New England Vacation--Day Seven--July 27,2010

Another long day on the road!  We left Burlington, VT, early and drove all the way to the Lost River in New Hampshire.  If you've never heard of the Lost River or are wondering why it's called the Lost River, I'll tell you.  IT'S BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO GO A LONG WAY UNDERGROUND TO FIND IT!
But it was so rewarding!  Yes, it takes a lot of hard work to get down to where it is, and then you have to climb, crawl on your knees, shimmy down rocks on your butt, crawl on your stomach, watch your head, s-q-u-e-e-z-e between things, and climb back out of dark places.  IT WAS WONDERFUL!

There were only a few places that I didn't do any of the things listed above.  The first time was when I climbed down a ladder into a dark chamber.  There was just enough light at the bottom from a kerosene lantern to expose this very tiny hole that we had to crawl through.  I panicked!  That's as close as I've ever come to an anxiety attack.  Paul tried to convince me I could do it, but I DIDN'T WANT TO DO IT! So, I didn't.
I called back up the ladder to tell whoever was coming down to NOT come down that I was coming back up!  And up I came out of that black hole!  What was so strange was that I had already been in similar places in this gorge, so what was so different about that one?  I don't know.  Maybe it was because I couldn't see what was on the other side of the hole.  Maybe I was afraid of getting half way in and couldn't get out.  Whatever the reason, I choose to come out the way I came in!

The second time was when I would have had to crawl on my knees a long way to get through that particular passage.  I found out the hard way in one of the other passages that crawling on my knees was not a good thing.  I forgot about my knee I'd had surgery on and the other knee that still hasn't healed from my fall over the flower pot at school.  Needless to say, I'd already bruised both knees crawling through the first passage, so I wasn't about to add madness to mayhem!

The third time they had a "butt-gauge"!  Yes, I kid you not!  At this particular passage, they had a "squeeze detector", or what I call a "butt-gauge".  If you couldn't squeeze through the poles they had outside the passage, you'd not be able to squeeze through the passage.  I wasn't taking any chances with that one!  I walked on by.

The other passage I didn't try was one you had to literally crawl on your stomach a long way to get through--and I had on a new shirt--wasn't gonna get that dirty--I passed that one up too!

But it is an absolutely, amazing, God-created, place of wonder and spectacular beauty.  I highly recommend it if you're ever in New Hampshire.

Then we continued our l-o-n-n-n-g drive through the mountains of New Hampshire to Bangor, Maine.
Fortunately, there was a restaurant right across the parking lot form our hotel, so we didn't have to drive anywhere else to get some dinner.

Tomorrow, we tour Bar Harbor, Maine.
Night all!
Love ya!

                                                   My favorite picture from today!

New England Vacation--Day Six--July 26,2010

What an absolutely beautiful day in Vermont!  We got to the ferry early only to learn it didn't leave for another two hours.  So, we just switched our plans around.  We were going to take the ferry across Lake Champlain from Vermont to New York and then drive back around Grand Island to Vermont.  So, instead we did the drive first.  We drove all the way to the Canadian border, (funny thing, though, no border patrol there, just gates to check passports).  Then through part of New York to get to the ferry back to Vermont.  The view around Lake Champlain is absolutely stunning.  Everywhere we looked along the drive were wild flowers with the lake in the background.   Of course, there were farms and farmhouses along the way too.  Paul and I tried to imagine everything covered in snow.  We came to the same conclusion, it's a beautiful place to visit, but we wouldn't want to live here in the winter.  I know it is beautiful in the fall, though!  We'd love to come back one year in the autumn.

After we got back from our drive and ferry ride, we were going to visit the Shelburn Museum.  When we got there, it wasn't what we had pictured it would be.  We had seen a Goodwill store on the way, so when the museum didn't look so good, we looked at each other and KNEW where we were going!  You guessed it, to the Goodwill store!  Now, so far, Goodwill stores haven't impressed me much. I guess they just didn't have the kind of junk I was looking for.  But this one was SO different!  Paul finally found someplace to sit down! LOL  He is always so patient, though.  I found some beautiful glassware serving pieces to add to my collection.  I also found two things that I have been wanting!  I wanted a good new pillow and some nonstick round cake pans.  I found both!  Now don't go thinking I'm going to use a used pillow.  What made this store so amazing was the fact that they had a lot of brand new items, still in the original wrappers and labels.  It looked like a Home Bazaar store had gone out of business and donated all their items to Goodwill! So my pillow and cake pans were brand new for a fraction of the cost.  I got a brand new garden flag that said, "Count your blessings" for Thanksgiving.  I got some sort of iron wall plaque that is about 18 inches by 24 inches.  Paul wanted to know where I was going to put it!  Ahh, I have a plan, but I won't divulge it yet!  And, of course, books.  One on quilting, one on applique, and one on making bird houses.  Can you guess who I bought the last one for?  lol  He doesn't know about that, either

