Our Story

October Traditions

October Traditions

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“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers” – Anne Shirley (Lucy Maud Montgomery)

Every October right about the time the leaves change but the air is still warm, the kids and I meet my cousin Alecia and her kids for an afternoon at the pumpkin patch. We have done this since our oldest boys were small. Every year we wonder if it’s the year they say they don’t want to, or they aren’t going to do these things anymore. Every year they say yes.

Alecia and I have always been close, like weirdo sisters who didn’t get to see each other all the time. We’d have sleepovers at our grandparents’ and stay up late telling stories or giggling into our blankets as we listened to them yell incoherently to each other in bed after they took out their hearing aids and teeth. We listened intently to our grandfather’s stories and advice. We let him chase us around the house and played innumerable card and board games. We had tea with grandma and ate her world’s thinnest pancakes. She often said it was going to storm because the kids were acting wild when we were together. We always seemed to be with each other around Halloween, building haunted houses in our basements for our families to walk through or watching scary movies while our moms talked upstairs.

As we grew up we started having regular coffee dates. We ran races together. We had babies around the same time. She did my hair. I painted for her. We rode on trains and attended craft fairs. Sometimes we were too busy to do the traditions, sometimes we stuck to them. Our one constant every year, has been the pumpkin patch.

When we arrived we headed straight for the corn pool, a giant barn filled with corn to play in and recently a slide was added. It is where we always go first. I feel like this is honestly the best place to start for us. The kids can wrestle, (we have four active boys and an energetic girl between us) run, talk, play and get their wild energy out while Alecia and I catch up. Usually, we do this with a cup of coffee from the Country Store at the entrance but for the last two years, their coffee shop has been closed when we arrive (not cool Center Grove). We survived. Once the kids got bored, there were plenty of options to move on to.

Center Grove in Cambridge is our pumpkin patch of choice. It has grown a little each year. When I looked around driving in this year, it was kind of incredible to think how much they have expanded. We were able to take the boys all the way through in a wagon those first years. I, first of all, would need to be the one in the wagon now – Ben is much bigger than I am. Second, I can not fathom dragging a small child there and back these days – perhaps I’m getting old and tired. But thankfully there is a hayride to accommodate those of us who no longer possess that youthful vigor – also, as I said – they’ve expanded a LOT. (I’m not THAT old.)

So, we headed over to the jumbo bouncy pillows and watched the kids jump and slide around. They roped (fake) cows for a while. Then we all did the enormous slides over and over, racing each other down the hill, trying out all the different options: burlap vs felt bags, superman pose vs sitting, etc. I love the slides. We watched some goats playing and new, the last couple years, were bottle feeding the babies. So, of course, we had to do it. The baby goats were so cute and ate really quickly. That was a fun little bonus.

We walked through the storybook houses and made weird poses for photos. We talked about all the years we had been coming here and the funny things we had done over that time. We petted all the animals we could find. Our family stopped for our usual apple cider donut haul. They picked up their special treats. We somehow didn’t even get out to the apples, sunflowers, train, or pumpkins. We were having so much fun just being together. We took some last photos, exchanged gifts and hugs at the car, and headed home in the dark.

There is always a sense of nostalgia and time standing still on that drive home. Each of us takes out an apple cider donut and we talk about the fun things we did. We’ve been doing this pumpkin patch thing for so many years. I know at some point there will likely be a last. The boys will grow up and it will end. But I’ve been spending my Octobers with Alecia my whole life and I am so glad I live in a world with that tradition.

xkcd – a book talk

xkcd – a book talk

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“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

Randall Monroe sends us down rabbit holes proving impossible things, or maybe just the questions we thought too ridiculous to ask. He used to be a robotics engineer at NASA, which he has some pretty funny stories about. Later, while doing research, he kept getting questions about random and kind of silly things that he honestly felt he was and wanted to spend more time on. He began collecting these questions and answers and making a webcomic of them. Welcome to, in my opinion, the most addictive webcomic ever: xkcd.com. Ask Randall Monroe a random question about how something works, and he will explain it with humor and little stick people.

The cover of his latest of four books, for instance, provides us with what might happen if a T-rex were alive during a time when airbuses exist and happened to jump on top of one mid-flight. He figured out the engineering and dynamics of it and then had a lengthy conversation with Col. Chris Hadfield astronaut, engineer, and fighter pilot (and musician – he has some great youtube videos on the ISS) about how the pilot would keep the plane in the air until landing.

We are fans in our house. The Easter Bunny brought Monroe’s books How To and What If a couple of years ago and Thing Explainer quickly followed. We all follow his webcomic and enjoy sharing the odd things we get to learn from all these sources. We were pretty excited about this newest book coming out (no, we are not getting paid by Randall Monroe, it may seem like it… – we are just really big fans.)

