Hibernating in Mt. Hood

After spending a great couple of days in Washington we needed to figure out where to go next. It is still too cold to go camping so we looked at all sorts of cool Guest Houses and even a house boat, but ultimately found a cozy two bedroom cabin in Mt. Hood, Oregon.

It has been wonderful hibernating here. We got enough groceries for the week and have been reading books and just relaxing. It took some adjustment at first, this notion of relaxing, but it is something that I could really get used to. It even snowed a couple of days. For those fellow Floridians who have never experienced this thing called snow, it is like rain but much colder (Wikipedia eat your heart out). And in my dorky excitement I even called my mom to sing "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire", because the snow reminded me of Christmas. Not like Christmas in Florida, because we are usually wearing shorts of course, but other peoples Christmas. Like on TV...maybe I shouldn't have shared.

While here we also visited the Boneville Dam and fish hatchery and played in the snow on Mount Hood.

Next week we go pick up the Coach in Junction City and we are off to The Grand Teton Mountains! Woohoo!!

Click here to see all our photos from Mount Hood, Oregon

It doesn't Always Rain in Seattle

I haven't seen my cousin Storm in too long and these last couple of days with her have been great. She totally made us feel welcome in her home. Even her three cats put up with Maggie invading their space.

Let me tell you it is great fun going to all these different places and figuring out where to go and what to see, but there is nothing like seeing a city through the eyes of a local. They know all the cool places to go, how to get there and more importantly where to park. I think, as a tourist, most of the day spent going places is wasted on finding a place to park. When you travel with locals, you get to sit back and relax knowing you are being taken somewhere great.

We did so many things it is hard to mention them all. One of my favorites was going to Seattle and seeing the famous Pike Place Market. It is in all the movies where you see the guys throwing fish, which is neat, but the best part of the market is all the snacky food you can get. We got chocolate covered cherries, bags of candy, hazelnuts, cheese, and of course coffee. I also bought a silver bracelet that has "Happiness is a Choice" etched in it. It is a really nice reminder for me to, not sweat the small stuff. The ironic thing is that the woman had to bend it pretty hard to keep it from slipping off my rather small wrist and now I can't take it off. So happiness is still a choice, but taking off the bracelet is not, I am stuck with it. But I like it so whatever... We really enjoyed talking to all the different vendors. Most of these vendors are farmers and independent people that are so passionate about what they are selling.

The next day we went to another country...the Greene's second time in Canada. We drove around Vancouver and went to the Granville Island Public Market, where we ate more snacky goodness and drank more coffee. We also drove through the famous Stanley Park.

I must make mention of the food in Washington. We have eaten in some of the best restaurants and had some of the freshest food of the trip so far. My new favorite fish is Sockeye Salmon. Yummy!!! The coffee here is also great and not just at Starbucks. There are hundreds of little mom and pop coffee places. I must also mention that even thought this has been an extremely cold April for the upper west coast, we had two beautiful sunny days here. Debunking the myth that it is always raining in Seattle.

Thanks again to Stormy, Rainy and Dan for showing us such a good time!

Click here to see all our photos from Seattle and Click here to see all our photos from Vancouver

We Are Officially Homeless

Well, we made it to Oregon in one piece. Driving through the snow was pretty scary, but we watched the weather and drove slow. We found a great website called trip check, which shows you pictures of the highway. We could see that the snow was melting and the highway was clear.

This picture on the left is a view out our window on the drive through the Siskiyou Mountain Pass.

After our stressful drive we packed up the Coach and left it with the mechanic and are now officially homeless. It was such a rush to get here we hadn't planned where we were going to go next. Originally we thought we were going to go camping during this time, but because it has been such a cold spring and in the rush, forgot to pack most of our gear, we needed to stay somewhere with a heater. So I researched Bed and Breakfasts in Oregon and found a cute B & B on the Oregon coast that allows dogs. It is pretty hard to find a nice place that is affordable and lets you have pets.

