Oct 31-Happy Halloween

We rode the subway into Boston again today to see Harvard. Gene tried to enroll at the Philosophy Department, but got sent on his way. We did better on our tour of Fenway Park. The green monster is still green and the seats are SO close to the field that I'd be terrified!

Oct 30-Plimoth Plantation and the Mayflower

I'd been to these two re-creations before, but they're better as an adult. It took us awhile to get the hang of asking our questions so that the "role players" could answer us. Learned a bit more about Wampanoag history and culture than I had before. The Mayflower certainly looked grim, but on a beautiful sunny day like we had, the Colony was lovely! By 1627, the Colony was stable and flourishing. I'd always imagined that the Pilgrims were the only colony for years, but actually many more ships were arriving each year and starting new settlements. They argue a bit around here about who established the FIRST settlement. Plimoth (I know that looks like I've spelled it wrong, but that's right) was the earliest, BRITISH settlement that was continuously inhabited by the originial settlers. I'll check when we get to Jamestown to see what they think...evidently Jamestown was set up solely as an economic venture and the original inhabitants went back to England. There were also French and Spanish settlements around the same time, I believe.

Oct 29-Cape Cod

When I say it was windy, I mean WINDY! We nearly got blown right off the beach by flying sand, but managed to run up and down a bit anyway. Had to carry Elsie as the sand really stung! She's still mad about not getting to swim. Climbed the Pilgrim Monument and it's even windier up there. We were the only tourists that stopped at Ben and Jerry's for ice cream that day. Gene needed chunky-monkey! I'll upload one old photo to welcome Aunt Ann to reading the blog! Hello Ann!

Oct 28-GO COUGS!!!

We have been hunkered down waiting out a storm. Our campground is on Cape Cod Bay and the rain has been blowing sideways. It rained HARD all day yesterday so that we were surrounded by a giant 4 inch deep puddle! Even Elsie didn't want to go outside. The rain stopped EXACTLY at game time, so we were able to cheer on the Cougs. This morning it is sunny and beautiful, although the wind is still gusty. The plan is to drive out to the end of Cape Cod and enjoy the stormy beach.

Oct 26-MMMmmmm good. Boston Baked Beans!

We just finished dinner after a LONG day in Boston. Baked beans (from a can) to go with dinner seemed just right. We rode the "T" into town today from our free parking spot in West Concord. We keep driving right past Concord Academy (one of Catherine's alma mater) every day, but still haven't explored. The train took us to North Station and we managed to wander the city from there. Up Beacon Hill to look at all the old homes, down to the Boston Common only to discover that they put the Swan Boats away for the season! After that disappointment we managed to find the Freedom Trail, a wide red line painted down the sidewalks for the tourists to follow. It was easy from there. We started at the Old Granary Burial Ground--which should have been solemn, but made me laugh more than anything because I remember my Dad trying to convince us that we were descendants of Ben Franklin. He insisted that we have our picture taken in front of Ben's father's monument. Lots of interesting folks buried there once you aren't giggling...including Paul Revere. On to Old City Hall which was beautiful, and Old South Meeting House where lots of important gatherings took place. The Old State House is where the Declaration of Independence was first read, and now the subway goes right under it (which is an odd sensation when the trains pass under). I believe that the Boston Massacre (which WAS in Boston, but wasn't really a massacre) took place on the street outside the front steps. Paul Revere's house is the oldest house in Boston and since he raised 16 children there you wouldn't think it would be in such good shape! Looked pretty authentic to me though, so it was interesting. On to Old North Church where Paul Revere asked the caretaker to hang the lanterns while he snuck across the Charles River to start his ride. It's an impressive church, really called Christ Church, and you can sit in the family boxes and listen to a talk about the big day. We wanted to see the Bunker Hill battlefield so we went speedwalking as it was getting late...across the bridge over the Charles and up the hill. Hustled all the way up to discover that it's under renovation and you can't even get close! Oh, well...back to the "T" station and home to West Concord without a hitch. No Swan Boats, and no Boston Tea Party ship like Mom and I did with the girls. I've got tired feet, but it was a fabulous day.

