense involves negotiating with the prosecutor for a reduced penalty or a dismissal.

We rely on our experience, our reputations, and our relationships with local attorneys and judges to give our clients the best chance to avoid the harsh consequences of a fake ID charge.

Get the Help You Need Right Away

What happens when you use a fake ID to purchase alcohol in Virginia? We hope we helped to answer that question for you today.

If you have any additional questions, or if you or your child need our help, contact us immediately by calling 540-318-5824.

Even if you or your child have no record of ever getting into trouble with the law, having a fake ID charge can cause real problems for your future.

Fortunately, we know how to help. We are compassionate but aggressive criminal defense attorneys who fight relentlessly for the best outcome for all of our clients.

We are available 24/7, so we can help whenever you need us.

The post What Happens When You Use A Fake ID to Purchase Alcohol in Virginia? appeared first on Andrew Flusche.

Back in the winter Michelle excitedly came into my home office with the news that her sorority was planning a reunion in October and that I needed to book a place to stay immediately. Even 7 or 8 months in advance the pickings were kind of slim, but we did land a nice 1 bedroom AirBnB apartment about 3 miles from campus. On home football weekend even the Super 8 motel gets $300 a night, it's crazy. We paid about $85 a night.

We did our usual routine when heading back to Purdue from Virginia. We drive 4 hours after work, spend the night somewhere, then get into Purdue the following day. We made a 1 hour rest stop out of visiting friends near Indy on this trip. The trip home was a 12-hour grind.

The Purdue campus has basically grown beyond my ability to recognize much at this point. We did all the usual things, wander aimlessly around campus, and stop in at Harry's for lunch with a local fraternity brother. It's the only campus bar from my day still there. We visited the bookstore to stock up on Purdue Merch. We also meet another fraternity brother and his wife for dinner our first night there. On Friday night Michelle was at the fancy sorority reunion dinner. Only a handful of husbands were there that weekend, and the woman decided to not make the guys go, so we hung out at the Scott Street Pub, a neighborhood place a 5 minute walk from our AirBnB. I'd really like to live someplace with a friendly pub a 5 minute walk away. Those neighborhoods are cost prohibitive in Richmond. There was a time when I really wanted to move back to Indiana, but I need mountain air regularly to be happy, and Indiana is a long way from the mountains.

On football Saturday we tailgated with the sorority prior to the 730 PM game. That was my first night game ever at Purdue, and maybe my first complete sellout ever. The game was lit. The defenses never came out of the locker room and Purdue finally won 43-37 after the teams racked up over 1000 yards of total offense combined. We got back to our room around midnight, which was not optimum for our planned early morning departure for the 12 hour trip home. We may need to start breaking up the return trip too.

On the way home Michelle read me the news of an 80 year old Purdue alumnus that fell exiting the stadium, hit her head, and died. It turned out the woman was a sorority sister and Michelle had met her at the reunion a couple of nights earlier. Eyewitness reports indicate the fall did not appear to be a big deal. She was 80, but still, a painful reminder that you just never know, not even 5 minutes into the future, about what is coming next. It's best to play it safe and live every day like it might be your last.

Trips: 30
Nights: 100

Natural Chimneys has been on my list of places to visit for a while. Last weekend it was the only place within a couple of hours of Richmond with reservations available on a few days notice. It's a nice campground with some really odd site layout choices.

We were in site D3, which was probably 40 yards wide. It's a back in site so wide that I didn't need to back in. I just drove in and turned to park. However, even though the site is that wide, 80% of it is unusable because the water spigot is on a shared stem with the neighboring site, and the power box is about 30 feet from the water. So you have to park over near the neighbor, even though you have all that space on the other side. We walked through the "E" section to get to the bath house and I'm still not sure about the sites in that section. I really couldn't tell where one site ended and the next started. Maybe that is why that section was mostly empty.

Also, the park is apparently home to the oldest continuously held sporting event in America, a jousting tournament that has been going for almost 200 years. How have I lived here for 24 years without ever hearing about this?