I happened to see on his social media that he was going to be in Iowa City. I completely missed that it was Book Festival time. Jeff and I talked it over. We have been trying to make sure to do experiences for gifts instead of piling on more things we don’t need – this experience seemed like a no-brainer, especially when we later discovered we were getting the new book, What If 2 thrown in with the deal.

We surprised the boys, picking them up after school and grabbing food for the road. They knew we were doing something and of course, their expectations were – this is going to be lame. We got on the road and told them what we were actually doing, and we got a “Let’s go!” – which is the highest praise level you can get in case you don’t speak 10 and 14-year-old boy. We were pretty happy.

We arrived early, the event was at a Methodist church we entered through a back door and wended our way through the passages. But we caught a glimpse of the man himself tucked back in a room signing books, and found ourselves a front-row seat. We hung out, perusing our books and chatting.

Randall Monroe presented his book talk with Cornelia Lang, the Dean for Undergraduate Education and Professor for Physics and Astronomy at the University of Iowa. I think the boys were just as interested in Dr. Lang’s work as they were in Monroe’s stories. She is a fascinating person, studying magnetic material on the very edge of black holes. Ben is now interested in touring the U of I campus for undergrad and keeping his options open.

We could have listened to their conversation for hours. We were enthralled by the funny mishaps and details of each of their work. I am a deeply curious person and especially when it comes to the sciences and space exploration. Jeff has a natural understanding of how things work and a familial background for general tinkering, building, and fixing things. Ben wants to be an astrophysicist so we all have taken an interest in his interest. Sam has a flair for engineering and design and he too is curious about a great many things so this falls within his wheelhouse as well.

The talk, however, had to end. We were ushered out by row – as if we really were attending church, and stood in line for book personalization. I think the boys were nervous, they didn’t say much. Randall Munroe did comment that Ben’s age, 8th graders, in particular, asked some of the most alarming questions and we should check out the one about ammonia one asked.

We drove home talking about physics, engineering, books, and college. It was a good night.

Some of Sam’s baseball friends recently found out he was reading these books and stole them from their dad to read. I don’t think they knew they were any good for kids until Sam started raving about them. I love getting to share a good find with friends. I hope this one finds you well.

Book Festival is still going on this week in Iowa City if you are able to attend – I gave feedback for more virtual events in the future for those of us farther away.

“Supposed to”

“Supposed to”

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We were “supposed to” go to Sioux City to see our new niece. The beautiful little Winnie was in Iowa for the weekend and we were going to get to meet her for the first time. At first, the plan was she and her parents were “supposed to” come to our house, but plans change when babies are involved and so we were planning to head to them.

Well plans change when babies are big too.

Socially, the last couple of years have been hard. When school was first called off in 2020, it was kind of exciting. We buckled down, found tons of online learning resources, built living room forts, Mo Willems was our afternoon doodle buddy. The boys were so lucky to have amazing teachers who were checking in online. Sam had sporadic zoom activities with his class. Ben had a read-aloud with his teacher in the afternoons, sometimes I would take my lunch and listen in because a break from – here you do this engineering experiment, and you read this history article while I listen to this lecture and we will reconvene when we are all done and discuss – was so restful. Listening to someone read a piece of fiction I wasn’t going to be asked to dissect and just enjoy it, felt unbelievably nice. None of this was a normal social situation for any of us however. But, we thought it was temporary. We will do this for a few weeks. a month. or two. it’ll be fine.

As it drug on, it began to wear on all of us. We were home with one another. We were taking walks, taking time for Facetime and zoom calls. Talking to neighbors from a distance, a little. We felt a little shaky around the edges. Then plans started in for schools to return in the fall. It seemed fine at first. Administration had a plan, they needed help rolling it out, they put together a committee. I was on it. Things quickly started to unravel during our first meeting. As we were discussing on zoom how the roll out would go, the chat along the side bar was being filled by a couple of people who had clearly laid out a plan to take over this meeting with their own agenda. No one saw this coming. Looking back it was naive not to see it. Looking back we had been living for a long time in a world where a system worked based on rules being followed and if you didn’t like the rules you worked to change them. The system needed work and had a LOT of cracks, but that was how it was done. Communicate, mediate, negotiate. No one thought we’d be blindsided by people who said they loved the system so much they would break it. It was like a husband telling his wife he was going to have to start punching her in the face until she acted how he wanted, you know, for love.

So instead of rolling out a logical plan and safely trying to get the kids back to learning, focus turned to a divisive and volatile fight amongst parents and quite frankly community members who had very little skin in the game, but a whole lot of loud opinions – and what seemed like less and less thought about how this was actually affecting the people they were claiming to protect, kids and teachers. Meanwhile the kids were playing the waiting game “just a little longer”. That one that never ends.

