Our last fun stop before going home

Off to Marion, IN to visit with our newly married couple there.  Tyler and Linda are doing really well in Marion and married life seems to make them both shine.  We enjoyed a day at a reenactment of the War of 1812 on the Missisinewa River.  The huge turkey legs were a delicious way to begin our fun.

 We also went on an 8 mile bike ride following the marathon trainer.  Linda has faithfully been biking behind Tyler for over 6 months of training.  What a devoted wife and devoted runner.

 Who says you have to go to Vermont to see beautiful colors.  This tree is on Indiana Wesleyan's campus right where Tyler works.

 Pat was so excited to get to mow Tyler's yard and not have to go site see or find a hotel today.

 Our son the bread baker made us a loaf to take home.....what a delicious treat.  Looking forward to many more fun times with these 2.

We are now home in Dunlap, IL.  still married after a 5 week trip together and still excited about planning our next pandladventure.  Thanks for being a part of our trip.  It was an amazing one that God's Glorious Gifts were shown in so many ways. 

Pennsylvania to Ohio - Heading towards Home

After driving more in the past few days than we have been used to, we travelled to Reading, PA where I was reunited with one of my best heart friends I have had the privilege to know since we were in Kindergarten together in Lexington, IL   Maggie (Kahle) Montgomery,  you are so loved and I am so thankful for our special friendship.                                                                              

Maggie & Ken were wonderful hosts in their lovely home in Reading along with their new puppy, Teddy.

Teddy actually thought we came to visit him.  :)

 Teddy is only 10 months old....he has definitely taken over their empty nested home.  No Pat we are not getting another dog.








After saying our goodbyes in Reading, we had to stop in Hershey, PA.  You could smell the chocolate as you entered the parking lot.  What a fun place to tour and visit.  We took the trolley that explained all the good that Milton Hershey has done for his school for the underprivileged.  I will never feel guilty eating chocolate again.  Thank you Milton...

We then drove 5 hours to get closer to home as Pat has been itching to get that direction.  Ok, 5 weeks is a long time to be away.  But I did have to convince him to slow down and enjoy the last few days that we have planned out.  Look what we enjoyed by slowing down on our bike ride this morning in Zanesville, Ohio.

Ok maybe Pat is just tired of loading and unloading the bikes and stuff in our horribly messy car.  Being vagabonds does get old.  But it still is soooo much fun.  

Pat also saw a groupie bunch of BMW's  and even became more homesick for his little Z3 waiting for him in Dunlap. 

I again reminded him to slow down and not to miss the beauty around him.  The oaks in Ohio are gorgeous right now.  

This is the corporate offices of Longaberger Basket Co.  We were impressed in the quality of this product but not with the people or marketing while there.  The basket fad has sadly decreased and we felt like they are just surviving.  It was fun to see where a lot of my "crap and clutter" (as Pat calls it) came from. though.  

We are now headed to Marion IN to see Tyler and Linda.....more adventures to come from there.  Love to all.....

Experiencing Vermont with our good friends - Jerry & Cindy

OK... I've been really cooperative... and have been taking my turn writing the Blog entry.  But, to be honest... I'm growing less interested in telling everybody what we're doing.  Nothing personal... just getting lazy.

My first inclination was to write one word... "Wow!"   And then post dozens of pictures of the incredible beauty we've seen during our visit to Vermont.  But Lana gave me that look again... so I decided to compromise...  I'll post more pictures... with significantly less commentary.

The Highlight of our Stowe, Vermont visit.... Jerry & Cindy's visit!

So nice of them to make the 10 hour drive to spend a couple of days with us.

A visit to Ben & Jerry's Vermont Headquarters was a necessary part of our time together!












Lots of biking on the Stowe trails!













Finished our last evening around the fire pit roasting marshmallows for s'mores.








Vermont is Beautiful!  Wow!!!!

Still NO Sign of Moose!

 But we did see a camel!  In Vermont????  and added a friend to our dashboard. :)

With love,  P&L

New Hampshire

We sadly left Maine only to be continually blessed with God's Glorious Gifts - GGG's.  We drove down the coast of Maine to Freeport for one last shopping fling in Maine.....LLBean Corporate Offices are located there.  I had to open an LLBean credit card so I could save 15% on all we bought  Pat - again- ended up being the largest buyer.  He found pants that he liked for $6.50 at the LLBean outlet store.  We ended up spending way too long at that town...going from the main store over to the outlet store and back.  VISA is going to be a scary word for us next month.