I don't know why, but we are not big B&B'ers and have only stayed in one other B&B. After the hot tub, homemade breakfasts and freshly baked cookies (and I'm not talking slice n' bake), we sure are fans now. The name of the Guest House is Pana-Sea-Ah and it is great. Not only is it on the beach, it is in Depoe Bay and close to Newport and Lincoln City. So there is plenty of stuff to do and places to eat. Mostly we walked on the beach with Maggie (she absolutely loved it) and relaxed. Our host Mary was great and really made us feel welcome. I would definitely recommend it. http://www.panaseah.com/

Next stop is Bellingham, WA to see my cousin Storm.

When Dinosaurs Roamed the Earth

We are staying in Chowcilla, CA which is just an hour away from Yosemite National Park. We went hiking in Yosemite yesterday and there was snow on the ground. I don't know if you read that..SNOW. We were just in Indio where it was 97 degrees and now we are hiking in the snow, crazy! Anyway, the park is huge and we only had enough time to see a small part of it but what we saw was fantastic. The part of the park that we hiked through was called Mariposa Grove and had some of the oldest Sequoia trees in the US. One of the trees we saw was named the Grizzly Giant, a 2,700 year old tree that is 209 feet high and 100 feet around at the base. Look closely at the picture to the right, at the very bottom you can see me standing with my arms in the air. I look like a speck compared to the Grizzly Giant. It was pretty amazing to see these huge trees that are among some of the oldest known organisms on earth and think that dinosaurs roamed through forests like these. It figuratively and literally makes you feel very small as a species.

Our next stop is Junction City, Oregon where we are dropping off the Coach for some service. We spoke to a couple from Oregon who left the park and came back the same day. We jokingly asked them what happened and they said that a snow storm was moving into the Oregon area and they didn't want to drive through it because they didn't have their snow tires with them. I'll let that sink in for a moment... These "locals" didn't want to drive through an area that we "tourists" were supposed to drive through the next day. Great!

If you haven't noticed I am kind of a winter wimp. Give me Hurricane any day (knock on wood), but driving the Big Rig through snow is not my idea of a fun time. We've decided to drive to Redding, CA and watch the weather. If it looks okay we will move on to Oregon. Yikes, I'm scared. :(

Click here to see all our photos from Yosemite National Park

In God's Country (U2, The Joshua Tree album)

We left Arizona and headed for Indio, California. Let me tell you I usually do a ton of research before booking a spot at an RV park. There are several resources I use that rate each park including Woodalls, Trailer Life directory, and several books. The best book we have found is called Big Rigs. You can also go to each parks website and they usually have pictures. Unfortunately, most of the time what you see on the website and what you see at the actual park are usually two different things. However, in the case of the Outdoor Resort in Indio, it was even better than their website. The park was fancy! I thought Palm Beach Gardens was manicured, boy was I mistaken. The resort (I can't really call it a park) was foo foo, with paved streets and manicured lawns, a big pool, a fountain at the entrance and million dollar coaches in many of the sites. We were only able to stay there because I found a buy one night, get the next night free coupon. I felt like the Clampets' driving into Beverly Hills. Despite the stigma, everyone was super friendly there.


While in Indio we went to Joshua Tree National Park. I don't know if you have ever seen a Joshuah Tree, but they are super neat to see up close. They are part of the Yucca family of plants and grow in all sorts of strange directions. E very tree is a little different. When you see a bunch of them together they look like trees that should be in Seuss Landing at Universal Orlando. I think we got a little tree picture happy, but I was in a great mood after making it to the gas station without running out of gas. Oh, did I forget to mention that we forgot to get gas before heading out to the park. We only realized it after seeing the "next facilities 50 miles" sign. But have no fear, we coasted most of the way downhill and made it just fine. It's always an adventure with the Greenes'.

