It took us three years before we finally made it up to Bar Harbor, Maine. Acadia National Park outside of Bar Harbor has been compared to the Pacific Northwest and we have been wanting to get up there since we moved. It’s a long drive so the timing never worked until this past weekend and boy was it worth the wait! We drove into town on Saturday morning and proceeded out onto the sand bar that connects the mainland to the small, Bar Island. After grazing the bar for some incredible rocks and throwing out Geology 100 knowledge, we climbed the summit of the island to look back at the harbor. The fog had rolled in and we could barely see across! It really did remind us of the San Juan Islands. We poked around town a bit before grabbing dinner and sampling some of the local brews. Sometime in the middle of the night, we awoke to the thunderous rain pelting our tent. We pondered what we might do the next day if it rained yet, the morning brought blue skies and sun! We rented bikes and rode the old gravel carriage roads that circle the park and award some beautiful views along the way. We made it to Jordan’s Pond House to enjoy the famous popovers. They were amazing. However, as we were enjoying our 3rd popover…the clouds were rolling in. As we went to mount our bikes, the sky opened up and started dumping buckets. The island has a free shuttle that stops at all of the trailheads and the restaurant so we were able to put our bikes on and get a dry ride to town. Unfortunately, that was after we couldn’t make the first one and waited for a half hour in the rain. Then of course, we had to actually get the bikes back to the rental place. There was no avoiding the fact that we were utterly soaked to the bone. So what do you do in Bar Harbor durring torrential downpour? We took the free brewery shuttle to try the local flavor. We arrived back to town just in time for a walk around the point and marvel at the way the weather kept changing on us…the blue sky was back and people were streaming outside to enjoy it before it left us again. We ended this fantastic Sunday with a drive to the highest point in the park to watch the sunset, which was nothing short of awesome. Finally, Monday we were able to make it out and hike. We made it up the face of Champlain Mountain and hiked over various peakes with sweeping views of mountains and ocean on all sides. How many more times can I say awesome? Magnificent? Stunning? We were awestruck. There is nothing like being on top of a mountain that makes you feel like you can just reach out and touch heaven.
We went to Acadia with high hopes of camping, biking and hiking. We did manage to squeeze those things in, between dodging giant raindrops and searching for sunscreen all weekend. We read in our Acadia book that “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.” We found this to be very true. Even though we may not have gotten to do as many hikes as we had planned and whale watching was cancelled all weekend, we were thoroughly satisfied with our trip. We felt like everything worked out to do just the things we did and we left with some incredible pictures, which are posted on the photos page. Below is my favorite shot of the trip.
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A few weeks ago, we took a Sunday ride out to Lexington to view the famous Green. This was the first bloodshed of the Revolutionary War. The bikepath out there was nicely shaded and took us past some very nice neighborhoods. I felt for a sweet, nostalgic moment that I was still 7 years old on the Burke Gilman Trail back in Washington. We took in the historic sites of Lexington, pondering what it must have been like to really see the battle. The homes around the park have remained, with plaques stating the witnesses who lived and watched the fighting occur. One woman’s husband was wounded and dragged himself to their doorstep as she watched him die right in front of her! It brought tears to my eyes, thinking of the generations of men and women who have fought for our freedom. Over the span of centuries, they are connected by the same desire to serve this country. God Bless America! (p.s. although the photos links say Washington DC, they really are in Massachusetts but I filed them in the wrong folder!)
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After that rant, here is the real update of life here in Boston. School ended in June and I headed down to Washington DC for a couple days with my sister. Then I flew on to Florida where Tyson met me and we spent a few days there while my mom was in town. What a great time we had with all of my cousins and aunts and uncles. For me, it really put into perspective what life could be like if we were not thousands of miles away from family. We saw 2 Red Sox games at the Tropicana Dome where the Rays were none to happy to see u.s. They won so they can’t complain too much. Tyson visited Duke University in June and checked out their business school. We spent the 4th of July on river watching the best fireworks to date, in my opinion. We spent Ty’s big 26th birthday kayaking on the Charles then this weekend we will be camping in Maine. It’s been a busy summer of traveling for us but of course, we love it. I am feeling good about my first summer vacation and enjoying time on the deck tending to my tomatoes. Tyson is biking to work regularly and we’re both feeling pretty active and healthy. His finger is almost better and very close to fitting the wedding ring back on. Yeah! Bryan came from Sea-town to visit us last week and we showed him our home brew skills and took him to Maine for lobstah. Boy we love it up there! That’s us in a nutshell for now…I’ve put all of the photo updates on the photos page.