We arrived after dark on Friday. The drive in from 81 is a little harrowing in the dark, as it's narrow and twisty. You are in the valley, so it's not mountainous, just hilly with sharp curves as the road routes around farmland. After setting up a camp and a quick dinner of hot dogs and mac n cheese, we retired to the campfire for some relaxation time. There are signs posted everywhere warning not to drink in the park. I don't know if it's like the State Parks where you are fine on your own campsite as long as you are behaving, or they'd chase you out for having a beer by the campfire. I have advanced alcohol concealment skills left over from drinking in high school, so they were never going to catch me. If I had been drinking ;)

On Saturday we started by going birding at Elkhorn Lake, which is located in the George Washington National Forest. It's a very scenic lake and fall colors were popping. My birding skills are very beginner, so even though we saw a bunch of sparrows they never sat still long enough for us to ID them, so I only reported about 9 or 10 birds on e-bird. One thing I'm trying to do more of is embrace sucking at things, and work to get better. After birding we drove about 20 miles to the Hidden Rocks hike, which was fun, and again with some nice fall color. After that we followed US 33W just into WV to the High Knob Tower Trail. The 250 degree views from the fire tower were amazing. On the way back to the campground we drove by Mile Hill, which one of Virginia's two volcanoes. Yes, Virginia has volcanoes. Mole Hill hasn't blown for 47 million years, so it's probably due any day.

Elkhorn Lake

View from the fire tower

Volcano in Virginia!

As we crisscrossed the area to get to our hikes we were in serious farm country. We drove through Dayton, VA, which apparently has a large Mennonite population based on the number of horse and buggies on the road. I was not aware we had a Mennonite population that far north in Virginia. We probably logged 80 miles in the car and never saw a a grocery store, just a couple of farm supply places and a few gas stations. It was the real Shenandoah Valley, and somehow my first visit there in 24 years in Virginia. There is always new places to explore near home, you just have to look. Or in our case, stumble into it.

Saturday night we grilled burgers for dinner and logged some more campfire time. It got cold on Saturday night so we headed into the camper relatively early.

On Sunday we did the Natural Chimneys loop, and I grabbed the wrong piece of paper when I thought I was grabbing the park trail map. The trails are not well marked, so don't make that mistake! We ended up on a side trail that required us to pull ourselves about 50 yards of a 30 degree slope using ropes tied to the trees. The Natural Chimney formations are cool, looks like the remains of a medieval castle. After that we packed up and headed home, with a stop at the Augusta Military Academy museum. Neither of us had ever heard of the Augusta Military Academy, but it was on the way home and we had time to kill. Our planned 30-60 minute stop ended up taking 2.5 hours because the curator there was so passionate about sharing the stories of life in the academy, he is a damn good storyteller, and we were the only people in the place. It opened shortly after the Civil War ended and closed in 1983. It checks all the stereotype boxes you are thinking for boys military school (until about 1970). Life there was tough, especially if you weren't an alpha kid. Interestingly, the kids only joined the military at the same rate as the general public school population. Anyway, it was a really interesting piece of VA history that I'm glad I know about now.

Natural Chimneys

40 year old dorm at Augusta Military Academy. It's a lead paint and asbestos disaster, so will sit until somebody wants the land bad enough to remove it.

Also, if you noticed the trip counter at the top of the article, we've spent 100 nights in the camper over 3 camping seasons. I'll write more about that in a seperate post.

Law enforcement officers frequently pull people over for the failure to obey a stop sign.

Engaging an experienced attorney to investigate your rights and potential defenses for a charge of failure to obey a stop sign in Virginia could have a significant positive impact on your future.

You might have legal defenses that help you avoid fines, demerit points on your license, and a sullied driving record.

Depending upon the nature of your offense, it could be simply a traffic infraction, or it might be a misdemeanor charge.

Asking any lawyer for help with your traffic ticket may not get the job done right. Instead, contact my firm, Andrew Flusche, Attorney at Law, PLC.

My law partner (Ryan Fitzgerald) and I focus our practice on representing people who face traffic offenses. We can use our experience and extensive knowledge of Virginia law to get the best possible result for you.

Failure to Obey a Stop Sign

All vehicles entering a highway shall stop or yield the right-of-way when a stop sign or yield sign controls the traffic flow.

Drivers must stop before the stop line, crosswalk, or before entering the intersection.

Then, the driver has to yield to cars approaching from either direction before proceeding into the intersection. This violation is a simple traffic infraction, punishable by a fine of up to $250.

Failure to Stop or Yield the Right of Way

If you are entering the main road from a side road or parking lot, failing to yield the right-of-way is a reckless driving offense and a Class 1 misdemeanor.

You face up to one year in jail, up to a $2,500 fine, and you could lose your license for six months. 

