I also live in LR and have lived in ME (02-05). Mount Desert Island (MDI) is our favorite place in the world (better than Switzerland or Italy I might add) and we spent as many weekends on the island as possible. MDI is home to Acadia, Bar Harbor, SW Harbor, etc. It sounds like you are getting your trip dates nailed down. You can visit www.maine.gov/doc/foliage/ and find historical data on leaf drop and color by region. They also do a weekly update (also available via email) during foliage season based on state park rangers reports. I agree w/Kwoo, SW Harbor is much quieter than Bar Harbor and a great place to stay. If you do stay in Bar Harbor, consider the Castle Maine Inn (http://www.castlemaineinn.com/), the The Inns at Ullikana (www.ullikana.com) located on the Shore Path where you can watch the sunrise from the Atlantic, or the Acadia Hotel (www.acadiahotel.com) which is clean, comfortable, and reasonably priced. I'll throw in the Bar Harbor Inn (www.barharborinn.com) but the $$ was too much for us. I've stayed at all of them and would do it again. The one nice thing about staying in Bar Harbor is that it eliminates the parking problem.

While on MDI, consider the following: walk the Shore Path in Bar Harbor at early morning (or anytime really), drive to the top of Cadillac Mtn at sunrise, visit the quaint book store Port in a Storm in Bernard (near Bass Harbor Light, another must), visit one or more of the gardens...Asticou Azela Gardens/Thuya Gardens (http://www.asticou.com/bar-harbor-va...y-gardens.html), and ride the carriage roads in Acadia (http://carriagesofacadia.com/tours.html).

Needless to say I enojoy MDI way too much. Try to spend at least two nights on MDI if you can...you won't regret it. I hope this isn't information overload (it probably is), but I'm excited for you (and a bit jealous) of your trip. Enjoy.

From a Michigan gal... we traveled to upstate New York and Vermont to see the color - late September - Early October... those states didn't have anything on Michigan color! The reds, yellow and oranges are beautiful here - we saw more color going into back and forth to work than we did on our entire week long trip. However, I would agree that if you are planning Boston and Maine (which I loved visiting)- I would plan a separate trip to Michigan. From the great lake to the Upper Peninsula we have a beautiful state with variety of sceneries.

We have made more reservations. we are leaving arkansas on 9/26 for Niagara falls, ontario arriving on 9/27 and leaving on 9/29. what is the best way to see the falls?

we then plan to take the Lake Ontario Readers Digest Seaway trail, hwy 18, over to Rutland, Vt. What should we do along the trail?

We then plan to do Vermont and NH as we indicated before. We also made reserv at portland, me and then two nights Belfast, me. However, i am not sure about Belfast as a place to stay for Acadia natl park, should we stay closer to the park?

We then want to do the trail downtown Boston. where can we park and catch the subway coming south from maine?

we then have two nights at raynham, ma to see the Plimouth plantation. is it worth it?

we then plan to come home through the Smokies, any suggestions? i know these are lots of questions, thanks for all the help.

If you're looking for nice leaves, I'd recommend western Massachusetts as the Berkshires are a very nice spot for foliage in the fall.