Maine

We wanted to head north to see some nice fall colors.  Unfortunately we probably needed to drive like 4 more hours north to see nice colors.... but we still had a great time! Maine is beautiful.

Our first stop was Kittery, just over the border of Maine. There's a huge outlet mall area. We stopped for a bit and bought a couple things, we didn't go to crazy shopping.  We wandered from Kittery and drove through York, a cute small town.

The main destination was next - Portland!  Did you know that Portland, Oregon is purposely named after Portland, Maine?  Fun fact for you.  Oh also, another fun fact... Maine has more ocean coast then California!  I couldn't believe it, but if you look close at Maine on the map, you'll see tons of little islands and peninsulas.

Ok, so we drove through downtown Portland right by the water, and it looked packed. Well, we quickly found out why when we saw a huge cruise ship! Dave has never seen one - he couldn't stop looking at it. It was pretty cool. We wonder how it compares to the Titanic in size...

It was time for lunch! We could have got some yummy lobster, but we weren't that hungry. We stopped by this small restaurant on a pier. Dave had lobster bisque and I had a shrimp-avocado wrap. Delicious.

While wandering Portland we walked on a couple historic cobblestone roads. They were quite bumpy and uneven. No wonder horse drawn carriages would 'break down!'

We have to go back to Portland. There was this stretch of shops that had old school candy, amazing fudge (we got creamsicle!), gelato, and homemade cupcakes. We filled up on some good sweets on our Saturday 'Cheat Day.' :)

And guess what else we found?!  Bubble tea! I haven't had Bubble tea in years, and here it was. I got Mango flavored - so good.

We had to walk off some of these sweets so we strolled along the shoreline and got a couple nice pics of old docks.

Our last stop in Portland was to see a lighthouse. We drove out to the Portland Head Light. You can get some really good views of it - close up, far away. This part of the ocean is just so different from the Lake MI we're used to. There are rocky cliffs and waves crashing and swirling around. I could have sat there all day.

 

Our final destination was just north of Portland.. Freeport.  I had to see the LLBean flagship store that is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year! Like what in the world do the employees do there at 2am? There were actually 3 LLBean stores there for different things, and they were quite large. We didn't buy anything, but it was kind of cool to see. Freeport has tons of other outlet malls, too. We only bought a new backpack at the North Face. :)

It was hitting sunset pretty quick, and we wanted one last look of the ocean. We found a park to head to, but it was closing their gates at 6, it was 5:40.  We parked quick and literally ran through the woods down to the water. It was indescribable. It was like running through a wind tunnel to get to the shore! It was lots of fun. Dave struck a pose without even knowing it. :)

 Dave thought the seaweed was really gross, but I loved the vibrant colors... so there you go.

We decided to take a couple pics of us together. They all turned out blurry (whoops!) but since these pics are little I don't think you can really tell. ;)

If you can, you need to check out Maine. Lots of nice little towns and it's just awesome driving around the area.

New England tip of the day: If you have the Mass Pike 'FastLane' (like we do) you can use it all over the place! Including NH, ME, IL, NJ, NY... and others.  While driving on the NH turnpike we didn't think our 'FastLane' would work on the NH 'EZPass.' So we waited in a 8 minute line to pay cash. The booth teller guy practically yells at us that we have 'EZPass' and can go through ..aka 'stop wasting my time'.  Alrighty - we learned our lesson! :)

5:12:17

Bright and early in the morning we lined up in downtown Chicago to watch 40,000+ runners pass by. There was music pumping, my awesome cousin Becky came down from GR, and we were super excited to watch the event! Can't you just see it on Addison's face? :)

About 7 minutes after the race started we saw the leaders at a mile and a half in.  It is astonishing to me how fast they run. We kept saying we can't even run that fast for 5 seconds!

Then after about 25 minutes of waves of people Dave appeared right in front of us! At 1.5 miles in, he's looking pretty happy. :)

We happened to be standing right after one of the water stations... oops.... so we got a lot of empty cups by our feet, and a couple sprays of water every now and then.

We saw Dave and Ryan run past us at mile 2.5, then slowly wandered over to the 12 mile mark. We made it over there to see people who had run about 1:10 so far - they were still booking it crazy fast and hardly looked to be exerting any energy. Our crew wasn't going to show up for another hour+. Luckily we were close enough to the Sears tower to take some nice pics of it.  FYI - I will always call it the Sears tower!

