Jeannie: Thoughts and Impressions

As stated earlier, we’ve had problems connecting to wi/fi so our posts have been spotty.  I just wanted to add some personal impressions on some of the places we’ve been to and some of the things we’ve done.  They may not be in order since at this point in any trip everything begins to run together in one’s mind.  You can’t remember what day it is, let alone what you did a few days ago.

--Providence, RI, is a pretty little town.  Being in Rhode Island was a first for all of us.  They have a cute little River Walk, but nothing like San Antonio’s.  Everything is close together and we saw all of the important things in only a couple of hours.  I’m glad we stopped there.

--I enjoyed our stop at the American Girl Store for Abby’s birthday celebration.  I’d never been in one and it’s a little girl’s dream world.  They are catered to and made to feel so grown up.

--I’m doing my best to make sure that my granddaughter is brought up properly.  Not only did we visit the Lizzie Borden House, but we went on 2 ghost tours!  ;-)

--Portland, ME, is another really pretty town which I’m glad we stopped in.  Our (non)whale watching tour was an experience.  The weather was gorgeous and it was a beautiful boat ride, and my girls had some good “sisterly bonding time” heaving over the back rail of the boat side by side.   Abby was the only true sailor in our group.  She was hopping around the boat like an old salt.

--We had a few early mornings in a row but they were well worth it.  Sunrises at both Cadillac Mountain in Acadia NP and at Lubec, ME, guaranteed us as being some of the first in the US to see the sun rise on those days.  They were both beautiful.  We weren’t sure about Cadillac Mountain.  It was foggy but we thought we’d give it a try anyway.  The mountain top was above the fog and there were about 100 people spread around. We are now official members of the “Cadillac Mountain Sunrise Club.”  In Lubec we just had to walk across the street from our B&B.  (We could have watched from our window but the screen would have ruined the pictures.)  There was only one other person also watching and she was at the end of the street, so we had peaceful solitude as the sun rose above Campabello Island.

--The highlight of the entire trip was the puffin watching tour.  I HIGHLY recommend it if you ever have the chance.  The puffins are so close that you could literally reach out and touch them.  We got Nat Geo quality photos.  Under these conditions, someone would actually have to work at getting bad photos. The puffins are so adorable, I could have stayed there all day.  Our 2 hours were up much too quickly.

--Kayaking in Hopewell Rocks comes in as a very close second.  That is another incredible experience.  To actually be paddling around and under those huge rocks and fully experiencing them at high tide, and then just a few hours later at low tide to be walking 40 ft. below where we kayaked is mind boggling.  I had a great time (despite what Stacy said!).

--I’m so glad that Kim brought along the CD of “Anne of Green Gables.”  We all listened to it together as we drove so we were well prepared by the time we reached Prince Edward Island.  We finished the story right before we arrived at Cavendish.  As we walked through the Green Gables House we were able to appreciate the details, like the bottle of raspberry cordial on the second shelf of the pantry, because the story was so fresh in our minds.  Abby is totally infatuated with Anne.

--We did the Tip to Tip tour of PEI (getting a ribbon at one end and a certificate at the other).  We really got to see what the entire island is like.  We rushed like crazy to get to the East Point Lighthouse before it closed at 6PM, only to find out after arriving that they’re opened until 7.  At least it gave us time to visit the site.

This is only a small taste of what we experienced on our THALAMAC adventure.  Today we begin our journey back home, making several touristy stops along the way.  It’s been a fantastic trip and a very special time spent with my daughters and granddaughter.