10/15-10/16: Vermont

Our stay in Vermont was one of the quicker stops in a state! The drive from Maine to Vermont was a long drive in comparison to the rest of the ones we had been doing in the New England states. However, the views of fall foliage while driving through Vermont made every second worth it!

The store that was right near where we took these pictures had a huge variety of maple syrup goodies that we drooled over...and bought just a few. Outside they had a giant red chair that we both, of course, had to climb in. ;)

We stayed with some of my (Nicole's) parents' college friends. Love being able to connect with people who have known me since I was born. At the end of our evening we spent time looking at old photographs of when I was a wee one. :) We also enjoyed a couple games of sequence, laughing and talking with each other.

The next day our hostess drove us to see Robert Frost's grave and the church near the gravesite which was the first church established in Vermont. It had amazing history--and you could even see where the boys would engrave in the wood when they got bored during the service. ;)

Then she treated us to a trip up the Bennington Monument where we captured additional gorgeous views of the red and orange hillsides. Wow do I love a New England fall!

Our time concluded with delicious sandwiches from a local deli. Mm

10/12-10/15: Maine

Maine was such a delight! Although driving both to and from took us longer than the other New England states, it was entirely worth it!

We stopped at a lighthouse on our way up the coast! Breathtaking. 

Our first full day there we drove to Acadia National Park to enjoy the scenery and fall foliage. The sky was overcast, so I think, perhaps, we missed some of the breath-taking views. But to us, we loved how the rain made the leaves reflect. We enjoyed a stop at the beach, a walk along the carriage trails, and browsing in the gift shop. It is one of the top places on our list to return to sometime in the future!

While on our way to Acadia, I received a message from a friend who we were trying to coordinate a visit with a few days later and about four hours south, saying that she was in Acadia at that time. Um wow. She had no idea we were there! We spontaneously met for lunch an hour or so later!! What a blessing to see her--and save us driving time on our way to Vermont. ;)

The next day we had the opportunity to help our hostess with various tasks at church as well as participate in a luncheon that their church hosts to minister to people in the community. We also helped sort clothes for the local Lion's Club to help clean up before the Christmas trees arrived! What a wonderful day we spent ministering to a variety of people.

Our hosts were an incredible older couple who showed us such love, grace, and hospitality. We miss them, even now! They provided us with delicious meals as well as taking us out to a night of Chinese food. Our time together was treasured. <3

Maine, we shall be back!!!

(Oh! And this is the first place we encountered frost on the windshield!)

10/10-10/12: New Hampshire

By the time we reached New Hampshire, we were exhausted! All of the exploring in Massachusetts had clearly caught up with us by this time. ;) Thankfully our hosts, family friends of Nicole's family, were understanding about our tiredness and didn't mind us relaxing for most of the first day. We did go to Portsmouth and enjoyed views of the water. We sat facing the water and wrote postcards to friends and family. It was a bit chilly, but we enjoyed a calm, peaceful time outside. Near where we parked was a striking military remembrance statue that we pondered for a little while. As we were returning to our host home for dinner, we realized there was a set of houses from different times in history that we could have toured if we had known; however, since both energy and financial resources are not bottom-less, I am ok that we saved that for next time!

Our second full day in New Hampshire was a Sunday. We loved attending church with the family we were staying with! It was an amazing church service--and, fun fact, the church building used to be a car dealership. ;) We had the chance to share with many people about our trip as our hostess excitedly introduced us to her friends!

That afternoon we decided to take advantage of being on the east coast for the fall by going to a corn maze. :D We had wanted to do a corn maze for probably a month or more, but none of them were open when we were free until now! There were 3 mazes, all with different patterns. The first two had different questions as clues (and educational facts) to help you find the shortest route through the maze. After the maze we bought some apple cider at the gift shop! It was a fun way to spend an afternoon.

The highlight of our time in New Hampshire was being able to help our friends (and hosts) with a Canadian Thanksgiving meal at a local university. The meal provided a chance to bless Canadian athletes (and friends) who could not go home for celebration with their families as well as a chance for the chaplain to connect individually with some of the athletes. It was incredible to play a small part in a much bigger plan that God was revealing!!

