THE END

Well, after traveling through 24 states and over 11,000 miles in 3 months, we are back at our home base to settle down and prepare for a new school year.   We were truly blessed on this trip over these past three months, and we thank God for it all!  

 

 

 

 

I think the kids get a school credit for "Geography" class!  :)

 

 

Besides spending time with family and friends, I asked the kids what their favorite parts were; and I was surprised at the variety of answers:

College Girl:  Sea World

Eagle Boy:  Naval Academy

Youngest Child:  Grand Canyon and touching BOTH oceans

 

As for me, I particularly enjoyed the stress-free days and just BEING with my hubby and children.  Life is too short, and the youngest kids will be grown up before we know it.       I also asked Mechanic Man what his favorite part of the trip was, and his response was "just making it safely down the bottom of Mesa Verde's long, switchback roads."   That's a true mechanic ... safety first! :)

 

We all agreed that traveling in the motorhome was more enjoyable than sitting in the truck and hauling the house around.   When you think about it, where else can you just hang out on the couch or at the table and be escorted around the country?    It really is the best way to travel.  In fact, we weren’t the only ones doing so … many families were at the various national parks in motorhomes as well.  Many of the ones we noticed were rentals.  In fact, one motto captures it all …

 

  

This journey has reached the end, and we look forward to the plans God has for us in 2016 when we hit the road again as full-time RV'rs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HEADING HOME DELAYS

Heading southward had some exciting moments --- some would consider them to be
stressful, but we know Who is in control and know that whatever happens is an
opportunity to practice our patience and to keep our trust --- whatever happens is for a
reason that is in our best interest!

What were these moments?

When we thought we were making good time, we were part of a humungous traffic jam at the
toll booth before the Delaware Memorial Bridge.  It was literally neck-to-neck, bumper-to-bumper, bottleneck traffic for 10 miles.  We sat in that cluster at the toll booth for 2 HOURS!

This is after we broke free ... don't know why I didn't take pictures during those two hours.  I guess I was in shock, thinking it would move "any minute!"

That wasn't the only bridge incident.  Leaving Maryland took us over another bridge, and there was construction ON the bridge with a flagger who made us STOP when we were at the summit of the bridge!  For a person who doesn't really enjoy crossing bridges, that was a bit unnerving!  ;)


Look how high we were! Where's the land????? 😟

The view was lovely, though!

And ... on the last leg of the journey when all were eager to arrive back to our new home, another incident caused delay.  Again we thought we were making great time but ended up losing an
hour in Denny's waiting for our food, sipping glasses of water away as we patiently waited for our order to arrive.   Shortly after Mechanic Man walked outside to check on things, the kids and I heard loud yelling and fighting -- with dishes clashing -- in the kitchen!   At that point, I figured our meals were on the floor or covered with stuff we DIDN'T order anyway, so the kids and I quickly rushed out the door before things escalated.  Mechanic Man noticed that the Sheriff showed up before we even made it back to our truck.  Even after an hour of sipping all that water, we were STILL hungry!  ;)  So, we trekked on and finally did have lunch elsewhere before finishing the trip to our home state.   The last day always is unusually memorable in some way.  (Two years ago it was at a truck stop!)  LOL

MARYLAND

Heading southward from family towards home always takes us through Maryland.  (For a few years, home WAS Maryland!)  This time, however, we made an intentional stop at Annapolis.  Eagle Boy was interested in visiting the U.S. Naval Academy.

We enjoyed our road trip to Annapolis and experienced  a new bridge that we haven't crossed before.    This most amazing one was 4.3 miles long!  

(Can you see it turn to the right?)

When we FINALLY hit land again, we discovered Sandy Point State Park that has an amazing view of the loooooonnnnng bridge!  We didn't have time to stop and check it out, but we made a note to visit when we vacation longer in Maryland.


We spent two days exploring the "yard" (campus) of the Naval Academy.  We attended Mass on Sunday, had lunch, walked around, and visited the store.  On Monday we took an official tour after spending an hour being "briefed" with several other families on what happens at the Naval Academy and what prospective "midshipmen" should focus on in high school to successfully prepare for acceptance into the Academy.  It was a very enlightening visit.

