[aditya_rao]

I've been trying to write this travelogue for quite some time and each time I sat down to write, there was always something else to be done. I started writing this on a 6 hour flight to SFO and after that today is the second time I have opened it, to hopefully complete it . The trip started as a weekend trip (with a day or two off) and slowly got converted into a work trip during the week and leisure during the weekend. Visiting Maine was the main intention of this trip with the below plan

Sat - Pick up rental
Sunday - Leave in the morning for Portland from NJ, travelling via NY, CT,MA,NH. Plan was to reach by night and see some fall foliage on the way.
Monday - Fri - Work and spend evenings going around Portland and nearby areas
Fri evening - Start for Acadia national park. Camp in the park
Sat - Sight seeing in Acadia
Sunday - Cover the areas missed on Sat and leave Acadia by evening. Reach NH, stay at a friend's place
Monday - Most of us were on leave, so see some more foliage in NH and return home by night.

Our original plan was to leave on Saturday, but one of the person in our group was travelling and hence had to postpone the plan to Sunday.
After looking through multiple rental options we narrowed down to a rental from Philadelphia airport (local rentals were looking expensive and didn't have lot of options on the cars). We booked a full sized premium SUV, hoping for a Ford Expedition or Chevy Suburban. A friend dropped us to the airport and out of the expedition and the GMC Yukon XL, the enterprise guy suggested to take the GMC. I had driven a Tahoe earlier, so this was not a big difference except for size (GMC and Chevrolet both belong to GM and that could be the reason for their similarities in features and interiors). the Yukon XL is a big SUV and it takes time to get used to it as its almost double the size of your regular car. Being a premium model, it had all the bells and whistles that you can ask for, and this one seemed a new one with not a lot of miles on it. We were 6 people and even though its a 7 seater SUV, the numbers of bags we were carrying were more than enough to pack the vehicle completely. From camping gear to cookers, snacks, food, vegetables - we had packed almost everything as we were going to out for more than a week.

Day 1

We hoped to start by 7:30 - 8:00 AM, but as is the case with all trips, we were still trying to fit everything into the boot even at 9:00. After lot of trial and error we managed to fit everything and started around 9:30 AM. Being a Sunday, traffic was less on the NJ turnpike, but slowly started to increase as we reached NY and crossing George Washington bridge always takes time, unless you are travelling at midnight. Post NY we were left with 3 choices of crossing CT - CT 15, I95 or I84 (or 684). CT15 is a narrow road with only two lanes and with slower speeds but other two have the drawback of getting caught in traffic or road work. So dreading the worst we decided to take CT15 and luckily did not have a long delay. Slower speeds limits did reduce our speed, but we had anyway stopped at a rest area for snacks and facilities. We were hungry as it was past 1 and eventually we found a restaurant and had food before moving on. It was getting late and we eventually decided the plan of seeing any foliage and decided to reach portland without anything else on hand. We stopped for gas fill up and then reached Portland by 7:30. We had a booked a entire house through Airbnb with a full kitchen and rooms spread over 2 floors and a big garage enough for 2 cars. Everyone was tired so we just ordered food from a restaurant and called it a night. No pictures as such as most of the day went in driving itself.

Day 2-5

We didn't do a lot of sightseeing around Portland except going to Portland Headlight (one of the famous lighthouse there). We explored the downtown area, mostly for food. Two of the famous local pizza joints are Otto's, who serve very unique toppings and flatbread (downtown). We also went to the LL Bean outlet, which was spread across a big area (its like a LL Bean village). LL Bean is one of the famous clothing, and outdoor gear manufacturer. They have shoe stores, bikes, hiking gear, camping gear and what not. Prices are high but they come with lifetime warranty. I know people who have exchanged their purchase even after 2-3 yrs since it had developed some scratches and lost waterproofing quality. Their products are supposed to last a lifetime literally (and hence the high prices)

A set in the LL Bean outlet


Our SUV from the house


View from the restaurant at Downtown


View at Portland waterfront


Portland Head light shots below

[aditya_rao]