Situationally and obviously, no one was prepared. In our house as in most houses, we did the best we could with the information we had. We stayed in our tight bubble. We tried to be patient. The contact with the outside world was small and distant. 6 feet apart, masked with barriers. It was scary to be near people. Ben went to a new school building which changed his grade count from about 75 kids, to about 500. He was barely in contact with the friends he knew before, now he was “supposed to” be meeting and making new friends, 6 feet apart, masked with barriers. Ragged parents, frightened and anxious kids – not the greatest combination.

Please don’t misunderstand me, we were advocates of staying home as long as necessary to keep everyone safe and healthy until we all could be vaccinated or whatever scientific information was uncovered and understood so that we all knew we were keeping each other safe and out of harm’s way. We knew too many people suffering to contribute to the spread. But socially, mentally, emotionally, spiritually – this physical contribution to stopping the spread took a toll. When in March of 2020 we were holding out hope we still might take our trip in April, we cancelled that, and hoped we still might get back to school, we held out for summer activities and it drug on and on for two years and in places is still going… We feel it. It hasn’t stopped, collectively for any of us. The hard part to understand is that for some the world didn’t stop. The divisiveness I felt in that meeting that I fought in subsequent Return to Learn meetings, I ended up on the other side of most of the people I was surrounded by. I felt that deeply. Our family felt that deeply. In isolation, we felt even more isolated.

Socially, the last couple of years have been hard.

Fast forward to this summer and Ben was a bored teenager. His friend groups had changed. He was out of the loop. I was taking some time to be with the boys and rest. I had taken a step back from most everything to reassess what I wanted to take on. I was tired from all of my yeses leaving me feeling either burnt out or just plain burned. You could often find us looking slumped and tired, picking through our days. Jeff and Sam had a summer of baseball. We had a summer of waiting and watching. I was at a turning point having just graduated. Ben kind of was too, starting another new building, with new opportunities for activities and friends.

On our road trip, I witnessed little moments that gave Ben some confidence boosts and he started seeing himself in a new light. We went to meet the teacher and I had this strange feeling that the tide was turning. I was feeling more optimistic. I told the boys so. This year was feeling different.

As school started, it continued. Sam’s teacher is brand new and has great ideas, an experienced team and teacher mom. He has a lot of friends in his class and supportive school family. Ben found a variety of friends, and a couple of the longtime steadfast ones who are sticking around, who let him very much be his weird self. He joined a bunch of activities he originally said no to but through renewed confidence, reconsidered.

Last weekend, when we were “supposed to” be in Sioux City meeting our sweet little niece, we were sitting at a very cold, very wet Homecoming game. The eighth grade band played the Star Spangled Banner 20 minutes early so we were standing outside the stadium waiting to get in and missed it. They canceled the rest of the songs they were “supposed to” play for the night as the rain would destroy the woodwinds. We were crushed and headed home, telling Ben, he could stay – social activities he has added to his repertoire: attending football games, going to the park with friends, hanging out at coffee shops (my kid? – yep). Disappointed, wet, cold and hungry – we tried to figure out what was next.

Ben called a little while later for a ride home for himself and his friend. We listened to music in the car, picked up pizza, and talked about all the fun traditions the different band sections have that he learned about from the high school band. Ben was thrilled with his night. And really excited for his eight hour Saturday show choir practice the next day. This was a totally different kid.

All of the “supposed to”s in that moment, washed away.

We were so humbled by Ben’s enthusiasm. He was a kid, in the middle school band, excited about playing his instrument. He was at a football game goofing around with his friends. He was going to sing AND dance (seriously?) in a room full of people with confidence – I did show choir in high school but I was scared out of my mind and show choir in this town is a BIG deal. My big, funny, intelligent, loving kid was finally sharing himself with the world. God I was so fucking happy.

In that moment, I remembered we’ve been working so hard to be good people, good parents, on our mental health, on keeping our family active and learning, and well – for this. Not the “supposed to”s, but to show the world the real, wild, fun, creative, intensely beautiful beings we can be – so we can fulfill that purpose we believe in – to put some good into the world while we are here.

(And we are very much looking forward to meeting that sweet niece next month when we go to Colorado.)

Wright Brothers – the other ones

Wright Brothers – the other ones

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Day 16:

Sammy slept in, in the morning. He really knows how to enjoy a hotel. He loves big beds, big breakfasts, and all the little things that come with them. We had a great breakfast at the hotel. There were lots of big fluffy eggs. On our way out of the hotel, we saw a Mississippi license plate. It was the one plate we had not been able to find (besides Alaska and Hawaii) and we finally spotted one on our last day.

