Day 11

 We headed to Texas today. Our drive was shorter and only about six hours. We needed to get back in time to pick up Ginger and Bluebonnet from the vet before they closed. 

We stopped one more time at a Buc-ee's in Royce City, and I posed for another picture with the lovable beaver. 

When we hit bumper-to-bumper traffic in Dallas, we decided to return home via Hwy 67 to avoid the Mid-Cities, Ft. Worth, and Weatherford traffic. We headed toward Duncanville and had an enjoyable rest of the way home. 

We stopped by to pick up the animals and squeezed them into the car with all our other luggage. It sure felt good to be home. Of course, our family wasn't complete without Cooper, so we drove to Comanche to pick him up. 

We had traveled eleven days and had gone through nineteen states. We could honestly say that our butts had not hurt once due to our new seat cushions. 

I went to the doctor the next day and got three shots for my aching side. Within the day, I felt much better and had been convinced by the doctor to get a shingles shot just in case. 

Day 10

 John and Sally fixed us a delicious breakfast before we left this morning. 

We had a long nine-hour drive ahead of us. We drove through McDonald’s for lunch and ate in the car to avoid wasting time stopping. 

The drive through Virginia and east Tennessee was beautiful. We hit more rain in Arkansas, and the traffic slowed. 

While we were stopping for gas, the GPS alerted us to a quicker route. We took that route and saw the traffic backed up for miles on the highway. It was the fourth accident we saw that day on the slick roads. Thank you, Lord, for your protective hand. 

We stopped west of Little Rock at a La Quinta and ate dinner in our room. That loaf of bread has gone a long way this trip. 

Day 9

 I was in quite a bit of pain when we left Janet's this morning. Our trip out of Connecticut was slow going due to heavy commuter traffic to New York City.

Along the way, we took a side trip to Hershey, PA, to see the Hershey Kisses-shaped street lamps. They did not disappoint. Some were chocolate, and the others were silver-foil. If we had had more time, I would have loved to stop by the Hershey Museum. 

We stopped at the Savory Cafe in Hershey and had lunch. Our meal was tasty, but the loud family overtook the entire restaurant, making the experience less enjoyable for the rest of us. The highlight, though, was the blueberry basil lemonade. 

On our way to Draper, VA today, we drove through seven states. 

We had a delicious burger dinner compliments of John and Sally at their beautiful Virginia home. Kelly, Will’s brother, also joined us for dinner.  We dined out on the back porch, enjoying the nice weather and the fireflies.

Sally gave us a tour of their home, and I was envious of their basement. What I could do with all those extra rooms- craft room, workout room…)

We visited late into the evening and spent the night at the Beahms'. 

Day 8

 

Today is my 70th birthday, and Chuck and my 41st wedding anniversary. We left our hotel in Andover, MA, and made our way to Rhode Island. We were able to visit each of the New England states except Vermont. The next time we visit, we definitely have to make it there. Maybe we could visit my cousin, Greg.

Along the way, we had quite a bit of rain. Nothing torrential, but pretty constant. 

We arrived in Providence, Rhode Island, around lunchtime—a quick Google search found a nearby restaurant that sounded appealing. When we arrived, we learned that the restaurant was actually in a mall with a parking garage. 

Considering the rain, we couldn't believe our good luck. We parked the car, made a note of where we were parked (not that it did any good, LOL), and headed inside. We passed by a Lego store very first thing and stopped to purchase souvenirs for the boys. 

We went up the escalator to find the restaurant we had found online. Before finding it, we came across the food court. Now this food court was nothing like what we had experienced in Texas. 

We decided to check it out, and I ended up ordering Brazilian food, and Chuck ordered Japanese. My Brazilian meal of rice, black beans, and roasted pork was delicious. I topped my meal off with Cashew Juice. (Made from the cashew apple, not squeezed from the nut) Chuck got a shrimp meal, but admitted my Brazilian meal was better. 

We sat next to the window and watched the rain fall. We decided that our meal would count as our anniversary meal and asked someone to take a picture of us together. 

When it was time to leave, we thought we knew what we were doing. Before it was said and done, I felt like I was in an episode of Seinfeld. We ended up going back inside and started all over, combining the clues we remembered about where we parked. We were successful in locating our car this time. 

We left Rhode Island and traveled back to Janet's to spend the night again. We stopped at a Dollar General to buy a peace offering for Rooster (we got something for Truman as well)

When we arrived at Janet’s, she had birthday balloons, pizza, and a chocolate cake for my birthday. We tried some famous New Haven mashed-potato-and-bacon pizza and added hot honey to our pepperoni pizza. It was all quite tasty. 

Apparently, the peace offering worked because Rooster never hissed at us again. (He had actually hissed at Chuck as well in our last visit)

Sadly, by the time I got to bed, my side was really hurting. 

Day 7

 We spent the day around the Boston area with my cousin Richard, whom I had not seen in fifty years. 

We began the morning attending Mass at St. Columbkille’s Catholic Church in Brighton, where Mom and Dad were married. We changed clothes in the car tucked away at the back of the parking lot.