Click here to see all our photos from Joshua Tree National Park

Thanksgiving Is Not The Only Time To Give Thanks

When we are driving the Coach through all these different towns we see some absolutely gorgeous views and sights. We have seen beautiful mountain vistas and desert landscapes that seem to stretch for miles. It has been such an amazing trip so far, but some of the things you also see on the drive, are poverty stricken areas, dilapidated homes and abandoned towns. When we drove through New Orleans on the earlier part of our journey, we saw people still living in tents and rusted trailers almost three years after Hurricane Katrina. When we see some of these living conditions it makes us so thankful for all that we have. Sometimes you need to get out of your comfort zone to realize what is important. Because this is our journal I wanted to take the liberty to share what we are thankful for. We are so thankful for each other, our family and friends that have been so supportive of our journey, a roof over our heads and the means to take this trip...and on, and on and on...

I would love to get comments from you and read what things you are thankful for.

Burning Up in Sedona

The temperature differences in the desert are amazing. If you looked at our pictures from the Grand Canyon you can see we were all bundled up because it was freezing out. At night we had to unhook the water line from the coach because of freezing temperatures. So we thought when we headed to Sedona the next day, it would be just as cold. Think again, we had to stop at a store and buy some touristy Sedona t-shirts, because we were sweating like crazy.

Sedona was beautiful. We absolutely loved it. We only had a couple of hours so we hit most of the scenic picture spots. We went to this beautiful chapel that was up in the mountains and looked like it was built right out of the rocks.

The mountains/rocks of Sedona had this rich redish-orange coloring. It was different from the Grand Canyon but just as beautiful. I could probably spend a month in Arizona alone, but unfortunately we need to move on. California here we come!

Click here to see all our photos from Sedona

The Grand Canyon

We made it to Williams, AZ which is just an hour outside the Grand Canyon. All I can say about the Grand Canyon is, wow it is beyond words. Probably one of the coolest things I have ever seen. It really does make you realize how small you are when you look out into this enormous natural wonder. We took about a million pictures (see link below), but they can't even possibly capture the beauty of the canyon.

We stayed on the rim of the canyon, hiking and sight seeing most of the day. When we were on our way to a lookout point we saw a couple of cars pulled over, so we slowed down. I looked through the trees and saw this deer-like animal. I thought it was a moose at first. Scott got out to take a picture. It turns out there were two Elk, a male and female, just munching on some grass. Very cool.

Can I just take a side bar and mention how out of shape I am? We walked on paved paths along the rim of the Grand Canyon and I don't know if it was the altitude or what, but you would have thought I was 90 years old (no offense to all the in shape 90-year-olds'). By the end of the day my back and neck hurt, gee whiz. I'm going to need to get back in shape if we are going to be doing all this outdoorsy stuff again. Anyway, tomorrow we go to Sedona to look at the red rocks. I can't wait.

Click here to see all our photos from The Grand Canyon

Albuquerque Blows Us Away

Initially I was going to title this blog, "The Elusive Tumbleweed". Let me tell you those things are pretty hard to take a picture of, from a moving vehicle. This is how much of a city girl I am. On our drive out of Amarillo, TX towards Albuquerque I kept seeing these small dried stick bushes rolling or "tumbling" down the road. I asked Scott, "Is that a tumbleweed"? I had Scott watching as I pointed the camera at the road trying to get a picture of this thing. They are not as soft as I thought they would be and I thought that they were pretty cool to see, until they kept "tumbling" into the side of the coach. It is hard to avoid a moving abject when you don't know which way it is going to come at you. What a tourist.

By late morning the wind started to pick up pretty significantly. Then the wind, dust and tumbleweeds became almost scary. I found out that we were in the middle of some sort of storm with sustained winds of 20 miles per hour and gusts up to 60 miles per hour. Not fun. We had a little technical difficulty with the slide out awning, so we decided to pull into the Flying J (For those non 'Big Riggers' out there a Flying J is a trucker gas station) to wait it out. We got back on the road, but decided to take it slow. It was a pretty long day, but we finally made it to Albuquerque. Tomorrow we leave for the Grand Canyon. By the way I checked the weather and it is 27 degrees there. Oh no!