Then we headed to Dayton Ohio about an hour away, to the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park. This is where the Wright Brothers had their bike shop and print shop and invented their flying machines. It is an interesting museum. It wasn’t very busy but extremely detailed. The ranger giving the tour at the bicycle shop is an engineer and bicycle enthusiast and is very passionate about this second career. The museum told a lot about the times during which the Wright Bros lived, their print shop partner, Paul Laurence Dunbar, a groundbreaking African American poet, and novelist. There is a portion of the museum devoted to writers of the time. It also has a whole section about parachutes that I didn’t really understand the connection to the Wright family, except perhaps a loose association to airplanes in general. It gives a lot of great explanations and demonstrations about their airplanes and displays artifacts from their print shop as they would have been when they were working. There are also photographs of the Wright family and information about their history.

We left Dayton after making ourselves a quick car lunch and headed for home. We drove through Indiana and Illinois on our way back to Iowa over the Mississippi River. We got to see our puppies who were already tucked in for the night and were confused that someone was there to see them.  They were overjoyed that we had returned to them. They seemed like they could hardly believe it was us, jumping to kiss our faces over and over, and clinging to our sides. It was both good and really strange to be home. It took some time to get used to it. We had a big week ahead of cleaning out all our gear while celebrating Sam’s birthday, his special day, and a party with friends.  We needed to prepare everyone for school to start with school shopping, prepping schedules and supplies, Meet the Teacher night and school tours, and a family reunion, a friend’s birthday party, possibly the state fair, finally doing that bonfire with the neighbors… but for the first night home we ate pizza and snuggled our puppies.

Blackwater Falls State Park

Blackwater Falls State Park

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Day 15:

In the morning we all showered and hung our things out to dry as best we could. We wrapped some things up in the topper knowing they would just have to make it home wet and left behind a table cloth. We drove to the trailhead for Blackwater Falls and made the hike out. It really was a beautiful falls and running strong. The amber color due to the plants dumping tannins into the water made an interesting sight. We took our time allowing ourselves to take in the morning in the forest and beauty of the place. There was even a swing to swing on while looking down on the falls. We met some people taking their 85 year old parents from Germany on the hike and asking whether it would be ok. We said we thought so with all the platforms and benches along the way for breaks and leveling off, it could be an easy and restful walk.

We took a second hike to Pendleton Point Overlook. There is only enough parking at this trailhead for about 5 cars. It was a very swampy trail at the time we were there and we hopped and jumped our way through it. We leapt from tree branch to rock the whole way and still came out pretty caked with mud. It was one of our messier hikes.  We were just ill-prepared for the circumstances. The views were pretty spectacular, rolling mountains for miles and miles. Sam and I stopped for a bit and and took it in. Ben wasn’t feeling the greatest so he and Jeff headed back ahead. Sam and I caught up and we all went down to the lodge. Once back at the restroom we decided it was time to clean up a little and head out. 

Our time in West Virginia wasn’t great. The landscape was beautiful. The people we met were kind of rude. There were an inordinate amount of riding lawn mowers, most of them driven by pasty men with no shirts. There were a lot of extreme right wing political signs, some wildly offensive. There was spotty cell service, so much so that sometimes we lost our gps map, when we asked if there was an atlas at gas stations, the attendants didn’t know what we were talking about. The drive out of West Virginia felt long. When we got into Ohio we all felt relieved, especially as we inched closer to Columbus. I am holding here an understanding that I both have a bit of white privilege interwoven in the statements above and that I am speaking with authenticity. I am trying to move away from being ultra-positive, everything is perfect so people will like me, giving up parts of my authentic self, and balance that with an understanding that those opinions sometimes can be offensive and come from a place of privilege. But the truth is, I didn’t love it in West Virginia. 

We arrived in Dublin Ohio. The hotel we stayed in appeared to be brand new and built in a newly developed area – which possibly accounted for the great price we got on the room, it appears they are trying to attract people to the area. There wasn’t a pool. Sam was expecting one, so we let him choose what kind of dinner we were having that night – Mexican he said, and there happened to be a highly rated Mexican restaurant, Local Cantina, just feet from our hotel so we walked down, put our name in and took a walk around while we waited. A Palestinian cultural walk and informational festival was happening riverside. There was 1/4 mile picturesque pedestrian bridge over the river which we traversed and watched the kayakers slowly wend their way downstream. Across the river there were waterside taverns and restaurants with people enjoying food and drinks on patios as the sun began to set. We headed back to our table and had chips and salsa, the boys enjoyed burritos and fajitas, I had tacos. We ended the night at yet another ice cream shop. I got the raspberry sorbet – it was wonderful. 