In some circumstances, your lawyer could argue that you should not face a criminal charge for your failure to stop.

If the evidence of reckless driving is weak, prosecutors or judges have discretion. If prosecutors see that the evidence is weak before trial, they can reduce the charge to improper driving.

If a judge sits through a trial and sees that the evidence is weak, they can do the same. Improper driving is a traffic offense, and the maximum penalty is a $500 fine.

Vehicle operators must obey traffic lights as well. A police officer can stop or arrest you for violating this law, even though the punishment for this traffic infraction is a maximum fine of $350. 

The Virginia DMV determines the number of failing to obey stop sign demerit points that get added to your driving record.

Reckless driving generally is a 6-point offense, and the conviction stays on your driving record for 11 years.

Failing to stop for a simple stop sign is a 4-point violation that stays on your driving record for 11 years. The DMV can suspend your license if you accumulate too many demerit points in a short period of time.

Defenses for Failure to Obey a Stop Sign

Virginia traffic laws require every driver to obey traffic signs, as long as the signs comply with the law. The last part of that sentence is critical.

The law says that law enforcement officers cannot cite someone for disobeying traffic signals if the traffic control device is not in the proper place where the ordinary observant person could see it.

Additionally, the law requires the sign to be legible. You could have your ticket dismissed if the traffic signal the police accuse you of disobeying does not meet these requirements.

You do not get the chance to fight back if you pre-pay your ticket.

A skilled traffic lawyer can review the circumstances surrounding the alleged traffic infraction and develop a defense strategy for you. 

Help When You Need It Most

Don’t wait to see what happens when you go to court, and don’t pre-pay your ticket without talking to us first.

Our office at Andrew Flusche, Attorney at Law, is available all hours of the day or night to take your call. So don’t hesitate to call us at 540-318-5824.

We offer free consultations and will get to work immediately to protect your future.

The post Failure to Obey Stop Sign appeared first on Andrew Flusche.

Everyone with a commercial driver’s license (CDL) knows they face more scrutiny than the average driver, especially when drinking and driving are involved.

CDL drivers in Virginia have a lower threshold for DUI when driving a commercial vehicle because of the inherent danger commercial vehicles present to everyone on the road.

Virginia law holds CDL drivers to a higher standard even when driving their cars.

Facing DUI charges as a CDL holder threatens your livelihood. Seeking legal representation from a knowledgeable and highly-skilled Virginia DUI lawyer could help keep you on the road and making a living.

A Virginia DUI defense attorney at Andrew Flusche, Attorney at Law, PLC, will fight to help you keep your CDL.

CDL DUI Limit

The Code of Virginia § 46.2-341.24 is the state’s commercial vehicle DUI law. The law states a person violates the law if they do any of the following:

• Operate a commercial motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% by weight;
• Operate such a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or both; or 
• Operate a commercial vehicle while having a certain concentration of specific drugs that are enumerated in the statute. 

That part of the law is identical to the law everyone else has to follow. 

However, CDL drivers must follow stricter laws to protect the public. That is why Virginia’s commercial motor vehicle DUI law contains a lesser included offense of driving with a BAC of 0.04%. 

Additionally, Virginia law makes it a traffic infraction for CDL drivers to have any alcohol in their blood while driving a commercial vehicle.

Therefore, a law enforcement officer who suspects a person driving a commercial motor vehicle under the influence or suspects the driver has consumed alcohol can require the driver to take a portable breath test.

These test results are not admissible at trial.

However, the officer can use the results or chemical test refusal to charge the driver with a commercial motor vehicle DUI, driving with a BAC of 0.04% or more, or driving with a perceptible amount of alcohol in their blood.

Penalties for a Commercial DUI in Virginia

As with most crimes, the severity of the offense dictates the possible penalties.

Merely having a perceptible amount of alcohol in your blood when driving a commercial truck is a traffic offense only.

Driving a commercial vehicle with a BAC between 0.04% and 0.08% is a Class 3 misdemeanor.

Class 3 misdemeanors in Virginia are non-jailable criminal offenses, and the maximum penalty is a $500 fine. 

Driving a commercial vehicle with a BAC between 0.08% and 0.15% or under the influence is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

The maximum penalty is one year in jail and a fine of $250 to $2,500.

Driving with a BAC between 0.15% and 0.20% carries a minimum mandatory jail term of five days, and driving with a BAC over 0.20% carries a mandatory minimum jail sentence of 10 days. 

