Back to Washington

Monday, November 9th, and the this adventure is coming to conclusion. We woke to coffee and bagels. I opted to pack while Earla and Rosemary headed off to the Arise Bible Study group. I thought that I'd have a major task, but packing proved to be fairly simple except for the concern that one piece of luggage just might weigh over 50 pounds. Oh, well, what is is.

Rosemary and Earla returned with interesting comments about the study and with a one price postal box. We proceeded to unwrap all of the school supplies that Rosemary's fourth graders had donated for children in Tanzania. Earla loaded as many as she could get into the box, and bagged the rest for her carry on.

Then, we enjoyed one last meal with Rosemary. We had the delicious taco meat from a couple of dinners earlier with rolls, and shells, and all of the toppings. We loaded the car and headed toward the bus station about 3:00.

Arriving at the bus station, we purchased our tickets, tagged luggage for the Alaska terminal and sat for a few minutes tow wait. The bus came and we were off to Logan Airport in Boston.

The bus ride took about an hour, we were dropped off at the Alaska terminal, got checked in and headed toward the gate. OH, that piece of luggage only weighed 48 pounds.

When we found the gate, we were hungry so took turns finding food --- we were not carrying our stuff one step further at that point. Starbucks provided sustenance - iced lattes, cookies and bananas.

It was not long before it was time to board the plane. We found our seats and were pleasantly surprised to find, when it was time for take-off, that we were the only two in our row, so we had an empty seat between us. It was announced that the flight would be 5 hours and 59 minutes. "Oh," I said, "that sounds like a lot less than 6 hours." Earla said, "I don't think so." She was not amused.

We settled in and, when it was time to order food and of course pay for it, Earla opted for another snack pack and I opted for a cheeseburger. Both were satisfying. Ginger ale and water completed our snacks. I did some Sudoku, some reading, and finally fell asleep. When I woke up, I found a cookie waiting for me. Apparently I'd slept through the second round of drinks, etc. We touched down in Seattle at 9:50 p.m. PST.

We trudged through the airport following sighs that read, "Baggage Claim." The reward came, especially for Earla, when Erin was waiting for her with a hug just as we got there. It was so very nice to be greeted home by Lane, Christine and Erin and hugs all around.

Arriving home, I took little time before I was ready to call it a night because I surely wanted to be up at 5 for Early Christians.

All in all, we drove 2606 miles through 14 states and stayed with 12 families and in 6 hotels.

Every host was gracious.

Every home was charming.

Every meal was delectable.

It was a most wonderful trip, and still, I'm quite content to be home.

Sunday in Amesbury

Today started, as Sundays should, with Sunday School and church. This was, of course, after a wonderful breakfast of bacon, eggs, apricot scones, and coffee. Rosemary is in charge of all of the fourth grade classes at her church, so we were there early. She set up her room. The children had made book bags to send to Tanzania and she wanted pictures of them with their bags. Earla and I were put in charge of that. We took a few pictures -- Earla did; I gathered kids. Then, we wanted to join Rosemary's fourth grade class. They were studying the third commandment and I thought it might be good to have the review. We were introduced to the class and Earla was asked to talk to them about Tanzania and I went back to take more pictures. I guess I'll have to find another review of the third commandment!
After Sunday School, we worshipped with Rosemary at Holy Family Parish in Amesbury. It is a beautiful church and the service was wonderful, formal, and with a very good message.
After church, we returned to Rosemary's and Wadi wanted ice cream. Wadi and I have similar food tastes, so the two of us had ice cream - then lunch of soup (tomato/corn chowder for Rosemary, Earla and me and kielbasi bean for Wadi).
After lunch, Rosemary suggested we go for a drive, this time south on Highway 1A. The weather here today was terrific, sunny and warm. What a change from Boston! The drive was magnificent, and Rosemary is so good at pointing out places of interest. We drove to The Crane Estate in Ipswich. The Cranes lived in Chicago and this was their summer home. It is a spectacular home with 51 rooms and grounds that are magnificent and views of the Atlantic and greens that take your breath away. From there we drove to the Spencer-Pierce-Little House. It is named for the only three families who owned it. Today it is a site for Historic New England and a sanctuary for at risk animals. The house is quite interesting as the exterior is comprised of a number of different distinctive materials. Seeing the animals was interesting as well as the horse and the goats and the sheep and the turkey and the pigs all live together in the same pen. It was here that we met three legged Betty, too. The sun was setting as we drove home. What a beautiful sunset.
I left my camera at the house today and enjoyed just enjoying the views and the ride.
We arrived home and were relaxing before dinner when the phone rang. I'd won the knit bag at the first church sale yesterday. Earla and I walked down to get it. It's a very nicely done hand knit bag. We came back in time for dinner.
Dinner consisted of baked chicken with a cucumber sauce, saffron rice with raisins, carrots, spinach salad and wine --- Oh, so good, and realizing that we would have to start cooking for ourselves soon, even better!
A game of Scrabble, an episode of Iron Chef, maybe another game of Scrabble will conclude the evening.
Tomorrow Amesbury, packing, Seattle!

