2010-08-10

Day 17 - 21

These last few days went flying by so fast! After we left Portland, we headed up the coast to Rockland and ended up staying there for a few days. In that time, we drove up to Bar Harbor. On the way, you have to cross the Penobscot Narrows Bridge, which was constructed recently. It has the tallest bridge observatory in the world, and is the only one in the western hemisphere.


Just a walk from the bridge is Fort Knox, which was named after the first Secretary of War, as was the famous Fort Knox in Kentucky. It is located along the Penobscot River, across from Bucksport.


After the visit, we made our way to Bar Harbor and stopped at a local Lobster shack.


2010-08-05

Day 15 - 17

Day 15, 16, and 17 were all long travel days. We really did not do much... I mean seriously, on days like these, we just sit in the RV, listening to music, mapping out our course, finding rest stops, eating, remapping the course, playing games, watching movies, finding more rest stops, etc.

On Day 15, we made it from Milwaukee, through Chicago, and over to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where we spent the night in the WalMart parking lot.

On Day 16, we drove through, believe it or not, 9 states: we started in Indiana, drove through Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, and ended in New Hampshire. During one of the pit-stops, a trucker randomly befriended us and gave us some watermelons!



On Day 17, we drove up to Portland, Maine while I was asleep. We are now just hanging out here for the day. I got to really see the Atlantic Ocean for the first time today!

Here are some photos I took in Portland

The Atlantic Ocean
A view from our RV

Day 10 - 15

Hello everyone! I would just like to say that I am sorry that I stopped posting on here for about a week... We got up to the Jablonski's place on the night of Day 10 (Wednesday, July 28th) and stayed there until the morning of Day 15 (Monday, August 2nd), and during that time I was really tired, excited, and just plain lazy!

The following is an account of what we did in the past few days...

Amendment to Day 10:
I forgot to mention that we went to the Texas Roadhouse with Dave, Jake, and Jessica. It was a fair meal in a pleasant atmosphere and a great night of conversation and fun.
And just to make it clear, Dave and Alisa are the parents, and Jake (18), Nick (16), and Jessica (14) are their kids.
My parent's also checked into the Comfort Inn in Milwaukee. This information will be necessary for what happened in Day 11.

Day 11:
For the most part, in the mornings we would just get up, eat, play video games, and talk a lot. In this evening, Jake, Nick, Alex, and I went swimming at the hotel at which my parents were staying while our parents went hottubbing. We left for the cinemas and saw The Sorcerer's Apprentice (it was pretty good, but somewhat predictable and non-climactic - 6/10). On the way back to the hotel, Alisa called Jake and Nick and requested that they bring Gatorade for Dave when they returned home, so we detoured over to Walgreen's. On the way over, we had one of the funnest times during the entire stay. We cranked up the stereo and the car was filled with Techno and Rap music, and we were all "dancing" to the music, as much as one might while sitting strapped to a seat (honest it was more like arm-waving and wiggling). The climax of the night was when a song aired on the radio and Nick hopped out of the car (in Walgreen's parking lot) and proceeded to act out some crazy awesome moves. Epic.

When Alex and I got back, we found out that our parents had a problem with the hotel. While we were gone, a little league team from EauClaire, Wisconsin created a disturbance in the pool area. The chaperons were drinking alcohol (problem 1) in glass bottles (problem 2) and responded negatively (problem 3) to the request of the other patrons in the pool area. They then proceeded to address isolated individuals who had requested them to stop drinking (i.e. my dad) with taunts and verbal jabs (problem 4), which continued even into the next morning (problem 5). The manager was finally available for contact, and when address of the situation, completely lost his spine as if it were made of jello. He became a wimpy little person who would not enforce hotel policy (problem 6). We immediately contacted the Comfort Inn corporate office and the Better Business Bureau to let them know of the preceding events. The state liquor board, local newspaper, and little league team will also be contacted. After this event, we changed hotels, and my parents stayed in the Hampton Inn for the remainder of the visit.

Day 12:
I am pretty sure this was the day that Alex, Jake, and I went to The Quarry, a retired mining quarry that filled in with water, and one can now swim in it. It was fun. We got some sun and swimming, which totally made my day.

Day 13:
Saturday, Alisa took us on a drive-through tour of the city of Milwaukee.

Day 14:
It was today that we went to the Wisconsin Dells, a couple hours north of the Jablonski's abode. Sadly, Jake's work conflicted with these plans, so he was unable to enjoy it was us. At the Dells, there are a bunch of theme parks, one of which, Mount Olympus, we went to. It was sooo fun! There were four wooden roller coasters, one of which, Hades, had a tunnel that goes completely beneath and across the parking lot, then comes out the other side for a short while, and back under the parking lot! There were also many go-kart tracks (not bumper cars... lets just say I learned that the hard way) which were pretty fun. But the Water Park is where you find me. There are two wave pools: a normal, continuous undulation pool, and the Poseidon; every couple minutes, this pool creates a 9-foot wave. It is absolutely sick! Nick and I were in this pool probably half of our stay just body surfing. We could transverse approximately half (probably a little more) of the accessible pool on a single wave! When we were all finally too tired to do anything more, we headed out. All of us fell asleep in their Excursion on the way home. The hot tub at the new hotel was a very relaxing end to the day.

Day 15:
Monday morning, we left :(
We had an amazing time with the Jablonski's. It was really amazing that even after 12 years of not seeing or contacting each other, our friendships from 6 years old proved valid :D I cannot wait to see you guys again, and thanks for hosting us!