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I am editing this post so as not to further offend anyone who checks in on us. However, the responses I received were still not from family so I think my frustration remains.
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There is nothing like spending time near the ocean. The smells and the sound of the waves almost slows down time for me. We spent the last few days of my Spring Break in Kennebunkport, ME which is a quick drive up through New Hampshire and into Maine. It’s an easy New England adventure that can be done in a day but we really wanted to get away. We took our bikes and rode around, ate some seafood (it’s not lobster season yet though), poked around the shops, bought our traditional souvenir Christmas ornament and took a long slow drive along the coast while eating our salt water taffy. It was a pretty typical Bed and Breakfast weekend for us; slow and relaxing! All of our pictures are on the photos page. Enjoy!
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The Boston Marathon is sort of the unofficial first day of spring in Boston, even though the real official day is a couple weeks earlier. I think it’s due to the fact that it could and has snowed up until now on many occasions so we hold off on the springtime celebrations until we’re certain it’s here to stay. I guess there’s nothing like watching 25,000 people cross a finish line to celebrate the sunshine right!? I would at least hope it motivated me to run a bit more to be in shape for the following season…but I don’t usually panic about that until I actually have to put on a pair of shorts. By then it’s too late.
This year we made it downtown to the finish line to watch the incredible elite runners finish in ridiculous times like 2 hours, give or take. We spent hours, mesmerized by the commitment and endurance of the runners. It’s amazing how easy it is to watch people run. There were some dicey moments though - a couple stretchers zoomed by, we had some people pass out as well as do the cramped calf thing just yards from the end. One girl fell backwards and that was scary but a very nice man dragged her along so she could finish. The pictures say it all. And if you’re wondering who that is on the cover of the album…yes, it’s Lance Armstrong. Live Strong! He looked very snazzy in his yellow. Now that I feel inadequate compared to all of the people who accomplished something great yesterday, I’d better go for a run!
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Spring in Boston is a much-anticipated event. Every week of winter that goes by, Bostonians grumble more and more. However, the day the sun begins to shine, people everywhere emerge with a glow of happiness! At school last week, teachers were eating outside, kids were playing without jackets and all over the building women were wearing open-toed shoes (the quintessential sign of spring)! Today I am doing one of my favorite springtime activities which consists of the time old switch of the winter sweaters for the short sleeves and pink colors. Hooray! Spring officially arrived before my spring break, allowing me to spend my first day on our deck drinking a smoothie and reading in the sunshine. Everything about Spring in Boston is exciting: Red Sox season begins, it no longer gets dark at 4:00, the evenings stay warm, Sam Adams begins brewing my favorite summer ale, the trees on the Common turn white and the swans come back to the Public Garden. Gotta love this town!
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Our sister Tabitha Puetz got engaged last night! We are so proud of Tabi and Chris and their journey together. We pray that this engagement will be a blessed time of planning and growing as a couple. Congratulations! We can’t wait!!
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Congratulations Troy & Amy on your
beautiful daughter!
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In the picture below, Jeff Green is probably getting burned by Paul Piece. We were too far away to actually see the game, but it happened so often that I can almost guarantee that that is what is happening. Unless it was late in the first quarter or later because the Celtics were playing their scrubs like Brian Scalabrine due to the 40 point lead.
Regardless, it was fun to get to see Kevin Durant and the Sonics play in Boston. The Garden is a good place to see a game. Kelly and I had a great time.
We are looking forward to seeing Kevin Durant as an OKC Okie Dokie next year. Thanks Clay Bennett.
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