Church Fairs Galore

Why would anyone come all the way from Washington State to Amesbury, MA just to attend some local church fairs, and drive 2600 miles to boot? That was the question of the day and the answer soon became apparent.

Breakfast was early this morning as we were all eager to get going, Earla and Rosemary to the fairs - me to see what all the hoopla was about.

We parked the car and started our trek with the first church on the map. I soon learned that, at each fair, raffle tickets are sold. You receive a sheet of tickets - or more sheets if you wish. There is a huge table of items with containers next to them for tickets. If you would like to have a particular item, you put one or more tickets in the container. When the fair is over, there is a drawing for each item. We walked from fair to fair. It seemed that, at each fair, the items became more desirable. There were baskets with food or wine or kitchen items or bath items, toys, books, home furnishings, etc. etc. I was amazed. Also at each fair, there were a number of hand made items, baked goods and simply sale items. By the time we'd walked from church to church to church, I was exhausted, but I also understood why someone would come from Washington State and drive 2600 miles to boot just for these fairs. There were indeed fairs galore and they were so much fun. Now, we are waiting for all of the phone calls telling us of all the items we won in the drawings,.

After the fairs, we drove out to Cider Hill Farms (aka Cider Mill Farms?), had donuts and hot cider and came home.

We spent the afternoon Scrabbling and reading.

Dinner was served and it was spectacular. We had rack of lamb and it was done to perfection. In addition, we had a wonderful spinach pomegranate salad and cranberry beans. What a wonderful meal. We had picked up some cookies at one of the bake sales so nibbled on them before and after dinner.

More Scrabbling took place and, soon, we are ready for bed.

Church tomorrow and, maybe, a little packing --- sorting and organizing at least.

Two Days in Boston

We hardly slept on Wednesday night knowing that we had to be up early to catch the bus to Boston. We surely did not want to miss it! Rosemary and Wadi took us to the bus station and we purchased tickets. The station manager said that there would be a lot of people so we should save our place in line with something. We didn't have anything, so he decided to take care of us --- Earla was the sharpie and I was the highlighter. Then, Earla realized that we had tickets for the wrong bus line. We exchanged our tickets, didn't need to save places any more and were back to being us. The bus came about 7:50 and we were on our way. What I saw of the scenery was very nice. While dozing, I saw little.

We arrived in Boston about 9:00 and took note of where the driver left us off as that would be where we needed to be to get on the bus for our trip back.

We decided to find the hotel first so we could get our bearings, and then, explore the city. We walked to the hotel with little difficulty. Earla read the map on this trip, and she is great! We were able to check in when we got there, which was wonderful. There were rooms available on higher or lower floors, so we chose a higher floor and our room was on the 22nd floor. Consequently, we had amazing views of the city, both by day and by night. I, especially, like the city by night with all of the lights.

After checking out our room and putting away some things, we headed downstairs. We checked with the concierge about tours and ended up buying tickets for the trolley that goes all over the city and is a guided tour. Before we got on the trolley, we had lunch at the hotel. We had coffee and split a lobster fritata. It was good, but we knew we'd be having better lobster Friday night at Rosemary's. Coffee was good.

After lunch, we found the trolley stop and got on the next one. We could get off and on at any stop all day, so we took the trolley two stops and got off at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. What a good idea that was. One of their major attractions is an exhibit of Egyptian artifacts. It was amazing and a wonderful learning experience. We knew that the Egyptians included items in their tombs, but had no idea the quantity or the intricacy of the carvings. There were replicas of eating utensils, carvings of people and animals in various activities, etc. There were coffins with writing not only on the outside but inside the cover. We saw actual mummies, and stone sculptures that were incredible in detail. There was some jewelry which was beautiful. Unfortunately, before the architects found the tombs, they had been looted, so much stuff was missing. We were so glad to have the privilege of viewing this exhibit.

We, of course, found the impressionists. Again, Monet drew my attention and the BMFA has a wonderful collection of Monet's. There were others that were very nice as well. We stopped by the gift shop and, then, went outside to wait for the trolley.