 

Eight States in One Day

Eight States in One Day

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Day 14:

We started the day with another big breakfast and a stop for Dunkin Donuts coffee. I had no idea how big Dunkin was out east, but I love their coffee so I was happy to be in constant supply.  We headed out early for our longest day on the road. We were making our way through Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. We had long stretches of the Lord of the Rings. Good heavens, Andy Serkis does an amazing job with this audiobook. We stopped for a game of catch in several states, many times just playing at the gas station while pumping gas after a bathroom break, remembering quirks and sharing them with the boys like how Jersey is all full-service gas or take care in the Baltimore area, the trucks are always in a hurry and might mow you down (we’ve experienced this more than once).

Driving into West Virginia was beautiful with layer upon layer of forest-covered mountains. We got to our campsite late and tired and set up camp. We quickly made our dinner, heating up soup on the camp stove and building a fire in a wet fire grill to make grilled cheese. We sat down to eat and were most of the way through the meal when it started to rain. Jeff and I “did dishes” (wiped things down as best we could to store until morning) under the back hatch of the car as the rain poured down. The boys finished laying everything out inside the tent, getting ready for bed. I squeaked the squelched my way to the bathroom to get ready as well. It was fun to hear the thunderstorm for a while. Then the tent began leaking not long after as we were really exposed, not level, and have been using this tent for a while – the seams could probably use a reseal. We stuffed the corners as best we could with the extra blanket and sweatshirt I grabbed. Knowing it was our last night camping, we fell asleep, a little damp listening to the rain. 

Mystic Seaport and Rhode Island

Mystic Seaport and Rhode Island

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Day 13:

We had a big hotel breakfast in Westport and headed to Mystic CT. Yes, Mystic, like in Mystic Pizza (no, we didn’t eat there – we were planning on a pizza night for dinner). We looked at a lot of places to go in Connecticut and originally had a campsite at Hammonasset Beach State Park, but after our Boston plans changed, so too did our Connecticut plans. We looked into New Haven and Yale, traveling the small towns in the area, maybe catching a glimpse of the Gilmore Girls gazebo, but we found the same recommendation from both travel sites and people we talked to along the coast. Mystic Seaport was the place to go.

When we got there it seemed pretty pricey for a museum, but Jeff paid since it was most of our day and I was finding bathrooms for the kids, again. We spent a lot of time in the museum area learning the history of boating.  It was pretty fascinating. I actually found it really interesting that we all had different things we enjoyed about this space. My favorite was the history of the Patsy Green, a canoe a couple took up the coast of New England, camping along the way. It became such a spectacle the press took hold of the story and it was what popularized canoeing for sport. There was also a dugout oyster boat on display that is the oldest surviving watercraft found by archaeologists. It is 10,000 years old and was discovered in the Netherlands. Walking out of the museum, we expected to begin exploring the coast, watching some ships, instead, there were more museums to explore – the art of the sea, figureheads, etc. then beyond we began to see what this place really was. There was a whole shipping town built along the water. Each building could be explored like it was used – for those of you near Des Moines, kind of like Living History Farms, but think oysters, whales, ropes, shipbuilding… There are toy boat-making demos and wood carving, a place where you could raise the sail, learn about the history of oyster farming, look at how old vessels were built against how they are built now, take boat tours, and visit the oldest commercial whaling vessel.  We couldn’t get to it all. It went on and on. However much research we do for these trips, we slipped on this one and missed what this all was. It was way beyond our expectations. We sat on benches at the entrance and had a late lunch of sandwiches and apples in the shade with a view of the water before moving on to Newport, RI.

Newport was… odd. We stopped at a sort of downtown-ish area. We walked through some shops. It was touristy. The boys had some ice cream. Ben found sunglasses he’s been looking for for a long time. We drove down Mansion Row and Sam dreamed of the house he will have when he becomes an MLB player, with one attached for mommy, dad can come too. Ben can come if he wants. Ben didn’t want to. We found a Little League field by the water to play catch and walked over to the beach. We stuck our feet in the sand, watched the boats on the water, and said goodbye to the ocean, we were heading inland from here. We drove back to Westport for the night, had pizza, played cards, took a swim in the pool, and relaxed in the hot tub again. 

Grab the keys, git in the cah!

Grab the keys, git in the cah!

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Day 12:

We awoke indoors with big beds and floors with carpet which felt a little strange, sharing a bathroom, and not starting a fire first thing. We found a restaurant that served breakfast in popovers at a streetside cafe a short walk from our hotel. It was a beautiful morning and we could have explored Portsmouth all day. We remembered while eating breakfast that we had made popovers while we were spending time at home during the pandemic. These tasted familiar so we must have done something right. Sam also learned who his teacher was for 4th grade and was very excited to discover many of his friends were going to be in his class. Our day wasn’t to be spent in Portsmouth so it was another town going on the list for an east coast return. We instead had a day planned for Boston. So, after a refreshing breakfast and morning walk, we packed up and headed back on the road. Or as tiny Sammy used to say, “Grab the keys, git in the cah!” in his toddler Boston accent, no one ever understood how or why he obtained that but it was adorable.

