Getting Out Of Harms Way

This morning we will be heading out of Charleston,South Carolina as Hurricane Sandy approaches. We will be somewhere in the vicinity of Talahassee, Florida this evening, then we plan on staying just north of New Orleans for a couple of days. When we came through Louisiana in 2008, New Orleans was being evacuated due to Hurricane Ike.
We've been in Charleston since Monday. The weathers been warm and humid. We took a bus tour of the city, and a boat tour of the harbor. Wednesday was spent on the golf course, where it became obvious that laying off golf does not improve ones game. We've only played a few times since starting this trip, which will be 8 weeks ago tomorrow. Yesterday we drove down to Savanah, Georgia for the day. We took a Trolley Tour there. Neat old city. We could spend a lot more time around here, but our goal is to be in Austin, Texas next Friday. We eliminated our planned stop in Asheville to make more time for Charleston/Savanah. In retrospect, we probably stayed about a week too long in Maine. It would have been nice to have more time between here and Austin.
When we leave Austin, we are going to head to Alamagordo, New Mexico on the way to Apache Junction. We don't expect that this route will be much different than I-10 to El Paso, but it's worth a try.

Taking The Bus Tour

Fort Sumter From The Tour Boat

One Of The Town Squares In Savannah

Joyce;s Chocolate Soda At Leopold's in Savannah

Time to move on, and I'll post some pictures this evening.   Ernie

Heading South

We spent a few  days in Amish Country in the Gettysburg area of Pennsylvania, followed by a couple days in Maryland near Washington DC. We're now getting ready to head south to Williamsburg, Virginia for the next 4 days.
The amount of history in this area is phenomenal. Houses and buildings that date back to the 1700's, Civil War battlefields all around, and sites where President Lincoln made speeches. We could easily stay here for a month, and still not take it all in. We will have to come back to this area again, and spend more time. The Northern U.S. and the New England area have been better than anticipated. It's so different from the Northwest.
We spent a couple of days at Gettysburg touring the battlefield and to take in the visitor center. We also checked out some of the surounding communities. Then we moved closer to Washington DC to visit our old Seattle neighbors, the Boyers in DC. They are on a year long sailing adventure, and will soon be heading to the Bahama's. We visited the Department of Engraving to watch money being printed, then went to the Holocaust Museum. DC is another place that we need to come back to. So much to see.
The weather should be warming back up to the mid 70's as we begin heading south to Williamsburg, Virginia. From there we'll be headed to Ashville, North Carolina. Then it will be Charleston, South Carolina followed by Savanah, Georgia. By the 1st of November we'll be heading West toward Arizona.
Meanwhile, the house is progressing nicely back home, and we're anxious to see it in December.

Washington Monument

Aboar the "Anything Go's" with the Boyers

Gettysburg Battlefield

Robert E. Lee Memorial

Culture Clash

What a life;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;Ernie

Leaving New England

Yesterday we left Maine and began heading Southwest toward Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The plan is to stay 3 nights there to take in the history of the area.
We ended up staying in Wells, Maine for 12 nights. We took the commuter train into Boston on Monday. Then we took the subway out to the JFK Library. We were a little dissapointed in the library. It wasn't nearly as interesting as the LBJ or the Reagan  libraries. After the Library we took the subway downtown and had lunch at Cheers. The TV show was filmed in Hollywood, but looked like the real bar.
We drove in to Boston earlier in our stay and took the Fenway Park tour. $28 to park the car was just like home. It is the 100th anniversary of the park. Reminded me of old Sick's Stadium with the columns blocking the views from some of the seats.
This past weekend we drove out to the very tip of Cape Cod. We learned that this is where the US Coast Guard got it's start. The weather cooperated most of the day. It's been cool and wet about half of the time here. But looking ahead, it's 70's and 80's once we get into Virginia and continue heading south, then west to Arizona.
The Fall colors have been less than anticipated. Maybe it's been a bad year.


Fenway Park (obviously)

The Ladies with a unique sign in Maine

The Colors (again obviously)

Mayflower Recreation

Us at Cheers

Heading Down The Road

 Getting ready to head out, so I'll add some pictures tonight.    Ernie

Heading South

Today we begin to head in a southerly direction. We're going about 150 miles to the southeastern corner of Maine, to the town of Wells. We will be about 50 miles North of Boston. The plan is to stay in Wells for the next 2 weeks, as there is plenty to explore from there. While there, we will plot out our route down the East Coast.
It's definately feeling like Fall here. The trees are turning colors fast, and we woke up this morning to a pretty heavy frost. Daytime high temperatures have been in the mid 60's. The past couple of days have been sunny, but there's a bit of a bite to the wind. We've managed to make it out onto the Golf Course a couple times, and that's still a work in progress (for me).
Wednesday Joyce and I took a drive to Campobello International Park. This was the summer home for the Roosevelt's. FDR spent his summers thereas a child, then used it as his retreat during his presidency. This "summer cottage" has 14 bedrooms! The property is on an island which is part of New Brunswick, Canada. There was a little bit of money there. From there, we took a drive inland where we drove about 125 miles through the trees, back to Ellsworth.





The Roosevelt "cottage"

Lobster Pot Floats

Loster Chairs

    And we're off,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ernie

The "Maine" Event



Joyce at Camden harbor

 On Monday we left the Niagara Falls area and made it to  Northeastern New York State.  We left the Great State of New York on Tuesday, and passed through Vermont and New Hampshire, and rolled on into Maine. Wednesday was to leave us a short ( 175 mile ) run to Ellsworth, Maine. But, the gremlins popped up with slide out issues for both Mike and Joyce, & Jim and Marcella. I had just commented the day before how we had made it all this way with no issues! The good thing was that it wasn't us with the problem. This delayed our departure by a couple hours, but we all made it to Ellsworth by 5:00 p.m.
We went out to dinner, and I had my first lobster in Maine. It was a one pounder, and quite a bit of work to get from shell to stomach.  The following day the guys played 18 holes at a nearby golf course, and the ladies went shopping, etc.  That evening we went to a recommended lobster joint where I ordered the 2 lobster dinner ( 1 lb.each)  for $17.00  What a deal, and I'm getting the hang of separating the meat from the shell.
Friday we took a drive into Bar Harbor with Jim and Marcella, while Mike and Joyce (Sr,) visited Joyce's relatives. Today Jim and Marcella headed north into Canada to visit Nova Scotia, and Mike & Joyce were off visiting more relatives. So Joyce and I took a drive down the coast to do a little sight seeing.
The weather has not been cooperating the past couple of days, and reminds us of Seattle in November. We seem to be right in the clouds. It's been foggy, drizzly, and rainy. The forecast is calling for sunshine on Monday and Tuesday, so we'll try to take advantage of that.

The colors are just beginning to turn, but should be full blown by the first of October. We'll be heading south to Wells, Maine on the 28th, and will be staying there for 2 weeks. We're going to try to take a tour  of Boston;s Fenway Park in our travels.

Tomorrow's another day.     Ernie



Foggy Camden harbor

How many have taken this ride?



LIVE!! FROM NEW YORK, IT"S,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,joyce & ernie

Today (Saturday), finds us in New York. We are about 25 miles from Niagara Falls. Tomorrow we will go over to the falls to check it out. Upstate New York isn't what I had expected. It;s very green with rolling hills. Much like the hill country in Texas. We drove through the "Amish Trail" along the way, and saw several of the buggy's on the road. Some of the houses are from the early 1800's, if not from the late 1700's. We could easily spend a few days here, but not this time, as we are scheduled to be in Maine on the 18th.
Yesterday we were in Cleveland where we spent the day at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. We could have spent a second day here to take it all in. Cleveland was a pleasant surprise. We did not see any graffiti anywhere. Yesterday was also the first day that we've seen rain since we left home.

At The Henry Ford Museum

The Lincoln JFK was riding in on Nov, 22nd 1963

Us again. At The Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame

Thursday we spent the day at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. It is a really well done museum that was started by Henry Ford in 1929. It documents the history of the Airplane, and the Train, as well as the car. All makes and models of cars were represented. The cover of the museum brochure had a Desoto on it. The young lady at the desk had never heard of Desoto, and assumed that it was a Ford model. There was also lots of machinery from the 1800's and early 1900's. I had never seen steam engines of that size. Hard to believe that someone had the ability to build them back then. They'd never be able to today.  Monday will find us on the last leg of the Journey to the Atlantic Ocean in Maine. We should be there on Wednesday. We're all looking forward to Lobster!

Out Of Minnesota

Today finds us in Michagamme, Michigan. We left Minnesota in the rear view mirror as we headed northeast. We spent 4 nights parked at Barney and Ginny's in Pequot Lakes, Minnesota. While there, we played some Fast Track, took a drive out to Bob & Sheila's, got in a round of golf, fired up Barney's smoker to make a rib dinner for 12, and put a dent in Barney's Apricot Brandy.  Everybody had a good time!

All the kids around the campfire

The view from our campsite

Winter Arizonan's in Minnesota

Tomorrow we will be staying in St. Ignace, Michigan. From there, we will be crossing the Mackinac Bridge which crosses the point where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron join. Wednesday should find us in  Monroe, Michigan where we will visit the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. From there it's on to Cleveland for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, then Niagra Falls, New York. Then we'll be hanging out in Maine until about mid October.  Stay Tuned.