But the absolute highlight of the day was our dinner cruise along Lake Champlain.  Yes, the food was very good, but the lake itself was the star attraction.  After our dinner, we went out on the upper deck and sat side by side and watched the sun set.  We took picture after picture because with every passing minute the scene changed.  The weather was just right!  Nippy, just cool enough to have to snuggle close together to keep each other warm.  Then, when we could no longer see the sunset, we moved to the front of the boat because the moon was coming up!  So, we snuggled against each other and leaned against the bow of the boat and watched the moon ascend, first above the tree tops, then above the roof tops, and finally high enough that we could see the reflection shinning all the way from the shore to our boat.  Not only was it breathtakingly beautiful, but it was so peaceful.  It reminded me of a scripture song that I learned long ago:
"From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, my Lord's name is to be praised."  With so much beauty all around us, how can anyone not believe in our Creator God.
"Wonderful are the works of Your mighty hands, and that my soul knows very well!"
In good times and in bad my Lord has been faithful to me.  I will be the same to Him.
I will bless the Lord at all times.  His praise shall continually be in my mouth!
Tomorrow Paul wants to get maple syrup before we leave Vermont.  Then it's on to New Hampshire and Maine.
Later Gators!

New England Vacation--Day Five--July 25,2010

Today's blog will be short and sweet.  Follow along carefully.

Drive...stop for potty...drive....stop for gas and potty...drive...stop for potty...drive...stop for potty....drive....stop for gas....drive...stop for potty.

We arrived at the Norman Rockwell Museum about 12:15.  That was a neat place.  We weren't allowed to take pictures in the museum, but we did take some outside.  The ones below of Paul and me were taken there.  Next:

Drive...stop for potty and lunch...drive....stop for gas and potty...drive...stop for potty...drive...stop for potty....drive....stop for gas....drive...arrived in Burlington, VT at 6:15.  We checked into our hotel and then drove to the waterfront of Lake Champlain where we"ll cruise tomorrow.  We stopped on the way back for Subway and came back to our hotel.

End of story.

I told you it would be short, even though our day was not.  Twelve hours on the road, but at least my feet aren't tired!

I pray you all have a good night!
Love you.

I told you the GPS was wrong!  Can't you see the arrows!

Our foot picture for the day!

New England Vacation--Day Four--July 24,2010

Oh, my aching feet!  Even though we toured most of Philadelphia on top of a trolley bus, we still did a lot of walking! I've always had trouble with a "foot ache" as Mama used to call it!  I remember she thought it was a disgrace when Paul came over to visit me and I let him rub my feet.  Not because she thought it was selfish on my part to ask him to do it but because it wasn't PROPER!  My feet!  Can you imagine that?  Oh, how times have changed.  But I know that that was one of the first things that made me KNOW that Paul was the one for me.  He would rub my feet until they stopped hurting!  And they would hurt a lot after putting in tobacco all day!  Funny, huh?  (Hopefully a foot rub is in my very near future!)

We enjoyed seeing Philadelphia very much, but there was an underlying mood of sadness over me most of the day, beginning with the very first short video we watched at the Visitors' Center.  Since I teach The Light and the Glory for Children as part of the third grade curriculum at CCS, I KNOW what our founding fathers went through during the period before and after we declared our independence from England.  I also know what our Constitution was based on,  The Mayflower Compact, which was drawn up by the Pilgrims to govern themselves.  And that the Mayflower Compact came right from Biblical principles! Never once was it mentioned that George Washington was a Christian and how he would pray for guidance during the war and how he would lead his troops in prayer every day. Only once during our whole visit did I see any reference to God at all.  We were in the US Mint and there was a plaque on the wall near the Marine Commemorative coin.  Highlighted in yellow were the words that in a certain year (I forgot the exact year) congress passed a law that said the words "Liberty" and "In God We Trust" would ALWAYS be printed on coins in the United States.  I thought it was interesting that this was placed near the "Marines"!
It hurts me to know that a nation that God loves so much would turn its back on Him, but I feel that is exactly what has happened.  Remember 2 Chronicles says: "If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land."  Everyone, please pray for our nation.

One of my favorite places was Independence Hall where George Washington and all the delegates sat to write and ratify the Constitution.  The next picture below shows the actual chair that Gen. Washington sat in.  You can't see it, but carved in the back of the chair is "half" of a sun.  Benjamin Franklin said he wasn't sure if the sun was rising or setting because of all the disagreements among the delegates.  After the Constitution was drawn up, he said he now saw it as a rising sun.  That meant that he now thought the new nation would make it.

