Atlantic Breeze Inn Old Orchard Beach

... Hwy I-90 is a beautiful 4-lane interstate but crowded with turnpike/thruway toll booths; we must have paid a fee at a dozen of them. Total cost = $40.

· We crossed the Adirondack, Appalachian, White and Catskill mountains (all about as big as our foothills) and the Hudson valley at Albany.

· Throughout this route, we noticed that the ...

... Hwy I-90 is a beautiful 4-lane interstate but crowded with turnpike/thruway toll booths; we must have paid a fee at a dozen of them. Total cost = $40.

· We crossed the Adirondack, Appalachian, White and Catskill mountains (all about as big as our foothills) and the Hudson valley at Albany.

· Throughout this route, we noticed that the ...

Ni hao! (Hello in Chinese...pronounced "knee how")

We are now one week away from our departure and realizing that next week at this time we will be in the air over the Pacific and headed to China! The accumulating of stuff is coming to an end and the real packing is beginning. The girls love the whole packing thing...their mother...not so much. Excitement is in the air as the count down begins.

We are looking forward to ...

Overview

Portland has an amazing history that stretches back over 350 years, and this wonderful town has blossomed into the largest city in Maine. This close-knit community is second only to San Francisco when it comes to restaurants per capita. Old brick buildings and cobblestone streets still exist, and the blend of past and present in Portland is exhilarating. In addition to the prevalence of dining facilities, there are an unbelievable number of stores and shopping ...

... that this area was for the affluent as the homes were big and beautiful. The homes along the coast were WOW! We passed the Bush 'Compound' built on 7 acres of Walker's Pount. We could see a large house, a guard house and several large, black vehicles -probably Secret Service. There were several buildings/houses, a swimming pool, tennis court and helicopter landing pad.

We then headed south to Kittery where all the factory outlets ...

... silverware, not plastic like Bar Harbor! It was yummy!

Tomorrow it is down the coast to Boston, and our favorite restaurant, Durgin Park. If you haven't been there, Google it. It has been there since Columbus discovered Boston, and the list of celebrities that have eaten there covers the walls. It is no-frills and long picnic tables with butcher paper. It's kinda like Dick's last resort with history!

Be good to each other and stay dry.

... words, I'd be lost for them. As it is, I had to content myself with saying, 'wow' and 'ooh' a lot. If I had a camera, I definitely would've taken some photos. But I don't, so I didn't.

That's kind of been me for the last few days really; stopping at places that sounded interesting and then trying to find a motel when I've started to feel tired. It's all been very liberating, which ...

i never knew what a great city portland, maine is! it is beautiful and has great restaurants. what more can you ask from a city?

we pulled into the harbor just after sunset--there was a lot of traffic in the channel with fishing boats and shrimping boats and lobtah boats. we docked at a slip and went for an amazing dinner at Street (i highly suggest it!).

the next day we set sail around all the little islands ...

... this time to Home Depot for some insulation for the bus. We also stopped in at a motor spares shop for some spares and had a very interesting conversation regarding rear fog lights, or rather the total lack of them in the US. One guy in particular could not get his head around why such a thing would be necessary. If it’s foggy and someone runs into the back of you, you just claim against his or her ...

... Second trip was to a cute fishing village called Boothbay Beach for lunch and ice cream, then down to the ocean for a dip (too cold for Aussies!) Lunch was not fun, as my co-counsellor Katie and I had to juggle a pack of ...