Gotta love Walmart!

This was sent from a friend - I knew I was in good company. :-) or at least company of others!

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/09/29/magazine/look-walmart.html?_r=0

The first of a good time in MA

Boy were we wrong when we thought a day in Concord, MA would be enough. Turned into 4 good days. We were glad there was an AFB for us to stop over in because its getting chilly at night and its better to be plugged in for heat.

First we did the Minuteman NHP from Lexington to the North Bridge in Concord. What an amazing history, and what a super job the park rangers do of imparting it to us.

 And, ooh, the start of real fall!

Interesting facts - the man who made this statue - French, first took art lessons from Louisa May Alcott's sister - connections! And he went on to be the man who completed the Lincoln Memorial!

And then we went on to see all the authors, their places and their graces! Authors and the Transcendentalist movement were at a peak here - Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, Nathanial Hawthorne (though not one, still amazing).

Its a lake - dont know where pond came from, but its a lake.

Nathanial Hawthorne's house was under repair and Henry David Thoreau's house was only open on days we werent around so we didnt get to see those, but we saw there they lay.

Dont ever try to drive a 31' RV through the cemetery - the city wont tell you, but I will!

And with a nod towards a wonderful book series, The Mother-Daughter Book Club, written by a CS author, we stopped at Kimballs Ice Cream Shop for gargantuan scoops of fresh ice cream - twice!

Highlights by Mom:

• Hanscom AFB camping area - we came upon another full time HI family from Makaha who were on month 14 of a 2 year trip. She is retired AF traveling with her 80 yo mother! It was fun to reminisce about what we missed back home.
• Kimball's Ice Cream, especially coffee oreo!
• Concord, MA and all its incredible history and beauty
• Driving our RV through Logan airport to drop off my mom - and then having the police come to  help move cars and back us out of a toll bridge they said we couldnt go through DURING RUSH HOUR! Hannah wanted to climb in a hole and I wanted to just give up, but we made it out without a scratch or a horn blaring at us.
• Being able to shop in a commissary!

Maine was better than cool!

Though not quite at its peak of Fall, Maine was spectacular.

First we stopped by a beautiful lake near Harrison. Those silly kids even got in the lake!

 Then we had a wonderful overnight at Newfound/Owatonna.

And ran into some OC friends, Leslie and John,

who were participating in the creative art week at camp.

Jamie and Dave took us skiing in the am - what an awesome time.

It started out like the above, but it cleared up wonderfully by the time mom got in the water.
AND, YES, I DID GET IN THE WATER!

After leaving camp we headed to Boothbay.

And I got to have the best lobster roll around.

It was fresh a few minutes before I ate it! 

But the kicker is, we are in a Sunoco minimart, with a live lobster tank!

We headed to Bath for a tour of the Bath Maritime and Bath Iron Works tour.

We got to see the new Zumwalt class stealth Destroyer.

 The next couple days were spent around Freeport, the cutest outlet town around.

Guess what store we stopped in first?

High Points by Mom:

• More fall colors
• Lobster rolls
• Seeing another CS camp and being wowed!
• Lobster rolls
• Skiing for the first time in years.
• Lobster rolls
• Church in Portland and running into friends
• Lobster rolls
• LL Bean and Patagonia stores
• Lobster rolls.