***Retraction from The Greene Journey Blog***

We at the Greene Journey must make a retraction to the prior blog entry. The song "On The Road Again" was sung by Willie Nelson not Kenny Rogers. We apologize for any confusion which this may have caused and meant no harm to the Willie Nelson company. Please accept our admittance of wrong doing. However, we at The Greene Journey do feel that the joke is still funny.

Thank you and keep reading.

Sincerely,

Editor in Chief

Kelly Greene

On the Road Again

In the infamous word of Mr. Rogers...Kenny that is, not the Mr. Rogers from the kids show that would change into his "around the house" sweater and shoes as opposed to his "outside" sweater and shoes. I never really got that. Anyway, I digress, the Greene's are "On the Road Again" and we are super excited.

We are three days into the trip and all is smooth so far. I was nervous at first if we would remember how to hook everything up and even drive the rig. But it was like riding a bike... a forty foot bike, that is 13 feet tall and is towing a smaller bike with a kayak on top. Yup, just like a bike, no biggie.

Yesterday we visited my cousin Monica and her husband Brad and two beautiful girls Emerson and Elise, in Georgia. We had a great time. Today we are heading towards Arkansas just for a brief stopover and then back on the road again. By next weekend we should be in the Grand Canyon. We cant wait! Stay tuned for updates on our adventures.

Happy Holidays!

Just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone Happy Holidays! For those of you who are new to the blog there are links on the right side of the page which show all our stories dating back to the beginning of the trip. Just click on each month to read them. Some of the older stories are the best.

And for those of you who are faithful blog readers (you know who you are), I want to say thanks for keeping up with our journey. We are so glad we could share some of our life with you.

We hope your holidays are filled with laughter and that you have a fantastic New Year. Try doing something out of your comfort zone in 2008, it just might be the best thing you ever did.

;)
Kelly & Scott

Where's Waldo...I mean Kelly

Wow what a crazy week we've had. After we got back from Costa Rica we found a renter for our Palm Beach Gardens house, which was a relief and a nightmare all at the same time. It meant that we had to clean out the whole house before we went back to Orlando in five days. We had already done a pretty thorough job before we left on the trip, but there was still a lot left to do. We rented a Budget truck and with the help of my sister Brandy and some day labor we managed to get most of the house finished.

The truck was jammed packed with stuff and we still had a ton of boxes that needed to go to the storage unit. We decided to leave them at the house and just concentrate on taking the truck to my mom's house for a garage sale the next morning. For those of you who have had a garage sale before, you know how crazy it can be. It does not matter what start time you put in the newspaper add, people show up whenever they want. Case in point, our start time was 8:00A and we started setting up at 6:00A, thinking we had plenty of time. Our first "rush" came at 6:45A, when we hadn't even put all the stuff out yet. It was bananas.

Around the afternoon Scott remembered we still had all the boxes at the house to deal with. Thank goodness my sisters boyfriend Mark was there and he and Scott went from my mom's house in Stuart back to the house in Palm Beach Gardens to load the rest of the stuff. After an exhausting day we made a little over $1,000, which I thought was pretty good. Now we had to drag our tired bodies to the storage unit and unload the rest of the truck. Pop came to the storage unit to help us unload. There would have been no way that Scott and I could have lifted all the furniture and boxes without him. I can't thank my Mom and Pop enough for all their help.

The next day Scott and I went back to the house for the last of the stuff and to clean up the house. We did not realize how much more was still left to do. We had stuff that had to go to the storage unit, and stuff that had to go to the RV and only our little Jeep to do it all in. Scott ended up taking a load to our storage unit in Stuart while I stayed and cleaned up the house. When he came back we loaded up the Jeep with everything that had to go to the RV. The car was so loaded (see pictures) I couldn't see Scott in the drivers seat. I don't know how we made it back to Orlando, but we did, thank goodness.

