In the fall of 2008, Vern and I along with my mom and step-dad Ira, began a 3200 mile trek across the northeastern part of the United States. We’ve been told this is the perfect time of year for this trip. I took lots of photos and you can view them here. The following is the diary as I kept it each day of our journey…
Saturday 10/4 – After renting a Toyota Sienna passenger van, we left around 8:30am. We drove all day and the dogs did great! We called Spencer to wish him a Happy 14th Birthday. States travelled were Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Lots of pretty hills in PA – more than I thought! That evening, we stayed at the west side of the mountain, about an hour from Gettysburg. We stayed at a Howard Johnson. The room was crummy – tub was DIRTY with hair from a drain backup. The bathroom sink was disconnected, so we had to change rooms. The dogs drove us crazy! They were both up and down all night – jumping from one bed to another and barking at every noise.
Sunday 10/5 – Lots of fog in the air when we left that morning and crossed the mountain and went to Gettysburg. We stopped at the gift shop and bought a CD for an auto tour and toured Gettysburg. Beautiful country – lots of hills. The CD gave us the history of the area and lots of background simulations so even Mom found it very interesting. That night we drove to Hershey, PA and stayed at an EconoLodge. The headboard fell off the wall on Mom and Ira’s bed – liked to scared us to pieces. We played cards. Diane & Ira 2, Vern & Dorothy 1. The dogs did MUCH better. They were quiet although they both changed beds several times. We also met some people from OK and Evansville (named Spawn) and we met a couple from Maine. One of ladies from OK has a yorkie and fell in love with Sunshine. They just got off a cruise from NY north. Their boat got stuck and had to be towed.
Monday 10/6 –Went to Hershey’s Chocolate World. We took a ride tour of a simulated chocolate factory which we all found very animated and informative. It showed the chocolate process from the raw cocoa bean to the packaging of the products. We ran into the people from OK and found out the guy from OK also recently survived prostate cancer and had it surgery at Kansas City also! We had lunch at Kit Kat world.
After Hershey’s, we drove to Valley Forge, PA where we again bought an auto tour CD and drove through. Part of the trip was closed, but it was very interesting and very beautiful. We saw dozens of deer. Page went nuts! We stayed at a Holiday Inn in Fort Washington PA which is a suburb of Philadelphia. We ran errands to Wal Mart and had dinner at Olive Garden. (Bought Sunshine a harness with butterflies on it!) The dogs slept all night. Finally!
Tuesday 10/7 – That morning when I took the dogs out to potty, Sunshine saw some people, got excited and ran to them. In doing so, she tugged on her leash and her harness came undone and she walked out of it. So much for the cute harness with the butterflies! When we left the room, Page snuck out and ran down the hallway barking.
After catching her, we left the dogs at the Holiday Inn and went to Atlantic City, NJ. The GPS (we named it Gertie) guided us there, but had us DRIVE on the boardwalk. People were looking at us everywhere…we couldn’t wait to get off of it. We had lunch ($10 burgers) and played for about a few hours at the Casino. Vern hit a $500 (1000 coin .50 cent jackpot). Mom hit $600 on a .25 cent machine. I hit several small hits. At the end of the day, Vern broke even and Dorothy and Diane both came out around $200 ahead. Driving back to Philadelphia, we hit a lot of traffic, and at one point the GPS kept telling us to turn left in a “No Left Turn” area. We finally got it figured out and got back to our puppies. After dinner at the hotel we went back to our room to watch the presidential debate.
Wednesday 10/8 – We drove into Philadelphia and went to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Mom and Ira got to touch the Liberty Bell. The guards pulled the rope back so they could “see” it too. We then took a horse and carriage ride around historic Philly. After that we then stopped at Sonny’s and got a couple of real Philly Cheese Steaks and cheese fries. Left Philly and headed north. We bypassed NYC but still hit bumper to bumper traffic. It was very frustrating. We spent the night at a Best Western in Fairfield, CT . We were tired so we just ordered dinner in. Our room was by an entrance door and Page barked most of the night. The desk clerk called us because she was getting complaints!
Thursday 10/9 – Although it rained overnight, it was again a beautiful day! We drove along the Connecticut coast line. Tried to find the Viking Ships Penny mentioned in Mystic, CT, but there were none there. Went to a State Park in Connecticut as well as a “Boardwalk” in CT. All the trees are beginning to change their color and it’s beautiful out. We briefly stopped at a Casino in Rhode Island but we weren’t there long as everyone lost! After driving into Massachusetts, that night we ate at a very nice restaurant called Ninety-Nine and then stayed about 20 miles outside of Cape Cod at a Comfort Inn. Checked into our room and watched CSI.
Friday 10/10 – This was a busy day. Mom and I took a ferry from Wood’s Hole, MA to Martha’s Vineyard. We had lunch and saw some of the shops, but we missed the tour bus so we didn’t get to see the rest of the island. By that time our feet hurt so bad, we caught the next ferry back. A wonderful lady named Bridgette gave us rides off and to the boat in the golf cart. That sure helped! Sometime I’d like to go back and see the island.