 Unfortunately the kiddos got a little of sick of waiting in the same spot for over an hour. They played a couple games, but finally had enough!  Classic.

12 Miles in and still going strong!

I had my hand up to give Ryan a high five, but the woman in front of him (left side of pic) was so excited that she gave me a high five, too. Hey why not? Give them a little encouragement.

After the guys passed 12 miles we made our way to lunch and the 26 mile marker!

 

So Dave had been using this RunKeeper tracker, and we were able to track his progress through the whole race. Well around mile 21 the tracking map didn't seem to to be moving much. Then we get a call from Dave. His legs were cramping bad and he had to start walking. We told him to eat another banana and drink gatorade. Twenty five minutes later and it looks like he hasn't moved on the tracking map. I started freaking! The most he's trained is 12 miles - cause he's crazy and the prior month his knee was hurting - so now I think he's passed out or having issues at a First Aid stand. Thankfully he calls a couple minutes later saying he's fine but can't run anymore.

We waited at the 26 mile mark watching waves and waves of people coming through. Seriously, it was a continually packed road for the two hours we were standing there.

Dave was on track for 4:22, but because of his legs he ended up having to walk the last 5+ miles. He walked past us and wasn't looking in bad shape. A couple minutes later Ryan ran past.  Ryan beat Dave by a little under 5 minutes. Dave come in at 5:12:17! Not bad for a FIRST marathon!!

Although he was a little defeated, he felt pretty good about it overall. He told me after the race I had to remind him to not run a marathon for awhile. By that night he was planning his next race. Here the champion is as we waited a couple hours for our plane at O'Hare. 

Congratulations Dave for completing your first marathon, Ryan for beating your first marathon time, and Erik for hitting your goal of under 4 hours!! You guys are awesome!

Shedd

Last Friday was a long day. Figuring out Logan Airport, flying on super crappy Spirit Airlines with no leg room, taking the 'L' into Chicago, finding the hotel, picking up the marathon packets, and waiting for family to arrive.  But luckily it was all worth it! It was a blast seeing my family! Reed said 'Aunt Christiana, when was the last time I saw you? In the summer? That was too long ago. I miss you.' - What a sweetie! Of course the kiddos had to let out a little energy. They got pretty silly and loud in our room, and they love when I take out my camera. Addy G enjoying some lovely banana and Reed displaying some delicious apple. At least they're eating healthy. :)

 

Saturday morning we explored Chicago some. To the Shedd we go! We got there before it opened, and sometimes little kiddos can't just stand still in line ... they enjoyed hanging from the railing for a bit.

 

 The Shedd aquarium has a great deal that isn't advertised on their entrance signs. $8/person to see quite a bit of the exhibit. It was perfect for us! We toured the Amazon, the Great Lakes, the desert, and other tropical locations. Reed loved the sting rays! I got a good one of the ninos looking for the rain. :)

One of the main displays had a man in it!  Something is wrong with this... :) He was cleaning the windows and hanging out with the fish. He was actually pretty fun, waving at us, and giving kids high fives.

Although we didn't pay to see the Jellies exhibit, we got a little taste with one window of jellyfish. The lights on the jellyfish kept changing colors - it looked really neat.

And this huge crab is just disgusting! It was hairy and had way too many appendages. This pic is for you Amanda!

After all the walking around the Shedd aquarium, Dave and Ryan wanted to keep their legs loose. Dave needed to do a little bit of stretching and random posing, which apparently helped him. :)

Saturday afternoon we went to an outlet mall out in a Chicago suburb. K, this outlet mall was experiencing Black Friday times two! The parking lot was full. People were parking on the side of the road and on the grass - there were some deals, but nothing that made any sense for the huge flocks of people.

We went to Ryan's relatives and had some yummy pizza. Before supper the kids enjoyed jumping on the trampoline. It was the perfect time to try some pics. I would say '1, 2, 3, jump!' Reed would always pull out some crazy pose, but Addison didn't really get the jumping part. :)  Check out Reed's awesome Tigers hat that I got for him. He wears it all the time. hehe

A Bunch of Quackers

Last Sunday we became 'Quackers.' We went on a fun little Duck Tour in downtown Boston. It's a little over an hour tour and we chill in an amphibious vehicle from WWII! The tour took us thru the downtown area past Old South church and Boston Commons, into the Charles River, and then by the Bunker Hill Monument and the USS Constitution.

The 'Duck'!

