Aroostook Spring?

If you glance quickly at the pictures on this page, we don't want you to think this is a reminiscence of last winter. No, this is today. April 16, 2014. We went to bed last  night to flood warnings and road closures as the snow in the fields melted too quickly and flooded much of Main Street in Washburn. We awoke this morning to this:

Yes, new snow and a temperature of 20. It never got above freezing all day. Here is another view from the doorway of the house:

We stayed inside all morning  until Louise declared that cabin fever was setting in. We drove to Presque Isle, by way of the Parson's Road since the flood still has the road closed through Crouseville. We took several interesting pictures of flooded areas near the river in Presque Isle.

We decided to continue our ride with a trip to Ashland and Portage. The road was a bit rough, and there was more snow left there than in Washburn. We spotted deer all along the way.

Who would believe that this photo was not taken in mid-winter? Only someone who lives here right now. We did stop by the camp, but it is still snowed in. Perhaps another week or two of melting will allow us to walk in.

Today is Andrew's birthday, and we are taking him out to dinner, if there is a road open to get to Presque Isle. Let's hope that the current weather doesn't last long. At least we have the fireplace going to off-set the temperature in the teens tonight.

Home Again

We took seven nights to travel home from Florida, and arrived last night. After our trip to Savannah we moved on to Charlottesville, VA. Here we have a picture of the blue ridge mountains off in the distance.

From Charlottesville we crossed Pennsylvania, spending the night near Scranton, in a place called Dunmore. On Friday we made it to Massachusetts, making a detour to Northhampton to visit a huge yarn store with a knitting friend, Nancy DiRocco.

Here is a picture of just a small part of this giant yarn warehouse.

Nancy, Louise, and Gary went to lunch in a near-by diner. Then it was off to Sudbury to visit Bob and Gina and the kids. We stayed there two nights to have some time with the kids, and to avoid another snowstorm at home.

This is a cute picture of little Alex, who is growing like a weed.
Bridget had fun with the visit from her grandparents, which was happening at the same time that her Uncle Matt was there. Quite a family reunion.

Here is Bridget having a snack in one of her two new basement rooms.

Here is a picture of Matt when we went out to lunch at Bertuccis. He always makes the nicest faces for the camera!

Here is another picture of Alex, who is going to be walking soon!
We left Bob's and started the end of the ride - back to Maine. We stopped in Portland to visit Jon and Erin and Emily.

Here is Emily, dancing in the new sweater Grammy knit for her. This is sweater #5 for the year.

Here is Grampy and Emily having a conversation.
Finally we decided the time had come to make the final leg of the trip. As we drove north we saw more snow beside the road. After we got off I-95 the snow banks were pretty high. We came home to a ton of snow.

The only high point of this was a nice welcome. Andy was there, had turned up the heat, and cleaned up the house. Dinner was waiting in the fridge thanks to Jackie. What more could you ask for? Maybe less snow.......

Savannah

To begin our journey home, we spent two days in Savannah, GA. What an amazing city! We took a trolley tour of the city and a boat ride on the Savannah River. It was a very busy day, but a beautiful one.

Spring was in full bloom as the azaleas above show. Savannah has a variety of parks or squares that are a sight to see. They are full of flowers, statues, and monuments.

This is the river boat we took for a ride on the river. It was relaxing, spacious, and an enjoyable ride.

We took a trolley tour, but this horse and wagon looks like an interesting way to go.

Here's Gary having some refreshment at an outdoor pub table.

One of the most interesting things we have discovered in the south is the live oak trees. They are huge and grow in every direction. They are hanging in Spanish moss, and are a sight to see.

On the riverfront in Savannah we found the replicas of Columbus's ships, the Nina and the Pinta. We had planned to see them in Florida, but we missed it because of stormy weather. We did not know they would be in Savannah, but they are coming to coastal Maine in June.

This is the location of the Paula Deen restaurant, but we did not go there.