Our first stop was the USS Constitution. The area was a bit confusing as there are a couple of entrances. There is a museum with artifacts at one end of the shipyard which you can enter for a cash donation – Sam had to use the bathroom, Jeff was parking and had all of our cash, so we headed to the next spot at the other end of the yard, the security checkpoint.  There was a confusing bunch of teenagers? 20 year olds? (I’m terrible at guessing ages) who were funny, possibly just sarcastic, running this checkpoint but we were in a hurry to find a bathroom with no time for banter. We ran through quickly and got Sam to the restroom. Inside this building, I learned a lot about the USS Jamestown, the first US ship to be changed from a war vessel to a humanitarian ship when the British were overtaxing the Irish forcing them to give their crops and livestock as payment. The Irish began to live solely off of potatoes, their most plentiful crop, and what remained after taxation. When the potato blight hit, the small efforts by the British to open soup kitchens, etc. were like a drop in the bucket for the starving Irish. The people of Boston caught wind of what was happening and began putting money together for supplies and food to be sent. As more and more people heard, more sympathy and funds were gathered. The USS Jamestown carried 800 tons of supplies and food to County Cork in March 1847. And it didn’t stop there, the ship continued aid until the crisis was over and brought back many refugees with each trip. The vessel became a symbol of humanitarianism.

In this building, we were also taught about different jobs in the shipyard, like welding and ropemaking. The USS Constitution, Old Ironsides, is the oldest military vessel in the US. We were able to learn about this ship as well as the making of the chains at this facility. We toured the USS Constitution and viewed the USS Cassin Young, with the enormous anchors and cannons. We had some long discussions about how much we wanted to fit into this trip and how to balance seeing all that we wanted to see versus allowing ourselves to really soak up and enjoy those things we were going there for, and maybe even relax a little – it is a vacation after all.  Our original plan included an extra loop with more cities that we cut out. We made a conscious decision to cut some of Boston so that we could come back and really see the city, instead of trying to get it all in, in a day (or two as we had initially planned). Plus, Boston is pricey. We preferred to stay outside the city, which meant drive time in and out. We knew we were going to run out of time to do the Freedom Trail and Fenway on this trip.  Our objectives this time were to hit the USS Constitution, MIT, and Boston Common/the Public Garden (and at least view Fenway, because of course we had to at least SEE it).

So, the next stop was MIT. It is Ben’s dream to eventually go to MIT and become an astrophysicist. We went to the bookstore and felt like it was kind of amazing – I mean it’s a bookstore, with MIT recommendations (also the bathroom door handles had nanotechnology that resterilized itself every few seconds – incredible!), but we weren’t really seeing MIT. Ben was tentative and I could tell it was a combination of nerves and embarrassment, so Jeff and I had to take over. We stopped in at admissions and got a map and some advice from the nice ladies there on what buildings we could go into and what we were looking at. We walked around campus for a bit and then a rain storm hit. It went from a few sprinkles to pouring sheets of rain within minutes and we were running for cover. All our best adventures seem to go this way.  Last summer we were at the bottom of Bryce Canyon when a storm hit and we had to run through the rain, splashing red mud to the top because it can dangerous when it floods (we were safe, it had just started to rain). It was exciting and fun as we raced each other over the paths. The same thing happened in Mammoth Cave National Park. We found ourselves running again, this time across campus looking for a dry place to find our bearings. We ended up under an overhang figuring out our next steps, cutting through a building we weren’t supposed to be in that some students and a professor let us through because we were drenched, and driving around in the car for a bit before we went back to our same parking spot, eating some sandwiches, and checking out the student center. We visited all the bookstores on campus. We saw a kid practicing piano, and others just chatting over homework, we peeked in on some art projects and spotted some nerdy sci-fi posters. All the bike lane signs had bikers with helmets painted on and Google is right across the street. Ben was so happy and comfortable. He was so excited and it was fabulous. It was the first time I remember him being totally embarrassed by his parents.

Sam wanted to drive past Harvard so we did and the campus was a little underwhelming. It was pretty, but just not what we expected. It was almost game time at Fenway so most everything was blocked off. It was like a big party down there, vendors yelling “hot dogs! Get ya hot dogs hea!” and people walking around all in blue and red. We drove in, did a U-turn, and set out for Boston Public Garden. It was an incredibly tranquil, lovely place in the middle of the city. We visited the iconic bridge over the lake, the elms and willows, the musicians, the swan boats, the eccentric landscaping, statues, the carousel, and of course visited Robert McCloskey’s Ducklings. We illegally played catch on the lawn (we didn’t realize we weren’t supposed to until we were leaving). We stepped across the street and ran into Edgar Allen Poe with his raven and dragging along that heavy beating heart.

