Monday, June 28, 2010

Day 3

This is what I was afraid of. Pouring. Sigh...on to Canada anyway.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

vacation, day two...

this was a loooooooonnnnnnnnng drive.  partially because of actual mileage, and partially because we had to stop 52 different times...either to go potty, get a snack, stretch our legs....the day seemed endless...but it has ended.  thank the lord.  here are some highlights.


This picture is in front of LL Bean in Freeport.  We got a little turned around in Portland, so it took us a little extra time to get on the road, and they were already a little mental by the time we hit Freeport, so I used it as an excuse to go. 
In the previous post, you saw the picture I sent from my phone, because at that point (I can't remember exactly where we were) they were SUPER mental, and I made them run laps around the car and do jumping jacks.  Finally, we made it into Machias, and we went straight to do what would be the least fun event of the trip.  We went straight out to the cemetary that my parents are buried in...so here's a shout out to Jack and Edna.  I miss you always.  Now, at the exact same time, I have to give a shout out to the very same crazy kids that I was mentioning before, because as I sat next to this very gravestone, they sat with me and held my hand and rubbed my back as I cried.  A wise friend I have told me that this trip might make me stronger than I ever could have known, and maybe that's true, but I thank my lucky stars they were with me.  So to my crazies...I love you.  (these next pictures are from the long ride up, when they were a little punchy)


Next order of business...Jasper Beach.  Had to drive by the old house, and to say that its in ruins would be an understatement.  Even my old apple tree is gone.  Losers.  But, I digress....Jasper Beach. 


We kept driving down that road, because I wanted to see if we could get to Starboard, but it sort of looked like someone's yard, so we turned around, but got this shot...Ave took it.

Cool shot, huh?

Then on the way back, we stopped at Fort O'Brien...Google it and you can see the historical significance in a war or two, I believe...

And last but not least for today, this last shot is outside our hotel.  We had a lovely dinner at Helen's complete with fish and chips and pie.  Hooray.  More tomorrow....

We had to stop for them to get

Some energy out...they ran laps around the car and did jumping jacks...onward

Saturday, June 26, 2010

One more pic from day one...

Vacation...day one

This is a journey we are on.  Its an 8 or 9 hour trek to the homeland and me+ave+jack+9 hours in the car at once=disaster.  So we are splitting the trip up into 2 days.  Currently, we are in South Portland in an extremely lame Days Inn near the equally lame Maine Mall.  However, one mom's lame, is a kids perfectly awesome.  Pool?  Check.  Vending machines?  Check.  Cable?  Check.  That's all they care about.   We stopped at the Kittery Trading Post, and I managed to find my way back to a beach in Wells that I hadn't been to in easily 12 years...
First...this was at 6:53 in the morning.  That is the closest to the Jack Griswold school of travel that we could get to...plus since we weren't going the whole way to Machias today anyway, if we left at 3:00am, we would have gotten to Portland about 6:30 am and THEN what the heck would we have done?  So this worked....

Then...Kittery Trading Post: 
Then...Wells.  Can I just say that I specifically went to this beach because there was a takeout place I used to go to that has FANTASTIC fish and chips, and I really, really wanted some...and we got there and THEY WERE OUT.  I'm sorry, what?  Out?  And then one of the ladies was mean to us.  Sigh.  Here's the beach:


Then we made our way to the lovely city of South Portland, where we are currently settled in for the night.  Here's the kids at the pool...(ps.  we came all the way to Maine and ate at....On the Border)

More tomorrow. Pray for sunshine.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

I have just learned how to post to the blog from my phone. This opens up a whole new world to me. Here are a couple pics of the kids.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

This is how Jack feels about Manny Ramirez
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry