Julie and Rick's 2011 Travel Adventures: Gone East and West

Beautiful old barns on the east coast

Scenery in Maine

Acadia National Park (our lunch picnic spot)

Cadillac Mountain

Rick one of the carriage road bridges

We finished our tour of ten states over two months and, after 36 hours in Ashland and a quick change of gear, we were headed to the east coast to see the fall colors and visit Rick's mom. We arrived in Boston late evening, and the next day we were on our way to a Shaker village in Cantebury, New Hampshire. We learned some interesting things about the Shakers. They were a very progressive group of people. They were devoutly celibate, but loved ecstatic dancing and singing through all hours of the night. They were inventors and quite clever. They are primarily known for their lovely shaker baskets. They kept the village population growing by taking in orphans, whom they treated very well. They educated and taught them music, crafts and trades to make sure they would do well in the world. Next, we drove through the White Mountains along the Kankamangas Highway to see the foliage. We stayed with some lovely couchsurfing hosts in Bedford, New Hampshire, and were pleased to find wonderful people to exchange ideas and stories of travel. Later, we headed toward Bangor, Maine, where we contra-danced and stayed with fellow dancers. We heard there was another dance the next night in Rockport, Maine, and again had a great night of dancing. We made it to the Maine organic gardeners and farmers Apple Harvest Fair, on what they call the Common Ground. It was a beautiful and breezy fall day, perfect for tasting all the different varieties of New England apples and fresh pressed cider. It was wonderful to spend a day with fellow organic gardeners.

Common Ground Apple Harvest Fair near Bangor, Maine

Acadia National Park

From here, our next destination was Acadia National Park. We immediately headed to Cadillac Mountain for the sunset. We were impressed with both the sky and the views. We stayed with two wonderful college students in Bar Harbour, which positioned us perfectly for hikes and biking in the park over the next two days. There are about 45 miles of carriage roads (no cars, only horse and carriage, walkers and bikes). We biked about 32 miles of the roads and found ourselves taking lots of pictures and being "wowed" by the views around every turn. We enjoyed all the massive stone bridges, and what was the last warm fall weather day to be had on the east coast. We had the park to ourselves and managed to stay ahead of the big weather changes. Later, we visited famous author and poet homes of Frost and Longfellow. We saw picturesque farm and barn scenes with fall colors and churches with their steeples high in the sky. On our way to my mother in law's home in Connecticut we stayed a night with a couchsurfing family outside Portland, Maine. We had a terrific time getting to know each other a bit. Nicole had done her first skydive that morning, which was fun to watch on video. We had a tour of her beautiful yoga studio, converted from a barn, and found we had lots in common to share with each other. We woke up to vegan waffles the next morning, and shared breakfast together before Nicole had to teach her morning class. We hope this wonderful family will come and visit us on the west coast in the future. We really love the people we are privileged to meet, connect with, and be part of their lives for a brief time on our travels. We learn a lot from each other, and see who are in our karmic circles around the world. Continuing on with our journey, we had a fun morning visiting the Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. This is a typical 1830's New England setting with historians and docents in costume to create the village as it was during that time.

Acadia

By late evening, we were in Norwich, Connecticut, at Mom's house. It was a good thing, as the next day the east coast was hit with a pre- Halloween snow storm that left over 800,000 Connecticut residents out of power for up to two weeks. Luckily, we never lost power. The weather was crazy cold one day, and then t-shirt weather the next. We took full advantage of the good days and drove to Newport, Rhode Island, to see the mansions and enjoy the beautiful coastline and bays, so different from the west coast. While we were with Mom, we saw Rick's brother and his wife a few times, and also helped with some gardening and chores. We watched movies, played games, and showed slide shows of our travels, which mom thoroughly enjoyed. Our three weeks on the east coast were action packed, and we felt like we saw what we had hoped for, as we quickly found ourselves on a plane and heading west.

Beautiful scenery everywhere we go

Old Sturbridge village

After two quick days to organize the van in Ashland, we were on a trip down the California coast. On this journey we stopped in Sacramento to see my dad and son Zach, and then on to San Francisco to go to the Green Festival and see son Brian and Krista. We had one night to visit my cousin Mary and Larry in Los Altos Hills, and then a beautiful drive down the coast to Ojai, and a visit with my good friend James. We had warm t-shirt weather for the trip, and found a great place to camp on the coast south of Big Sur. We saw elephant seals enjoying the sun, and butterflies that were migrating from Canada in Pacific Grove, which was a real treat to see.

Well, 2011 brought us many varied and unique experiences in places new and familiar. We were blessed to have wonderful people who helped and guided us along the way. We shared in different ways that people live and some of the most beautiful and amazing sights that nature can provide. We are thankful for serendipity and for being open to what is brought before us. Most of all we learned that it is not so much where you are but who you are with.
With joy and open hearts we say thank you for 2011. This year has taught us to face the fears of the unexpected and unplanned. We have been taken to places that we weren't intending to go and had pleasant surprises awaiting us. We are more trusting and more conscious of living in the moment, not worrying about what might, or might not, happen in the future. Our lives are amazing adventures continuing to unfold....... Thanks for being here with us. We hope that your days and all your adventures will be blessed!