It's all south from here...

Well, we've covered quite a bit of ground the past two days. After our trek from Vermont to the New Hampshire coast and a restful night at the Motel 6, we were on our way to Maine. We began the morning with a walk around Portsmouth, the home of my hopefully future sister-in-law Bre. It was absolutely adorable! There were so many wonderful old buildings converted into quaint little shops and restaurants. During our walk we scoped out the real estate for our future weekend home (yeah right), and settled on a nice one for $897,000. Hopefully we'll hit the lottery sometime soon:).

After our walk, we hit the road, only to drive around aimlessly for a half hour as we tried to move northward. Once on the right road, we were instantly in Maine and driving through some very beautiful coastal towns. I think I decided in the first half hour that we have to come back to Maine to vacation sometime. We continued up the coast until Kinnebunkport, then hit the main highway to fasttrack it to Acadia National Park. On the road, Tim called around to find us a place to stay. While many hotels were in our range, we hadn't ruled out camping yet and Tim found a place the was open to tent campers for two more nights. He actually stayed at this campground when we was a kid on vacation with his family. Before booking there, I put a call into my dad and Allison to check the weather online... I didn't want to be stuck outside all night in ~30 degree weather. Well, the verdict came back with a low of 49 degrees, so we strolled into the campground, staked our spot, and hit the road to Acadia.

We made a short drive through Acadia to get the lay of the land before our real trek through the next morning. After the drive, we headed into Bar Harbor for some grub. We made a quick jaunt around town picking up a birthday present for Tim's brother Nathan and a patch for Tim's endless patch collection. From there, we ended up at Chowdah's per the campsite lady's recommendation. It was my first time in Maine, and by golly, we needed a lobster dinner! We ordered a large lobster dinner and two cups of chowder. Everything was very good and I enjoyed my first lobster very much.

From there we cranked the heat so I could soak it all up before camping in the frigid air.. I know, I'm a wuss. Camping went well. I was definitely warm enough in my two pairs of sweatpants and sweatshirt and coat:). We got up bright and early the next morning and were on the road at 7:15!

Acadia was absolutely beautiful. We took the Park Loop Road around the island, stopping at the roadside pull-offs to peer over cliffs and down trails. We also stopped at Jordan Lake and walked three miles around it. Everything was very beautiful with the reds, oranges and yellows of the leaves blanketing every turn. We ended our trip to the park with pepperoni and cheese sandwiches... bleh.

The rest of the day was spent driving to Andover. NH where we are spending the night with our friends Cindy and Benny Benson, Allison's house parents from her boarding school. They cooked us a fabulous dinner of grilled chicken, potato salad, green salad, and fresh bread. And to end the meal... ice cream with Cindy's famous hot fudge sauce! Needless to say, we're stuffed and feeling very content. The evening was further enhanced by Cindy's granddaughter Clara, who is absolutely adorable. She set the table, cleared it, and overall was very entertaining all night. The rest of the evening has been spent chatting and listening to the debate.

And for tomorrow... we're off to Boston, Cape Cod, and then to spend the night in Rhode Island! Oh, and the highlight of the day? Passing Sarah Palin and the Straight Talk Express on the highway in New Hampshire:)

Who knew Whirled Peace could be so sweet?

OK, so we've been a little out of range lately. For some reason I wasn't picking up wifi in the tent last night:)

Well, we headed to the Adirondacks yesterday morning after church with the Lawrences. It was four hours of beautiful leaves as we climbed the mountains into the Adirondacks. We stopped by the Adirondacks Museum for a patch to add to Tim's collection, a bathroom break, and to sit on this enormous chair! At first there were many tourist trap towns on the way, but after Old Forge, we passed through many quaint towns bordering little lakes. It is amazing that people can live out in the woods, where there really weren't many things I consider staples in everyday life.. like grocery stores and gas stations. It did make me think of a simpler way of life though, which is always appealing. I'm not sure I could be a mountain woman though:).

