New England Day 9

Drove home. Stopped to visit Grandma in Ancaster, ON. Ate leftover pizza from last night for lunch. Crossed border (30-40 minute wait). Ate at Wendy's in Flint. Garmin home ETA: 8:17pm.

New England Day 8

Tent floor was wet this morning. Skipped showers because you have to pay. Packed up wet camp. Went to Flume Gorge. Great two mile hike. Boardwalks along gorge. Waterfalls. Kids loved climbing through wolf den. I got stuck, but made it through.

Drove to Burlington, VT for Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour. Sampled "Half Baked" ice cream (chocolate brownie and cookie dough).

Took US-2 through Lake Champlain islands. Drove through Quebec. Spent night in Gananoque, ON.

New England Day 7

Packed up camp early. Drove to Mt. Washington Auto Road in New Hampshire. It was rainy and cloudy, so there was zero view from the summit. Ride up was still interesting.

Crossed Appalachian Trail. Drove to Franconia Notch State Park and stayed at Lafayette Park. Made camp in the rain. Built campfire and roasted hot dogs for supper. Rained.

New England Day 6

Stopped at Seawall Campground for jr. ranger badges. Took the pledge. Ranger recommended hiking Acadia Mountain. Kids loved the scrambling. Hiked up without stopping to rest. Snacked on top. Beautiful ocean view. Hot. Sweaty.

Cooled off at Echo Lake with a million YMCA kids. Warm water. Refreshing. Checked out tidepools at Seawall. No creatures, except snails, but still interesting.

Drove to lighthouse. Not that impressed. Bar Harbor was nice. Early supper and ice cream.

New England Day 5

Went to Acadia National Park. Stopped at Precipice to try to see peregrine falcons for ranger badges. They were hiding. Kids loved ocean/wave jumping at Sand Beach. M took them climbing on the rocks. I thought they would all fall to their deaths.

Thunder Hole was impressive. Loud erosion!

Stopped by Jordan Pond.

Walked loop at Cadillac Mountain, waited for ranger so kids could get another program for badges. Rained, so she let us go early.

Sunset at LeMoine Campground.

New England Day 4

Drove to Boston and walked up Bunker Hill Monument (294 steps). Kids beat grown-ups. Good view from top. Started Freedom Trail there.

Walked to Old North Church. Sat in the "box pews" and heard story of the lights on top (one guy got busted and released) and the angels that were pirated and donated there.

USS Constitution was closed. Kids were tired, so we decided to drive all the way up to Maine, rather than staying in the city. Arrived at LeMoine Campground after dark. Burned down our battery setting up camp with our headlights on.

New England Day 3

Drove to Mystic, CT and went to Mystic Seaport. Toured old ships, including an old Civil War blockade runner. Saw below deck in whaling and fishing ships. Cramped quarters! Toured old buildings/houses. Were surprised at the size of houses. Some very small, some fairly comfortable. Saw jellyfish in the water. Rained hard, got soaked. Kids had ponchos, but grown-ups got wet. Spent a couple of hours there.

Ate at McD's in Rhode Island.

Drove to Plymouth, MA and saw Plymouth Rock. It's a rock. The portico around it was under construction, so that took away from it, too. Walking through such a historic town was pretty cool, though.

New England Day 2

Picnic lunch in ferry parking lot. Took ferry to Ellis Island, then Statue of Liberty. Drove through Manhattan on south side. Lots of people walking around. Gritty feel.

Stayed in Comfort Suites in Stratford, CT. Kids swam in tiny indoor pool. Watched kickboxing on TV!

New England Day 1

Left home around 1:30pm. Construction on 131 in Rockford! Ugh! Smooth sailing the rest of the way. Got to Comfort Inn in New Columbia, PA around 11 pm. Kids watched boxing on TV.