Last week, I was driving with my wife to Mount Desert Island for a long-planned vacation. I had rented a cottage on the shore in Manset, part of Southwest Harbor. As I was driving through Trenton, approaching the causeway onto the island, my wife pointed out a sign in front of one of the local businesses which said, "Congress: You Suck".
Thinking of the government shutdown, truer words were probably never spoken. While there are no doubt some very nice individuals in Congress, they are, without a doubt, the most dysfunctional collective of jackasses on the face of the planet. It is sad to think that many functions provided by the government, such as food assistance to the poor, counseling for veterans, food inspections, research into cancer, and a host of other badly needed services were not being provided, with hundreds of thousands of people being basically laid off without pay. All of this going on, while the people responsible for causing it (Congress) are still getting paid, makes it hard to understand how Congress could possibly have an approval rating as high as 10%. (As a mental health professional, I am very much interested in meeting some of that 10%; they obviously need some help.)
In addition to all of the pain and suffering the shutdown was inflicting upon individuals, Acadia National Park, where I intended to spend much of my vacation, was closed. I was not pleased. I had rented the cottage 10 months before, and my oldest daughter and her husband were driving up from Pennsylvania to spend the week with us. Knowing that we couldn't go to the park was a major disappointment.
Fortunately, Mount Desert Island is over 100 square miles, and there are other things to do besides go to Acadia National Park. As we were enjoying some of these other pursuits, I heard from some people that one could park your vehicle outside the park boundaries and walk into the park, and no one would stop you.
In Acadia, Park Loop Road runs along the eastern side of the island looking out over Frenchman's Bay and the Atlantic Ocean and provides some of the most spectacular scenery you could ever imagine. Looking at a map. I found that Otter Cliff Road, which is not part of the park, runs into Park Loop Road near the Otter Cliffs. We drove down the road and, at the end, there were sawhorses and a gate providing a blockade, but we could park and walk onto Park Loop Road. A ranger was sitting in his vehicle chatting with tourists, and others just walked right by.
I have been coming to Acadia National Park for 50+ years, and I have to say that this was the best experience I ever had. Usually, one drives on Park Loop Road, stopping and getting out of the car periodically to enjoy the views. When you are walking on the road (or the shore path next to the road), you see many things that you would miss if you were driving by in a car. Even though there were hundreds of other people scattered along the road and the shore, there are usually thousands, with buses and cars parked along the road. The lack of congestion and the sense that you were pretty much by yourself was something to treasure.
In addition to Park Loop Road, we found other areas of the park that we could easily access on foot. While we could not go up Cadillac Mountain or go to Jordan Pond, we found plenty of other places in the park that we could go, some that I had never seen before.
So, Congress, while your stupidity and ineptitude have created pain and suffering for countless thousands because of the needless government shutdown, you managed to make my vacation something I will never forget. For that (and nothing else), I thank you.