Day 6

We planned on leaving early from Portland towards Acadia so that we could reach a campground that we had booked. Blackwoods is one of the popular campgrounds near the ocean and we managed to reach there around 8 PM. We had one online booking for the campground, so we purchased a national park pass and got instructions to our site. We unpacked our tents and set them up in the next 30 mins. We had prepared food before starting from Portland and although we didn't have any heating appliance we ended up finishing up most of it even though it was cold. We didn't carry any firewood along with us, so had to go searching for firewood in the village. Most people there stock up firewood outside their house and the expectation is that people will take the number of bunches they want and leave he money in the deposit box. At first we thought why would someone trust an unknown person to take something and leave money with honesty but soon realized that most people do it the same way there. Their business runs on trust and most people pay for what they take. We bought 2 sets of firewood hoping they would last the night. We borrowed a lighter from the neighbours and used cooking oil as the Firestarter. However the two packs of firewood kept the fire alive only for 3-3.5 hrs.

Acadia is one of the dark sky locations on the East Coast, so we had planned to do some stargazing but it turned out that it was too cloudy to see anything and there were chances of rain. We tried our luck with Cadillac mountain also but had to return as the top of the mountain was covered with clouds and it had become extremely windy at the summit. I had been to Cadillac mountain in 2015 and had got a good view of the milky way, but this time we weren't so lucky. Disappointed we returned and to prepare the ground for a good night sleep. We had sleeping bags and comforters and although the ground was uneven we managed to get some sleep for the rest of the night.

One of our tents

[aditya_rao]

Day 7:

The plan was to get ready and explore the national park. Our camping area was near to the toilets, so we quickly got ready and packed up the tents and left for the national park visitor center. On the way we stopped for brunch and then reached the visitor center. We got some information on the places that we could visit for the day and also saw a short move about the park. The rangers recommended visiting the south west part the same day as there was a marathon the next day and all roads in that area would be closed. So we decided to go to Cadillac mountain as the weather was slowly getting better and then go to Bass Harbor light house for the sunset. The views from Cadillac were amazing and the photo that I got were definitely better to what I clicked in 2015. We spent sometime on the summit and then headed for the lighthouse. We stopped at a scenic bridge and clicked some pictures before heading out for coffee and then eventually reached the lighthouse. There was big line of cars outside of the parking area and we didn't think we would get parking within the lighthouse parking area. In the end we decided to take a chance and went inside and saw that 2-3 cars were about to leave, so the decision turned out to be a good one. The best views for sunset come from a short hike around the lighthouse and you can get the sunset view along with the lighthouse in front of you. There were already around 100+ people before us who had taken up good photo spots so while scouting for places to setup our tripods we eventually found a high position that would give us a good view of the sun and the lighthouse. The next 30 mins went in admiring the sunset and clicking pictures. After sunset it turned dark very quickly so we headed back to the parking lots and then decided to look for places to have dinner . We found a Mexican place called XYZ where they manged to get us a table in small area outside with heaters. The food was ok but prices were completely opposite of what we expected from a Mexican restaurant. Most of us agreed that the prices did not justify the taste or quality. We settled the bill and then headed back to the bar harbor motel where we had booked the night stay. The only rooms available were the family rooms (which has two rooms and multiple beds in it). We again decided to try star gazing but the clouds were not ready to move and that spoiled both nights for the stargazing plan.

Day 8

We got ready in the morning, finished breakfast and checked out from the hotel. The plan was to cover the other end of the park and then around afternoon head towards new hampshire. We were debating whether to skip the park and go to Quoddy head lighthouse, which is the easternmost lighthouse at the border with Canada, but that was stil 3+ hrs one way and the only thing we would end up seeing would be the lighthouse. It was better to stay in Acadia and then head back rather than going even further and trying to come back. We decided to see most of the attractions within Acadia before heading back. Hulls cover visitor is a good place to get ideas on what to see. From there we went to Jordon pond, which is one of the places where you can get good scenic views of a large pond, as well a good food. However as was the case with the previous nights the clouds weren't forgiving. Between light rain and foggy surrounds we hardly could see anything properly. We took a hike around the train near the pond, hand lunch and headed off to other scenic points. You can see most of the points of interest on the park loop road. The other points we covered were Thunder hole, Schoodic point, sand beach. There are other points where you can stop on the park roads to take pictures and on a good sunny day you can even do the different hikes in the park (based on your fitness levels). We went to bar harbor again on the way back buying some souvenirs and getting some blueberry ice cream. We decided to leave by 7 as the drive to NH would be atleast 5 hrs non stop and it was already dark. It started to get dark when we were on the highway and eventually we reached by 12 PM if i remember correctly. We were going to stay at a friend's house. Having 6 people stay at your house is not so easy, but we managed to get a good night sleep after having dinner.