Here is another of the Savannah squares.
Today we took up the travel again and covered all of North and South Carolina, and most of Virginia
as we are staying in Charlottesville tonight. Our trip has been enjoyable thus far. We have actually met quite a few people who are making the same trip as we are, and have enjoyed talking to them. We are still in short sleeves, but that may end tomorrow. It was 88 today in Virginia. We have heard rumors of another storm for Saturday, so we will try to avoid it!

Goodbye Florida, Hello Georgia

That time has come. The three months in Florida are over. We went to the beach yesterday to get a last taste of sunshine and salt water.

It was a busy day at the beach - the end of spring break week for all the local schools. Louise had to get her feet in the water again, and actually got quite wet!

We have been packing and cleaning for several days to leave the condo in pristine condition.

Finally this morning we put the last of it in the car. Notice Gary's basil plant that he is hoping to get home alive. He has been growing it for a couple of months.

It has been a good winter and we have enjoyed the condo and our time in Florida this year. We have no commitment yet for next winter, so that is something we will have to work on after we get home.
It is with some sense of dread that we face the remains of the horrible winter at home. As a result we are going to take our time getting home. So many people have advised us not to hurry back! Usually we do it in three or four days, but we plan to spend more time at it this time.

Our ride through Florida was uneventful. Lots of other snowbirds were on the road today. This bridge on the 295 route around Jacksonville always stands out as an amazing sight.

This afternoon we crossed the border into Georgia where we plan to stay for a day or two. We are in Savannah and hope to tour the old historic city tomorrow. We may spend a second night here. The temperature is in the 70s and the sun is shining. We are still in short sleeves with no jackets. One more day of summer weather!

Louise has finished sweater #4 - this one for Bridget.  She has another one almost done for Emily. It's been a good knitting winter!

Afternoon on the Banana River

With the temperature about as high as we have seen it this year, and a little cloud cover to lessen the impact of the sun, we went on a boat tour of the Banana River today with Chelsea and Andy. It was a wildlife tour, looking for dolphins, manatees, and birds.

This is a picture of the boat at the dock in Cocoa Beach. The number of people going was small, so we had lots of seat room  and place to move around.

Here we see a group of birds enjoying the afternoon. It is mating season for some of them.

This has nothing to do with wildlife, but there are beautiful homes in Cocoa Beach built along canals on  the River.

Here's a lone pelican, drifting along the river, hoping for fish to come along.  We saw several dolphins, but they are impossible to photograph because they are so quick when they come to the surface and dive.

We are near several causeways. This is the one connecting Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral.

here is a picture of us enjoying the boat ride. It was so warm last night that we turned on the air conditioning for the first time, since it was 80 in the living room. To get a wind chill warning this morning for home was a dose of reality. One more week!

Animals Galore!

Andrew and Chelsea have been visiting us since Sunday. We have had lots of adventures and have enjoyed their company. Wednesday we visited the Brevard Zoo and have a couple of pictures to share from that visit.

As always, the birds are spectacular there.

Here we have some brand new ducks. They are still all fuzzy.

This picture of the flamingos is for JoAnna!

 Our only disappointment at the zoo was that we were too late to see the giraffes as they were being put away for the night.
On Thursday we ventured to Orlando and visited Sea World. We accidentally chose a day that was a busy one in Orlando-President Obama was there and a basketball game was going on in the evening. Despite all of that the traffic wasn't bad and we had no problems getting in and out.

Here we are outside the penguin exhibit which we did not get to see. The waiting-in-line time to get in was 70 minutes and we decided our feet and our patience wouldn't take it.

Here we have a picture of Andy and Chelsea enjoying the visit. Notice the sunburn they both had.

Here we have the dolphins performing.

These flamingo paddle boats were popular, but none of us had the energy to try it!

This photo was taken at Sea World. The flowers are lovely all over Florida right now.

Here is an interesting view of a sea turtle in an underwater aquarium.
We have had fun with them, and know we will be seeing everyone soon at home, if we can avoid the snowstorms coming home.