Oct 25-Concord, the North Bridge, and Battle Road

Back to the story...after the shots in Lexington everyone is all fired up. Patriots from all over the surrounding farms made their way to Concord when they heard the news. Paul Revere and William Dawes met up with Samuel Prescott along the road. They filled him in on the approaching Redcoats and the three rode together toward Concord. Unfortunately, a British patrol caught them--they took Revere into custody, Dawes flees back to Lexington, and Prescott escapes and manages to warn Concord. That was the end of the road for Revere, he was taken back to Boston by the British. The Patriots in Concord knew that they would be outnumbered, so they withdrew from town across the North Bridge and up the hill. Eventually the British regiment of 400 men makes it to Concord and is split up; with some staying in town, some going on to hunt for the armaments, and 96 men guarding the Old North Bridge. The Patriots were watching the town from the hill and saw smoke...so they went to protect the town. Trouble at the bridge. Shots were fired. Two dead Patriots at the west end of the bridge. Two dead Brits at the east end. Emerson immortalized this battle--"the shot heard 'round the world". The bridge is new, but the monuments and statues are really interesting. We played Pooh sticks to lighten the mood! After our feet were tired, we hoped on our bikes and rode Battle Road, which is from Concord back to Lexington (actually all the way back to Boston I suppose). Most of the deaths occured along Battle Road as the Regulars tried to retreat to Boston and the Patriots, whose numbers were growing rapidly, ambushed them constantly. We checked out such lovely spots as "Miriam's Corner" and "Bloody Angle"!

Oct 24-Lexington

Back to the history tour now that the leaves are fading! We began our day at the Minute Man Visitor Center that is between Lexington and Concord. They have a fabulous multi-media show that explains the historical significance of the area. We watched the show with about 75 kids on a school tour. Then off to Lexington. April 1775-the British had occupied Boston under General Gage for more than a year. There were rumors that the patriots had a cache of arms stored in Concord, so Gage sent a British regiment to find and capture them. They were also supposed to find John Hancock and Sam Adams and arrest them for insighting the resistance. Well, you know the story...April 18th, Paul Revere and Sam Dawes took off to warn everyone that the Regulars were coming. First, they got the caretaker at Christ Church (Old North Church) to put two lanterns in the steeple as a signal, then they took off on horseback. They evidently didn't yell "the Redcoats are coming" after all, but they did get the point across! They followed different routes but met up and managed to warn Lexington during the night. Revere and Dawes went on down the road to Concord, and got captured before they made it. At dawn on the 19th the British regulars had marched the sixteen miles from Boston to Lexington. The Patriots were supposedly just standing by, and weren't supposed to shoot unless they had to protect Lexington. The British were under orders not to shoot either. Well, somebody fired...and the British killed eight Patriots and wounded a few more. We checked out Buckman's Tavern, where the Lexington militia gathered that day...but we missed the bullet hole that was supposedly made by a British musket ball during the Battle. We saved the Battle Road and Concord for the next day and drove out to Princeton to see Uncle Phil and Virginia. I had heard that Virginia was a gourmet cook, but she REALLY is! We had a delicious dinner and super time. Uncle Phil even found a video tape he'd made of all of us when we were kids. Meg, Catherine, and Barb(ie) in matching red skirts at Christmas. ALL of us getting pajamas for Christmas--even Uncle Phil, Uncle Bill, and Dad in nightshirts...too funny! We had a wonderful time reminiscing. Hello to everyone from Phil and Virginia!

Oct 23-OOOooooooOOOOOooooo-Salem

I thought Salem might be interesting, witch trials and all. Unfortunately, its a tourist trap. Skip it if you come-unless you're into witches. Gene thought the Salem Maritime National Historic Site was pretty good.

Oct 22-Manchester, NH

After sleeping in and restocking the rig with food (Gene ate everything in sight while I was gone), we headed up to Manchester. I wanted to see the cannonballs at Stark Park that my Dad told me about. Evidently when he was a frat boy at the University of New Hampshire, he stole a ball--and rolled it down the hill. Naughty. I don't know the whole story, but he showed them to me when we were in the east with the kids. Saw the park, the statue of Gen. John Stark, the cannonballs, the house Marie and Grampa Steele lived in, and the Steele Market (now Maple Steet Market). Met the lady that lives in the house and she gave me the labels off a broken record she found in the basement. One is off a recording of Grampa Steele on the radio entitled "The Christian Science Program". The other is Lillian Steele! They are dated 1944. Too bad the record had been broken, but the labels are interesting too. Drove up to see the University of New Hampshire. It's beautiful, small....even looks a bit like WSU only not as hilly. Much greener but the buildings and bell tower reminded us of the Coug campus.