We were planning on staying in Lake Placid for the night, but all the campgrounds I called were booked or never answered. I was definitely getting a little worried as the sun began to set, but we found a KOA on the GPS and began to head that way. About an mile before we got there, we found a small state campground called Wilmington Notch and pulled off there. A nice park ranger checked us in and gave us a site close to the bathroom. It had been awhile since I'd camped, and I wondered if my skills would come back.. and they did! We quickly pitched the tent and Tim built a very nice fire. We fried up a bag of wontons that we'd be saving a bit too long, but they still tasted pretty good, remarkably. I think we've just about used up the weird food from the house:)

This morning, we woke up early.. probably partly due to not having the best night's sleep. We packed things up and by 8:15 we were on the road. We drove through many more quaint towns as we made our way to Vermont. Once in Vermont, it was an immediate change of scenery. Farms started popping up everywhere. The stereotype of Vermont as a dairy state was validated.. at least until we hit the mountains. We made our way through the Green Mountains and made a stop in Ripton, the home of Robert Frost. I had remembered there being a park devoted to him last time I drove through Vermont with Allison. It has always been on my mind to stop, so we purposely put Ripton on our stop. Ripton is a tiny town, but is said to have given Frost much of the inspiration for his poetry. Ever since I wrote my junior research paper on Frost, I have had a special admiration for his poetry. Sooo.. we found the park and stopped. We read about the park and started down the one mile loop. I'm not sure if it's just the time of year.. but the land chosen for the park was not very picturesque. I felt a little bad not being able to give vision to the poems posted along the trail, but still enjoyed reading his work again. The real disappointment was that 3/4 of the trail was closed due to flooding. I did get to read my favorite poem though, "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening," so I was happy.

From the park, we journeyed on to possibly the highlight of the day, the Ben & Jerry's Factory! We took a tour through the factory and saw the famous ice cream being made. We even got to sample "Chocolate Therapy" which was amazing. After our free samples, we waited in line for about a half hour more to get more ice cream. This time, we got Imagine Whirled Peace, a combination of vanilla ice cream, chocolate peace signs, and a toffee swirl. Kinda cheesy, but really good!

From Ben & Jerry's, we hit up the Cabot Cheese store and the Apple Cider Factory. So basically we ate our way through Vermont:). We hopped on the highway towards Maine.. but auto-programmed the GPS, which took a different way than we wanted, and by the time we found out, we were too far off track. Sooo... we are in Portsmouth, NH tonight. We're camping out at the Motel 6, which is pretty nice. Tomorrow morning, we will cover both the New Hampshire and Maine coasts, to spend tomorrow night in Acadia National Park. Stay tuned to see if that's what we actually end up doing:)

Beers, lamps, and locks... oh, and a castle.

