Road Trip, Volume 4

It's been over 2 weeks and 3,000 miles and it's not over yet!

We had a lovely time in Massachusetts with The Big Guy's sister. Whenever we weren't doing something else The May Queen would grab one or more of us to play Uno with her. She also was rather taken with the dogs, although I'm not sure the feeling was entirely mutual. Picking blackberries in her Aunt's backyard was also a treat.

We took a few day trips - one up to York Beach in Maine where we went to a fun amusement park/zoo combo where we rode an elephant and a paddle boat, eyed the beach from the ferris wheel and enjoyed other carnival rides and animal viewing (the animals were really active, with lots of babies, so it was quite fun!)

Afterwards we ducked over to the beach so The May Queen could get into the Atlantic for the first time. It was so cold it was like icicles were stabbing us in the feet! She loved to stand still and "shrink" as the waves in and out pulled the sand out from under our feet and we sank lower and lower. We also built a sandcastle, a new home for a hermit crab we found, before heading back.

The next day we went into Vermont and canoed the Connecticut River. Alas, no pictures, but it was a nice morning in the Green Mountain State. We enjoyed our lunch in town, where it seemed every other store was a bookstore, but I missed my chance to go into the store that was named "Save the Corporations from Themselves" due to stopping to watch a little excitement with firetrucks.

We went into New Hampshire several times to visit with an old friend of The Big Guy's from when he lived and worked there. As we drove to the restaurant where they drank many a sangria together in times past MQ asked where we were going. "Down memory lane," I replied. I received a sideways glare. But I spoke the truth.

On the way out of Massachusetts we stopped at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, which was fun, and MQ enjoyed making her own tissue paper art. This may be the only picture I have ever taken in a public bathroom, but we loved all the animal tiles and enjoyed remembering which book they were from.

We stopped in Philly to visit again with friends there before heading south to drop The Big Guy off at camp with a group from church tomorrow. We girls will continue on to visit with more family in South Carolina. In some ways it's hard being so spread out from our family and friends, but it sure makes for fun vacations!

A few of the states we've visited since my last update: