To the Atlantic!

New England fall colors across Vermont and through 
New Hampshire....legendary and mind blowing.

Notice our home in the background

And then....to the spectacular rocky Maine coast........we have finally arrived 

on the Atlantic Ocean and Acadia National Park....

Bar Harbor, Maine

....where we promptly partook of Maine's main dish of Lobster.....

or as was overheard in the bar...

                           "Go to Bah-Habah to eat some Lobstah and Chowdah"  

 (translation....Go to Bar Harbor to eat some Lobster and Chowder)

Two lil' old ladies with bibs devouring a pile of lobsters

Sittin' on the dock of the bay...eating Lobstah Rolls :)

So we were fascinated with the lobster industry in this part of the world and sat on several docks around the island area watching the boats unloading thousands of crates of live fresh lobstahs a day.....unbelievable.  

Lobster fun facts:

It takes 7 years for a lobster to grow to it's harvested maturity of about 1 lb.  There used to be so many lobsters, they would be crawling all over the shoreline.  One of the main predators for lobsters, was the Cod fish----which is now depleted due to overfishing and increasing ocean temps in the north Atlantic waters, allowing for lobsters to flourish....bittersweet because Cod is an excellent fish to eat too.  

Lobster boats unloading at docks of Southwest Harbor, Maine

Floating crates of lobsters off the boats waiting for the pick up trucks

Acadia National Park was historical and amazing.  We rode an 8 mile path on one of the old "carriage" roads......visited rock-climbing cliffs overhanging the ocean......and hung out in several small harbor villages along the way.  They have a free bus ride system all over the island that is very efficient and carries our bikes.  

We've caught this national park in "off season" and pulled into a random camping spot in the Blackwoods Campground (one of two on the island).  It was rather quiet in this very large densely forested site----and right next to us was another Roadtrek camper van--silver--with two of the most animated young travelers we've met all along our road.....and we hit it off big time and spent the next 3 nights around a campfire together.

 Max and Kristina are also living aboard their Roadtrek (affectionately called "Roark") for a whole year venturing across America...more gypsy than we are!  They come from the artsy town of Asheville, NC with a trunk load of fun toys----not only a variety of musical instruments, but colorful circus-type LED lighted toys.....hula hoops, poi balls, a karma-wash etc.....telling great stories and spreading happy energy.  Our paths have serendipitously crossed here....and will perhaps again further down the road...we decided our vans are destined soul-mates. *wink

Coming next-----Camden and Portland Maine

Burlington, far out, man

B is for Burlington....B is for Bee-u-tee-full!

  Situated on a hillside overlooking the large fresh water Lake Champlain, Burlington has 3 colleges making for a progressive, hip town full of diversity----some really great people-watching needless to say.  The townsfolk are young & outdoorsy and environmentally inclined....it's very green all over Vermont.  As a matter of fact, Vermont is simply picture perfect "cute" everywhere you look.
One of the 3 colleges and the largest, is the University of Vermont---or UVM----or affectionately termed "groovy-u-vee".....like I said, it's an open-minded hip town and I personally could live here (except for the winters).  

Church Street 

And here we've stayed for 2 weeks.

Krista

Our younger daughter, Krista, is a senior this year at UVM, studying a dual major of Global Studies and Psychology with a minor in Spanish.  We'll be back next May 2015 for her graduation---needless to say, we're very proud of her huge accomplishments in the world of academia.  Holding down a full class load with a part time job assisting in research and volunteering at the hospital....yep, we got bragging rights on her.











One afternoon we went on a tasting tour to the Cabot Cheese Shop....cheese is a food group all it's own for us.

Who's that guy?

And then to a magical place called Bolton Potholes...















....a series of circular pools carved into the rocks....and upriver was a sacred-sculpture garden of stacked flat rocks dotting the river bed----hundreds of them, it was really truly far-out :)























Could have camped there all week among those rock gods....but onward....

Old schoolhouse...

We got our historical/cultural fix visiting the Shelburne Museum of historical buildings----












and cupcake fix....

...and visiting Mallets Bay on Lake Champlain where Krista was a lifeguard all summer.....

Lattes with personalities

One of our highlights was a wonderful bike ride out the long causeway (an old train track turned into a bike path for many miles) onto Lake Champlain with Mark and Joann.  Mark Blair is the brother to Rose, a good friend in Taos, who was born and raised with 8 siblings on a dairy farm in the Burlington area----our families have reached and bonded across the many miles---love those Blairs!

RV Ghetto

 Despite the crowded look of this picture on the left, we actually loved our little campground next to a beach 2 miles from downtown Burlington.  We could access town by bike along the shoreline of Lake Champlain.

Loved this retro setup!

Vermont-tites?  Vermont-ers?  Vermont-onians? Vermont-ates? .....LOVE the autumn season.  
We went apple picking with Krista's friends---

Nice apples Moriah :)

Nice pumpkins :)

 
Krista and Aili (also from Taos)
---two of 7 New Mexicans attending UVM---out of about 14,000 students

Nice friends :)   w/ Dani

A big event for Tim and Krista was climbing a 4 flight fire escape on campus for great views of the campus 
(acrophobic achievements for both of them)....at the top was gargoyles and beautiful artsy messages.....






We loved our two weeks here with Krista----and can't wait to return again in May '15 for graduation......off today to Bar Harbor, Maine!

Water....and more water

Pulled into Geneva State Park, Ohio on Lake Erie for two peaceful nights.

After riding our bikes into the nearby town of Geneva on the Lake---proud acronym of GOTL, this was our first beach and crystal- clear fresh water swim...it was chilly but refreshing.  GOTL was gearing up for a 4000 Harley motorcycle invasion that weekend....yea, we split before the rumble took over.  
This beach was my first beach for metal detecting----and worst skunked day of metal detecting....nada!  Oh  well...increasing my odds for that BIG find someday :)

NEXT>>>>>>>Niagara Falls---2014 !! 
Boat tour by Maid of the Mist 






                


                                                                    
                                                                                 


Niagara Falls 1962
Jenny, Chris, Mom, Bev, Tim
(thanks Chris for digging up this photo!)
                                           



     

Notice the new tall buildings on the Canadian side since the above 1962 photo                                             






Niagara Falls was the first time since the Grand Canyon that we heard more non-English speakers....this time instead of Asian, it was predominately East Indian, and the food kiosks around the town were that of Bollywood etc....very colorful.  That night we curled up in our van behind a church within earshot of the falls great roar and the massive fireworks show was only drowned out by a huge thunderstorm that seemed to echo around the horseshoe-shaped falls.....really cool.  Like other great inspirational places on earth, we couldn't get enough of the power/awesomeness of the Falls.

NEXT>>>>>New York Mountains>>>>                                       
More water---into the beautiful Adirondack State Park for a night on Piseco Lake...so much clear water everywhere!

Family in Glens Falls, NY
Leslie's cousin Alan Turner, wife Wanda and son Mathew (oh, and the little one is Oscar)


Onward now to Burlington, VT!!!

Ferguson

I had meant to add this next post with the last one about St Louis.....but perhaps it deserves its own respectful page anyway....and I normally would not comment or throw in mainstream news, but this one hits too close to home.  Though the Ferguson subject has taken a back seat to Joan Rivers in the last few weeks, it shouldn't be forgotten. 

So the Reeves family, Tim + 3 sisters, Chris, Bev and Jenny were all raised in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson circa 1940-1960's....as well as all the friends we visited in the last blogger post.  Back then it was predominately white with a couple of black neighborhoods around.  Everyone has fond childhood memories of Ferguson in that simple lifestyle of yesteryears....picture Happy Days Cunningham family (not the Beaver Cleavor family, puh-lease). When we asked our Ferguson friends their take on the situation, the responses varied from discussing the facts of the shooting, to the over blown hype by the multitudes of media.

There are little signs in the front yards all over St Louis showing their support for the struggle of their suburban neighbors.  

 





When we were in Boulder in August, we saw protesters on the street corner and yesterday we saw this graffiti  in Burlington, Vermont. 


There are great humane stories that have come out of all this----check out the Huffington Post (thanks Bev for this great article) that the general blood and guts media won't begin to touch.  For example, our St Louis friend, Donna, told us about the Ferguson high school football teams that were invited to practice with the Rams while their schools were shut down.....and there's many more gracious acts on the Ferguson streets.
But all in all, we feel the whole situation is a national problem....some people say:

"We cannot ignore the inequities that persist in our justice system..."  This is the bottom line....the Justice system....and Ferguson is just another reminder....that this is more than just a local problem.

St Louis...friends forever

We pulled into St. Lou-wee on a hot, sultry Wednesday afternoon and checked into the Westport Sheraton Chalet hotel.......wait.......what?  Yep, thank you Donna Ellis for 2 wonderful nights of pure heaven in a real bed & bathroom in a class hotel.  Donna is not only a dear old high school friend of Tim's, she's also the executive assistant to the head coach of the St Louis Ram's football team.....she's damn good at it and has strings she pulls all over town for ol' friends.....memorable margaritas at poolside.

Donna was Tim's girl when he left for Vietnam in 1969--the inspiration that gave him hope while so far away....and she re-shared these photos he had sent her while in the Navy 

Tim at 20 yrs old

Tim's SEAL Team squad

There's a wonderful bike trail in Missouri that follows along an old railroad line..called the Katy Trail.  It starts in St Louis and ends 237 miles later across the Missouri in Clinton, MO.

We rode bits and pieces of it along our way.....gotta get exercise....keep that Roadtrek mid-roll under control.  

Katy Trail--Lewis and Clark were there too!

Giant Hibiscus

After spending an afternoon in St Charles (charming STL suburb) on the Missouri River....did I mention how hot it is yet?.....we caught up with more high school friends, Joe and Jan Dittmeier.  

On the Mississippi River

Life has been generous for them and we visited their incredible 450 acre farm north of St Louis...cows, corn, ponds, hunting fields and a stop on an Amish honey farm...yum!

Happy 250th B-day STL!!!

Then we completed our "old" friend circle with 2 fun nights at Bob and Francine Case's historic 1910 house in south STL. Not only is Bob a born and raised STL native musician, he's also well known as St Louis' Mardi Gras King.  He cooked up an Italian-mama-grande-size pot of marinara sauce complete with the "Cajun holy trinity" of veggies---onions, peppers & celery---all home grown from his wealthy back-yard garden....it doesn't get any better (watch for a new cooking video on Tim's youtube channel!)  

We also enjoyed a day at the Japanese Festival at STL Botanical Gardens.  

Chihuly's Walla Walla onions in koi pond

 St Louis is celebrating it's 250th birthday this year.  There are 250 of these artistically decorated cakes in historic places all over STL....Francine is actively documenting and marketing them----really cool idea!










One of our STL highlights over the 6 nights, was the 2 huge storms that passed thru---torrential blinding downpours and tornado sirens! one night.....ya gotta understand this is very exciting for two dried up New Mexicans.

Our deepest gratitude to our 5 life long friends----it's like we were never separated by miles or time.....we luv ya all!

Now we pass through the famous St Louis arch---Gateway to the West--- except it's to the EAST for us....onward across the I's---Illinois and Indiana.....to Ohio!