In my defense it should be pointed out that Bar Harbor was not the main focal point of the vacation I took this summer with a friend. We had spent a week at a cottage in Prince Edward Island, and on the suggestions and urging of my friend, Bar Harbor was inserted into the itinerary for our drive home. She convinced me that Bar Harbor was somewhere that she had always wanted to visit and her life would not be complete if we didn't visit it. Now!

First of all, travel by car is not for everyone. Secondly, car travel is better if it IS the vacation, rather than merely the means of getting from Point A to Point B. We chose driving because despite absurd gasoline prices it was still the most economical means of travel, as well as the fact that neither of us had driven to these areas and wanted to take in the scenery. I think that the ideal situation would be to drive to your destination, spend a restful week and fly home.

Having said that, our side trip to coastal Maine was delightful. Even if the weather was not delightful. Like most areas in central and eastern North America in summer 2008, rain was a constant irritation.

This car trip certainly brought back memories of car trips my sister and I had endured with our parents growing up. Back then we had no idea how far places were and how long it would take us to get there. Well, despite being considerably older, I still had no idea how far places were and how long it would take to get to them. At least on this trip that was the case.

And, did you know that Bar Harbor is on an Island? Of course you knew that. It was only us that discovered this interesting fact as the drive along Bar Harbor Rd. through Ellsworth on the way to Mount Desert Island seemed to take forever. This is where the difference between driving to get somewhere and driving to enjoy the scenery became quite evident.

Considering how tired we were after a day of travelling by car to get to our 'dream' destination, we were extremely pleased with what we found when we arrived in Bar Harbor. We were able to find a very adequate hotel despite arriving without reservations. The hotel we checked into was right on Eden St. at the north edge of town, and we quickly discovered that there was a shuttle bus that passed on a continuous route from the outlying hotels to the center of Bar Harbor. Of course we also quickly discovered that if you weren't right there when the bus passed your hotel it was not going to wait for you. Not to fear though because as I mentioned the buses kept a regular schedule. One caution though. You would have to enjoy bus travel because it is a very "up-and-down" journey and you would need to have a seat or strong arms to hang on to the rail.

Bar Harbor is a very interesting place and our very short stopover just wetted our appetite for more. Another visit is definitely in store. With any luck the weather will be better because a little bit of fog and rain seemed appropriate, but too much rain just put a 'damper' on our visit. Many restaurants and shops will give you plenty to do while in the center of town and the National Park is fantastic. I have to make special mention of one particular shop that got a lot of attention from us. That was a store called Christmas Vacation on the right hand side of the street heading toward the water. You will know it when you get there. Awesome! Ask them if they have any Flamingos!

So, for anyone traveling along the east coast of the United States I would recommend a side trip to Bar Harbor, Maine. You just never know what you will find there. You may even find me there!

Since I had to meet a relative at Kashipur on the way, a vehicle bearing no.UA-07G-7767 was placed at my disposal, while the remaining officers moved in the other 3 vehicles. We started from our place of stay at Ramnagar at around 1.00pm. The driver of the vehicle was ill mannered. Though an AC vehicle was hired by the Academy, the driver chose not to operate the AC. He claimed that since he is short on fuel, he could not afford to switch on the AC, since the mileage of the vehicle would decrease to 10 (with AC) from 14 km per liter of fuel (without AC). We had to bear with the sultry heat.

The driver then insisted on playing some loud Punjabi music, which was jarring to our ears. Even when my wife and children asked him to switch off the music, he refused to pay heed. Anyway, we reached Najibabad railway crossing (which was closed) at around 5:30pm. Since the gate would take another 30 minutes to open and the heat and noise was becoming unbearable, we decided to get down the vehicle and take some refreshments. The driver was asked to come to a point in front of the Krishna Talkies. However, when we reached Krishna Talkies after some refreshments at 6.00pm, the vehicle was not there. We searched for the vehicle till 6:55 pm, when we noticed the approaching vehicle.

On being asked for the delay, the driver rudely asked me either to get on the vehicle or get out with my luggage. The humiliation was unbearable. We removed our luggage from the vehicle and dialed 100 for local police assistance. The police arrived promptly. However, the police to my shock informed me that the vehicle was bearing a private registration number which is not permitted for commercial hiring. My usage of the vehicle was thus found to be illegal. This greatly embarrassed me on the spot. The police informed me that the vehicle would have to be impounded and the driver challaned, though the police offered to hire another vehicle for our transport to Mussoorie at my cost.

I then rang up another officer, Ms.Anju Sharma, on her mobile and also the head driver for help. The taxi provider was contacted and he made available an Indica car after 2 hours at 9:10 pm at Najibabad. All this while I had to stay on road in a PCO booth. This replacement vehicle suffered a breakdown after 30 km near the UP-Uttarakhand border checkpost at 10.00 pm. The vehicle could be made operational after another 30 minutes. I reached Mussoorie at 1:00am after changing vehicle at Dehradun. All this caused great distress and suffering, besides mental agony, to my wife and small children.

In this context, caution needs to be exercised while hiring vehicles for Academy use. The hiring agency must be of good repute and the vehicles on hire must bear commercial registration. Illegal use of private vehicles for commercial plying brings bad name to the good image of LBSNAA.