 One funny story that happened today involved this building.  Because Philadelphia was the first capital and the fact that it holds so much historical value, everyone's bags were searched.  I thought about my little scissors in my pocketbook, so I folded those back up so the points didn't show.  I never thought about the container of mace Brandon gave me to put in my purse!  Yes, they found it!  The guy had to get the police officer to examine it to determine what it was.  I explained to him that my policeman son had given it to me last summer. We were traveling out west, and he wanted me to be able to protect myself.  I told the officer I'd never used it and forgot it was in my purse.  He
said, "Well, just make sure you don't use it in here!"  and let me go.  There were several other places where my purse was searched and at the mint it even had to go through the x-ray machine.  But each time I slipped the pepper spray out of my purse and put it in my pocket.  I also had to go through the metal detector at the mint, but the alarm didn't go off.


Next, we saw the Liberty Bell.  Yes, this is the actual bell, with its original crack in it.  When I think about the Liberty Bell and what it represents, I can't help but wonder why some people have so many negative things to say about our military who is trying to make sure other countries can experience freedom from persecution.  I, for one, personally thank everyone who has served our country and sacrificed themselves and their families for other people.

Let freedom ring!



Another character we met was Betsy Ross.  She did not actually design the flag.  She ran an upholstery shop and made curtains for a living. She was asked to make the flag look better using another person's design.
She was still making flags for the ships, and she explained that she used beeswax on her thread before she sewed it.  We use beeswax today to make our thread glide easier through the fabric.  She said she used it for ships' flags because when the sun melted the beeswax, it melted into the fabric to make the stitches stronger.  She said the fabric would rot before her stitches broke.  She looks pretty good for her age, huh?

The next two pictures are of a priceless treasure!!

Don't you agree!

Tomorrow we're on the road to Vermont!
See you then.

New England Vacation--Day Three--July 23,2010

Our day began leisurely for the second day in a row.  Now this is a vacation!  Last year we had to get up early every morning to get on the road because we had such long drives to get to where we wanted to be.  Texas isn't the only state that's BIG!  Since we have relatively short driving distances this year, we can be a little bit lazy about getting started.  It was especially nice this morning because the bed and breakfast we stayed in was SO comfortable.  We had breakfast there with a beautifully decorated dining room and nicely set tables with real China.  I felt pampered!
After we checked out we rode the countryside and looked at Amish farms and fields.  We saw many of the Amish out in the fields working.  All their farms, houses, and yards were so neat and well cared for.  We stopped at an old mill and the guide there gave us a personal tour and history of the mill and the family who ran it for many years.  It is still a working mill, but not used for such.  They just show it off to visitors.  The last son worked it for all his life with the exception of the time he went to war.  He never married, so all the money he'd earned went toward the preservation of the old mill.  It still operates today on his money, even though he has been dead for many years.
We stopped at a few Amish farms that had little shops out back with things to sell.  I bought a quilted potholder, a key chain, and books.  We saw some absolutely beautiful quilts!  Another things that was so neat was their work area in the back.  Their sewing machines, paddle fans, Visa machine (yes, you read that right), etc. were run off of wind power.  You could hear the sound of wind rushing through the hoses that ran to their equipment.


We stopped at Valley Forge and did the "driving tour".  That's where you ride around the battlefield in your car...and take pictures from the van!  LOL  We did stop and get out at George Washington's headquarters and tour the buildings.  At the Memorial Chapel I found a used book store!!!  Yes, I bought more books!! But only two---well, one was free---and a Bible at that!

The drive to Philadelphia was okay until we hit the outer limits of the city.  MORE TRAFFIC!  UGGGH!  But it was worth it.  We are now in the Hilton in Philly, and we have an absolutely beautiful view from our window. 

On a down note, I've lost my prescription glasses.  I've looked everywhere, but to no avail.  Please pray that we'll find them.  I'll call the stores tomorrow in Amish country to see if anyone found a pair.

Tomorrow will be a lot different from today.  From the simple lives of the Amish to the bustling city of Philadelphia.
What adventures await us tomorrow?

New England Vacation--Day Two--July 22,2010

What an adventurous day!  First of all we met Miss Mary at the Crackerbarrel in Frederick.  She looked just like I pictured she would!  We had a nice breakfast and then went to see her condo.  It is such a cute little place!  She still had so many of the things there that I remember from visiting her house out in the country so many years ago.  We talked about the times we visited her with the kids and looked at all the things she had collected from her travels.  It was such a sweet time of fellowship and remembrances.  I did feel the loss of Mr. Otis, however. He was there, though, in his pictures scattered around and in our hearts.