We rode the trolley through the rest of its stops and back to the hotel. The entire ride was about two hours, went through Cambridge and MIT, by the USS Constitution, and by many places of interest. We changed guides about half way through, and both of them were very informative. I especially liked it as I'd never been to Boston.

We were tired and feeling a little punk when we got back, so we decided to stay in for a while. WELL, we couldn't stay in with nothing to do, so we found a Barnes and Nobel in the Prudential Shopping Mall across the street. They had Scrabble games... we needed one. And, I found a new Scrabble dictionary with larger print. We stopped by Starbucks in the lobby of the hotel, and we were set.

A little Scrabble, a little coffee, a little nap and we were ready for dinner, but still didn't want to go out, so we ordered room service. We got a very nice selection of cheeses on a cheese plate which, also, included crackers and toasted rounds. We'd ordered bread to go with the cheeses but chose to save that for morning. The vegetable platter we ordered turned out to be the most interesting. The veggies were very good, nicely done, nice colors, but quite skimpy? We enjoyed all along with a few more games, and crawled into bed early.

This morning, we played one last game of Scrabble while we enjoyed the bread and more coffee from Starbucks. Then, we left a note on the game that read, "Please take if you want. Game is complete." Neither of us wanted to carry it around all day. We checked out and left the hotel about 10 and walked to Trinity Church. We discovered very quickly that it was quite chilly today in Boston with wind that augmented the cold. We were glad for knit hats and gloves.

As we were approaching the church, we noticed that there was a farmers' market out front. What beautiful fruits and vegetables! They were colorful and healthy looking and very nicely displayed. Also, we discovered a bread stand. We forwent the farmers' market for the moment and went into the church.

We couldn't get into the sanctuary as there was a convention going on. We did find the gift shop however and had quite a nice time there. Then, we wanted to see the Boston Commons. We walked toward the commons and were particularly interested in seeing the ducklings representing the book, "Make Room for Ducklings," up close. We had to ask exactly where they were and, then, we found them. We did sit on a bench near the ducklings for a while during a let up in wind that made it a little more comfortable. Then, we were ready for lunch.

We walked out of the park and started down Charles Street. At the end of the first block, we found an Italian restaurant and decided to give it a try. This turned out to be a very good find. They had homemade soup that was delicious and just the right thing on a cold day. Earla had minestrone and half a mozzarella/tomato grilled sandwich. I had chicken vegetable and, what else in Boston, Boston Creme Pie? It was quite good.

After lunch, we started back across the park and back towards Trinity Church. On the way, we saw roses blooming. It was an incredible site - in the midst of winter coming to see roses blooming. We found the farmers' market again and bought some raisin apple bread for breakfast tomorrow morning and a couple of cookies. Then, we were ready to find the bus stop to make sure we knew where it was. We found it and went inside to have a cup of coffee since we had a couple of hours until the bus left. We drank the coffee, ate one of the cookies and read for a while. Then, we wanted to use the bathroom, so we asked where it was. The proprietor of the coffee place said that it was on the second floor, that we would need to use the elevators and we would need a code to get in. He gave us the code. We headed toward the elevators and discovered that we needed to check in... (we are in a big federal post office!). We decided we really didn't want to go to all that trouble, so we bundled up and went out to wait for the bus. Once outside, we decided that we really did want to go to the second floor. Now, we have knit hats and gloves on, are all bundled up and carrying shopping bags. The man at the desk looked at us a little strangely - we suspect we looked a little like bag ladies. We explained our predicament and he assured us that it would be OK to go to the second floor, and did we know the code? We assured him that we did and went on our way.

When we got out of the building, we still had half an hour to wait for the bus so we pulled our hats down and our gloves up, put up the hoods on our coats and sat on the bench in the bus stop. Who knows what we looked like at that moment? It was cold!

The bus finally came at 4:05 and we got on and took the front two seats. As we were waiting, people started to file on one after another. We were astounded! We had been so bundled up and focused on staying warm, we had no idea a long line of passengers had formed behind us. We made one more stop, crawled through rush hour traffic, finally got on the main road north and made it back, a couple of naps later.

Rosemary and Wadi picked us up at the bus station. At their house, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner of shrimp and tomato on toast appetisers and lobster rolls. We were right. This lobster was fresher and much more delicious that what we had in Boston.

One more game of Scrabble tonight -- and hurray for us, we finally did it.. What was it?? A tie game!!!

Now to bed and more fun tomorrow.