Commercial DUIs and License Loss

Facing jail time is a frightening experience. As a CDL holder, losing your license and your ability to make a living is equally terrifying. 

A conviction for driving a commercial vehicle under the influence or with a BAC of 0.08% or greater automatically disqualifies you from operating a commercial motor vehicle—or any other vehicle—for one year.

Clearly, this can make it quite difficult for drivers to make a living during that time period. 

Although you can take steps to reinstate your regular driver’s license before the year revocation ends, Virginia will not reinstate your CDL for an entire year.

And you have only one shot at restoring your CDL—a second DUI conviction disqualifies you for life.

Additionally, driving with a BAC of 0.04% or higher, or refusing a chemical test, also disqualifies you from operating a commercial vehicle for one year. 

These rules apply to out-of-state DUI convictions as well.

What Can Happen if I Get a DUI with a CDL in My Personal Vehicle?

Even at times when you are not operating a commercial vehicle, drivers holding a CDL have a greater responsibility to obey traffic laws than the average driver.

Refusing a chemical test or a DUI conviction disqualifies you from driving a commercial vehicle for one year—even though you were driving your personal car when police pulled you over.

Do You Need Help with Your DUI Charges?

Contact a Virginia DUI defense lawyer from Andrew Flusche, Attorney at Law, by calling 540-318-5824.

We have the skill, knowledge, and experience to help you beat your DUI charge.

We focus on you and your needs to reduce stress and help you out of this challenging situation. Call us today for a free consultation.

The post Commercial DUI in Virginia appeared first on Andrew Flusche.

Trips: 29
Nights: 98

All the photos from Acadia worth sharing.

Trips: 29
Nights: 98

On Wednesday we had a 4 AM wake-up call for our reservation to watch sunrise from the top of Cadillac Mountain. At certain times of the year, you see the sun first from Cadillac Mountain. This was not that time of the year, but you are still seeing it before anybody except a handful of other people that may be in the right spot in Maine.

Or, you don’t see the sunrise at all.

This is as good as it got

The drive up to the summit was on a windy, narrow road. I had about 5 feet visibility in front of the car, and no car in front of me to follow. It was a harrowing drive and even maybe more scary the next day when I could see what I had done in the fog. Anyway, as I said to Michelle, we really experienced sunrise on Cadillac Mountain. Because we sure as hell didn’t see it.

After sunrise, we went to a local cafe for breakfast. My tweet best describes the breakfast.

Then we went back to Acadia and drove the loop road, stopping at the overlooks and enjoying a crisp, cool, clear blue sky fall day in Maine. We made our way to Jordan Pond and did the 3 mile hike around the pond.

After that, we headed back to the campground. I chilled in the hammock for a bit before getting bored and deciding to go on another hike at Acadia Mountain Trail, or as I have renamed it, the hike of 10,000 granite steps. It was a bit of a slog at times, but the payoff view from the top was pretty damn spectacular.

That evening, we cooked at the camper, and called it an early evening.

When our sunrise on Cadillac failed, I had gotten us a reservation for a normal visit to the top. So we had passes to head back to the summit between 9:30 AM and 10 AM. It was a spectacular day, albeit a bit windy and chilly at the summit.

After that we continued around the park loop road again, eventually stopping at Western Point overlook, where we spread out a blanket, and kicked back on a bluff overlooking the ocean. We did some birding, and observed a playful seal in the ocean. Between birds, sea life, our Kindles, and maybe a little napping too, we spent several hours just chilling at the overlook.

When I take a pretty girl on a picnic I don't cut corners on the location

We stopped at Thunder Hole again. Thunder Hole is a cave that when the water hits it right causes the airholes in the cave to rapidly expel air, resulting in what can be best described as the sound of a very large toilet flushing. It typically is best around 90 minutes before high tide. The day before in the fog we were there at the right time along with hundreds of other people, but it was quiet. Today we were about an hour early, had the space to ourselves, and heard the noise twice. It was not the thundering boom it can be, but it was something.

We also visited the Abbe museum in downtown Bar Harbor, which is a museum dedicated to the indigenous peoples that were in Maine long before Europeans. It is a really well down museum and definitely worth a visit.

Eventually, we headed towards Southwest Harbor, where we planned to have dinner at Beale’s Lobster Pier Along the way, we stopped for this photo. No, I can’t explain it.