While we were at Martha’s Vineyard, the guys drove around, had lunch, mailed some letters and just hung out. Page escaped twice; once at the park and once later at a motel.
We ate dinner at a restaurant called Moby Dicks. It was good, but a little too pricey for the fact they served your food on paper plates and used plastic silverware. We had a little trouble finding a room, but we stayed at the Brentwood Motel in South Yarmouth, MA.
Saturday 10/11 – We arrived in Boston and walked quite a few blocks up and down the narrow streets. Boston traffic is HORRIBLE and the streets are very narrow! The streets were dark because the buildings are tall so close together; very little sun gets through. We walked part of the Freedom Trail and then Mom and I went into the Old North Church. It was built in the 1700’s and is still in use today. It was a very interesting tour.
We left Boston, fought the traffic, found some $2.89 per gallon gas and headed north. After passing through Rhode Island we then ate at a really good restaurant called The Sticks and stayed at a cute place in Maine. We went to bed at 8:00 and no one got up (except for potty breaks) until 7:00 Sunday morning!
Sunday 10/12 – We arrived in Camden, Maine. The trees are really in full color and are beautiful. We checked into the Country Inn – a VERY quaint area. We have the “pet suite”. Next we then drove out to meet Johnny Alcala who lives on a lake and has the most exquisite view. It was wonderful. We also met his two black Labrador dogs. We all then went to the Whales Tooth pub where Vern had a 2 ¼ pound lobster. He was in heaven! It rained through the night and into the Monday morning. It was so pretty there, I would have liked to spend a couple of days resting up there…but we had to move on.
Monday 10/13 – We spent the day at Acadia National Park. We bought another audio CD to tour the park. Acadia is unspeakably picturesque. There are no words to adequately describe it, so I took many pictures. The water, the mountains, the fall color – all of it combined to make a lovely day. We had dinner at a restaurant called the Log Cabin and spent the night at a Best Western motel in Bar Harbor.
Tuesday 10/14 – We drove into New Hampshire and drove the road up Mount Washington. 6,288 feet up! It was hectic and part of the paved road was washed out and was a packed dirt road. At the top, it was VERY windy and cold, but beautiful. Driving down was even scarier. Vern had to drive both up and down in first gear but he’s a great driver so I knew we were in no danger.
Sunshine came into heat today so we went to WalMart and I bought her some baby onsies and pantyliners to protect the van, beds and our clothes. She’s not too crazy about them, but she tolerates it.
While on the road, we saw a moose! He was wonderful and just stood there looking at us for quite a while. Then he heard Page going nuts and started running off. I took a couple of pictures of him, but I had the flash on and they turned out too dark. I’ve lightened them, but they’ve lost a lot of their quality. We ate at Anthony’s and stayed at the Fairbanks Inn in St. Johnsbury, VT.
Wednesday 10/15 – Early that morning, we stopped at a cute little store with a post office in it. We bought syrup and gifts to take home. At breakfast in Montpelier, VT, our server told us that Montpelier (population 8000) is the only state capital with no McDonalds! We stopped along the road to take some pictures and the police pulled up behind us. He wasn’t happy that we stopped on the Interstate but he didn’t give us a ticket. We laughed a lot at Page because she kept trying to bite trucks as they drove past us.
We then took the Ferry across Lake Champlain at Charlotte, VT over to Essex, NY. While in New York, we stopped for dinner at a restaurant called Sahara. It was decorated so cute for Halloween. We stayed at the Inn at 81 in Watertown New York.
Thursday 10/16 – We ate breakfast at a Frank & Mary’s Diner in Cortland, NY (outside Ithaca), New York. We stopped at a hiking trail in the Allegheny Mountains to have a cheese and fruit snack. We drove through Lake Placid New York where the Winter Olympics were held in 1980. Chris called us and gave us totally unexpected wonderful news! He and Trina are going to have another baby! Dinner was at the Kings Restaurant and we stayed at the Comfort Inn in Barkeyville, PA.
Friday 10/17 – As we complete our journey home, we take a little side trip down to Lawrenceburg, IN and go to the Argosy Casino. Right off the bat, Vern hit a $1000 jackpot, I had a huge hit for $1350 and then Ira hit for $600. Unfortunately, the slots were not aligned for mom that day. Also someone hit the van and scraped the side of it while we were in the Casino. We got home around 8:30pm.
Our trip is over, but I took hundreds of photos so we can never forget all the sights, sounds, smells and memories of the trip. We laughed a lot and everyone got along just fine. I’m so blessed to be able to spend this time with my mom, as well as to celebrate Vern’s and my 40th wedding anniversary.
Again, here’s the link to view the photos of the trip. I apologize for the poor quality of some of these images.
PS: After this trip, Vern and I will have traveled in 47 of the 50 states. Only Delaware, Alaska and Hawaii remain. We’ll save those for the future!
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