We then began our drive to New Hampshire driving through the Kancamagus Highway on Rte 112.  It is a National Forest Preserve so we were a bit worried it may be closed down due to our wonderful government not getting along.  Luckily the road was open, but there were no workers to be found.  Only sad signs saying there were no staff there.







What a gorgeous drive.  The trees are at or near their peak, and the colors again are God painted.  We had to stop a lot just to take pics that will never show by camera like we can see it with our own 2 eyes.  Beautiful.....We stopped and took a hike to a lovely waterfall to get a bit of exercise and then continued on to our inn in Holderness.











We are still looking for a Moose...We even went to a dump because someone told us they'd be there.   Not a place you want to go to on vacation let me tell you.  We've decided that there really aren't any....just signs everywhere telling us to look for them and a candid camera somewhere laughing at us as we are searching for one.  We have given up and now are taking pics of fake  Moose instead.  :)

We have enjoyed our Inn here in Holderness a lot.  It is located near Squam Lake, where the movie Golden Pond was filmed.  I loved that movie and always wanted to go visit this area and hear a loon on a lake.  Well....there are no loons here either....just like the Moose.....Fortunately we had seen a Loon in Maine before getting here or I'd really be sad.









We went on an 8 mile bike ride to a lovely covered bridge, and there were quite a few hills to climb.  I am doing better on them but still had to get off and walk the bike up one tough one. I think I slow Patrick down but he has been a great encourager.   We also went on a 2 mile hike to see more waterfalls and gorgeous scenery.  We felt we earned our pub food and ale today for sure plus a homemade cookie or 2 from the Inn.

On to the next stop... BoothBay Harbor, Maine

So the Government has shut down... it seems to me they shut down several years ago.  One of the victims of the most current shut down is Acadia National Park.  On our way out of Bar Harbor on October 1... we saw the barricades at the entrance to the park.  So sad.

Thankful we were able to experience and enjoy it and see it's beauty.  Has to be my favorite National Park.

Quiet, Tranquil, Peaceful, Beautiful.... those are the words that come to mind as we experience BoothBay Harbor, Maine.  We really enjoyed Bar Harbor... but BoothBay Harbor is smaller and more intimate.  No big cruise ships... far fewer tour buses!  This is the time to visit this part of the world.  September... and early October.

Lana and I asked the front desk clerk at the Spruce Pointe Inn for advice on bike riding.  She told us to take the main road into town for just under 2 miles till we get to the footbridge.  When we get to the footbridge... "go into town for a Lobster Roll...just lean your bikes up to the fence.  They'll be fine until you return.  No need for locks?  No need for locks!"  (despite the counsel... we locked them anyway)  :( Sad we're so reluctant to trust people we don't know.)

There are more than 60 Lighthouses in Main.  While she has not said this... I think Lana is secretly finding ways for us to see ALL of them before leaving Maine.  Guys... you know how it goes.  Just as you're about to go asleep, you hear a sweet whisper from the other side of the bed... "Honey, would you mind if we take a little drive to the east to see some new sights tomorrow?  But, if you don't want to... that's OK."  When you are that tired... the last thing you want is an argument... so you say "That would be fine Honey."

One of our "side trips" was to find the "Oreo" cows at Aldermere farms.  While we were parked along the side the road to see the cows... several wild turkeys crossed the road in front of us.  But...NO MOOSE!!!

When making the reservation at the Spruce Pointe Inn, Lana chose a room in the main lodge with a balcony overlooking the bay.  Nothing like sitting in an Adirondack chair, sipping a glass of wine and watching the sun go down!  God is Good!

The Spruce Point Inn offers free boat rides of the surrounding area 4 times a week.  The time Lana and I chose... we were the only ones on the boat!  Our own private island!  :)

After our boat ride, we decided to take a quick bike ride down to the Lobster Wharf to see if any Lobster Boats were unloading.  We were in luck!  Lobster and Crabs!

When we got home... we decided to get in the hot tub... and relax on the loungers overlooking the bay!  Almost 80 degrees on October 2nd!  A rare find in Maine this time of year!

For dinner, we decided to seek out a local pub at the Thistle Inn.  No tables, so we sat at the Bar... and ate with the locals.  We had a great time!  Heard alot of lobster stories.  The guy sitting next to us works on a Lobster boat.  He was born in Chicago, spent most of his life in Arizona and now lives in Maine... caring for his mother.  He loves it here!