One of the oldest jewelry stores in the U.S.  Dave.... hehe

Maximum security prison right on the Charles River. They sure get a nice view for being criminals. :)

Other Quackers on the Charles

Basically it was an overview of a lot of Boston. Now Dave and I know what to hit up next. The USS Constitution looks awesome, and it's free!! Plus there are so many other places we didn't even see - can't wait to explore. :)  So my camera battery died on the river... no more pics from the trip unfortunately.

We had a quick lunch then took the T up to Harvard. What a neat campus. I think we only walked through a tiny portion of it, but it's beautiful. The oldest college in the U.S. and the buildings are classic. We may have to be nerds and actually go on a free tour of the campus. Dave was looking for Mark Zuckerberg's dorm, but we didn't find it.

Boston Tip of the Day: If you go on a Duck Tour, be prepared to 'Quack.' People on the street will 'Quack' at the bus, and you are required to 'Quack' back!

Weight Gain 4000

I'm a nut about South Park. The second episode of the very first season is hilarious! Cartman wins an essay contest and wants to beef up for his tv appearance (he drinks weight gain 4000!). But, he actually handed in Thoreau's 'Walden' for his essay and just scratched out Thoreau's name - love it!

So....over a week ago we visited Walden Pond. :)  It's actually really close to our apartment, and it was beautiful. It was a rainy/cloudy day, but we still enjoyed it. We saw a handful of swimmers in wetsuits swimming across the pond - which is more of a small lake. Bikes and running aren't allowed on the paths so it's quiet and serene.

We toured the model 'house' Thoreau lived in. It was probably the size of our apartment closet (big closet... but small house). I couldn't imagine living there for 2 years, although he had a couple chairs for visitors, so he wasn't always in seclusion.

 

We walked a mile and a half to Thoreau's actual hut. 

 

 And enjoyed the beautiful scenery on the way. The water in some areas had this really cool green tint.

 

Oh, also we bought a 50mm lens for our camera. I tested it out on the Newt. :)

Boston Tip of the Day: It is Mass law to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk. So cars fly down the road, but if you step into the crosswalk, they'll slam on their brakes for you to cross. Kind of cool!

Life

Life hit me today. Out of the blue, all day I kept thinking about my Grandma. How I'll miss her house, her smell, her smile.  And this makes me think of Pop, and his voice and laugh.  Today is tough. I guess all these changes in the last few weeks have caught up with me. I love being out in Boston with Dave exploring, but today I'm just thinking about my home in MI and my family.

The only pic of my grandparents I could easily find on my computer. Hehe, I'm the baldie with the big ears!

Don't you worry! I'll be posting more trips soon, but wanted to let you all know we do miss you (even if we will be out here for only a couple months...)

Also, thanks for the talk mom :) and can't wait to see my family in Chicago in only a couple days!

Boston tip of the day: Rain makes drivers slow here, too! My typical 10 minute drive took over 25 minutes. I feel sorry for those who have a normal commute of an hour and then have to deal with weather/traffic like this... yikes!

Raw

We had multiple excursions this weekend. The first one was the search for Raw Milk!!  So raw milk scares me because I was raised by a medical technologist mother who deals with all sorts of crazy diseases. :)  Dave, on the other hand, has no fears about this (see realmilk.com).  In Michigan we had been drinking non-homogenized milk for awhile, which was awesome, but Dave wanted raw milk.  It is illegal in MI to sell retail raw milk, so right away when we got to Boston (where you can buy raw milk) Dave began his search. He found a farm about 25 minutes away that sells it. Of course last weekend they were closed because one of their tanks had been tested and found to have bad stuff in it.  The farm said the wrong tank was tested.  Well, that made me more hesitant about this all….

We drove through awesome neighborhoods and arrived at the farm to get raw milk. Basically there was nothing sketchy going on there, but in order to buy the milk Dave had to sign a waiver saying he understands he's buying raw milk.  When we got home Dave drank a glass of this raw milk.  He said it wasn't as tasty as he thought, but was ok. I have not had a drink of it (I'm too scared! hehe), but Dave is still alive and healthy.  So we should be good to go.

Is Dave crazy to buy raw milk? Has anyone else ever had raw milk?  :)



Unrelated-to-raw-milk Boston Tip of the Day: Weathermen/women in Boston are just as bad as in Michigan! It was supposed to rain almost all last week, but there were hardly any drops of rain until this weekend.