Well, today has been all over the board as far as things we've seen. We had a leisurely morning with the Lawrences with some wonderful breakfast. We then made our way to Utica to the Matt Brewing Company, which brews Saranac beer. The brewery building itself was very neat.. with all of the original architecture and decor. The tour was very informative. One highlight was a stop by the the "Prohibition Room" which had a very thick door and a peephole requiring a password to enter. Little known fact.. Matt Brewing Company was the first brewery to get their alcohol permit after Prohibition was repealed.. actually just 60 minutes after it was repealed! And imagine this, they had beer that afternoon... a process that requires 90 days! Amazing how fast you can brew that beer when it's legal, right?:)
The end of our tour left us at the tavern where we had coupons for beverages. Matt, Calin, and Tim enjoyed various stouts and ales, while I enjoyed the root beer and shirley temple beverages which were very good. Hey, I'm a sport for a beer tour, but in the end, I'm happier with soda:) Now if it was a wine cooler tour... Here is a picture of us and some of our overzealous tour compatriots in the tavern.
After the brewery tour, we journeyed on to a Tiffany lamp store. Matt's parents have some beautiful Tiffany style lamps in their home and I wanted to check them out... possibly to make a purchase for our new home. While they were very beautiful, I had to hold onto my wallet... looks like I'll be saving for some time for one of those babies!
From the lamp store, we drove on to Herkimer to a tourist information center and shop.. quite a bit of stuff there and some wonderful local jellies and sauces for the sampling. From Herkimer we went on to Little Falls where we walked out onto an island that had been formed by the creation of a lock on the Erie Canal. I didn't know what a lock was, but quickly came to understand it, especially when we got to see a boat go through. A lock exists to take a boat from a high part of the canal to a lower part and vice versa. The lock we saw, Lock 17, existed to bypass a waterfall, which boats could not pass by otherwise. The lock itself was like a huge trough that a boat can pull into, then a big door lowers behind the boat, closing it into the big trough. Then some underwater pipes open up from the higher part of the canal and water is pumped in, gradually bringing the boat all the way up to the surface. When the water level is the same as the higher part of the canal, another door opens and the boat motors on through. It's pretty interesting. I'm not sure if it's the most efficient way of doing things, but this method has been around a long time, and it is pretty neat that they can still do it. Seeing the pictures might make it a little easier to understand.
To end our evening, we went out to dinner at Beardslee Castle, where Matt and Calin had their wedding reception three years ago. The original castle was built in 1781, but it has burned a few times. It is now a restaurant and event facility. We dined in a nice open room with stone arches everywhere and big windows surrounding us as well. The food was excellent - Tim getting shrimp and scallions and me getting the prime rib. We definitely left satisfied. I go to bed a full and tired woman tonight:)

It's just us and the old people.

We've noticed on our travels that we are largely outnumbered by, we'll say "more mature" people. I guess this has to do with taking our trip after school has started for most younger people, or people with responsibility:) We can't complain though, these "mature" people are probably more fun to talk to than our younger counterparts.

I made the "old people" comment as we began our day at Watkins Glen State Park. This was Tim and my third time to go to Watkins Glen together, and I never get tired of the view. It is almost mystical the way the rocks have been carved out by the water. It is especially beautiful with the orange leaves everywhere. We hiked from the bottom to the top and back, which is about 1.5 miles, I believe. It's a good hike, except for the last 100 steps, which are straight up.. what a killer! This was nothing we soon came to find out though.
Our next stop was Robert H. Treman Park outside of Utica. It was such a beautiful drive there, winding up and down through the red, orange, and yellow hills. We couldn' tell much from the park when we pulled in, we just knew we'd see a big waterfall at some point. Well, this hike wastes no time breaking you in... they start with the intense, straight up climbing right from the parking lot. It makes the rest of the hike seem not as bad, I guess. I have come to realize that my physical shape has digressed much from my high school years... sigh. I'm hoping this trip will get me back into shape. My only solace along this hike was the mile markers every quarter or half mile. I kept hoping they would say we'd walked a whole mile, but no. We did eventually reach the falls, and it was very pretty. It was called Lucifer Falls.. which began to make sense. We finished the rest of the hike up and then tried to book it back, with Tim even starting to get sore (it's not just me!). All in all we walked 7 miles today!

After our hike, we hit the road again, taking Hwy 13 and then Hwy 20 through many small towns on our way to Ilion, just outside of Utica. We got in to Ilion around 8:00 and met up with our friends Matt and Calin from Rochester. Matt is from Ilion and his family is graciously hosting us for two nights. Matt and Calin are also graciously sleeping on the pull-out bed - what friends! Today, we will be doing a tour at the Saranac Brewery, should be fun!

Glass making and wine tasting.