On Thursday... we got to seek out an Acrylic Nail Salon!  Exciting! (It's been over 3 weeks... not too bad!)   While we were downtown for the nail appointment... Lana thought we should shop.  "Lots of Sales!!!"  Most of the businesses in this part of Maine (including the Spruce Pointe Inn) shut down for the winter in about 2 weeks.  A quick added note from me (Lana)  Ask Pat how many pairs of shoes he bought on sale today?  He better quit blaming me for all the shopping. :)

Giving Thanks for Good Health, Great Friends and Family, Great Weather... and God's Glorious Creation!

Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park Maine

GGG is all we keep saying here.....God's Great Gifts......His beauty is a gift given for all of us to soak up and to be spiritually uplifted while we live on this earth.....and it is only a taste of what He has in store for us when we get to go to His magnificent sites forever in heaven.

How do we even blog on what we have seen, done, and experienced in the past few days.  First I want to thank all of you who prayed for me as I was not feeling well at all for a couple of days....Usually my head colds at this time of the year go into full fledge bronchial infections.....Praise God....I am feeling great today...and it has not moved to my lungs.  :)
We are almost done with our time here in Bar Harbor Maine.  It is one of the most beautiful areas of the USA that we have ever been too....especially this time of year when God gives you perfect weather.  :)  I am not sure about November when they start getting their average snow fall of 55 inches per season, we may not like it as much.
Driving into Maine crossing the border from Canada we were worried we would get stopped at the border because of having so much stuff in our car not that we had spent too much (although we may have had one too many bottles of wine).  The crossing was a breeze and we were on our way into glory land.  Maine in the Fall is gorgeous and the leaves are near or at their peak right now.  We decided to go on our own moose hunt since we were told there are more moose here than people, and it is mating season.  We drove off into roads we probably should not have been on.....and did we ever find a moose?  NO.....what's up with that.  :)  Oh well.....the other beauty was a blessing to enjoy for sure.

  We did see the Northern most point of the Appalachian trail though.

We arrived at our Inn (no more Marriott for us from now on)  and it is a bit rustic, but clean and quiet.  At least until the tour busses started arriving.  We have now decided that we never want to go on one of those busses with 80 plus until we have to. :)  Breakfast in the mornings is a humorous event listening to them all complain and hack.
Biking has been amazing in Acadia National Park.  President Roosevelt had the foresite to save our lands fortunately...their are carriage roads for bikers/hikers that are wonderful.  The park is indescribable as we think it must be part of God's Garden of Eden.  As we were on our 3rd mile in the park my bike suffered a flat tire....we did not have a spare tube with us and probably wouldn't have known how to change one anyway, so walked back to the car.  God wanted us to walk because it slowed us down to enjoy the park more....we saw the little creations like his turtles and frogs.

We took the bike into town to get fixed and the owner of the bike shop sent us to the best cafe ever....at least I thought it was.  Pat had a lobster roll and hated it....the taste was too fishy even for him....I am so glad I ordered their award winning mac and cheese and a apple cider margarita with sugar and cinnamon on the rim.  Wow....it was so good.  Pat was happier after he ordered the homemade blueberry pie with icecream and whip cream;.  Maine really is known for their blueberry products.

We picked up the bike and went back to the park driving this time and did the 27 mile loop around the park...a must do....we stopped at Jordan Pond House for tea.  They had the best popovers and homemade jam ever.  We had a spot in the garden overlooking one of the 100's of lakes in the park.  We ended the day with a sunset over Cadillac Mountain that was better than this picture portrays.

Yesterday we went out on the water on a catamaran to see the bay, lighthouses, and wildlife.  We saw Martha Stewart's "summer cottage", private cottages that I would call mansions, quaint lighthouses, and the best harbor seals lazing on the rocks.  We about froze on the upper deck of the boat.

We had to eat at Stewmans downtown where they let you pick your lobster, steam them and serve them....Pat decided not to have lobster and had  fish andchips instead.   I, yes I, ordered fried scallops (me the nonfish lover).  They were huge and yummy.  Probably helped that they were fried.  :)  We thought we'd go to the inn for a nap, but when we got there the maid hadn't cleaned yet...so we went on a 12 mile bike ride back at Acadia National Park....It was wonderful and maybe we burned a few french fries off .
We did come back for a nap.  Then went to McKay's Public House where the ambiance is amazing.  We sat outside on the patio with a classical guitarist playing in the back ground.  Another wonderful ending to a wonderful day.

Play....Eat....Bike.....Sleep....repeat.....we love retired life.  (we may run out of money fast though) I hope our friends and family will take us in so we don't have to live under the bridge of Peoria.