From there we met up with Richard. We ate lunch at a local restaurant and then made a trip to St. Joseph’s Cemetery where several of my family members are buried. In fact, my grandmother Alice (Nana), grandfather Francis (whom I never met), Uncle Tom, Uncle Richard, Uncle Edmond, and Aunt Theresa are all buried in the same plot. 

From there we traveled to several beach towns that my cousin likes to frequent. We stopped at Scituate Beach, which I remembered from my family’s 1976 vacation. 

We had a fun day hanging out with Richard and appreciated him giving us a tour of the area. 

After we left Richard, we stopped by Jersey Mike’s, picked up sandwiches for dinner, and returned to our hotel room to eat them. 

Day 6

 We woke up this morning and had a tasty breakfast at the hotel, including waffles. Our plan for the day was to drive up to Maine. 

We drove through the town of Hampton Beach, NH, which I'm pretty sure was where I celebrated my 20th birthday, fifty years ago, in a camper. As far as the town goes, I wasn't all that impressed. I'm finding that typical beach towns are not my favorites. 

We then stopped in Portsmouth, NH, which turned out to be a quaint New England town, which is something I really like. We walked around the downtown area and saw a beautiful church, along with picking up some finishing salt at a fancy kitchen shop. (FYI- it cost $3.00 to park)

From there, we continued to Portland, Maine, where it cost $40.00 to park! We walked around the downtown area enjoying the sights. We indulged in some yummy ice cream, bypassed the $40.00 lobster roll (We’d had one in Cape Cod a few years back and felt indifferent about passing them by), and were able to collect another thimble for my collection. 

When we left, we were hungry and decided to stop somewhere for some more reasonably priced food. We made the mistake of exiting at Old Orchard Beach, ME, where we were stuck in traffic way too long as we attempted to escape from another beach town. Old Orchard Beach just solidified my opinion of beach towns. 

We had a sandwich for dinner back at the hotel. Thank goodness for that loaf of Artisan bread that I packed. 

By this time, my side was really giving me the blues. Before leaving Texas, I had been coughing for about a week. The day we left, I reached over to pick up the cat carrier out of the front seat. I think between the coughing and the weird angle of lifting the cat, I must have pulled a muscle in my side under my arm. 

What is it about me and pre-vacation injuries? Two years ago, when we visited California, I had a broken toe and had to basically wear flip-flops in November wherever we went. 

Day 5

  

The night before, when Chuck and I were getting ready for bed, Rooster jumped onto my suitcase and started kneading it with his claws. It started to rip the material, so I told him to stop and tried to shoo him away. He hissed at me!

The next morning I awoke to the sound of Chuck laughing. He and Janet were having coffee out on the screened-in porch. I joined them and enjoyed an amazing breakfast fixed by Janet. We had sausage and biscuits, scrambled eggs, mixed berries, and sourdough toast with butter. Janet introduced us to something called finishing salt, which we stingily sprinkled over our toast. It was awesome!

After breakfast, I tried to pet Rooster, and he hissed at me again. He ended up hissing at me one more time. Apparently, he was holding a grudge.

We spent the day in New Haven with Janet. She gave us a behind-the-scenes tour of Yale Repertory Theater and several other Yale-associated theaters. It was such an up-close-and-personal look at the place Janet has spent the last thirty years. 

The weather was hovering around a hundred degrees that day, and we especially appreciated the frigid air in the costume room. 

We stopped at a little coffee shop/book shop and enjoyed a cool drink and a sticky bun. Chuck secretly purchased me a birthday present while we were browsing the shelves. 

From there we headed to get some famous New Haven pizza. I was extremely impressed with my sister’s parallel parking skills. I told her the last time I had parallel parked was when I took my driving test at age 16.

We made our way to the pizza joint, but found a line a mile long coming out of the door. With the 100-degree heat, it just didn't make sense to stay. We went next door and picked out cannolis for dessert and decided to head home for leftovers from the night before. 

We visited a little longer and then traveled to Andover, MA, where we stayed at the same La Quinta that we did the last time we were in Massachusetts, visiting Aunt Theresa. 

We had dinner at the Chili’s next door that was literally in the La Quinta parking lot. We learned not to order the queso with the meat because it was basically chili. We discussed where we would be watching fireworks for the 4th and found out the town of Andover was doing their fireworks show that evening at the high school. 

We left just before dark, and when we arrived, there were several cars in front of us trying to turn into the school parking lot. A police officer was waving them in. He walked away right when it would have been our turn, but we entered the parking lot anyway, followed by two more cars. 

We found a parking spot right up at the front and took it. The car behind us took the other available space, but the third car had to turn around when the police officer started banging on their trunk. Right after that, they put up a barricade to prevent other cars from entering. 

What were the chances that we pulled in and got the last two spots? I ended up watching the show from the comfort of the front seat, with air conditioning. Chuck ended up getting out of the car to get a better view. The fireworks show was fabulous and probably one of the best I've ever seen. 

Because we were the last in, we were the first out. There had to be at least a thousand people leaving. We made it back to the hotel in record time. 

We really enjoyed the patriotism we experienced in New England.