Pura Vida in Costa Rica

Okay, so I know we are supposed to be traveling America, but Scott's dad asked us if we wanted to go to Costa Rica for a week and we couldn't pass up the chance. What a great week it was. We stayed the first night in San Jose. Dad renovated a house there and it is really cute. We got to see some of the local culture and even found the Walmart. I know, our favorite store, it felt like home. The Walmart is a little different in Costa Rica. The name of the store is Hiper Ma's and there are police there. They also have two employees that stand in every isle. I don't know if they are making sure you don't steal or if they are there to assist you in finding the right brand of toothpaste. Being that I only understand un pequito espanol and they understood nunguna engles I was on my own picking out the toothpaste. Good thing "Crest" looks the same in any language.

We went to Fortuna the next day and stayed at Los Lagos hotel, which is practically at the base of an active volcano named Arenal. We drove up to the observatory created by the Smithsonian for volcano research. It was a little cloudy at first but then, as the Greene luck would have it, it cleared up and we could see the volcano perfectly. In fact, the weather in October is usually very rainy, but we had fantastic weather practically the whole trip.

You just wouldn't believe the different kinds of foliage in Costa Rica. The bromeliads, orchids, and dad's favorite the tree fern . He is obsessed with them. "There's a tree fern", and "look, there's a tree fern". It is really cute. You can just tell how much he loves it there.

Let me first start out describing the next leg of this trip by saying that I woke up in San Jose with a pinched nerve in my neck. So the next day we headed up to Monte Verde. Dad warned us that the roads were not paved and were pretty bad, but I figured, how bad could they really be? (famous last words) We started on the three hour drive and it wasn't too bad. The lushness of the foliage and the green of the valleys was breathtaking, but the pain in my neck was torture. I was a good little trooper and didn't say much, but the road got worse and worse. At one point a tractor had put new rocks on the road and we barely made it over them. I tied a dish towel around my neck, trying to create a neck brace, and it worked a little. Again not saying a word, popping Advil like candy, humming the theme song from Gilligan's Island (the three hour tour, the three hour tour...) we made it up to the top of Monte Verde. It was beautiful and so worth it. We stayed at a great hotel and Scott and my neck got a much needed massage at the spa.

The next morning we went zip-lining through the canopy at the top of the mountain. Zip-lining is very popular in Costa Rica. They have them in many of the towns, but Monte Verde is the most popular because it has the best views and the most lines. For those of you that don't know what zip-lining is, basically you are strapped into a harness and then "zip" down a cable that has been strung between two trees. It was awesome, zipping along. On one of the longer lines, I took the time to look around and take in the beauty of the rain forest. Wow what an experience! Scott had a funny thing happen. As he was coming in on one of the cables the guide didn't tell him to stop until it was too late and Scott came crashing into the guide, knocking the wind out of him. The guide had to take a couple of minutes to catch his breath. Fun for Scott, not fun for the guide.

The next day we headed to th coast. We stayed at a beautiful property called Los Suenos, which I call the Disney version of Costa Rica. It is like a resort, with golf, pools, a beach club, and much more. Don't get me wrong, it was super nice, but I like the lushness of the mountains better.

We had such a fantastic trip and have plenty of pictures to share, if you click the link below. It looks like we have a renter for the Palm Beach house, so there will be plenty of work to do when we get back.

Click here to see all our photos from Costa Rica

We are Family...I've Got All My Sisters and Me!

Man o' man, have we seen some family lately and we love it! After South Carolina we stopped in St. Augustine. My Dad and Sue came over and we grilled hamburgers and visited. What a fun time. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. They also gave us a Coach-warming present, which was so thoughtful and beautiful. They had one of our pictures from Maine engraved in a piece of wood with a quote that says, "We took the road less traveled and it has made all the difference." I was really touched. Thanks Dad and Sue.