Views from the park loop road








Another view of the beast


Views from Cadillac mountain








We stopped at this place to take photos of the bridge






Ocean views along the way




Sunset at Bass harbor light house


Bar harbor views

[aditya_rao]

Day 9

By the time we got up and had breakfast it was almost 10 AM. Our plan for the day was to go to Mt Washington in NH and then go along the Kancamagus highway (which is known for fall foliage colors). Since it was a working day we didn't expect lot of rush or crowds. We left by 10:30-11:00 and reached in the next 2.5 hrs. We were hoping to go on the mt washington auto road, but when we called them, they had closed it due to bad weather. So we decided to just stick to the Kancamagus highway and return from there. We spent a good amount of time clicking pictures and then started our journey back around 4 PM. The return journey was a minimum of 7 hrs (add another 1-2 hrs for breaks, dinner, coffee etc). On the way back we stopped in CT at an Indian styled chipotle restaurant - Tikkaway Grill at New haven. Instead of having local options they replaced it with Indian food options to make it more interesting.

We finally made it home around 11:30 - 12:00
We had originally planned to return the car on the next morning, but since we had picked up the car in the evening, we could extend it till the next evening. We called up and enterprise adjusted the return time. We returned the car, got the return receipts and took an uber back home.

a stream off track from the Kancamagus highway


foliage on the roads


foliage views on the Kancamagus highway

[noopster]

Thread moved from Assembly Line to Travelogues section. Thanks for sharing!

[saurabh2711]

Originally Posted by aditya_rao

Day 9

]

Better late than never, (most of my cases of travelogues, they are still buried on my laptop/desktop in some notepads or Doc & not on Forum).

Thanks for sharing your experience & congratulations for a successful trip. Amazing Pics as well.

"Yukon". . Very selfish of me, honestly. Will you mind sharing more details on the car, if you can.

If ever I go to US or get a chance somehow, this will be the only car I want to drive or at least sit in its any variant.

Thanks,
Saurabh

[bsdbsd]

More than anything else, I appreciate that you took sometime to write down this travelogue. I have been wanting to do this since 3 years, but unable to do so (notwithstanding some reviews I penned). I liked your travelogue, peppered with some nice photos. I am surprised that you flew all the way to east to do this trip. If possible, do a guide on Yellowstone for far-away visitors like us. This one has eluded me for so long that its embarrassing.

[aditya_rao]

Originally Posted by saurabh2711

Better late than never, (most of my cases of travelogues, they are still buried on my laptop/desktop in some notepads or Doc & not on Forum).

Thanks for sharing your experience & congratulations for a successful trip. Amazing Pics as well.

"Yukon". . Very selfish of me, honestly. Will you mind sharing more details on the car, if you can.

If ever I go to US or get a chance somehow, this will be the only car I want to drive or at least sit in its any variant.

Thanks,
Saurabh

Thanks, I still have few more travelogues that i'm still writing. So hopefully should be able to write them up in the next few days
We rented from Enterprise, Premium SUV (7-8 seater). The Yukon XL we got was V8, RWD. The 3rd row is not so comfortable unless someone is really slim or are kids. Fuel economy we got was good considering its a V8 engine carrying a full load. Gear lever is on the steering and it has option to enable trailer load as well. The rental ones come with navigation on board and it also has WIFI (AT&T 4G). We realized only on the next day that we could use the Wifi as the password was within the settings itself. Being a huge SUV, other cars look like small creatures on the road , but you have to careful at higher speeds as braking takes time and if you are travelling at 65 or 70 (depending on the speed limit), it would not stop as quickly as a smaller car. Other than that the car has enough 12V sockets, USB ports and bluetooth connectivity. Let me know if you need any more details

Originally Posted by bsdbsd

More than anything else, I appreciate that you took sometime to write down this travelogue. I have been wanting to do this since 3 years, but unable to do so (notwithstanding some reviews I penned). I liked your travelogue, peppered with some nice photos. I am surprised that you flew all the way to east to do this trip. If possible, do a guide on Yellowstone for far-away visitors like us. This one has eluded me for so long that its embarrassing.