10/5-10/9: Massachusetts

Massachusetts was a state full of siteseeing! I don't think we have done so much driving and back to back touring in all of our trip!! I (Nicole) had lived there when I was younger, so it was a time of re-visiting many of my favorite locations as well as new exploration for Alyssa.

Our first stop was New Bedford! Back in the days of whaling, this city was the hub of the industry. It was also a key location on the Underground Railroad because of the busy port that was just north of the south/north divide. We had incredible conversations with the park rangers that worked there! The chapel in Moby Dick was based off of the Seaman's Chapel in New Bedford. 

We loved our day exploring Cape Cod! Our first plan was to spend the day relaxing at the beach...but then we found out that there was a historic life-saving station at the tip of Cape Cod. So, naturally, we had to see that...and spent most of the day in the car instead of on the beach. ;) It was so interesting learning about the life-saving station which was the precursor to the creation of the coast guard. Men would keep watch for ships that were in distress. We also had multiple conversations with a park ranger and some visitors about our trip! We ended our day with a second time on the beach before the sun set, and it became too cold.

Lowell is filled with history. We watched an educational video about the time of the mill girls and took a trolley to a mill museum run by the National Parks Service. One of the park rangers helped explain the whole textile process of making fabric...and wow! It was more complicated than I remembered. She did an incredible job of making history understandable. And the noise of the machines, which was a small fraction of what was running then, was SO LOUD. I can't imagine working in that environment for 10+ hours a day. (Our Road Trip page is now "liked" by Lowell Historical Society because of a conversation with a park ranger!)

(I had no idea how many different phases of cloth making were housed in one building!!)

Lexington and Concord were places that I visited a lot as a kid with my mom and brother. I expected it to feel just as meaningful to me as an adult, but I had a harder time feeling moved by it this time around. Think I was simply tired since we did Lowell in the morning, and these sites in the afternoon.  We did watch an amazing multi-media presentation in Lexington that brought the context of that fateful day alive. Another cool part of the day was a talk done by a ranger. Between the ranger's talk and the multi-media presentation, we both grew in our understanding of the beginning of the Revolutionary War as well as the context around how it started.

*Lexington green

*People who buy these houses are required to keep the exterior paint the same way it was when the battle of Lexington occurred.

After a crazy day of seeing Lowell and Lexington/Concord, we met up with one of my childhood friends. We ran into a bit of traffic, so we were later than planned which made all of us hungry and tired by the time we got to the restaurant. However, we enjoyed our time together as well as some delicious BBQ pizza. I love how many people we have been able to reconnect with because of this trip.

At first we had wanted to see Plimouth Plantation where the pilgrims first settled, but then we scheduled other things and decided it was too expensive. However, by the middle of the week we were absolutely exhausted by all of the sightseeing we had done. Going into Boston, which was our current plan, sounded overwhelming and miserable. So we opted to bite the bullet and spend the money to go. Then our hosts blessed us in the most amazing way by providing us with a pass from their library that allowed us to buy two tickets for less than the price of one!!! What a blessing! This allowed us to sleep in and relax before heading out to the plantation. A highlight of our day was learning more about Plymouth Rock from a man who was passionate about history.

Our last day was actually a rather rough/trying day. We first stopped at Quincy where the John Adams and John Quincy Adams lived. There are 3 houses there, but in order to go on a tour you have to buy a ticket which you can only buy day of in person. Of course, we didn't know that you needed a ticket to go on the tour, so we missed out on that opportunity. The only thing that redeemed that time was watching an educational film about the Adams family!
Then we headed to Boston for a tour of the Freedom Trail. Parking and driving was...not our favorite. Our tour guide was unique and quirky. We learned some, but not as much as we would have wanted. We wished we would have done a tour through the National Parks Service instead. Next time...
While walking back to our car, the sky opened up and we were poured on!!! By the time we got back to our car we were soaking wet, even with an umbrella... We then spent the next 1.5 hours stuck in traffic, trying to go 6 miles. We finally made it to meet up with our friend and spent a lovely couple hours with her (another redeeming portion of the day!) before heading to New Hampshire. Phew! I'm tired even writing this out!