Summer Vacation Pt 2 - Maine 2022

 Thursday was our big outing to Acadia National Park: (3 hour drive)

Sieur de Monts nature center and trails along the board walk

Little Hunter's Beach, with a beach of big sea tossed rocks that echoed when you walked on them, amazing sedimentary rocks and cool layers exposed by the elements.

 

Cadliac Mountain with great views of Bar Harbour, the ocean and the coast

 

Next we drove through Bar Harbour and then out to find a place for dinner, Helen's Restaurant, before we headed back to Bridgton

Jim got us home safely in the pitch black and rain.

Friday we went to Conway, which I kept saying was in Vermont but is in fact in New Hampshire, because Jim wanted to visit a brewery. We had lunch and he tried a flight of beers, we walked the town and stopped at the LL Bean outlet.

The girls squeezed in a hike from the 2nd trailhead near us, and we made tacos for dinner. That evening I brought the girls into town for a last night ice cream. The big girls and I ended the night with a game of Progression.

Saturday we said good bye to Maine and we headed south to Massachusetts and visited Aunt Deb. She hosted us for a pizza lunch on fine china rimmed in platinum and pink linens. It was so good to see her.

Then we drove into Boston and stopped at MIT to visit Josh. He showed us his rollercoaster project and gave us a tour of the dorm and then the main buildings on campus.

We hit the road again, stopping for dinner at Subway,  GPS cut out on the George Washington Bridge in NYC so we had to reroute ourselves to get back on track. Jim drove the final leg home, finally getting back at 1 AM.

Our Maine trip was such a lovely get a way. I will treasure our time together as family.

Summer Vacation Pt 1- Maine 2022

 It all started with a book called The Penderwicks. The girls each read the series and the thought of Maine was planted in their heads. When conversations of vacation would come up year over year, Bridget and Megan would both suggest Maine. This year we decided to look into it. I jumped online and searched house rentals and quite quickly found a beautiful place at a very good price. I showed it to Jim and we decided to book it, hoping it wasn't too good to be true.

Our vacation was August 6-13.  The drive from Baltimore in the minivan with the 7 of us was long, but we packed lightly and managed it well. With 4 stops it took us a little over 11 hours. The house we rented was in Bridgton, Maine on Solitude Lane by Moose Pond at the foot of Pleasant Mountain, and it did not disappoint. Maine smelled of pine trees and had a fantastic understory of ferns. The house was situated in the woods with a deck, fire pit, small gardens and lawn. the rooms were all big enough for our family to gather together or find a private spot to read or relax.

Jim and I shared the master with a fancy master bathroom and soaking tub. Rachael and Megan shared the front bedroom, and Bridget, Emma and Johanna shared the upstairs bedroom. We settled in for a good vacation.

Visit to Fryeburg, Mass at St Elizabeth Ann Seton church, flea Market, and lunch at 302 West Smokehouse.

Mini hike on trailhead at Pleasant Mountain before a simple dinner of sandwiches

Monday trip to Portland ME:

We started at the Cape Elizabeth Headlight and enjoyed the views. We grabbed some gelato, and then we scrambled on the rocks, enjoying the breeze and the tidepools. 

We headed to the Old Port for lunch in a tavern along the main cobblestone road and then we took a ferry over to Peaks Island. Romped on the little beach and then back over to the mainland. We walked the old town streets and did a little shopping. Before heading back to Bridgton. 

Renting kayaks from SkiHot at the end of the road and ferrying the paddleboard and kayaks from our place to and from the community beach/launch area. It rained just as we got going, but it felt great on a hot day. Moose Pond was clear and cool.

That night we played Mexican train dominos around the big green dining room table.

Breakfasts of Captain crunch, private spots around the house for down time, moments on the deck, reading in the sun room.

Improv with Johanna: Two at a time we drew characters names from a bowl and then we had to act out a scene together. It was hysterical

Visiting Bridgton: the bookstore and antique shop, and Reny's general store (our neighbor Jim's cousins own Reny's)

Maine offered a feeling of openness and timelessness. It felt grounded in nature and time.

Harper's Ferry- Spring 2022

 March 2022

One of the good things that came out of the pandemic was a tradition of camping. Since that first trip of desperation to get out of isolation, hang out with friends and be outside, we have made the short drive to Harper's Ferry KOA 4 times and we don't see any reason to discontinue it. Each time we have booked the same grouping of cabins with the Brinks and Shumakers, and each get away has been great.

We had Lenten Friday soup and bread. Enjoyed the fire together and snuggled into our cabins for the night. Johanna and I kept waking up at night due to a nibbling sound. Sure enough a mouse had gotten into the Oreos as we tried to sleep. From then on food was stored locked in the van.

Saturday morning Jim made pancakes and sausage for breakfast, as we got ready for our day. This trip we made a point to get to the historic city of Harper's Ferry and take advantage of the National Park shuttles, Museums, and Ranger knowledge. On Saturday most of us went over to the the ranger station, where Johanna got the Junior Ranger badge book and loaded into the shuttles to head into town. We had packed lunches and split up when we arrived, arranging a time to meet for lunch. 

Johanna was ready to work on her badge, so I joined her going from museum to museum, reading plaques, checking out maps, looking for specific historic figures and events to learn about and record in her book. Jim, most of the adults and the big kids freely roamed the town. The kids played a game in the stores, looking for the most absurd item and getting bubble tea. When we met back for lunch everyone was smiling and despite a brisk wind and chill we happily ate outside in the park. After lunch we decided to hike up to Jefferson Rock. Jim bowed out because of his knees and he made a good call on that one. That hill was torture.

It wasn't a long hike but it was challenging on the knees. Midway is the historic Catholic church so we stopped for a few pictures, Then headed up on the Appalachian trail to Jefferson Rock. The views were impressive and the beautiful day highlighted the majesty. We continued a little further on to walk through the historic cemetery. Johanna was not fond of this but relaxed as we walked around. The big kids got a kick out reading the names before heading back down the trail into town. 

When we descended, Johanna and I went off to finish the badge requirements. She struggled with the horror of the John Brown raid and stories of the slaves he was trying to free. As a parent I was able to summarize and get her through. She said she wouldn't have done what he did but she understood why he did it. We grouped up again and as we did big snow flakes fell, cold wind blew in and hail made brief appearances. It was crazy spring weather. We decided that was our queue to head back to the shuttles. 

We got back to crazy wind and most of us headed into the dry warmth of our cabins before regrouping for dinner. We were lucky that the rain we did get was short lived. Jimmy prepared amazing grilled meats for tacos for dinner. It was so yummy. the kids hit the gaga ball pit, and that night Evy taught Bridget how to ride a skateboard. Around the fire that night we sat around having each person pick a song for us to listen too. We got into a funny show tune genre kick. It was cold and the fire was really smoky. One of the great parts was that we spent a lot of time together kids and adults. Joe Brink (freshman in HS) was playing games on his phone and sharing with Johanna. Those two had a blast together.

These camping trips may just be a lovely part of this stage of our lives and for it I am grateful, however long it may last.

Avon CO- Kehrman Family Vacation

Colorado Vacation July 31-Aug 7, 2021

Flights to Denver

Stop in Georgetown on the drive up.

Avon was beautiful. The suite was really nice and our girls were overwhelmed.

Grocery shopping, dinners together

Murphy's Falls Hike

Ford Alpine Nature Center

Hike- Lost Lake Trail 7miles with Bill, and soaking feet in the Tub

Grandma Kate and PawPaw's 55th Anniversary, dinner and Mass at Beaver Creek Chapel

Guys night out

Games at our place: Train Dominos, Junior Catan (Bill bought it especially for Johanna), cards

Summer Olympics on TV

Time on the Lake, paddle boats and paddle boards

Big Girls evening walk and outside fire pit

Visit to Leadville: beautiful drive, the Mining Museum, shopping the town

Wild fire smoke on the way home.

Great Memories to hold until next time.