Thanks, I'm actually based in NJ, hence the road trip. And i do have pending travelogues from Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and other places in the US (you can check my posts on Alaska and Utah as well, for other destinations in the US). Hoping to complete the pending ones in the next few days. I'm going to travel more this year, so have places like Hawaii, Iceland, and an east to west road trip are on the list (with a remote chance of Antarctica)

[reppy]

I was in the US (Lowell MA) from 2003 to 2006...best time of my life! This brings back awesome memories!

We had done a road trip from Lowell to Key West and back...all the way down 95 South - it was an amazing trip!

Don't miss the mansions and skydiving at Newport...!

[bsdbsd]

Originally Posted by aditya_rao

...And i do have pending travelogues from Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and other places in the US (you can check my posts on Alaska and Utah as well, for other destinations in the US)...

Oh, please don't wait, post them soon - esp for YSNP. Else, you will be reading my travelogue soon ;-). Request you to share the Utah post link. Thanks.

[aditya_rao]

Originally Posted by bsdbsd

Oh, please don't wait, post them soon - esp for YSNP. Else, you will be reading my travelogue soon ;-). Request you to share the Utah post link. Thanks.

your wish is granted
Yellowstone travelogue is ready (and might get published by morning, hopefully)

Reg the Utah one, i just realized that i never posted the travelogue.. so now i have one more to write

[karthikbhat8923]

Hello!

I recently rented out a GMC Yukon XL (Enterprise car rental, Los Angeles) for a day, and here is my review based on a day's worth of driving (~400miles).


We went on a trip to Lake Cachuma (https://www.google.com/maps?client=f..._AUoAnoECCAQBA) and Mount Pinos (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mt...4d-119.1454286) from Los Angeles.


To start off, the Yukon XL comes equipped with a 5.3L or a 6.2L Flex-fuel V8. We got one that had a 5.3L V8.

Specs:

355 hp @ 5600 rpm
383 lb-ft of torque @ 4100 rpm
6 speed GMC 6L80 automatic.


The car measured almost 5.7mtrs in length and weighed around 3.5 tonnes!

Even though it was this huge and weighed 3.5 tonnes, it was not intimidating to drive at all! It accelerates from 0-60mph under 8secs!

The car reves smoothly till around 5000rpm and was a pleasure to drive on the wide Californian roads.

It was easy navigating through the twisty mountainous roads to Mount Pinos!
The gearbox was a little slow between shifts and a slight push to the gas pedal shifts the gear up. It has a manual mode with overdrive.

The gear lever is located next to the steering and I felt is easier to operate than the regular levers on the center console.


It easily cruises at around 80mph! The magnetic ride control suspension keeps the car, free from body roll at high speeds.

The car came equipped with all the bells and whistles like Apple CarPlay, Bose speaker system, three-zone AC, Heated and Cooled front seats, independent AC controls for the middle row passengers, Traction control, Lane Assist, Blind spot warning, and the driver seat vibrates like crazy when the vehicle gets too close to other objects while reversing!

It has an advanced Fuel management system that switches off 4 cylinders when not required, hence returned a gas mileage of around 18mpg for the entire trip!


All in all, it is a comfortable vehicle that you use for a trip from the East Coast to the West!

[OmV]

Great thread Aditya! Thank you for the wonderful pictures. I am based in Mumbai now but having lived in Boston for 10 years these pics took me back to my time at these places.
Speaking of Boston, I recently realized I went to the same B school as @GTO - Bentley University in Suburban Boston!

[scatpack392]

Nice post Aditya! These are beautiful places and with a Yukon XL, makes the journey even more enjoyable! Its one of the cars on my list which I would take on such a road trip..