We also got to see Scott's mom and Bobby. They drove over from Jacksonville and spent the day with us. It was great fun. We had lunch in downtown St. Augustine and went to Camping World to pick up supplies. (You can't buy biodegradable toilet paper just anywhere.)

Then it was off to Tampa for my cousin Becca's wedding. We had a blast that weekend. The ceremony was right on the beach, and it was beautiful. One of the highlights of the weekend, was singing karaoke with my cousin Ronnie. It was quite a scene. Picture two white girls singing "Whoomp there it is". I thought we brought the house down, "boyeee". It was so great seeing everyone again especially my mom and sisters. I've really missed them. Unfortunately Rachel couldn't make it. She just delivered baby Lily on October 16th.

Going Cow-a-Bunga in Kiawah

This week we are in one of my favorite places, Charleston, SC. I love the architecture, history, food and the nature in the surrounding areas here. We have had a great time this week.

Yesterday we took the kayak over to Beachwalker Park on Kiawah Island. It is a really great spot to kayak because you start off kayaking in the marshy river and end up in the ocean. We saw all sorts of wildlife. We even saw dolphins and a Bald Eagle. We talked with a student from Georgia, who was doing turtle research on the island. He found a Glass Lizard and showed to to us. I'm not an reptile expert, but it looked more like a snake to me. Once we reached the ocean, the waves were pretty big. We were actually able to surf a couple of the waves. I think kayak surfing should become a new sport. It was so much fun.

I must say that when you are on a budget you will do just about anything to save a buck. Case in point, we sat and listened to a two hour time share/vacation rental sales pitch just to get some free stuff. We ended up getting two free passes on the ghost tour and $75.00 in gift certificates to any restaurant. Even though it was long and I was trying to plan my escape the whole time, it was worth it. The ghost tour was fun and we had lunch at Wasabi, a great sushi restaurant and even had enough left over for dinner at Hyman's Seafood.

We leave for St. Augustine, Fl tomorrow for a short trip to visit my dad and Scott's mom. Then we go to Tampa for my cousin Becca's wedding. I'm excited to see my family again, but it is such a strange feeling to be going back to Florida.

The BBQ Mission

We have been in Asheville, NC for a week and have really enjoyed it. When you mention Asheville to most people they say, "You have to go to the Biltmore. It's so pretty. You must go". Being that we are on a budget and the tickets cost about $40.00 a person, I wasn't that crazy about going. But we ended up getting discounted tickets through the RV park that we stayed at, and we decided to check it out. Wow, was it amazing. I would have really missed out by not going. We ended up going two days in a row, because there was so much to see. We toured the enormous house and the beautiful gardens, drove around the estate through the lush forest and stopped at the winery for a tour and free tasting. We had a blast and even made time for a seminar on wine and chocolate pairings, yummy!

We also went to a place called Chimney Rock (elevation 2,280 feet). It was a total tourist trap compared to most of the places we go hiking, but it had beautiful views. The town of Chimney Rock had a great little barbecue place where you could eat right beside the river. I must take a side bar here and mention to you our obsession with barbecue lately. There really isn't good barbecue in West Palm, unless you go to a place in Hope Sound, locals aptly call the Barbecue Nazi. (If you have ever seen the Seinfeld episode with the Soup Nazi, then you know what I'm talking about. If not, never mind, the joke has passed you by.) So it has been our mission to hit up every little local barbecue place we can find, and boy have we conquered that mission. I think we have found a barbecue place in every town we've visited. My Pop from Texas sure would be proud.

Next stop is Charleston, SC and I can't wait. I hear they have great barbecue...

Click here to see all our photos from Asheville, NC

A Relaxing Time in Virginia

We spent the week in Urbanna, Virginia and I don't have too much to report. It was a pretty relaxing week. We checked out Historic Williamsburg, which was neat. We grilled hotdogs and watched the Gator game. I don't really have too much to say about the game either, except...bummer.

It was nice to sit back, read books and relax. Oh, and of course we fit in some kayaking time on the 'Rivah'. (For you Floridians, who aren't on the up and up with the lingo, this is how Virginians pronounce river. I am learning so much on this trip.)

