America The Beautiful, National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands Pass. If you don’t have one and you travel to National Parks, you need to get one.

We were lucky to get our lifetime senior pass at the low cost of $10 before the cost went up to $80.  But at $80, it is still a great deal.  Both the hubby and I have this pass.  We used mine at the park yesterday.  If we didn’ t have this pass, we would have had to pay $25 a carload for a seven-day pass to enter and enjoy the park.  Motorcycles get a break.  They only pay $20 for a seven-day pass.

Since this was the first time we used our America The Beautiful pass, I was not sure what to do.  I had questions so I figured the best place to get answers would be at the Visitor Center.   When entering Acadia there was a road sign stating park passes can be bought at the Visitor Center and must be displayed in the front window of your vehicle.  Although we didn’t need to buy the seven-day park pass, I was not sure if our American The Beautiful pass was all we needed or if our America the Beautiful pass got us another type of tag to place on our dashboard or hang on our review mirror.  The visitor center would be a good place to start.  When I got to the Visitor Center there was a sign at the entrance saying passes needed to be obtained at the Sand Beach Entrance.  This area was very crowded and with thoughts of COVID on my mind, I didn’t go any further than this entrance.

We took the Loop Road in search of the Sand Beach Entrance and what a beautiful ride it was.  The speed limit in the park is 35 mph and the section of the Loop Road we drove on was oneway and two lanes.  Of course, there were people that were in a hurry and passed us going much faster than the 35 mph that is posted.  We drove the speed limit and admired the beautiful scenery and views of the harbor.

When we got to the entrance booths, we handed the park ranger my America The Beautiful pass and driver’s license.  He handed us a map of the park and a plastic park pass holder so we can display it in our front window, hanging from the rearview mirror.

We got off to a late start yesterday so my main objective at the park yesterday was to see Thunder Hole.  This is not the first time I’ve been to Thunder Hole.  I keep missing the high tide where you get the full effect of Thunder Hole.  It was beautiful just the same.

Even with COVID, I think it was crowded.  Preferring to stay away from crowds, I opted to stay on the higher path and not go down to the lower level that was very close to the Thunder Hole.  I could get good pictures from higher up.

I saw a white dot on the horizon in the first picture below.  I could tell it was a Yacht.  My camcorder has such a terrific zoom feature that I zoomed in on that white dot and was able to use my camera to snap the still  picture on the right below.  My camcorder is a Sony AX53.

There are many places to pull off on the Loop Road.

We pulled off and I got out to get some pictures  Hubby waited in the truck with the puppies.

BooBoo and Hubby were patiently awaiting my return to the truck. It was a very hot day so they didn’t mind being left behind in the air-conditioned truck.  Benji and Bella were in the backseat sleeping.

Our next trip back to Acadia I want to see the Bass Harbor Lighthouse.  We will be in this area until August 15 so we have plenty of time left to sightsee.

God Bless, Stay Safe, and Be Kind to Every Kind!