We left Boston both tired and wanting more. We definitely will be back. We likely will do a cities tour out east at some point without the car topper making us feel uncomfortable about parking. On this night we headed to our hotel in Westport, Massachusetts. Jeff ran into a couple in the hotel elevator who used to live in Westport and come back every year to visit. They recommended a restaurant to us. It was close to closing time so we hurried back out to Bittersweet Farms. When we arrived, the restaurant was closed, but it had a tavern on the lower level serving for a little while longer and willing to seat us. It was quite possibly the best meal of our trip. Our waitress was such a treat. She was chatty and wanted to learn all about us. She shared tips with us about the area and great places to eat. We learned that the owner of the restaurant owned most of the establishments in the town, including our hotel. She said she and her husband used to own a restaurant themselves until repairs became too pricey and they semiretired. She talked baseball, the Sox were playing, they just got Hosmer – a player we saw come up through the Royals. Both teams are awful this year. Again. It was easy and fun. She made us laugh telling us about the feud between the people of Boston and those from New York and New Jersey and when they come in acting like they own the place… she knew we weren’t them right off. I had the best fish tacos I’ve ever eaten. I may have been hungry. It may have been the atmosphere, but they were so good. Ben decided we should eat at more taverns after that. Sam agreed. Jeff always gets the good inside scoop. He says women 30 years old than him are his people – they kind of are. After the meal, we hit the hotel pool and hot tub. They were warm and inviting after a long day and the boys thoroughly enjoyed an empty pool area to practice their cannonballs.

Driving the Coast

Driving the Coast

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Day 11:

We slept a little later this morning, but not long after sunrise. We met some people at the shower house who had been to the place we were headed a little later in our trip in West Virginia and were thrilled to talk to us about it. They had been in the winter and told us all about their snow adventures there. We were excited for more exploration ahead. We spent a little time at the campsite and took off for a day on Highway 1.

We drove down the coast and our first stop was Penobscot Narrows Bridge which has an observation tower at the top and overlooks Fort Knox. We took photos riverside and moved along to Belfast where we stopped at a little diner. I finally had the lobster roll I promised myself – I’ve wanted to try one for so long. Jeff tried a lobster omelet and the boys had burgers, of course. We stopped in some shops, walked by the harbor, and checked out the town a little. It was cute and historic. We window shopped some galleries. We spent a lot of time in the Green Store. It had a lot environmentally friendly/sustainable gear and wares from local makers. There was a whole wall of glass bottles on shelves and beneath were tubs of refillable soaps and lotions. There were solar lanterns, candles and composting tips. The lady behind the counter rang a bell every time someone made a purchase and didn’t use a bag. It was quaint and crunchy and a fun stop. We drove through Camden Maine and wished we had made a stop there. It was another beautiful and historic coastal town. It was bustling with people. It appears Camden has a state park with a campground so may be a place we look into in the future.

We landed for the night at a hotel in Portsmouth New Hampshire. We fell in love with this town. It reminded me a little of some of the European towns we’ve been to with its brick and cobblestone and the streets going this way and that, the signs on the buildings hanging above large glass display windows facing passersby and diners on the sidewalk. Jeff says it’s because it’s colonial New England. I suppose he’s right, we came over and built what we knew. I suppose there was a beauty to the history of it all. It is easier to appreciate for me when I am in Europe thinking my ancestors were there, but I suppose there were wars and pillaging and enslavement in our history there too. Some recent, some ancient. It’s a bit like the forefathers and philosophers, the way we overlook the sins of men to advance their good work. We are learning even now that MLK may have had a shady past. No one is perfect. We have to separate the flesh from the idea. It’s like getting in the flow and feeling like it comes from somewhere else, a collective or spiritual place outside ourselves. If it is part of some other, how can we connect it to the person who translates it into being. They have done the work of educating themselves in their trade, which isn’t to be understated, been open to the message, and able to convey it into whatever craft they have chosen. But they are not the maker of the flow, only the messenger. Similarly, progress can be teased from the acts and appreciated in one hand while making amends in the other.

So we walked the old streets of Portsmouth with its new shops and waterside restaurants. We ate at the River House and watched the Little League World Series (on the television/phone). Sam and I shared an excellent meal of fish and chips and shrimp salad. We swam at the hotel pool and slept in comfortable beds without pitching a tent or rolling out sleeping bags for the first time in 10 nights.