The lobster dinner right at the pier in Maine was just as tasty as you are thinking it was. That night we did the campfire and chill thing again, followed by our new evening obsession, gin rummy.

Friday was our last day. Bar Harbor is very touristy, and it only gets worse on the weekends. We decided to make a very scenic one hour drive to the Schoodic Peninsula, which is the part of Acadia National Park that juts off the mainland. That means 99% of visitors to Bar Harbor never go there. We saw more amazing Maine coastline, did another picnic with a view, and then found a deserted piece of beach to set up our chairs and just chill in the glorious cool temps, warm sun, and ocean breeze.

Another great picnic spot

After dinner back at the camper I wanted to go get lobster ice cream, but the place is right in downtown Bar Harbor and given the traffic and lack of parking on weeknights I wanted no part of it on a weekend night. Also, I don't particularly like cold lobster. So we randomly picked an ice cream shop based on it not being in the village center, and we ended up with maybe the best ice cream we've ever had. Seriously, it’s better than Carl's in Fredericksburg, VA. If ever in Bar Harbor, don't miss out on Udder Heaven.

On Saturday we hit the road by about 8:30 AM, arriving at our overnight stop Orange County Hops just north of NYC around 6 PM. After enjoying a couple of tasty brews and really great conversation with the owner and a few regulars, we retired to the camper to spend the night in the brewery parking lot. We got up early the next day for a thankfully uneventful drive home.

The Maine coast is a magical place. The week in Maine exceeded expectations in every way. We will be back. For one thing, Michelle wants to see a Moose, so we’ll need to explore some other parts of the State for that.

We'll be back!

Trips: 29
Nights: 98

I thought of “Acadia is AMaineZing”, then I thought it’s corny, and it’s probably been done 1000 times. Then I checked, and I am apparently the first person to ever post that phrase on the Internet.

The Internet surprised me, in a good way, in September 2022. That’s a win.

But seriously, Acadia, and really the entire Maine Down East area is amazing. How amazing, you ask? It is, My wife who thinks it snows too much in Richmond, VA was looking at Bar Harbor cost of living statistics amazing.

Note - Maine is expensive, and it snows a lot. We are not moving there. I would seriously entertain the idea of spending June - Oct every year, though.

We were away from home for 13 nights. Our longest trip ever. We left home on Labor Day, making a 4ish hour drive to Lums Pond State Park in Newark, DE, where we spent the night. We were originally going to Harvest Host at a brewery, but it was too hot to dry camp. Lums Pond seemed to be a very nice state park, and definitely a place I would camp at again. It started pouring that night and the heavy rain followed us up I-95 all the way to Boston. Towing a camper in driving rain on I-95 is just as fun as it sounds. On the way we stopped in Fairfield CT to meet a friend at the famous Pepe’s Pizzeria for lunch. Also, Google Maps, in its infinite wisdom, sent me across the GW bridge and the Cross Bronx Freeway in the rain, then directed me to the Merritt Pkwy in CT, which features 8-foot bridges and does not allow trailers. To be fair, Google doesn’t know I’m towing something. I have acquired a better GPS solution, which worked great on the way home. It’s Co-Pilot GPS, and I’ll probably write more about it in a separate post. This one is going to be long enough.

While in Boston we parked the camper and stayed with family. I worked days, we visited with several generations of O’Donnells while there, and attended a cousin’s wedding on Saturday before heading north to Maine on Sunday.

Did I mention Arcadia National Park is AMaineZing?

A tip for the drive from Boston to Bar Harbor. Stay on I-95. I veered off onto Rt 1 to take the scenic route. It’s right on the coast, but you rarely see the water. You do drive through a couple of cute small towns, but IMO it’s not enough for the 90-minute longer drive. Just fly up I-95 and get to Bar Harbor.

We camped at the Mt. Desert Campground, which is about 10 minutes from the Cadillac Mountain entrance to Acadia. It is quite simply the best private campground I have ever stayed at. They only allow tents, and RVs that are no more than 20 feet long. The tent sites all have deck platforms for the tents, every site is heavily wooded, some are on the water, and all are reasonably private. A 40-foot 5th wheel could have parked on my site, if they could have gotten to it. The bathhouses were sparkling clean all week, and the office had plenty of ice and firewood for sale. I think my site was about $50 a night, which is crazy cheap. The KOA significantly farther from the park was over double that price. And it’s a KOA.

