Florida!

We made it! last night about 7 we reached the condo. It was a very long day of driving from North Carolina.

We did little unpacking until today, but we are all settled in at this point. We are very happy with our place. There are a few pictures to show what it looks like.

This is the view from the balcony to the parking lot.

The kitchen is small, but very nice in appliances.

The living room has comfortable furniture and a very large TV set, not shown in the picture.

The condo is nicely decorated and in tip top condition.

The bed is incredibly comfortable and the closet was large enough to hold all of the suitcases and boxes, plus our clothes.

We shopped for groceries and had lunch at a familar Friendly's.

Louise found a place to knit in the 70 degree weather. Everyone we met today talked about how cold it was. If only they could see what cold really is! We had a busy day, and finished it with dinner out at Appleby's, a Christmas gift.
Our first day in Florida has been great and it is a good start to a new year. We are very comfortable here and happy to start a new adventure. Having relocated to a different community we have to learn our way around, but we know it was a good choice.
Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

On the Road Again

Yesterday we began our yearly adventure of leaving behind the ice and snow and driving to Florida. We have had a great amount of snow and very cold weather over the past few weeks, the whole month of December in fact.

This is what Route 164 from Washburn to Presque Isle looked like yesterday morning. There were cars off the road and it was not a pleasant ride. Route 1 from Presque Isle to Houlton was about the same. Not expecting a lot on Interstate 95, we were not disappointed to see that the speed limit was 45, and that was too fast to drive on much of it. It took a long time to get to Bangor and things did improve on the road after that.

We had a near miss just below Bangor. A pick up truck came on to the highway in the right lane, while we were in the left. He went by us and suddenly something that looked like clear sheets of whatever went flying up in the air and one large one came down on the hood of the car. It sounded like a gun going off. It was a sheet of ice. As it hit the windshield we were sure it would break, but fortunately for us it didn't. We didn't stop since things looked fine once the ice had blown off and we could see again. We did not know until we stopped for the day that it dented the hood in a couple of places.

We stopped in Portland to visit with Jon, Erin, and Emily and then we continued on to Bob's house, arriving a little after dark, and spent a great evening opening gifts and visiting.

We got off to a good start this morning after a car wash so we could see out of the windows. The first couple of hours were uneventful, and even Hartford wasn't hard to get through.

Then we hit the traffic jam. We traveled two miles in over an hour. The traffic was backed up from Danbury, CT to the New York border.

We finally made it to Scranton, PA where we found the same kind of traffic jam. In all the years we have traveled I 84 and I 81 we have never encountered anything like this. There was another area near Harrisburg that was about the same.
Finally we called our travel for the day to an end and found a Quality Inn in Enola, PA, just north of Harrisburg. The room is great - king bed, sofa, refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, flat screen TV. What more could you ask for? To make our evening complete there was a fantastic diner next door to the hotel that had a huge menu and reasonable prices. We even walked to and from dinner. It is a great ending to a trying day. Tomorrow we hit the south. We had the car windows open today, and it was 50 degrees when we went to dinner. We love the change in climate! No more snow!!

Christmas and Knitting 2013

Christmas has come and gone. A major part of Louise's activity over the past several months has been knitting gifts for the holiday.

This is a picture of all the knit gifts that were wrapped this week!
We celebrated Christmas three times - once at home on Christmas day with the Aroostook County family. With Chelsea we have a new addition to the family this year. Here are a few pictures of Christmas in Washburn.

As you can see, there were many laughs, great gifts, and a good meal.
Two days after Christmas we headed out to see the rest of the family. First to Portland,where we visited with Emily,

and then to Massachusetts.

Our youngest grandchild is growing fast.

And here is Bridget with her Grampy. Her excitement at seeing us made it a time of fun! We made some good memories at Christmas and are thankful for the great family we have.

A Trip to Massachusetts

Our latest fall adventure was a trip to visit Bob, Gina, Bridget, and Alex. As fall sets in at home, we found a brief reprieve in the weather down there. There were still leaves on the trees, and no snow!

Here we see Gary raking leaves with Bridget in the middle of them.

Bridget has become a very charming and enchanting little girl - lots of fun to visit with!

Gary found this lovely tree next door to Bob's home. Those colors are long gone for this year in northern Maine.

Alex is growing fast and barely resembled the baby we last saw in August. Here he is with Bob.

Louise had knit a new winter hat for Bridget, which she shows off here.

We had a great visit with them and look forward to their coming to visit us for Thanksgiving. That time of year is upon us as the weather gets cold, the fireplace provides comfort, and our thoughts begin to turn south. Gary mentioned this morning that in six weeks we will be heading out for Florida. Where does the time go?

The Colors of Fall

Time is flying past as we are now in October. Here you see Ryan and Grampy setting the scarecrows out by the steps. Perhaps you can see the fresh paint on the house.

We took a ride to the St. John Valley last weekend to peep at the leaves. Here is a photo going up Route 11 beyond Portage.

Another photo of beautiful fall colors.

The gardens are about done producing things for this year. Here you can see the last roses of summer, growing in the perennial garden.

The mountain ash has lots of berries for the birds.

And Budda and the other garden statues are sitting in wait for the next season of flowers. It is a beautiful time of year in Aroostook County, and a busy one. We are still painting the house.

The End of Summer

We have been very busy this summer, and as the days get shorter and cooler we plan to share some of that summer activity here. For the past few weeks our time has been consumed by "painting the house." We hired a painter to do the  upper part, but Gary and Louise and doing the rest of it. Here we have Gary up on a ladder painting the front.

Louise has been scraping the old paint and working on the brown:

We still have lots to go to get the place all painted.

Looking back on the summer, we spent a week with Bob and his family on the coast of Maine. Here we have the view from the porch:

While there Gary, Gina, and Bridget took an amazing ride in a 1917 Model T.

Here we see Bridget and Gina riding in style!

The day of the August Festival was busy as usual. Here we see the group on the front lawn watching the parade.

The day after the Festival, most of the family gathered at Portage and had a fine time in the water.

Bridget seemed to have no fear of the tube, and loved every minute of it.

Even Alex seemed to get in the mood of the day. Ryan enjoyed riding him around in his stroller.

Emily seemed to enjoy her time with Grampy.

Bridget and Jessica shared some quality time together.

Loren and Marissa came to visit from North Carolina, making the weekend even more special.
So it has been a great summer, busy with friends and family. We hate to see the end of summer, but the sun is setting early these days, and the days seem cooler. Time to finish painting the house!!

Life at Camp

We have spent a few days at camp, and want to share the peace and beauty we found there.

As the water level has gone down, our beach area has increased.

Some interesting grasses have begun to grow near the big rock.

Here we see the front of the camp, the rock wall, the wharf, and the beach.

The pot of flowers add a nice touch, with the camp in the background.

The pink and green add a nice touch to the outside beauty of the place.

Another peaceful spot, an inviting place to read or knit.

This planter sits at the edge of the woods.

A cozy spot, with a great view of the lake.

Does it make you want to take a nap?

An interesting sail boat we spotted on the lake.
Hopefully these photos make you want to jump in your car and drive to Portage Lake! We enjoyed our days there and plan to return soon.