Maine!!!

We were so excited to finally get here!! Even thinking about it now makes me want to go back. It was beautiful. We could have spent much more time there but we hadn't planned on it and we didn't think we would enjoy it so much. Our plan was to just go into Maine, stay along the coast, eat some fresh lobster and head back out.

The first big city we got to we stopped at a couple different places, including an Orvis store, where the man told us we had to go to Acadia National Park. We were not planning to go there because it seemed like a little too far. Thanks to our National Park Pass it would be free anyways so we went. We were sooooooo........... glad we did. It was beautiful. I will post the whole Maine album on Facebook so you can get the full experience. It is difficult to remember all the names of the places and landmarks but I will describe them as best I can.


Along the coastline there was this rock inlet called "Thunder Hole" During high tide when the water comes in and hits the rock the water can shoot 40 feet in the air. Unfortunately we missed high tide by a few hours but it was still cool to see the rock and imagine what it could do. We also drove to the summit of this mountain that overlooked the water and the town of Bar Harbor. It was beautiful. We had fun taking pictures and enjoying all the scenery. It was quite windy but still a wonderful view.












After all the sightseeing we were ready for our lobster. Bar Harbor was a nice, quaint town. There are well known for both their seafood and the blueberries. They even brew a blueberry soda. We went to a nice restaurant near the water for dinner. Dean ordered the lobster and I ordered shrimp. The last time we had lobster was at Red Lobster and it was not that good. This lobster was AMAZING!!!! It was quite a messy undertaking but Dean cleaned that lobster up. My shrimp was equally delicious as was my blueberry soda. We had blueberry pie for dessert but it was not that great. Not as good as grandmas. We walked along the water and enjoyed the shops and ambiance of this Maine community.







We did not see any wildlife other than birds. We wanted to see a Moose so badly. When we were at Yellowstone a lady from Maine was saying how she sees moose all the time. Well, we didn't see any!

New York: Part 1

Our first pass through New York we stopped to visit Bennie and Kari. Dean's brother and sister-in-law. Bennie is a pastor there and it was our first visit to their new house and church. We had a great time. We hiked around their house to this water tower and of course, Dean and Bennie had to climb up. Kari and I were prepared to run away if the police came or call 911 if one of them fell in. Luckily, we didn't have to do either. Another time we all climbed to the top of this old fire tower. It was so high.


Another day we took our dirt bikes and Bennie's four wheeler and explored the hills. It was very rocky and difficult terrain. Kari and I took the four wheeler and the boys rode the dirt bikes. I was a little scared for my dirt bike but it survived as did we. Kari and I were a little sore from all the bumping but it was fun.

Bennie and Kari had to go to a church conference so the last day we stayed we went hiking. We hiked to a place called Broman's Nose that overlooked the whole area. It is beautiful countryside.




We also hiked down to a waterfall which was very pretty. If it was warmer we might have went swimming.



We had alot of fun visiting them. Too bad the drive to get there is so long.

Out of Order

Those last two posts are out of order but I don't know how to switch them. Sorry. It will drive me nuts forever but it was done unintentionally. Just so you know....

The City of Brotherly Love

Our last stop in PA was Philadelphia. Our first impression was a little tainted as we were introduced to the traffic. It was awful. We have bad traffic here in Houston but this seemed so much worse. It took us forever and since we had no idea where we were going we couldn't get around it.

When we got in to Philly we went right to the Liberty Bell. It was already closed but we were still able to see it from the outside. We were planning on staying until the next day so we continued to walk around the area. We walked past the site of Ben Franklin's grave and Independance Hall.

Independance Hall is guarded 24 hrs a day to make sure no one vandalizes or harms the building or area. It was the place where they signed the Declaration. It was funny to watch people walking slowly or stopping to take a picture and the guards yelling at them to keep walking or move along. You have to sign up to take a tour but they are always booked so we could only look from across the street.



The next morning we headed right to the Liberty Bell. You can get close enough to almost touch it. We got our picture and then went to explore some more.





We had to stop and get a Philly Cheesesteak. It was delicious. Ours came from a food truck near the Liberty Bell. One of the best sandwiches EVER!





The US Mint and the Federal Reserve and also in Philadelphia. Those were probably my two favorite places. At the Federal Reserve Building they had a big display of all things money. At the end of the FREE tour we got a bag of shredded $100 bills. AWESOME!! It was amazing to learn about all the money that gets shredded. Seems like such a waste. I wish we could have taken pictures in there so you could understand the magnitude of the shedded pieces. The Mint was cool too. We had to go through the full body scanner to even get in. It was mostly about the history of money and its worth. Very educational.

We had parked on the street early that morning and had to pay the meter. We finished everything around the square and had about 30 minutes left until the meter expired. It seems like a long time but not when you are searching for the most famous steps in film. Where might that be? The Rocky steps!!!! But where in Philadephia were they. We decided City Hall was the most logical place. We got to City Hall and there were no steps. We walked all around it and still no steps. Where could they be? There were cops all around so we thought to ask them. We asked one and he told us they were around the corner. Nope not there. We asked another and he didn't give us any better directions. Finally after asking 3 or 4 cops we got the answer. The Art Museum.

We made it a little over half way and then realized that we didn't have enough time and if we didn't get back we would get a parking ticket. So we ran all the way back to the car and drove to the steps. We started at the bottom and ran up with the Rocky theme song playing on Dean's phone. It looks so difficult on the movie but for exercise buffs like us it was EASY!

Welcome to Massachusets!!

After Pennsylvania we made our way to Massachusets. We had quite a few things planned in this state. The first was making a stop to see Chris and Karyn Singewald. We were so glad that their house was along the way. We met up with them and they took us out to eat a delightful seafood dinner at a little place right along the water. After dinner we took a stroll on the beach where we practiced throwing rocks at rocks. Dean was probably the champion but Chris, Karyn, and I gave him some stiff competition. They drove us back to our car and we headed our seperate ways. We had a wonderful time!

Early the next morning we headed to Cape Cod to see the sunrise and stick our toes in the ocean. It was a beautiful view. We didn't see any turtles or other sea life but the coastline was very pretty. We thought about taking the ferry to Martha's Vineyard but there was too many people and it was expensive. We decided to drive onward to Plymouth instead. The site of the rock!!




We were pretty excited to visit Plymouth. It is the perfect little harbor. The first thing we did was tour the Mayflower II. Obviously, not the real one but just like it. There are actors aboard telling about the boat and what it was like to be on the Mayflower. It was really fun and educational. Just like teachers to keep learning even on their time off. After the boat we headed over to Plymouth rock.




We were so excited. The rock is in a shelter and you stand on a platform to look at it. We imagined it to be a BIG rock. One you could see as your sailed into the harbor. That is not even close. It is so small. The size of a small boulder. We were so disappointed. Not at all what you imagine. It is still frustrating that for so many years we believe the rock is huge and then when you see it in real life it is so small. Its still frustrating me. Anyways...... we perused the area a little more and then decided we were ready for the big city. Boston.





One of Dean's favorite things was this sign. Dean is very proud of his Native roots so I had to add this just for him. Slightly overdramatic if I do say so myself.



We arrived in Boston in the early afternoon. We had been pulling the trailer with the dirtbikes the whole trip. It was difficult to find parking in alot of places but Boston was one of the worst. Everywhere we tried to park we were too long. We ended up parking a long ways away and walking. We visited Bunker Hill and walked the steps to the top, took a tour of "Old Ironsides",



visited Paul Revere's house, Ben Franklin's Statue, famous churches,and walked almost the entire Freedom Trail. We also drove past Fenway Park and TD Gardens where the Red Sox and Celtics play. We were in the section of Boston that is largely Italian. Almost all the restaurants and shops were Italian or had something to do with Italy. We also walked through an city park where many older men were playing Chess and Bocce and speaking in Italian. It was like a scene out of a movie. We had a good day. It included lots of walking but was very interesting and historical. We were ready to move on to our next state. Maine. We went through every east coast state but some of them we just drove through and didn't really stop to see the sights. In case you think I missed something between Massachusets and Maine.