Another Glorious Day

We began today knowing that we would be returning our little black Ford Focus to Hertz. After coffee, bagels and sweet rolls, we made sure that all of our belongings were out of the car. We drove in the the car and Wadi and Rosemary followed in their van. We headed down I-495 towards the nearest Hertz location. On the way, we found ourselves in the middle of road construction surrounded by

18 wheelers! We though that maybe the truckers might get us after all. Through that, I began to notice the magnificence of God's creation. Most of the trees are bare of leaves, beautiful in their own right. Just as I was enjoying them, we'd turn a corner and a pop of red would appear, a small bush with all of it's red leaves still in tact, or an orange tree or yellow. It was amazing. Then, occasionally, we'd see an evergreen simply to complete the picture. Finally, we were at the Hertz location and turned in the car.

When we turned it in, we had driven 2606 miles in our little Ford. Imagine that! When we got in the van and the reality set in, we were a little sad.

But we forged ahead to what would be a wonderful rest of the day.

We drove to Lowell, MA where textile manufacturing started and flourished in the United States. The first thing we saw when we got out of the car was an amazing dragon made out of CDs, paint and strips of cloth. Then, we went into the visitor's center at Lowell National Park and got directions to the factory. Before we headed out, we saw a film about Lowell, that the textile industry was started there because they could use water power, about the factories and the workers and how the industry grew and, then, faltered. On the way to the factory, we stopped for soup. I saw hot dogs, so decided I needed one. Earla ordered one, too. They were cold, so we sent them back. They were put back on the grill and returned to us luke warm. We ate them that way --- not terrible. The corn chowder we had with them was very good, though.

At the factory (Museum), we listened to an introductory talk that was very informative about the machines used for weaving, the dangers, etc. A few of the weaving machines were in operation which was quite interesting. We saw another film here. The subject was similar, but this was even more informative. We had known some of the conditions and the history of factories and factory workers from studying the industrial revolution, but seeing the conditions and the pictures made it so much more real.

By this time, we were wearing down and decided to head back to Rosemary and Wadi's. The sun was shining today but it was a little chilly --- a nice day for walking around and gawking.

Back in Amesbury, we played a little Scrabble and had a little coffee.

Soon, dinner was ready and we feasted on pasta, pasta sauce with sausage, green salad and wine. It was most satisfying.

After dinner, we continued our Scrabble marathon.

Now, it's time to put together a few things for a trip to Boston tomorrow and, then, get a good night's sleep. We are staying in Boston until Friday, so no blogging tomorrow. Saturday promises to be a full and fun day, too.

Another Three States

Today began slowly, for me at least. This is a wonderfully comfortable place to stay. After a breakfast of granola, yogurt, raspberries, juice and coffee, Wadi, Rosemary, Earla and I got into the van and started driving north. Rosemary is a wonderful tour guide. As she drove, she pointed out places of interest and expounded on the history of the area. What a terrific way to see this part of the country. We drove along highway 1, which is right along the coast. The sun was shining and it was warm, truly a beautiful day for this drive. We stopped to take pictures of the waves. Earla got a fantastic shot of a very large wave. I hit the wrong button on my camera and got splashed in the process. Somehow, I think she got the better end of the deal.

Soon, we were in New Hampshire. We stopped at Rosemary and Wadi's summer cabin and walked just a few blocks to the beach. Wherever we stopped, the scenery was indescribable.

We, also, stopped at Portsmouth, which was originally Strawberry Banke because of the wild strawberries that grew there. One of the oldest homes in New Hampshire has been restored and furnished in the period. There are, also, homes from the 1600's to the 1950's which have been refurbished. The gardens, during the summer, are amazing, and the homes are all open. This, truly, would be a wonderful place to return to in the summer. We did watch a movie about the area's history. It was very interesting.

After leaving Portsmouth, we drove further up the coast and were soon in Maine. Imagine that - driving in three states in one day. In fact, we drove the entire coast of New Hampshire! By the time we had reached Maine, it was lunch time. We stopped at the Clam Hut. It was pretty certain that this would be a good place as the lines were quite long. We ordered a fish basket and decided that three of us could share it. It contained fried fish, shrimp, clams, and a few French fried potatoes. Indeed, three of us shared it and still brought some home. We enjoyed the fish with hot cider. This could become a habit --- so good. The only mishap was when I dropped all of the plastic spoons in a basket onto the ground. We aren't going back there soon.

After lunch, we drove back to Rosemary and Wadi's and each of us took a nap.

Rosemary prepared a wonderful dinner of bean soup (Joseph had brought it home as they were giving out samples near the voting place), tacos, chips, and wine. OH, so good...