We got in around 4 PM so that first night we didn’t leave the campground. We set up camp, cooked dinner, and did the campfire and chill thing.

On Monday we got up and met Mike Good from Down East Nature Tours for 4 hours of birding. I’d consider a tour with Mike a must-do when in the area. We learned so much hanging out with him, and we also got to observe 39 species, including a woodpecker foraging on the ground with an extended session of beating the hell out of a rotting log. I’d never seen a woodpecker spend that much time of the ground. We also saw a few seals, which was cool. That afternoon, we did the Bubble Rock hike, then proceeded to the Jordan Pond restaurant for the famous popovers. We made a meal out of it by also indulging in Lobster Stew while there. After that we headed back to the campground for a quiet evening by the campfire, while I enjoyed a couple of locally brewed IPAs.

Bubble rock has no need for your laws of gravity

The view from our table

It is a popover and it is delicious

Sunday evening, we messaged our son and asked him to be online at 10 AM to try to get us tickets to sunrise on Cadillac Mountain for Wednesday. The tickets are released at 10 AM and sell out by 10 AM + 10 seconds. Basically, you refresh the page at 10 AM and hope you are one of the lucky that get a ticket in your cart. They only allow 150 cars up the mountain for sunrise, because they have 150 parking spots. There are thousands trying to get one of those tickets, We got one. More about the sunrise later.

On Tuesday, we headed out earlyish (by 9 AM) to the Sandy Beach area so that I could do the Beehive hike. Beehive is an iconic Acadia hike that sends you up a granite cliff face on a trail that uses iron rungs to help you navigate up the rock wall on trails that are often about 24 inches wide, with a smooth granite rock on one side and a fall to a certain death on the other side. I looked up the stats and was genuinely shocked at how few deaths there have been on the hike. More have died at Crabtree Falls in Virginia, which is a 2 or 3 out of 10 on the dangerous hike scale. I was attempting this hike with my fear of heights as a test of sorts. If I could handle this hike I feel like I can handle Angel’s Landing at Zion National Park when we finally make it out west.

That rock face is what I climbed

View from the trail

View from the top

I handled the hike just fine. More than fine, I enjoyed the hell out of it. When I made it to the top I lingered for a while chatting with two guys from Romania who commented the US is just too damn large. This is their 2nd summer working in the US, so in 12 months here they’ve only managed to visit 7 states. This is something my daughter mentioned from her study abroad session in the UK. People in Europe really can’t fathom just how freaking large the USA is. While up top the fog started to roll in. I headed back down and by the time I got back to Michelle at the car Acadia NP was fogged in, and it was starting to rain. It wouldn’t be a Maine vacation without some fog. We checked out the Thunder Hole, but it wasn’t producing any interesting noise, and it was teeming with tourists. We realized Acadia sightseeing was pretty much toast with the rain and fog, so we consulted the list of rainy day activities we had made and went to the Wendell Gilley Museum in Southwest Harbor. Wendell was a noted bird carver, and the museum has about 300 of his pieces. The museum was amazing, or should I say AMaineZing?

Why yes, I am going to keep doing that. :)

Carvings from the museum

Bass Harbor Lighthouse

We ended up chatting with the manager at the museum for a bit, and she gave us a nice list of other things to do in the area, things most tourists miss. We didn’t get to any of them, but that was mostly because they were on off-season hours so the several times we thought about going, the places were closed. She did point us to the Bass Harbor Lighthouse though. After that we went into downtown Bar Harbor and checked out some local shops and eventually, an Irish Pub. Downtown Bar Harbor is Gatlinburg for people with money. Lots of people, lots of t-shirt shops. It is very scenic though. Tuesday night we ate back at the camper. The rain stopped long enough for us to get in some campfire time, but we hit the sack early as we had a 4 AM wake-up call for sunrise on Cadillac Mountain the next day.

But more on that in the next post, this one is long enough already.

We are pleased to announce the 2022 winner of our Law Student Scholarship Contest: Kristi Lichtenberg!

Kristi is enrolled at the University of North Texas College of Law, located in Dallas, Texas. She is just beginning her legal education journey.

Kristi currently serves as the Executive Director of Cornerstone Crossroads Academy in the Phillis Wheatley neighborhood in South Dallas. Kristi hopes to use her legal education and future law license to continue serving this neighborhood in a new way: helping them solve their legal problems.

We hope our scholarship helps Kristi with school and can help her community soar in the future!

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