The highlight of the week was when we got to go see some of my old friends, Dawn and Trip, that live in Richmond. They have a beautiful baby girl named Isabel. I wish I had a picture to show, but she went down for a nap before I thought to take out the camera. We sat on their sun porch, ate lunch and talked. What a great afternoon.

After an 8 hour drive, we made it to Asheville, NC. I am really excited to explore this town. Stay tuned...

America the Beautiful

We have friends that vacation at their parents cabin in Maine and they have always talked about how beautiful it is there. They are actually the reason we decided to make it part of our trip and I'm so glad we did. It is beautiful here. Right now it is considered "out of season", but with the leaves changing and it being much less crowded, I think Fall is the perfect time of year to be in Maine.

We have been in Bar Harbor, Maine for a week now and I am a little sad to leave here tomorrow. We have spent most of our time in Acadia National Park and really enjoyed it. We went bike riding through the park along the carriage roads. There are 45 miles of carriage roads throughout the park that are for bikes, pedestrians, and/or horse drawn carriages only. They are really scenic and pass by several lakes and through the mountainous woods. One thing you don't get too much of in Florida are hills. Well, here in Maine there are plenty of them. On the carriage roads we were either riding up or down hill. It took me awhile to figure out the gears on my bike, being that it is used to traveling on flat surfaces. I must also confess that the driver of the bike (me) is also used to traveling on flat surfaces and let's just say my legs were on fire after 11 miles! I went through a mix of emotions on that bike ride. I was either that girl that drives me crazy wining, "I can't make it" to gritting my teeth and saying, "This hill is not going to beat me"! (I know that my friend, who rides bikes all the time, is probably calling me a wimp right about now.)

We also did some hiking while in Acadia. I should call it 'clim-king,' because it was part climbing and part hiking. It was awesome and the views were amazing. We made our lunch beforehand and ate it at the top of Acadia Mountain. It was just so wonderful to sit there and look out at the valley below. It really made me so grateful to live in such a beautiful country. We ended the day with some ice cream at the local Dairy Bar. What a wonderful day!

Of course a trip to Maine wouldn't be complete without some lobster. So we made sure to ask the locals where to go. We ended up at a place called Ruth and Wimpey's. I got lobster, steamers and corn cooked in boiling saltwater, complete with a lobster bib. Yummy

Click here to see all our photos from Bar Harbor, Maine

Canada, eh?

We decided to go over to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. On our way, we stopped at a fruit stand and bought the most delicious apples picked right off the tree. We thought about it later as we were at the border, that bringing fruit into another country probably wasn't the brightest idea, but they never checked our car. They mostly mentioned the bright yellow kayak on the top of our car and what we planned on doing with it. Scott joked that we were going to take it over the falls. Let me just mention that the people they employ at the border aren't so big on jokes and actually on the way back into the states I found my palms getting sweaty as the border patrol interrogated us on what we did while in Canada. I almost blurted out, "Okay we have fruit in the backseat!" But thought better of it.

The next day we were on the road again, heading for Maine. We decided to try and save a little money and stop at a rest stop along the way instead of paying for a campsite. It worked out okay, but those rest stops fill up quick with all the truckers and we ended up at a less than desirable rest stop that was close to the road. The traffic noise was so loud with all the semi-trucks whizzing by at 70 miles per hour. So when we woke up at 6:30am, we weren't surprised that we were groggy. Scott got up and walked the dog and I looked out the window wondering why it was still so dark out. When Scott go back we were getting ready to get in the shower when he noticed that the microwave clock was different. It said 2:30am. Did I make that clear enough, 2:30 IN THE MORNING! Ahhhh! No wonder it was still dark out. (Note to self, make sure the clock is correct before going to bed.) After going back to sleep for a couple of hours, we were on the road and arrived in Maine by afternoon. I can't wait to explore Maine this week!