Many Miles

These 2 photos are on Route 9 in Maine.

2 full days of travel to get there... 2 full days of travel to get back - so 4 days of our 7 day trip spent on the road. Sigh. It is a long trip. Oh but wait - this time around it was even longer because my truck window got stuck down. Yes it did. 1 garage along the way spent 2.5 hours trying to at least get it up for me, but no such luck. Finally they taped heavy clear plastic over it and then I had to listen to that thing snap and crackle for miles and miles at highway speeds. And then spent a good part of another day getting it fixed at the Chevy dealership... needed a new switch. And 1/2 of another day at another garage waiting on Big Boy (our RV). Except turns out that Big Boy needs a pretty major brake job so we ended up leaving him at the garage for a bit.

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A few trip observations...

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*Boston at 5 pm on a Friday is a bit congested. I don't mind driving in traffic (although I prefer to avoid it) and if I give LB the camera - it keeps him entertained! He captured some great images this time around (OK, so I had to delete a ton, but you got to take lots of photos to get a few good ones). Proof that he is the photographer - check out the mirror shot! I just love that bridge - isn't it beautiful?! Oh - tunnel and bridge photos NOT taken at 5 pm - no traffic in those photos. The 1st photo would be the 5 pm shot.

*Pizza Hut has a great personal pan pizza meal for something like $6.99 that includes salad bar and drink - cheaper than drive thrus!

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*Why is part of 295 in Maine closed in the summer??? That is just plain crazy.

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*Route 9 in Maine has about 20 miles of US flags on every other telephone pole. That's alot of flags!

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*Maine is a popular family vacation spot - on a Saturday the road is FULL of pop-up campers, cars with many bikes, kayaks, canoes. Fun to see!

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*The bad news is that all the hotels in Augusta and Waterville practically DOUBLE their prices for the next few weeks - it is summer camp time and lots of parents coming and going to drop-off/pick-up kids. The hotels are taking advantage of it to the max - even the dumpy little dive-y hotels are outrageous (I won't stay at a hotel with exterior doors anyway, so it is a little bit beside the point, but still)! We drove and drove and drove on the way north - all the way past Bangor before we got to a nice hotel with reasonable rates. Bangor was full because of a Bingo tournament - lots of tour buses from Canada.
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*The service plazas in Maine have nice restrooms, but horribly overpriced fast-food places - and NO picnic tables. The state information centers have great picnic tables which were loaded up with the families that plan ahead - toting coolers. Little Boy and I picnic the 1st day (while the food is still fresh/cool) and eat out the 2nd day on our trips. See Pizza Hut note!

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*Mass. has got to be one of the worst states ever for lack of rest areas with bathrooms. I already know this so plan ahead, but I just had to get my little complaint in here.

All this for a bit of family visiting time. And a bit of cleaning, shopping and cooking for my Dad. Oh, right and all that garage stuff too. But it is always good to see family and we had a good visit.

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Oh wait - that JFK guy isn't a part of our family, LOL!

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And we did squeeze in a bit of shopping too - so got some items crossed off our list! We were lucky enough to even hit Marden's for a bit of fabric!

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And, while the tomatoes and plants are certainly looking GREAT on Cape Cod - poor LB was sneezing and wheezing as soon as we hit Bangor and had to take allergy medicine the entire time. Plus - the bugs just ate him alive. He is covered in welts and despite wearing a hat most of the time - even has scabs on his scalp. Poor thing. He is one happy boy to be back home to our colder Northern climate... over 90 degrees on the Cape and a mere 60 along the Fundy Shore. All our fog probably does wonders for his allergies, who is to say? But, he is definately much better here. Thankfully. Although - our tomatoes are certainly pathetic because of the climate, but you can't have everything. Guess I can always buy my tomatoes at the store if it means my son can breathe better.

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And at the end of every journey, everyone should be so lucky as to have a rainbow waiting for them (not to mention a happy husband!) About that rainbow - let's just say it is a good thing that I got the windshield wiper blade replaced before heading back. It rained off and on from Portsmouth, NH all the way north, phew.

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I'm happy to be back. Did I mention, I am HAPPY to be back. Oh yes, I am very happy to be back. Today - I have plans to do very little!