August in New England has been amazing!

Well August is quickly coming to an end and so is our trip to the northeast! We definitely picked the right place to be for this month with so many of you being in triple digit degrees. We spent most of the month in 70-80's - one perfect day after another. We even turned the heat pump on a few times in the mornings.

We had a fun time in Bar Harbor (Bah-Hah-ba) although I think we actually liked Boothbay Harbor the best! We did love Maine and would like to return someday! Acadia National Park was breathtaking and we just took in the view at the top of Cadillac Mountain. Thunder Hole pictured below was wild. There are no words to express the beauty of God's creation. Lobster continued to be on the menu and we took full advantage of every opportunity to have some.

We enjoyed a Lumberman/woman show emceed by Tina Scheer, a former Survivor contestant. She was really a delight and very funny!

From Bar Harbor we stopped one night in Scarborough, Maine and spent the afternoon strolling in Kennebunkport. The towns in New England are so quaint and beautiful along with all the lakes, harbors, bays, rivers, ponds and of course the ocean! From there we camped in Plymouth, Massachusetts and had a week of busy days.

Bill was delighted when the fishing turned out to be great at Sandy Pond - all on old turkey lunchmeat - he caught a 19 inch pike one day but threw it back - too many large teeth! We now have a freezer stocked with fresh blue gill.

Our first trip from Plymouth was Provincetown at the very end of Cape Cod. Another beautiful panorama! On the way back down we drove through Hyannisport and stopped on the National Seashore.

We took one day and drove to Newport, RI, less than an hour. We walked the Cliff Walk (3 miles) along the coast by the immense mansions.

Since we have been scouting out different places to live we decided maybe these places would do - however Bill likes the one on the bottom (The Breakers) and I like the one on the top (Rosecliff). Guess we'll have to pass since we can't agree!

The next day we drove to Boston and walked the Freedom Trail. We have fallen in love with this city - such history on every corner and once again quaint streets mixed in with big city. Every time we stopped to look at our map someone would stop and ask if they could help! A truly friendly place. Bill became a bit nostalgic seeing some Navy ships and sailors when we went to tour the USS Constitution. The aircraft carrier he was on in the 60's drydocked in Boston once. Providence and Quonset Point RI were once his old stomping grounds. It was a special time of his life and he remembers it fondly. The Red Sox were out of town so we were not able to take in a ball game.

The last day of our New England trip was spent in Plymouth, checking out Plymouth Rock and the MayflowerII. A waterfront festival was going on and the temperature decided to send us off with a humid 94 degrees. I'm going back to Maine!!! Plymouth was a very impressive town and the harbor was one of the prettiest we have seen .

We are off to Virginia on Sunday with a stop in Gettysburg on our way. Our grandson, Jonathan, will be having open heart surgery on August 31 and we ask that you say a little prayer for him and his family.
Jonathan, Mia and Sophie

We have been truly blessed to be able to make this trip but we are looking forward to seeing some familiar faces very soon! Love to you all.

Julie, Ranger and RR

The mountains are spectacular!

................ and the fun continues!!

When we left you at the last blog we were on our way to have dinner with Barb and Pat O'Flynn in the Poconos. We had a wonderful evening and enjoyed the food and the company. Their mountain home is very warm and inviting. Pretty neat place to rest and relax, however Barb and Pat spend much of their labor of love working on upgrades. A sample of the serenity was watching two undaunted Bambis in the yard next door. Thanks again for the fun evening!!!

We spent one day in the town of Jim Thorpe, PA which is where Jim Thorpe is buried - a very impressive memorial. He was quite a man. Also took a tour through the jail where the Molly Maguires were hanged - made into a movie starring Sean Connery. A very sad story about the coal mining industry.




Next stop was Bushkill Falls in the Poconos, advertised as the Niagra of Pennsylvania. We hiked around the park and witnessed the beautiful waterfalls called "bridal veil" and "bridesmaid falls" -- awe inspiring. A beautiful sight to see but put on your hiking shoes. Definitely worth the trip.

Our next stop was Rome, New York to visit with Bill's sister, Elaine and Dan Miller. We spent a wonderful few days with them - kayaking, fishing, pontoon boat riding, golfing and watching a beautiful sunset. They live right on Delta Lake and it was so relaxing and we had fun catching up. Evenings were filled with games, games, games. Thanks for hanging in there Dan!



From there we were off to Lake George in the Adirondacks. The area is so beautiful and breathtaking. We went tubing on the Schroon River and took a lunch cruise on Lake George on the steamboat, Lac du Saint Sacrement. The houses and boat houses radiated an air of elegance ........... and $$$. Much fun!!

A short stop in Sturbridge, Massachusetts and a visit to Old Sturbridge Village was very interesting. The best part was watching the children doing activities of the 1800s (they have weekly camps in which children (7-12) dress and work and play as they would have in that period. The covered bridge in the picture was just a sample of the beauty of this place.



Now we are finally in Maine - a first for both of us! What a beautiful state! We arrived the same day that President and Laura Bush arrived at Kennebunkport! We didn't have time to have lunch with them though because our schedule was too full!



We are now in Boothbay, Maine and the weather has been perfect (75 - 82). This town is exactly what we had pictured. We have taken full advantage of fresh lobsters - whole, stew, rolls, pies - does one ever get tired of lobster? We also shopped in Freeport (LL Bean), witnessed an Indian Pow Wow, however our favorite has been whale watching (celebrating Barb's birthday). We went out about 24 miles in the Atlantic and finally spotted the blows and THEN you saw them come up and just roll back into the water. So majestic!! It was just indescribable and pictures can't do it justice. We watched about 10-12 of these 70-80 foot beauties. We also enjoyed a community band concert in Boothbay Harbor and learned about a new game. Does anyone know how to play Candlepins?

After seeing the sign below, we were on 'full' alert. However we were not rewarded until we visited a Maine Wildlife Center. By the way if geese is the plural of goose - is meese the plural of moose?










Last but not least for this post is that we sold the RV and bought this rig instead! NOT!! It is a pop up tent on the back and we just had to get a picture of it.

See you in a while as we begin our way up the coast to Bar Harbor and then down to to Plymouth, Massachusetts.

............... life contnues to be good, very very good!!!