 

 

The iconic chapel where all denominations worship:

 

INSIDE CHAPEL

 

 

 

 

In the basement of the chapel lies the Father of the U.S. Navy,
 John Paul Jones:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While touring both days, we saw the midshipmen busy with their summer training.

The midshipmen in formation to march to their meals:

 

The midshipmen en route to another activity: 

 

We even saw them doing Physical Training exercises at the campground where we stayed on base! 

 

Eagle Boy plans to be there in five years and now knows after listening to the briefing all the hard work it entails to not only BE there but also to be ACCEPTED there! ;-)

Our time at USNA ended with a visit to the museum. 

 

 

This visit was not only inspiring for Eagle Boy but also reminiscent for Mechanic Man, who devoted twenty years of service to our country with the U.S. Navy. 

Go, Navy!



MAINE - Part 3

A majority of the weather we experienced in Maine was cool and pleasant.   No air conditioners were needed most of the time; and we had our camper windows open at night, making for extremely great sleep!   However, a few days did rise to the “hot” temperatures of upper 80s (*maybe* lower 90s); and we decided to escape even this “sweltering summer heat” by heading to the coast.  ;-)

Since we visited Acadia National Park (the only National Park on the east coast) two years ago when we moved the grandparents up here, we decided to spend the day at a local town nearby:  Bar Harbor.    We walked the shoreline trail, enjoyed the ocean view and smells, and provided the boys the opportunity to hang out & explore the ocean.

Now they can truly state that they traveled from “sea to shining sea” this summer!

  

College Girl hung out up on the trail and took some selfies … while I “photobombed” one!  LOL!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After enjoying the ocean-shore path, we walked around downtown ....

did some shopping .....

took some fun photos with the tourist attractions :-)    ....

and had some ice cream!  (We did NOT try the lobster ice cream, though!)

It was a fun day of fresh air and exercise

as we prepare ourselves to hit the road again towards home. 

MAINE - Part 2

PAUL BUNYAN – Part of Maine History

 Legendary Paul Bunyan has a statue in Bangor.  It is 31’ tall and was one of the largest in the world that is dedicated to him.  

 

 

 

Bangor was considered the lumber capital of the world for much of the 19^th century.  Situated along the Penobscot River, Bangor eventually had 150 sawmills along the river.  It also had a small role in the Revolutionary War in 1779. 

The Paul Bunyan myth was concocted by the lumberjacks who told tales to each other in the woods of Bangor in an area called “Devil’s Half Acre.”   Not sure where that’s located, but it’s one place we don’t plan on visiting!  ;-)

 

MAINE

Half of our time in Maine had passed by just relaxing with the grandparents and NOT traveling.   Cooler weather was embraced, and we focused on family and food.  :) 

Mechanic Man was eager to try the local food again … LOBSTER.  He’s had it before, of course, but Maine’s fresh lobster is raved as the best.  We purchased some freshly caught (and still alive) and took it home for cooking.

This was food for the boys only … the girls around here weren’t interested.  We enjoyed a delicious salad instead!

 ********************************

Well, the time arrived when we were eager to see some of the sights of Maine.  We visited downtown Bangor (the 3^rd largest city in Maine) first to take an educational field trip to the local  science museum .  We weren’t sure what to expect, thinking it might be tailored mostly for the younger kids (and some parts were); but the boys enjoyed checking out the displays and hands-on exhibits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I discovered a local juice/plant-based restaurant that is now my favorite place to eat in Bangor!

 

 

The boys found one that had their favorite food …

 

 

 

Another day, we explored the Orono Bog Walk.   After walking through and enjoying the local flora of the Bangor City Forest for a while in search of the bog walk, we finally found a map that directed us to what we wanted to explore … the boardwalk itself.  

We enjoyed it so much that we plan on visiting it again!  Not only was it an amazing sight to behold, trekking from the wooded biome and crossing over into a peat biome, but we also left one city and entered another!  (Remember our excitement at the Four Corners?!    These invisible yet printed borders are a simple type of joy for me.  LOL!)

 

Our vacation time is approaching its end ... but we will squeeze in a few more things to do before heading home and focusing on preparing for schooling again.  Stay tuned!  :)