Then it was on to Hershey, PA.  The traffic on the other side of DC stopped us in our tracks for awhile.  It took us much longer to get there than anticipated due to the snails pace we encountered for several miles. We did get to the Quilt Odyssey and saw some absolutely gorgeous quilts, some antiques as well as modern works of art.  Quilting has definitely evolved from functional necessities to intricate wall art.  But the best part of the quilt show was meeting a friend of mine that I know only through a quilting website.  We "just happened" to be at the same place at the same time.  We had never met in person until today, but we knew we "connected" with one another by our conversations via the internet.  Once we met in person, it was obvious why.  We shared some of the same qualities, including our striving toward intricate detail and perfectionism in our work.  It was such a blessing to meet another sister in Christ and a fellow quilter.  This meeting was truly organized by God to bring a blessing to my life.
Then on to Bird-in-Hand.  My first view of an Amish buggy and rider brought a huge smile to my face.  I so admire the Amish.  I've told Paul before that I believe I could have been Amish. He asked me if I was ready to move up here.  It is a temptation, but there are too many heart strings at home for it to actually take place.
We visited Zook's Fabric Shop (yes, I bought MORE fabric).  So many fabrics in that little Amish store!  It was too hard to choose quilting fabrics, so I bought some pretty flannel to make blankets out of that they had on sale.  So soft and cuddly.  Across and down the street a ways was the Old Country Store.  They had some beautiful things, including quilts, and more FABRIC!  I loved it!  I did buy a couple half yards to make yo-yos out of for the yo-yo comforter I'm making.  I tucked my quilting supplies in my bag in hopes I would have a few minutes to stitch up a few while we're away.  We'll see.

We got to our Bed and Breakfast about 5:00, and I promptly fell on the bed and went fast asleep.  I don't know if it was a combination of my allergy medicine and Dramamine or the fact that I was dead tired, but I was OUT!  I woke up in time to go to dinner with Paul at the Bird-in-Hand restaurant.  We rode through the countryside after dinner.  Such beauty all around us.  We saw an Amish man and his son bringing a load of hay in from the fields.  We saw Amish children riding their bikes and scooters.  We saw so many Amish farms, horses, and wagons. Everything was so neat and clean and beautiful.  We could all learn something from the Amish.  They certainly are an inspiration for me!  As it got darker, I also noticed there were very few lights on in their houses.  Remember the Amish don't use electricity.   Their way of life seems so simple and serene.  I know they work hard, but I've never seen an Amish person overweight.  Maybe that's also a lesson for us. 

Until tomorrow...
Jackie

Miss Mary

New England Vacation--Day One--July 21,2010

We are so excited! We’ve been really busy this summer! Brandon’s wedding, Charity’s surgery, and Joshua’s departure for Japan all happened within ten days of each other. Paul has worked long hours in 100 degree weather! I’ve been at Charity’s house a lot helping her take care of Carter and with getting around from place to place. Paul and I are both so glad we can be available and have the strength and energy to help our kids when they need us. Fortunately, Charity is well on her way to recovery now, so here we are—on our way to tour the New England states!

I had to attend a teacher workday today, so Paul worked as well to keep from taking a whole day of vacation time. I was so impressed with our new Head of School. I can tell she is a godly woman with serving Jesus on her mind. Our meetings were good, and we had a beautiful time of worship at the end. We finished early, so I was able to get home earlier than I thought. We had everything packed and ready, so it didn’t take long to get on the road.
Our first stop tonight will be in Fredrick, MD. I called Miss Mary, (a family friend of Dallas and Lucille that watched Paul and his siblings grow up) after we got on the road to tell her we were going to be near her home tonight. We made plans to meet tomorrow morning at the Cracker Barrel next to our hotel, which is only minutes from her house. It was so good to talk to her after so many years. She sounded just the same—with her hearty laugh. I can still see how her whole face smiles when she laughs. We’re so excited about seeing her, even if only for a short visit as we pass through her area.

Our first “feet” picture is below. For those of you who followed my last vacation blogs, you’ll understand this. On our trip out west last summer, Paul started playing around just to annoy me, by taking pictures of my feet. So to get back at him, I took pictures of HIS feet. Well, one thing led to another, so we started taking “feet” pictures wherever we went. These pictures came to represent the places we had been. Therefore, had to begin this year’s vacation with an appropriate picture of “out-the-door”. Last year, Paul took a picture of our ending odometer reading—7,250 miles in 24 days. So, appropriately, here is our beginning odometer reading set at 0. We’ll see what it reads when we come back.

Please continue to pray for us for safety and health, and remember, we love you, but Jesus loves you more.