Sept 17-Sunrise at Acadia and the "far east"

Gene speaks!!! Hi . . . wish I wasn't so shy!
I missed Barb so much that on Tuesday morning, 4:30AM, Elsie and I got up and drove back to Acadia NP in the dark and fog to drive to the top of Cadillac Mt. (the highest point in the area) to watch the sun rise over the Atlantic. It was a nippy 36 degrees but 40-50 others were there to witness the start of another day and shoot a lot of pixels. The morning colors of the trees, rocks, leaves, etc. were spectacular. Some coffee to thaw out helped me continue my quest for the unique. After visiting a nearly completed suspension bridge of a different design, I headed up north to Lubec, Maine and out to Quoddy Head Lighthouse (to the actual end of the road!) and the Eastern most point in the USA! I plotted that point on my datastorm map that most have mentioned to show you the spot! After taking some pictures of the Elsie barking her fool head off at a brass bell, we headed back to the coach, ending a long day at about 7PM. The north country of Maine is nothing but trees and lakes. You drive through a tunnel of trees and break out into openings that show off the vastness of this country. All must drive very carefully after dark as collisions with moose are very common up here. Alas, I left Maine to pick up Barbara in Boston without seeing a live moose . . . maybe a good thing!

Oct 16- Straight north

After sending me off to Seattle, Gene took a drive 2 hours further north. I guess he was looking for "the end of the road". Didn't quite make it, but saw some beautiful scenery!

Oct 14 through 21-Never eat lobster stew!

That lobster stew was delicious...but it has haunted me all week. I flew home the next morning (the 14th), from Bangor, to New York, to Dallas, to Seattle...it was REALLY an adventure. Then in the middle of the night the lobster stew came back to haunt me. Must have been food poisoning and it pretty well put the damper on my trip home. I did manage to get to the orthodentist and do a few other errands, but that's about all. Had lunch with Sue and Aunt B, Mom took Laura and I to a silly play called Underpants-with her buddies (Hello Harriet!), and I got to watch Rebecca, Laura, and Mom eat lunch at the WUC. I had fun with everyone I saw, but spent most of my time trying to get my stomach under control. Gene had fun in Maine while he waited for me to get back though, so I'll get him to blog next.

Oct 13-Acadia National Park-Maine

Gene had his first view of the Atlantic Ocean today from the top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park in Maine. Its a lovely park with a rugged coastline and great views. We stopped in Bar Harbor to explore on the way back to the rig, and had a fun dinner at The Harborside Inn. Gene had his first lobster (I had lobster stew) while sitting in the sunshine looking out at the boats in the bay. Perfect spot.

Oct 11-Dinner with Phil

Well, Phil's town may win the contest for most beautiful places to live. Rangely, Maine is small, has lakes all around it, and is full of friendly people. Phil is great. I haven't seen him in years and really enjoyed being with him. We went out to dinner and closed the place down, but in Rangely that means 8:30! Evidently there are moose all around the place, but we never saw any. The leaves are mostly gone here and snow is forecast, but we had a sunny shirt-sleeve weather day. We drove to Bangor on the 12th and the leaves along the way were all yellow and rust colored. I fly out to Seattle early on the 14th so Gene is going to have to learn how to blog while I'm gone. The pictures are of Phil's house and Rangely Lake which is about 1 block away. Not bad!!!!

Monarch Migration!

Catherine sent me a post with the information that we are in the middle of the Monarch butterfly migration. I wondered why Lake Champlain had so many! Thanks Catherine. We're up too high at the moment but after we meet up with cousin Phil we'll get out of the mountains and look for some more.

Oct 10- Old Man of the Mountain

He's gone.

I miss him.

Kinda sad.

Oct 9-Back on the road.