Now, we are Scrabbling, watching NCIS (it must be Tuesday) and relaxing.

Tomorrow will bring more New England adventures.

More Exploring in Massachusetts

It has been a wonderful Monday, beginning with coffee. Rosemary was swimming at 5:30. Needless to say, Earla and I didn't beg to go with her, but we surely enjoyed the bagels she picked up on her way home.
After breakfast and conversation, we attended a Bible study group entitled "Arise" at Rosemary's church. She is a part of the group and we tagged along. We were welcomed and encouraged to participate in the discussion revolving around the story of the good Samaritan and how we can apply the lesson in our churches. It was very interesting and the study shed new light on the meaning of the story.
We enjoyed another cup of coffee, met one of the priests in the parish, said "hi" to another one in the parking lot and came home.
We were here just long enough for Wadi to join us and we drove to Cedar Mill Farms. There, we enjoyed a cup of hot cider and a cider donut. We, also drove around the town of Amesbury where we saw many houses from the 17th century, as well as some very nice large beautiful homes. We came home and enjoyed a lunch of left over soup and cheese and bread. It's been a cloudy misty day, so soup was perfect.
After lunch, we drove over to Newbury Port, MA. On the way, we drove over the bridge across the Merrimack River to Plum Island. Once on the island, we were able to drive to the Atlantic. Back at Newbury Port. We walked to a magazine/smoke shop that had more magazines than I've ever seen in one place. Then, we walked to a book store. Book stores are always a fun place to browse. After the book store, we returned to Rosemary's and relaxed, read, knitted, crocheted, Scrabbled...
Dinner was wonderful from the moment the aromas came floating from the kitchen. We dined on pork loin in apple cider gravy, carrots, a green salad and cornbread with honey. OH, it was so very good.
We played some more Scrabble and are watching the World Series intently.
We'll call it a night soon and plan to do some more exploring tomorrow.

A busy Sunday

Today began when I checked my phone and discovered that neither had the time changed nor had the alarm gone off!! Fortunately, it was early. The phone is correct now and I missed nothing.

We began the morning with coffee, bananas and the paper. Earla was busy with the jumble, and I read an article on how silly we Americans are in referring to restrooms and rest areas and facilities. -- Imagine what you would think if you were from Europe and traveling in the US and the sign read "Rest area ahead, no facilities?" You might just think that there was a place to rest, but no beds were provided? Or, what would you think? Fortunately, in our travels, we speak US.

While we were enjoying a slice of toast with peanut butter, Shirley said, "who am I going to play Super Scrabble with after you leave?" WELL, we decided that, after church, we'd get in one more game before we left Millbury.

We started out for church about 9:15 on this beautiful, sunny Sunday morning. On the way into the church, we stopped by the pastor's office and Shirley introduced us to the pastor. We found a pew in this lovely sanctuary with an incredible stain glass window at the back that extended into the peak in the ceiling. Shirley's great grandfather had been a charter member in this congregation and the pew in front of us bore a nameplate with his name on it. When the new church was built about 40 years ago, these plates were made. The service began with the ringing of the bells - something I really like to hear. It was All Saints Sunday and the third graders received their Bibles during the children's sermon. It was a very
formal and moving service.

On the way home from church we stopped at McDonald's for chicken wraps. We knew we had no time to cook - there was a Scrabble game waiting. We ate and played and loaded the car. We were on the road by 1:15.

We had seen a sign for a craft fair on our way back to Shirley's yesterday and wanted to check it out We searched and searched and found the sign which read "Craft Fair, November 7." Well, it looked like a 1 yesterday. No luck there. Then, we saw a sign that said, "craft fair, November 21." No luck there. Then, we saw a sign that said, 'craft fair, November 21." There was no craft fair today, so we simply drove on to Amesbury.

We arrived in Amesbury and drove directly the home of Rosemary, Wadi, and Joseph. We were warmly greeted and shown where we might sleep.

We brought everything out of the car as we will turn it in before we leave Amesbury. The afternoon was spent knitting, crocheting, Scrabbling, chatting and relaxing. Oh how wonderful!

The five of us enjoyed a meal of squash/carrot soup --- YUMO and a selection of cheese, quince jelly, meat, bread and wine. A slice of apple pie with local apples topped this off. It was scrumptious, and just the right thing.

Sports were also on the agenda. During dinner, the Vikings and the Packers were on... good game! Then, we chose to watch the beginning of the fourth World Series game. As I write this, Earla and Rosemary are watching "The Next Iron Chef." It was all good stuff.

Tomorrow will bring new adventures.