Well, second day of freedom... and we couldn't sleep past 8, is that sad or what?? We did lounge a bit and by 10 were on the road to The Corning Museum of Glass. The museum was so much bigger than I had expected. The city of Corning is a huge glass maker in the country.. i.e. Corningware. We got to watch glass blowing, glass breaking, and flameworking. The glass blowers made a bowl and a vase. It is crazy how hot the glass is that they work with.. over 1000 degrees! And they don't even wear gloves!
Glass breaking was interesting as there are several different types of glass. The kind in our car windshield is actually two sheets of glass with a thin layer of plastic in between which holds the glass together if it breaks. The glass on the side windows is tempered glass, which isgla ss cooled quickly, therefore under a lot of stress. When that glass breaks, it totally shatters.. so if you have to escape from your car, it is easier. Pretty smart, huh?
Lastly, we saw a flameworker who basically sat behind a blowtorch and molded two tubes of glass into a simple bird, and then a very intricate moose. Muy impressivo!
There are a so many types of glass and so many neat processes that they have gone through over the years. I definitely have a greater appreciation for the glass I use every day!
After our time at the museum, we journeyed on to nearby Keuka Lake. We missed our turn, but took another route along the shore, which was beautiful. After driving up a steep, gravel at times, "seasonal" road, we made our way to the Winery of Dr. Konstantin Frank. This man was a European immigrant, a doctor of viticulture, and pioneered the introduction to European grapes to the Northeastern US. All this is to say.. this man knew what he was doing and his wine was great:). He also knew where to build his place. How about that view?:)
To end our evening, we retired to our humble abode, Glenora:) We pulled out our camping stove and made steaks on the porch... can't beat that!

Wendy's twice in one day

Yep. You know it's not going to be a great day when lunch and dinner are at Wendy's. Well, today we packed it all up and shipped it to Texas. From 7 to 3:30 we taped up the final boxes and cleaned rooms as they were vacated so we could send the vacuum cleaner on with the movers. From 3:30 to 5 we finished the cleaning, and from 5 to 6 we turned in the cable box, dropped off stuff at Goodwill, and replaced our final light bulb. From 6-7 we said goodbye to neighbors. At 7 we dropped my car off at the airport for my mom and her friend Gayle to drive back to Texas for us (thanks guys!), and at 7:30 we found ourselves back at Wendy's. Yum.
After an hour and a half on the road, we have arrived at our first road trip destination - The Inn at Glenora. We are in the room on the far left in the picture, and the room shot is an exact mirror of ours - wow luxury:) A big thank you goes out to Tim's aunts, uncles, and cousins for their gift certificate that made this possible. We just booked the room last week and all they had left was the nicest suite.. darn! We were greeted with glasses of champagne as we checked in to our huge room complete with fireplace, jacuzzi and bottle of wine. I only wish there was... oh wait, this is perfect:).
Tomorrow we are headed off to Corning to check out the Museum of Glass. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to add to our daily blog. Tim and I were so exhausted after this crazy week.. and it is almost surreal being finally on the road. I'm sure the excitement will take hold tomorrow:)

Moving to Texas

Well, the word is officially out - we're moving to Texas. Tim will be taking a job with MustangCAT, the Caterpillar dealership for Southeast Texas. He will be an Industrial Engineer, trained in the Six Sigma program to be a black belt. Most people get confused when you mention blackbelt and think he's working security.. but for those of you who don't know, it's a nationally reknowned program that trains employees how to better streamline processes and save money.

Tim is excited, though a little sad to be leaving his software development field and his company. I am also sad to leave because I love my job and every day here is a great day typically. I know something great will be in store for me in Texas though. I already have leads on a few jobs and I haven't even started looking, which is nice.

We're in the middle of trying to sell our house right now, which can be a little nerve-racking. This isn't the best time to sell a house unfortunately. We have had a handful of people pass through, one bad offer.. and hopefully a good one in the future:). We will be leaving Rochester in the beginning of October regardless of if the house is sold yet. We will leave our things (besides clothes) until we have a contract.

...and when we leave, we'll be going on a road trip for a month! We're thinking about traveling the East Coast, which neither of us has done before. I know we'd like to see more of New York and go up to Maine before making our way down. We have a lot of friends we want to visit along the way too. I can't wait! So, here is the big update on our lives:).