Bridges, Beach day, Beehive and Bacon

Bridges, Beach day, Beehive and Bacon

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Day 10:

I woke up a little after 4:00 and couldn’t go back to sleep.  We heard there were pay showers across the street from our campsite (just off property from the National Park) so I thought it would be nice to get a shower in and watch the sun rise. We tend to get wiped out on these trips and fall asleep early so, when Jeff heard me stirring, he decided to get up too. He and I headed out, having let the boys know we’d probably do this the night before. We anticipated the shower house being busy.  We had been warned by our camp neighbors in Vermont that when they visited, there was a long line waiting. We discovered when we arrived the place was empty, however, the showers were $3 for 4 mins (not quite for 4 mins seemingly, I had time to do more in the 4 mins I had Vermont, none the less those prices seemed crazy, but we got our showers in and we tried to shrug off the $3 that we easily could have spent on something less satisfying). We watched the sunrise from the roadside. When we got back the boys kept sleeping, in fact we had to wake them even after we cooked piles of bacon, some for breakfast, some for BLTs for dinner, and some to save for our last campsite when we knew we likely would need to get on the road early. I think our Massachusetts neighbors thought the crazy Iowans were going wild with pork. They were meanwhile making me drool over the grits they were cooking over their fire. If I get anywhere near the south, I order grits. On our trip to The Great Smokey Mountains a few years ago, I fell in love with grits. On this day, we made eggs and toast (and some extra for the BLTs – using an older campfire toast stand my parents had from the 70s) and packed up for a full day out in Acadia.

Our first hike was the carriage roads by Jordan Pond. The roads are easy to hike – or bike if you choose, the historic bridges are big and beautiful, and the water wasn’t running so we were able to crawl under and through them. There are some pretty awesome views from some high spots overlooking the mountains and forests. On the way back we hiked a path through the woods, over streams and rocks, in the cool shade. We attempted to order popovers from the Jordan Pond restaurant, but they were going to require a 30 min wait, we really didn’t want to hang around for, but found out there is another popover option. So we had ice cream popovers from an upstairs snack shop. We walked around and made inappropriate comments about all the body parts The Bubbles (mountains views from Jordan Pond) could be. We made a couple of purchases in the gift shop – arguably the best shop in the park, the other good one is by Thunder Hole, but has odd hours.

We then headed to the Visitors’ Center where Sam was sworn in as Jr Ranger. Next was Sand Beach. We put our feet in the water and took a moment to enjoy the fact that we had dipped our toes in both oceans in a year. The water temperature that day was 55 degrees but it was hot outside and the ocean looked so tempting. So, the boys decided to swim. They ran out and rode the waves over and over. Jeff and I stood on the edge letting the waves crash our legs and dug ourselves out of the sand.  We took a break in the afternoon to make the scallops near the beach. We had packed along the camp stove, butter, lemon, salt, and pepper and wheat crisps. It was one of our favorite meals. The boys went right back to the water. Jeff and I took turns snoozing in the sand before returning to the ocean.

Our car was parked near Beehive Trail which is a hike over a bunch of rocks and boulders, up the side of the mountain, and then on some ladder rungs drilled into a rock face. Ben did not want to do this hike. He has a hard time with heights, but he also was having a particularly hard time with this Park. While tide pooling, the rocks were slimy and wet and he slipped and sliced his hand. He later slid off a step and scraped up his knee. So we said we would go as far as he felt comfortable. We made it part way up the ladder rungs and went back down. I’m not going to lie, I was a little shaky up there with my kids unsure on the ledge. I was proud of them for being brave enough to push further than they thought they could but knowing their limits and saying when they were done. We got to a spot with an incredible view where we could stand safely and then headed back down.

Cadillac Mountain is the highest point in Acadia National Park. It is famously known for being the first place in the US the sun touches during certain times of the year. It’s a great place to catch both sunrise and sunset, but can be very busy. Currently, driving up Cadillac Mountain requires a reservation. We reserved a time just before sunset so we had some time, hiked back to our car, and drove the Park Loop for a bit, making stops along the way at places we had read about or that looked interesting on the maps.  All the time, we made our way toward Cadillac Mountain’s entrance gate. At our allotted time, we drove the winding road to the top. We spent some time walking the trails and taking in the views from every direction, it was breathtaking. We put together our BLTs and had dinner sitting on the rocks. Then, we walked down to Blue Hill Overlook. We were glad we got there early to get a spot. There were already quite a few people and lots more showed up. Clouds began rolling in as the sun was setting which made for a stunning and colorful setting sun. We drove back down as it was getting dark and watched the colors change over the park. Thinking back to other sunsets we had seen like those in Utah and how careful we had to be driving in the dark, we noted there wasn’t a lot of wildlife in Acadia, though we did see lots of snails and crabs at the beach. We enjoyed the peaceful drive back and a restful night.

 

 

 

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