Yeah! They fixed us right up on Monday. Evidently a Cummins engine can be taken down by a Doritos bag...BAKED Doritos by the way! My non-technical explanation is that the bag got sucked up off the road and into the engine compartment and got stuck on the alternator. It stopped (jammed, stuck, ?) the alternator which busted the huge serpentine belt. Who'd a thought! Jerry and Ron, that's the best explanation I can get out of Gene. He kept the bag to prove it. Only $400 which is amazing since nothing on this coach is ever less than $1000. We don't have to pay for the towing, thanks to Monaco Coach Care...and I'll bet it was expensive. They towed us 40 miles with a mighty impressive tow truck. We pulled out ASAP and drove to New Hampshire. Vermont was beautiful, but we'd had enough.

Oct 8- Abandon ship

Not much to do while we're waiting so we just took a Sunday drive in the jeep. Thought you'd like to see a few of the pictures. Hopefully we'll get good news tomorrow.

Oct 7- Oh, no!!!

Well guess what...we were off to see the southern end of Vermont and then move on to New Hampshire when Oh, NO! The alternator light came on because we lost voltage. Gene pulled over immediately on a narrow, windy, two lane road (that's all we've seen in Vermont). He hopped out to see what was up and there was a puddle of antifreeze under the coach with a trail back up the road for about 1/4 mile! We walked back up the road, and at the end of the trail was a "serpentine" belt...which I gather powers the water pump and the alternator. Evidently this isn't a good thing! No telephone service of course (thanks Sprint) so we had to disconnect the jeep and drive back to the previous town. We have something called Coach Care, kind of AAA for motorhomes. They sent us a HUGE towtruck. Kind of exciting in a creepy way to follow your diabled home up the road. They took us back to Burlington, VT--pretty near Ben and Jerry's in case we're stuck awhile. At the moment we're camped at Fleet Pride...waiting for them to open on Monday morning. We're stuck for now, no idea how long. Unfortunately this problem has messed up Sue's visit (she was coming Tuesday) so we've had to postpone her. Sorry about that Sue! We'll get her out to visit after we figure out how to move the rig again!

Oct 6 - The Green Mountains of Vermont

Now THIS is BEAUTIFUL country! We drove around in the jeep all day long. Up and down rolling hills, quaint little towns, TONS of antique and crafts shops (which we avoided), cool old barns and churches. The leaves are a little bit past here but it was gorgeous anyway. Had several short hikes in the woods and a picnic by a stream. Good sandwiches made with smoked turkey that we bought yesterday at Dakin Farms in Ferrisburg, Vermont. They make good stuff! I bought dill pickled brussels sprouts that I thought I should test for Meg...never mind Meg, they are VERY odd. We explored Stowe, and drove up through Smuggler's Notch which is a pretty wild drive. Its a narrow, windy road with huge rocks practically on the road. Good thing we were in the jeep because the rig would never have bent around the rocks. At the moment we're emailing back and forth with Sue as we've finally convinced her to take a few days to fly over and meet us. We're making the final plan right now. It will be great to see a familiar face besides Gene!!!!

Oct 5-Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream

We all walked along Lake Champlain this morning...but no moose. I had my camera ready this time, but the only wildlife I found to photograph was this butterfly. There are quite a few of them flying around the campground, and lots of this purple flower. This afternoon we headed off to Vermont. First stop, Ben and Jerry's. Good tour, better gift shop, great ice cream! I've got a new hat to prove I was there, Gene will have to take a picture of me so you can see it!

Oct 3-The Moose!

We are parked at a beautiful (and deserted) campground on Lake Champlain, Vermont. Elsie and I went out walking while Gene set up the rig, and I came face to face with a huge moose. Seemed huge to me anyway, it even had horns. Luckily Elsie never saw it so I was able to grab her and high-tail it back to the rig. Elsie wasn't on her leash at the time so it was lucky that she was distracted by a squirrel or something. We didn't have the camera so you'll have to take my word for it! B

October 1-Happy Birthday Mom!

Sorry we missed the party, but we were thinking about you. I hope Laura and Hank figured out the eight layer cake! Between rainstorms we explored around Lake Placid and Lake Saranac, NY. The leaves are just beautiful. We're hoping for better weather tomorrow, but our pictures turned out pretty well anyway.