Whew. Wrapping up my last Maine trip of the summer, and it's been a busy one. When I last left you, I was eating gooseberry pie and lobster. Ryan and I stayed on the island for another day and a half, going for hikes and seaweed sampling. Then we went off island and camped in Acadia National Park for two nights. It was nice- campfire with s'mores, tent, etc. On the day in between we were very active but ate like kings (or at least I did). In the morning we went on a bike ride on some dirt roads in the park. For lunch I had some very yummy corn and lobster chowder. Then we went for a hike.

Now, if you looked at a map and saw a 1.4 mile trail marked "very difficult," what would you think? Me, I'd think, "They're probably warning old people and families with children that it's not appropriate for them. Anyway, 1.4 miles is nothing, I could handle anything that short."

Well, I did handle it, but it was quite a strenuous affair. It wasn't so much a "trail" as a recommended route up and over boulders and rock faces. I did the math afterwards and calculated that on average it was a 16% grade. That's a little deceiving, though, since it flattened out quite a bit at the top. Parts of it were much worse. So we made it to the top and my face was bright purple, as it usually is after strenuous exercise. There's a road to the top, so most people drive up. Fortunately there's also a concession stand at the top, because those poor people must be so thirsty and hungry after driving all that way! Needless to say, I felt far superior to all of them.

So after that we were quite sweaty and gross, but the campground didn't have showers, so we went for a quick dip in a lake to wash off as best we could. Then we went out for dinner. What do you think I ordered? Think hard! Nom nom nom... lobster! But not just lobster- there was a fixed price special: cup of homemade clam chowder, whole steamed lobster, steamed clams, rice, veggies, blueberry pie, and coffee. I traded most of my pie with Ryan so I could have flourless chocolate torte instead. Blueberry pie is good, but chocolate is better. It was an amazing meal.

The next morning I dropped Ryan off at the bus station in Bangor, then headed back to the island. See, I have this big (13 pages single spaced) grant proposal due in final form by Wednesday. So I worked on that a lot Saturday and Sunday, broken up a little by going out for field work. Woke up early today to work on it more, sent my advisor a draft, then went out for my last field work of the season. More working on it tonight, driving home tomorrow, then going in to the office to finish it up on Wednesday. Whew.

The somewhat awesome thing about this grant proposal, though, is that it counts as my "prelim," or my demonstration of qualification for PhD candidacy. I'm actually way ahead of the game since most people take their "comps" (comprehensive exam) first, then get around to the prelim in the second half of their second year. My comps are this October and November, then I can defend my prelim a few days later if I wish. Then I'm a bona fide candidate instead of just a grad student. The department really likes students to advance to candidacy fast because they don't have to pay our tuition and benefits then (the college does). All that goodness is in addition to the possibility of actually getting the grant, which could potentially support me and all my work for the rest of grad school (awesome to get, of course).